Loving the D5000 so far.
Now a big part of me buying a new camera was my impending visit to the northern lights but of course, its in Norway and so could snow (a lot). The question is how do I care for the lenses in the snow, or rain. Can I just clean them with a cloth or what ?

Plenty of rain covers on ebay for next to nothing (Search "camera rain cover"), just need something keeping the wet out of the camera and the zoom, the glass itself you can just use a lens cloth, its glass so wont matter if it gets wet!

Thanks, I bought this
http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-eclipse-lens-and-ccd-cleaning-fluid-59ml-/p1001956

Any clean cloth should be ok, these microfibre fuzzy ones are good. But keep moisture out of the lenses and camera if you can.
If its actually raining or snowing you wont see any borealis anyway!

Get a plastic bag and an elastic band, put the bag over the camera and gather it around the lens so the optic isnt covered, fasten in place with elastic band. This will keep snow/rain off the camera body and help protect it.

In extreme cold weather keep camera inside your coat when not in use so it doesnt get too cold, which can cause battery failure.

Quote from: SeriousGet a plastic bag and an elastic band, put the bag over the camera and gather it around the lens so the optic isnt covered, fasten in place with elastic band. This will keep snow/rain off the camera body and help protect it.

In extreme cold weather keep camera inside your coat when not in use so it doesnt get too cold, which can cause battery failure.

But what about it fogging up from going from warm-cold

Or condensation? After my recent trek in the forest in freezing conditions, I returned to my car and took my phone out to find it drenched in what I presume is condensation, or possibly sweat, though it was no where near my pits :|

Front lens element is still exposed if you need to wipe that. Bag should contain limited air and moisture. It shouldnt let any through to the camera

Where this really does pay off is going back into the warm, you just flip the end of the bag over the lens stopping any moisture getting to the cold camera and lens.

First yahoo link

http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-care/varying-weather/cold-weather/

Quote from: SeriousGet a plastic bag and an elastic band, put the bag over the camera and gather it around the lens so the optic isnt covered, fasten in place with elastic band. This will keep snow/rain off the camera body and help protect it.

In extreme cold weather keep camera inside your coat when not in use so it doesnt get too cold, which can cause battery failure.

Also dont get your hopes up too high for the lights, they are notoriously hard to capture. Be sure and show us if you get anything good!! Good Luck!

get a UV filter to screw onto the lens, if you ruin that itll only be £5 to replace rather than wrecking the front element of the lens

youll need a tripod, and a long exposure to get anything id say, use remote shutter release/self timer and mirror lockup to reduce movement during the exposure.

keep your batts somewhere warm so there not dead from the cold