upate nikon D5000?

VirginiaRowley

New member
I have a nikon D5000 and its over 5 years old. I was wondering if there was anyway to freshen up my camera. Update new software ... reset it or something. My pictures used to be clear and sharp but now they arent.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Well you should check to make sure you have the latest firmware, but that isn't going to affect sharpness or image quality, really... Still, it's a good idea.

If you want you can reset your camera back to the factory defaults by doing a two-button reset. On the D5000 that's the "Qual" button on the bottom left of the body and the Exposure Compensation button on the top of the body at the right. Both buttons will have little green dots by them. Press and hold those two buttons simultaneously for a few seconds and the reset will occur.

If you're shooting JPG primarily you can sharpen your photos by adjusting the Sharpness setting in the Picture Control menu, I suggest +6 or +7. If you haven't done this, changing this one setting will *dramatically* sharpen up your JPG photos. If you're shooting RAW it will have no effect and you can forget about it.

It's also possible your camera is due for a sensor cleaning.

....
 

VirginiaRowley

New member
Ive checked the firmware and the only thing available was the distortion control update, I did that. I think I am going to try both of your other suggestions. I've had the camera a lil over 5 years and I really don't know what im doing with it still so there are probably a lot of setting that are wrong LOL .... As for the sensor cleaning, It automatically does that when I have the lcd screen flipped and active.

Thank you so very much for replying!! ;)
 

aroy

Senior Member
Ive checked the firmware and the only thing available was the distortion control update, I did that. I think I am going to try both of your other suggestions. I've had the camera a lil over 5 years and I really don't know what im doing with it still so there are probably a lot of setting that are wrong LOL .... As for the sensor cleaning, It automatically does that when I have the lcd screen flipped and active.

Thank you so very much for replying!! ;)

Check your sensor visually. Automatic sensor cleaning will get rid of loose dust, but over the years some may be stuck and come off. Do a liquid cleaning, and that will most probably get rid of most of your problems.

Another reason may be that the sensor has shifted a tiny bit, so images are not in perfect focus. To check for that do the following
. Mount the fastest lense you have - say 50mm F1.8
. Set the aperture at maximum - f1.8
. Mount the camera on a tripod
. Place a graduated scale ( a foot ruler is fine) at 45 degrees angle on a table or against a wall, with top away from you and bottom towards you
. Adjust the tripod so that the middle of the scale is in focus, and the camera about 3 feet away
. Take the shot

Now check the focus on the computer. If the middle graduation; where you focused; is sharp, then all is fine. Else see how much above/below the sharp focus is. That will indicate a shift either in the sensor or the lense AF. Compensate for the shift to get sharp focus.,
 
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