Nikon Coolpix P5100
Cameras Buying Guide
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October 30, 2007 01:31
4.0/5
Originally, I was not going to write a review as I am not a camera expert by any means. All observations here are empirical and the scientific method is out the window. Also, let me preface anything I may say here by telling you that all comparisons of this camera are to the Nikon 7900 which I mistakenly gave to my grandson instead of keeping for myself. Upon taking the camera from the box, I noticed that it was more ergonomically correct and easier to grasp; the 7900 could be like holding a bar of soap between the thumb and forefinger while in the shower. A portion of the right side of the camera is rubberized making it much easier to hold. The on/off button is much easier to operate as the one on the 7900 was somewhat recessed and could be difficult to press. This camera is larger than the 7900 but not much. The battery life is not quite as good. That portion of the zoom button that protrudes has a design flaw on the under side that allows it to catch on clothing or camera case presenting a possible problem. The door to the cable connector is sleazy while the door to the memory card/battery area is better, but only marginally. It does have a place for your thumb on the upper right side in back.. Be careful not to cover the flash with your left forefinger as the position of the flash makes this very possible. It came with a neck strap but no wrist strap so I had to steal one from my grandsons Wii. You can imagine how well that went over.
At first blush, this camera appeared to me to be hopelessly complicated. Nevertheless, I told myself that if this was the posture I wanted to assume, I should have purchased a camera with fewer features. I decided this camera was not smarter than I was but its been two weeks and the jury is still out. The camera has a wealth of features which I will not attempt to critique leaving this in the capable hands of the gals and guys at C/net. I particularly enjoy their video blurbs. The camera appears to be somewhat faster than the 7900 by a small degree. My unscientific timings gives the camera startup time at the better part of two seconds; the shutter lag as another two seconds and the recycle time with flash can be as high as three seconds. It has many bells and whistles I know I will never use.. However, having worked with it the last two weeks I can easily see it has many features to recommend it. As with my old camera, the photos and movies are of a superior quality with the movies being even better than with the 7900. This camera will allow the amateur enthusiast to experiment and grow in knowledge and expertise (yours truly included). At first I thought I had made a mistake but now I can see that this camera will afford me many hours of pleasure and great photo experiences. I'm not sorry and I don't believe you will be, either. No, it is not perfect but as I tell my friends, "No matter what brand you buy or how much you pay for it, it's going to have things about it you will not like." So seems to be the nature of today's point and shoot camera. It appears to me that if Nikon wants to stay in the point and shoot market they are going to have to find a way to speed up their cameras. -
October 10, 2007 04:17
5.0/5
I purchased the Nikon Coolpix 5100 last Friday and I am very impressed. I love the fact that Nikon put so much camera in such as small machine. The image quality blows me away! I have taken very nice photographs with it and because of the megapixel count, I am able to crop the image with excellent results. I love its small size because now I can carry a full-featured digital camera with me anywhere. There are times that I prefer not to carry my full blown Digital SLR to a shooting situation. The camera focusing mechanism takes some getting used to. Sometimes it focuses behind or in front of the main subject so it is preferable to focus manually to avoid this problem. Overall, I cannot find any faults with the design of this marvelous machine. -
December 17, 2007 05:58
4.5/5
Bright sharp 230,000 pixel LCD
View angle so low that if you can see the glass you can still see the image. Arms length shots over the crowd are possible.
Aweome user interface. You'll get hooked on the "command dial", easy way to make on the fly manual changes to take proper pictures.
Uh yes, this is a photographers pocket digital - optical viewfinder, flash shoe, neck strap, PASM, it's just very small
Onto the gorgeous images. I've seen some reviews calling the high iso modes "useless".
Try this: put the mode dial in "Buddhist Palm" mode (or whatever they call the quaky hand thing), then take a shot while quickly moving the camera.
You'll get an incredibly noisy image - but holy cow! there is a credible image where there should be nothing but blobs of dark colors. Third party magic algorithms can clean up some of the noise.
Now grab a tripod and set the iso to 64 for some very rich, un-noisy images.
Macro at 1.6" makes a dime bigger than 8.5x8.5@600dpi and every scratch shows.
59 min and 37 secs of movie fits on a 4GB card
me;
mamiya 645 in the early 80s
took 3 years of mundane images before deciding photography wasn't my talent
a few pocket 35mm then digitals, canon s20, nikon p4, and now the p5100.
but you never forget f-stops -
November 30, 2007 07:07
4.0/5
The reviews on this camera are not all that great but I think thats because they are comparing this camera to arguably better cameras (Canon G9). But this camera is really a perfect camera for most users.
Great for point and shoot, feels perfect in the hand (no other small camera is as good and I have bought dozens for my business), and you can add lenses. It also gives "average" users some control over their shots so it is a perfect starter camera that wont break the bank.
But I would easily sacrafice the Megapicel race (8 is good enough) for a higher power zoom or wide angle lens. This camera is not good for moving opbjects it can work but if thats what you need look elsewhere.
But the ultimate strength of this camera is its macro mode. For this price simply no other camera gets close shots to 1 cm with NO pin cushioning or barrel distortion. The focus is perfect means that if you are taking close ups for ebay or nature or anything you will get perfect shots everytime. This camera has a distortion control mode that relly works close up.
But normal shots come out great also.
Also has 30fps movie mode- Canon G9 doesnt as it is more of a "prosumer" camera.
Also yes you get noise at ISO 400 and above butEVERY camera in this price range has this problem. You have to get SLR cameras to escape the artifacting so I dont consider that a minus. But Cameras have to quite advertising "high ISO" if they really cant do GOOD pictures at high ISO.
I would recommend this to anyone. -
April 16, 2008 12:46
4.5/5
When you hold your brand new COOLPIX P5100 you can notice that its not just a snapshooter with 12.1 MP, its the best you can buy if you can't afford a Nikon D-SLR .
It's a versatile camera wich you can use in someone's reunion to snapshot all the relatives present, or use it in your travels to take amazing photos or even to take images that you could think are from a SLR (obviously it's not a SLR, don't be too enthusiastic).
In the other hand, I miss a wider range in the zoom. I previously had a Panasonic DMC-LZ5 which had a zoom of 6x... altough the range is enough for almost all the images you take. -
January 31, 2008 05:58
4.5/5
The best point and shoot I have ever used. One of the opinions posted on this site says it doesn't let you know if you have the memory card installed - but it does, indirectly. An icon appears on the screen that indicates using the internal memory, which either means the memory card is full or absent. -
January 12, 2008 09:29
4.5/5
The Coolpix 5100 is the top of the line Nikon point and shoot cameras. The 5100 is a great companion to the Nikon dSLR line and utilizes the TTL Nikon flash units. The IS capability at High ISO is very effective even for hand held photography. I compared night photos with the 5100 to the Nikon D70S and there is a signifcant advantage of the 5100 over the D70S. There is no perfect camera, only the best camera for the photo shoot of the moment. -
January 3, 2008 06:09
5.0/5
for te money this is a 12 megapixel giant....can't find a better value for a full feature compact 12.0 -
January 4, 2008 12:19
Terrible
0.5/5
I bought this camera, then immediately returned it the next day. It took very good pictures in both outdoor and indoors, but it was very slow. The shutter lag time and continuous shooting was horrible. And this definitely takes out of the experience. If you want to capture that magic moment and the right place and TIME, it is difficult to do that with this camera. -
August 13, 2008 05:25
4.5/5
One of things I love about this camera is how good it feels in my hands--it feels sturdy and solid--which helps keep the camera steady. The menus are easy and quick to go through and find the right mode to use. Videos turn out very well with good sound. When the lens is in the wide angle range it will create some distortion, but most lens will at that angle. It does take a little experience or practice to get night time scenes right, but again, that's the case on any camera. I like how the flash and view finders are placed, they work great. I basically got this camera to be something to carry around SLR camera, which is just impractical for me, and the P5100 exceeded my hopes. Yes, it can be a bit slow at times, but for how detailed and great the pictures turn out it's worth it. I can crop my photos quite a bit and still have them look good. It's a great camera and while it's around $300 it's worth it for someone who wants to take great pictures without lugging around a SLR (or even an amateur photographer that isn't quite ready for the investment of an SLR).
