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P5000 |
Nikon Coolpix P5000 Review
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Review
Date: April 5, 2007 |
Category:
Serious
Amateur
HANDLING & FEEL
The Nikon Coolpix P5000 is relatively
light and compact. A magnesium alloy front panel
provides the necessary strength to attach optional
lenses to the body; to allow that, the lens ring
screws right off. The Nikon P5000 is compact enough
to be carried in a large trousers pocket or handbag.
As most compact digital cameras do now, the Nikon
P5000 also uses the Secure Digital (SD & SDHC)
memory card.
The Nikon P5000 is attractive in its black body
with silver and chrome accents. It has an very
good handgrip that is covered with non-slip rubber.
The angled shutter-release button, handy Command
dial, Mode dial and control buttons make the P5000
intuitive to use.
Startup time is about 2 sec. Shot to shot time
is also about 2 sec. (I took 5 shots in approx.
10 sec.) There is no practical shutter
lag. Autofocus is fast though it will sometimes
hunt a bit in low-light; it is however precise
so you do lock focus.
| STYLE |
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Colours: overall black
with silver and chrome accents |
| - |
Looks: rectangular, professional |
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| FEEL |
| - |
Comfortable |
| - |
Lots of controls |
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| DIMENSIONS &
WEIGHT |
| - |
Medium Compact: fits in a large pants
pocket, coat pocket or small handbag |
| - |
Dimensions: Approx. 98 x 64.5 x 41
mm (3.9 x 2.5 x 1.6 in.) excluding projections |
| - |
Weight: Approx. 200 g (7.1 oz.) without
battery and SD memory card |
| - |
Takes 1 Li-ion battery EN-EL5 3.7V
1100mAh |
|
| SPEED OF OPERATION |
| - |
Average startup speed with lens extending
about 26 mm (1 in.) and LCD turning
on in about 2 sec. |
| - |
Shot to shot time about 2 sec. |
| - |
No practical shutter lag. |
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The Terminal compartment is on the left side
of the camera (viewed from the front) with a small
squarish rubber cover.
Controls
The top of the camera has (from right to left)
the Shutter Release Button, the Zoom lever around
the shutter-release button, the Power ON/OFF button,
the Command dial, the Mode dial, and the Hot Shoe.
All the other controls are found on the back.
The Mode Dial is reachable by the thumb. Besides
the Auto mode (Green camera symbol), it has P
(Programmed Auto), S (Shutter-Priority), A (Aperture-Priority),
M (Manual), SETUP, Movie, SCENE (Scene Modes),
Hi ISO (high sensitivity), and Anti-shake (which
turns on VR and BSS).
A Command dial allows you to quickly select a
shutter speed, aperture or other menu options.
You can use the multi selector (Up, Down, Right
and Left arrows) but the Command dial is more
intuitive and faster to operate.
As Nikon digital cameras are well known for,
there is a Scene Mode for almost everything you
want to do. For example, the Panorama Assist scene
mode allows you to take a number of panoramic
shots and line them up precisely on screen by
overlaying the semi-transparent previous image
on screen. This is one of the best Panorama implementation
I've used.
You can record movies (with sound) at 640x480
at 30fps, limited only by the size of your memory
card (though the camera will only show remaining
time available for 2GB). You have a choice of
Single AF (default, focus locks once movie recording
starts) or Full-time AF (camera continuously adjusts
focus during movie recording, though focusing
sound will also get recorded).
All other controls are found on the back of the
camera. All the buttons are neatly lined up to
the left of the large 2.5-in. 230,000 pixels resolution
LCD. From top to bottom: Function button (can
be set in Menu); Monitor button, Playback, MENU,
Delete.
For those who like to have one, there is an optical
viewfinder.
If you need to access the menu, you don't need
to scroll page after page to find the desired
menu item. A Menu icons feature condenses 4 pages
of menu text into 1 convenient page of icons,
though you would need to familiarize yourself
with what each icon stands for. A short description
displays at the top of the screen as you scroll
over each one.
Exposure compensation is evoked by simply pressing
the RIGHT ARROW key on the Multi Selector, then
using UP and DOWN to dial in a +ve and -ve value,
respectively.
