Live View or Viewfinder

Q. When you switch between the Live View mode and using the viewfinder on the Nikon D5000. Is there any difference in the image quality taken using these two modes? Does Live View come with its own settings that are different from the viewfinder mode? Which is the best mode to use?

A. There is no difference in image quality whether you use the optical viewfinder or the Live View function. If you are using the optical viewfinder and have set the exposure, these same settings will be employed even when you turn on Live View. This is because the DSLR has only one image sensor, hence there shouldn't be any effect on picture quality whichever way you decide to frame your shot.