This is a really good camera for the price you pay, this is my first Nikon, I was a Canon user and I'm really pleased with this little gem, the quality of the pictures is excellent, the videos are really nice to watch on TV, not high quality, but very near, if you want it better buy a film camera. I bought this camera for the price, and for every review I read from it, and I'm glad to have it. The shoot process is quick (my opinion), there are people that says that it takes too much time, I take pictures at 12M, full resolution and with a standard SD memory, the time it takes to process the picture is really normal, with a quick memory(20/MB x seg) it must lower the time.
Date:
2007-12-29 - 13:07:33
Author:
Collpix
Rating:
Beautiful small camera with features like any DSLR, I had a P5000 like it very much. The P5100 even better, improved a lots from the P5000. the shutter speed is much faster, now sound "click" instead of "gee---& wee"
picture quality is must better if you adjusted camera properly.
Video review: http://www.infoborder.com/Digital_Cameras/Video/NikonCoolpixP5100.php
Date:
2007-12-29 - 13:10:02
Author:
MarkIII
Rating:
Why is this cam so slow in focusing and then writing the image?
It takes me back to the days when i used a coolpix 995.
Hadn't used a Nikon p&s since, and was expecting much better response by now. Does Nikon even test the competition in this category?
I was just surprised and disappointed by these guys (Nikon).
The image itself is fine for a 12 mp jpg. I didn't have much problem with it, even compared to a Canon g9 (been testing both). The Nikon jpg might even have a bit less artifacts then the g9 jpg, when looking at 200%. I always want better image quality instead of more pixels, but what are you going to do...
A main thing I didn't get a sense of was being able to control this camera. Use it as a simple point and shoot and I thing you'll be ok. My main complaint is just that it's relatively slow for a top of the line p&s in 2007.
Nikon P5100 video review
Date:
2008-06-14 - 08:10:02
Author:
Dexter
Rating:
Hi Folks,
First of all, I'd like to thank the members of this forum for being such a great bunch. Unlike other Nikon forums, people here seem to simply love taking pictures and it is quite refreshing to read about people's experience without having to go through dozens of troll/fanboy/angry posts in every thread.
Some background:
I have owned quite a few Coolpix and other compact cameras (Coolpix 950, 990, 4500, S10 and Fuji F10/11/30 (a.k.a. high-ISO kings) as well as various Canon compacts, including the G7). I just can't leave home without some kind of light-capturing device. I have and still do use mid and high-end film and digital SLRs for serious work (products, weddings, commercial) such as the Nikon D2x, D100 and countless F-series. I will be basing this review on my experience with these cameras.
I have purchased the P5100 yesterday, hoping to acquire a compact, rugged, high-resolution camera with accurate color and good macro capabilities for 'walk-around', street and nature photography where picture quality is paramount to me. I did own the Canon G7 - a nearly perfect compact camera - which fails on two of the most important attributes I look for in a compact: color accuracy and handling. I even gave a good try to its successor, the G9, with similar (only noisier) experience. How does the P5100 compare? To my delight, very favorably.
Now, on to the review...
PART I
Color, skin tones:
Unlike the G7/9, the P5100 produces natural, pleasing color. The skin tones are realistic and clean. No Canon-trademarked, orange fake-tan here. Colors are not over-saturated, and seem to respond well to post-processing.
Handling:
In one word: fantastic. It is as good, albeit smaller, as some D-SLRs out there on this front. With its full rubberized grip and great button layout, the P5100 reminds me of the legendary Coolpix 990, which was my reference in compact, full-metal body design. The click-wheel combined with Fn button allows instant ISO adjustment, including a few oh-so-useful auto-ISO mode. The shutter button is large, smooth and sensitive. A real joy to use. On the negative side, some important and commonly accessed functions, such as white balance and picture size/quality are only accessible through the menu button.
AF:
I had some problems focusing in candle-light conditions. With AF-assist lamp off. Hand-held. At 64 ISO. I have no experience with the P5000, but I can report that the P5100 is certainly no worse than any of the compacts I have used in the past. For example, the Coolpix S10 is much, much worse, and it sports a monster light-gathering 38-380 f/3.5 (constant!) lens. Zoomed all the way to 120mm, the P5100 has some trouble with back-lit, high-contrast subjects such as tree leaves. Pre-focusing and re-framing takes care of that problem. I do wish it had manual focus and/or a focus/AE lock button, but I'm nitpicking. In the vast majority of conditions, the P5100 focuses instantly, and accurately. On the negative side, and not completely AF-related: the zoom motor is very noisy.
Overall picture quality:
Exposure accuracy, color saturation, white balance, sharpness and edge sharpness are all excellent. I am especially impressed by the lack of chromatic aberrations and corner softness at the wide end of the zoom range. At 100%, pictures look very natural, and the detail is smooth, very film-like. Dynamic range isn't great, and one has to nail the exposure to avoid trouble. Trick: use the lens adapter and a grad ND filter for high-contrast landscape shots.
Resolution:
Impressive. In terms of resolving power, the P5100 gets very close to the 12MP produced by the D2x. What this tiny, slow lens is able to achieve is also worthy of many full-size zoom lenses.
Responsiveness:
The Achilles' heel of this camera. Unless you have great handling skills, and pre-focus in all circumstances, the P5100 is not a camera you'd want to use in a hurry or when attempting to capture kids in movement. The shot-to-shot time is huge, the card writing speed is slow and the buffer small. One can take at the most 4-5 pictures at full-size, fine settings before the camera becomes unresponsive and re-focus. On the positive side, there is virtually no shutter lag. Which means that if you carefully pre-focus and pick your instant, you can potentially get better results than some idiot using a 5fps D-SLR shooting hundreds of JPEGs non-stop. Skill beats gear.