The Playback function has its own dedicated button,
which makes it very convenient to switch between
the Record and Playback modes with a press of
the button. Half press the shutter-release button
to immediately return to Record mode. If you just
want to view your pics without turning the camera
on, simply press and hold the Playback button
for about 4 sec. and Playback will start without
the lens extending; when you're done, press the
Power button to turn the camera off.
When in Playback mode, the Delete button will
delete the displayed picture; to Delete All, you
need to access the Menu.
On the bottom of the camera is the tripod socket,
which is metal and placed almost in the middle
of the camera. You will not be able to change
battery and card while the camera is mounted on
a tripod.
On the right side of the bottom is the Battery
and SD Card Compartment. There is a small latch
to secure the battery from falling when the door
is opened.
LCD & Menus
As noted earlier, there is an optical viewfinder
and the large 2.5 in. LCD monitor is bright. The
230,000 pixels resolution is quite good with a
fast enough refresh rate for a smooth display.
You can manually adjust the LCD monitor's brightness
in SETUP. The LCD monitor gains up only very slightly
in low-light but not in extreme low-light. There
is an effective AF-assist Illuminator to help
achieve focus in low-light. You can also display
a Framing Grid of horizontal and vertical lines.
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SHOOTING MENU 1 of 4
- Image quality
- Image size
- Optimize image
- White balance
- ISO sensitivity
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SHOOTING MENU 2 of 4
- Metering
- Continuous
- BSS
- Auto bracketing
- AF area mode
|
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SHOOTING MENU 3 of 4
- Auto-focus mode
- Flash exp. comp.
- Flash control
- Fixed aperture
- Noise reduction
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SHOOTING MENU 4 of 4
- Converter
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SHOOTING MENU ICONS
- All 16 Menu options summarized on a single
page of icons
- Notice on all Menu screens, ? Help (Tele
button) will display a short help description
|
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OPTIMIZE IMAGE 1 of 2
- Normal
- Softer
- Vivid
- More Vivid
- Portrait
|
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OPTIMIZE IMAGE 2 of 2
- Custom
- Black-and-white
- Note that there is no Sepia
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CUSTOM
- Custom and Black-and-white allow you
to specify a value for Contrast, Image sharpening
and Saturation
|
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WHITE BALANCE 1 of 2
- Auto
- White balance preset
- Daylight
- Incandescent
- Fluorescent
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WHITE BALANCE 2 of 2
- Cloudy
- Flash
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ISO 1 of 2
- Auto
- 64
- 100
- 200
- 400
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ISO 2 of 2
- 800
- 1600
- 2000
- 3200 [Image size = 5M]
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METERING
- Matrix
- Center-weighted
- Spot
- Spot AF area
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DRIVE (CONTINUOUS)
- Single
- Continuous
- Continuous flash
- Interval timer shooting
|
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AUTO BRACKETING
- Auto bracketing can be set at +/- 0.3,
+/- 0.7 or +/- 1.0
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AF AREA MODE
- Auto: leave it to the camera to select
an AF area to focus on
- Manual: select from 99 AF areas
- Center: camera always focuses on center
AF area
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AF AREA MODE
- When Manual AF area mode is selected,
pressing the MENU/OK button allows you to
position the Af area at one of 99 possible
positions on screen
- Note that the area of the screen outside
the four marked corners (i.e. edges of screen)
cannot be selected
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SETUP 1 of 4
- Menus
- Quick startup
- Welcome screen
- Date
- Brightness
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SETUP 2 of 4
- Date imprint
- Vibration reduction: turn this ON to enable
image stabilization; choose OFF when camera
is placed on a tripod
- AF assist: AF-assist lamp lights to enable
focus lock in poor lighting
- Digital zoom
- Sound settings
|
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SETUP 3 of 4
- Auto off
- Format card
- Language
- Interface
- FUNC button: allows you to customize the
FUNC button
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SETUP 4 of 4
- Reset all
- Firmware version
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SETUP ICONS
- All 17 Set-up options summarized on a
single page of icons
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SETUP - Menus
- Text
- Icons
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LANGUAGE
- 20 different languages
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FUNCTION
- Allows you to customize the FUNC button
to one of the following:
- ISO sensitivity
- Image quality
- Image size
- White balance
- Vibration reduction
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FUNCTION - ISO
- If you selected ISO above, then when
you press the FUNC button, the ISO menu
screen displays
- Rotate the Command dial to quickly select
a value
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PROGRAM AUTO
- Clockwise from top left: Programmed Auto
mode, Macro ON, Focus indicator, Flash mode,
ISO 64, VR, Self-timer, space for 101 images
left, Aperture F2.7, Shutter Speed 1/2 sec.,
Image Quality Fine, Image Size 10M, Exp.
Comp. +0.3EV, Vivid color, Daylight WB,
Noise Reduction ON
|
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APERTURE PRIORITY
- A = Aperture Priority Mode
- Rotate Command dial to select an aperture
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SHUTTER PRIORITY
- S = Shutter Priority Mode
- Rotate Command dial to select a shutter
speed
|
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MANUAL MODE
- M = Manual Mode
- Rotate Command dial to select a shutter
speed
|
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MANUAL MODE
- M = Manual Mode
- Press Exposure Compensation (Right Arrow)
and rotate Command dial to select an aperture
- Pressing Exp. Comp. toggles between selecting
a shutter speed and an aperture
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SCENE MODES 1 of 4
- Face-priority AF
- Portrait
- Landscape
- Sports
- Night portrait
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SCENE MODES 2 of 4
- Party/indoor
- Beach/snow
- Sunset
- Dusk/dawn
- Night landscape
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SCENE MODES 3 of 4
- Close up
- Museum
- Fireworks show
- Copy
- Back light
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SCENE MODES 4 of 4
- Panorama assist (with semi transparency)
- Voice recording
- Image quality
- Image size
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SCENE MODES ICONS
- 16 Scene Modes summarized on a single
page of icons
|
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FACE PRIORITY
- Subject must be facing the camera for
the face to be recognized and focused on
- When there are more than one possible
faces to focus in, the closest face will
be selected
|
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MOVIE
- Movie options
- Auto-focus mode
|
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MOVIE ICONS
- Though it is great to have all options
of a menu on one screen of icons, here the
icons are more cryptic than the text form
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MOVIE OPTIONS 1 of 2
- TV movie 640 * - @ 30fps
- TV movie 640 - @ 15 fps
- Small size 320 - @ 15fps
- Smaller size 160 - @ 15fps
- Time-lapse movie * - up tp 1800 stills
joined into an 60s silent movie
- Movie records until memory card is full
or file size of 2GB reached
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MOVIE OPTIONS 2 of 2
- Sepia movie 320 - @ 15fps
- B&W movie 320 - @ 15fps
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PLAYBACK MENU 1 of 2
- D-Lighting
- Print set
- SLide show
- Delete
- Protect |
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PLAYBACK MENU 2 of 2
- Transfer marking
- Hide image
- Small pic.
- Copy |
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PLAYBACK MENU ICONS
- All 9 options summarized on a single
page of icons |
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D-LIGHTING
- Enhances contrast and brightness in dark
areas |
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HELP
- Toggle the Zoom control to T to bring
up Help whenever a ? is displayed on screen |
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DATE IMPRINT
- Date can be permanently part of picture |
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PLAYBACK DISPLAY |
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PLAYBACK HIGHLIGHT
- Histogram
- Highlight areas blink [see black patch
on Tinker Bell's hair] |
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EXPOSURE COMPENSATION
- Press Exp. Comp. (Right Arrow) and rotate
Command dial to select a value
|
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INFINITY
- Auto Focus (W: 30 cm/1 ft. T: 70 cm/2
ft. 4in.)
- Infinity (5 m/16 ft. 5 in.)
- Focusing limit (2 m/6 ft. 7 in.)
- Macro (4 cm/1.6 in.)
(min. focusing distance)
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FRAMING GRID
- Thick yellow lines
- No info display
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SELF-TIMER
- Off
- 10 s
- 3 s
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The Nikon Coolpix P5000 is an attractive
camera with good handling and lots of practical
features. Full exposure flexibility and effective
VR technology make this camera attractive to those
desiring something with more control than a point-and-shoot.
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