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Well, it's crunch-time in Nikonville. We get to see what Nikon management is made of. So far, I have to say, it hasn't been all that pretty. For those of you who haven't noticed, Nikon is recalling D5000s for a problem with the power control chip. On the internet, this has come to be known as "Sudden Death Syndrome" or SDS. Based on the anecdotal public evidence available, it appears that the vast majority of affected units are not showing the symptoms (at the moment, at least), but that Nikon is taking the conservative path of replacing all the power chips. So far, so good. Beyond that, things are pretty bad. One major problem is that Nikon is being very close-lipped, and therefore not allowing customers to know the extent of the problem. Based on the publicly available information, I SPECULATE that there are about 120,000 units affected. Further, I guess that roughly 80k units have been sold to customers, and 40k units are in various stages of the inventory pipeline. So, retailers are going to take a bath. I'm sure that those retailers with generous return policies are seeing *a lot* of D5000s bounce back. I, for one, am very curious what will happen to those units. Most importantly, it currently *appears* that Nikon is Stonewalling, refusing to publish the range of serial numbers affected. Instead, at least thusfar, Nikon appears to be trying to force this flawed inventory to be sold as "new" (which it is) and "good" (which it is not) and then shipped by the customer back to repair centers for chip replacement when the customer discovers that he bought a lemon. Whatever the ethical arguments, I consider this to be very poor customer relations strategy, in that Nikon is attempting to dupe the customer into becoming an unpaid member of their value delivery system, taking on at least some liability for a product which is bad enough to have provoked a recall. Beyond that, this process will produce an enormous number of units which are for all practical purposes "refurbs", i.e. customer returns which have been reworked. It is one thing for a customer to buy a unit and then suffer a random failure. In such case, a warranty repair loads the majority of the burden on the manufacturer. But, the customer is still left with a reworked and repaired unit, and the quality and life expectancy of such a unit is simply not as high as that of a good, "factory fresh" unit. In the case of a random failure, this is the luck of the draw. So be it. In the current case, the wave of returns will result in a huge number of "gray" units, which will either be sold (correctly) as refurbs, or palmed off as new units. I have some (fairly small) amount of sympathy for Nikon. I personally have been in the business of chip design and vertically integrated electronics manufacturing for 35 years. This problem is probably a subtle one generated either in a subcontracting design house or an Asian wafer fab. If you're Nikon, you've just been screwed. But, of all the people NOT to blame, the customer is highest on the list. I, the customer, didn't do anything wrong, other than the (apparent) mistake of buying a Nikon. In the long run, such behavior will only erode a leadership image that has taken decades to create. Such behavior will cost Nikon in the long run, compared to taking the path of shielding the customer from Nikon's internal mistakes. In the long run, the only beneficiary of the decisions will be Canon. ***Update Aug 31, 2009. It appears that the to-do regarding the recall is over, and that defect-free product is hitting the shelves. Personally, I would make very sure that any D5000 I bought is over ser # 3168***, but that's just me. Assuming you're just now starting to shop, I think the D5000 is an excellent entry-level dSLR. Having owned both a D5000 and now a Canon T1i, I can say that they both take excellent pix. Nikon strengths: the kit lens is a bit better optical quality than the Canon, I think. Reviewers claim the D5000's low light performance is better. The digital signal processing feature set is richer (more options on exposure bracketing, for example...) I have the impression that the Nikon is aimed at a younger crowd with less SLR history and more inclination to text. The Nikon is laid out to have both thumbs pounding away at the menu choices. Nikon weaknesses: the articulating LCD is a mixed blessing. It is good for taking that odd shot with camera held over your head or between your legs, but, seriously, how often do you want to do that? With the hinge on the bottom, you can't use it tripod-mounted for self-portraits. And I fear that the LCD electrical connection through the hinge is one more delicate piece to quickly break. I also thought the mini-usb connector was delicate. Canon strengths: again excellent pix. Canon has "dumbed-down" the interface and tried to make it more like a classical SLR. You can still do almost all the "gee-whiz" stuff, but it is segregated into a "creative zone" setting. The Canon LCD is much nicer looking. No hinge. To me, this is a plus. The usb and battery connector and covers seem more robust. The Canon bundled software is much, much better. The Nikon requires you to spend $130 extra to buy these features a la carte. In the end, discounting the whole recall fiasco, I could be very happy with either model. One last word to old SLR geezers like myself who think they're upgrading. Both cameras have fairly dim "penta-mirror" viewfinders. Manual focus is a chore at best. To me this is the strongest argument to toss another $300 and get the D90. Also, both cameras have approx 16mmx24mm sensors, meaning you're throwing away half the image compared to 35mm slide film. Both kits lenses are a serious compromise. Both sensors are much better than the kit lenses. If you're upgrading from point and shoot, you will be deliriously happy. If you've ever owned a real SLR or a Hasselblad, you'll still be happy, but you will constantly be aware that these are "entry-level" cameras.