*But* I discovered a trick for those who still need higher frame rate/larger buffer: if you set the digital zoom setting to 'crop', reduce the resolution to, say, 3MP, and zoom all the way in, you will notice that 1) the camera reaches 2 or 3fps; 2) the lower resolution allows one to take many more pictures in a row and 3) the extra crop factor allows one to get 'closer' to the action. A bit like the D2x's crop mode.
Date:
2008-06-20 - 08:42:44
Author:
Dexter
Rating:
PART II
Sensitivity:
Cramming such a high number of photosites on such a small CCD could only lead to problems in the high-iso range. But I was pleasantly surprised by the overall 'look' of the grain, as well as how well it holds at higher settings. People seem to give a lot of importance to ISO performance these days, so I did a few tests in both good and poor conditions. Here are the results:
In good lighting conditions:
- 64 ISO: No visible noise in the highlights, some color noise in the shadows;
- 100 ISO: No visible noise in the highlights, some grain in the shadows;
- 200 ISO: Little to no visible noise in the highlights, some in the shadows;
- 400 ISO: Visible noise in both highlights and shadows
(Still pleasant on screen and superb on print);
- 800 ISO: Lots of noise everywhere. Still holds up nicely on prints;
- 1600 ISO: Same, but much more color noise across the frame
(Usable with some noise reduction, but color suffers);
- 3200 ISO: Albeit the lower resolution, the result is good for small prints
and web use. Little noise, but poor color.
In bad conditions (i.e. underexposure, high white balance bias):
- Still no noise at 64 ISO. Great for long exposures;
- Some visible noise at 100 ISO, but can be processed easily;
- 200 ISO looks about as bad as 400 ISO is good conditions;
- 400 ISO is usable (see girl sample) for print. Noise reduction can still be applied;
- 800 ISO is not usable without heavy noise reduction.
In black&white:
- 400 ISO has a great film-like grain which gives good B&W pictures,
if you increase the contrast a bit, and play with the color filters.
- 800 ISO gives decent B&W pictures, but I find the noise in shadows
to be a little bit too visible. I post-process a little to reduce this problem, and get great old-looking frames.
Features:
Unlike Canon equivalents, the P5100 has a pretty basic set of features. No ND filter option, no advanced high-res movie mode, no high-speed continuous setting, no flip LCD, no way to flip through zoomed pictures to pixel-peep, no fancy color replacement options and other special effects... It is a fantastic photographer's tool, but will not make a gadget-freak happy. There are add-on lenses available however, and the TC-3ED is a gorgeous lens by all means. The video mode is very decent, and produces standard AVI files.
LCD and viewfinder:
The LCD is sharp and has a very wide viewing angle. The optical, tunnel-type viewfinder is small but sharp, and compares favorably to the G7's. The G9 has a much larger LCD with the same resolution and much poorer viewing angle. I'd rather keep the camera compact, the view angle wide and the battery full, thank you :)
Macro capabilities:
The macro mode is just as good as most other self-respecting coolpix cameras: superb. The distortion correction allows one to take very close macro pics at the wider end of the zoom without barrel. Very nice! I saw very little corner softness at the closest macro range, unlike with the Coolpix S10 and Canon G7.
Flash performance:
The internal flash is quite powerful and lits a mid-size living-room easily, for family shots. Coupled with any SB-series speedlight bounced on the ceiling, the P5100 produced great results, just as most other Coolpix's.
Build quality:
At the risk of repeating myself... fantastic. One must hold the camera in-store to have an idea of what I mean. It literally feels like a solid block of metal alloy. There is nothing flimsy, nothing loose and all the controls and buttons are well-damped, well-sunken into the body. The G7 is 'metal-covered' as well, but it only took a single ding to find out just how solid it really was. To those who miss the Coolpix-990-era of pro-grade, full-magnesium compact build, welcome home.
(Subjective) conclusion:
In my opinion, the P5100 is a great advanced amateur compact. It's cheap; handles great; is built to last, and most importantly... takes great pictures. It isn't a fast camera, nor as fully-featured as Canon's equivalents, but it excels where it counts (to me, at least): great color, great tone, great resolution. As a bonus, it produces no corner softness, very little chromatic aberrations and its noise signature/performance is very, very manageable. It is a real pleasure to capture the moment with this tool in my hand, because it feels good, looks good and delivers the results I'd expect from an entry-level D-SLR with kit lens. And that's exactly what I wanted: an SLR in my pocket.
Pros:
Best handling of any ultra-compact, period;
Excellent resolution. Among the best of any compact I have ever used;
Good noise signature. A very uniform film-like grain, easily processed;
Distortion correction feature works just as well as Photoshop's plugin;
Great long exposure capabilities. Very little noise in 8s exposures;
Fantastic VR performance. Much, much better than older VR cameras
as well as Canon's IS (see 1s hand-held exposure sample);
Superb build quality. It must be experienced.
Cons:
White balance is buried in menus;
Sub-par overall responsiveness;
Only decent AF. It could handle high-contrast subjects better;
Relatively poor dynamic range;
No way to quickly zoom-and-lock pictures, a feature Canon compacts sport;
Average noise performance (compared to Fuji's SuperCCD-based compacts);
Distortion correction feature cannot be used in continuous mode;
When distortion correction is enabled, LCD view is unsharp due to resampling.
Here are the full-size, straight out of camera sample pictures:
