What's the difference between Nikon D7000 and Nikon D5000?
Is there really much difference? I'm not a camera fanatic. But I want to get a nice one. I'm stuck between these two.
The D5000 is the little brother of the D90, which is the D7000's predecessor.
So basically the D5000 is a tier below the D7000, and also a generation older. It has been superceded by the D5100.
The D5100 differs mostly by having only one control dial instead of two, and no top LCD. Also, the D7000 has a sturdier build, but that never should be put to the test so i'd consider it to be a moot point.
The D7000 also has some additional features that the D5100 does not have, but in terms of image quality both are equals, they both use the same sensor.
Just to add to what Jens said, the D5000 does not have an autofocus motor in the camera body, which means that it is limited to only AF-S lenses if you want to be able to use autofocus (you can use non AF-S lenses, you just have to manually focus them).
The D7000 includes a focus motor, so AF or AF-S will both autofocus.
Do you mean the D5100? The D5000 is a discontinued model, superseded by the D5100.
There are quite a few differences.
As well as the control extra dial, LCD and AF motor already mentioned by others, there are several other more professional features that the D7000 offers:
The D7000 has a faster motor and can handle 6 frames per second (FPS) against 4 on the D5100.
You can set the continuous speed to between 1 and 5 frames per second.
The D7000 is better built and is more weather resistant (but not waterproof or shockproof).
The inbuilt flash can be used as a wireless master with the Nikon CLS flash system.
There's the option of grid-lines in the viewfinder to aid composition.
The D7000 has 39 focus points with 9 of them being cross-type which work both horizontally and vertically against 11 on the D5100 with only 1 cross type. There's a lock button to stop the selected AF point from moving.
The viewfinder is larger and brighter on the D7000.It is a proper pentaprism rather than the pentamirror on the D5100
Top shutter speed is 1/8000s opposed to 1/4000 on the D5100
The battery is larger on the D7000 and lasts longer before recharge
There are 2 user-settings on the main command dial.
The D7000 has 2 SD card slots, so you can either write to 2 cards at a time as a precaution against failure, or you can write RAW to one card and high resolution JPEG to the other at the same time - or you can just use the second card as overflow storage.
On the down side, that bigger battery, pentaprism, better weather sealing and better build in general comes at a price - both in money and in weight. The D7000 is a significantly heavier camera. Also it does not have the swivel screen.
If you need those extra features and can put up with that extra weight around your neck then fine, the D7000 is a great camera. Most people who aren't camera fanatics will find that the D5100 is easier to use and much lighter to carry around. It can produce equally good results for the sorts of things that most amateurs want to do as it uses the same sensor.
The D3xxx and D5xxx models are entry level cameras. The D70 and above (D80, 90, D7000, etc) are mid range/advanced amateur cameras.
Disregarding the sensor (which changes constantly with updated camera models) the advanced cameras such as the D7000 have a set of constant features across the board that the entry level models lack, including in-body focus motor, AI Indexing feeler (D7000), CLS remote commander, FP high speed sync, magnesium chassis, lens-focusing compensation (D7000), and so on. None of the entry level cameras have these features.
That is not to say the entry level cameras are not good; it's just that they are not comparable to the higher end cameras.
If you are satisfied with consumer-grade operation, lenses, and attachments, then the entry-level cameras will be fine. But if you want to expand the flexibility of the camera, you will want to go with an advanced amateur model (D90, D7000, etc).
Jens, the D5000 is really not the little brother to the D90. The D5000 is an entry level camera, while the D90 is an advanced amateur camera as it has the in-body focus motor, CLS commander, FP high speed sync, and so on that the other advanced cameras have. Therefore they are different classes of cameras. Just my opinion.