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Nikon Coolpix P5100 Review
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Review
Date: Nov 12, 2007 |
Category:
Serious
Amateur
HANDLING & FEEL
The Nikon Coolpix P5100 body design has not changed much from that of the P5000, except the silver portions are now painted mostly black, giving it a more professional look. Dimensions and weight remain the same. It 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 P5100 is compact enough
to be carried in a large trousers pocket or handbag.
The Nikon P5100 is attractive in its (now almost all) black body
with a few silver and chrome accents. It has a great handgrip that is covered with non-slip rubber and allows you to hold it very comfortably and securely.
The angled shutter-release button, handy Command
dial, Mode dial and well placed control buttons make the P5100
intuitive to use.
Startup time is about 2 sec. Shot to shot time
is a bit longer than that on the P5000 at about 2.5 sec. (I took 4 shots in approx.
10 sec.), probably due to the larger image size but same size internal buffer. There is no practical shutter
lag. Autofocus is fast though it will sometimes
hunt in low-light.
| STYLE |
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Colours: overall black
with silver and chrome accents |
| - |
Looks: rectangular, professional |
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| FEEL |
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Comfortable |
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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 22 mm (0.8 in.) and LCD turning
on in about 2 sec. |
| - |
Shot to shot time about 2.5 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 at the very left (not pictured).
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 quick selection of shutter speed, aperture or other menu options.
You can use the multi selector (UP, DOWN, RIGHT
and LEFT ARROWS) or the Command Dial in MENU and SETUP. The Command Dial is more
intuitive and faster to operate but sometimes you still need to press the RIGHT ARROW and OK button to complete the selection. You can only use the Command Dial in FUNC. In Programmed Auto mode, the Command Dial conveniently engages program shift.
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, though it is a bit on the slow side saving each image captured.
You can record movies (with sound) at 640x480
at 30fps. The maximum file size for movies is 4GB. 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). You can record Time Lapse movies, Sepia movies or B&W movies.
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. A short description
displays at the top of the screen as you scroll
over each icon though, for quick access, you may want to familiarize yourself
with what each icon stands for.
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 2.5 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 very well in low-light and in extreme low-light, with a smooth display that is surprisingly not too noisy. 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
- Auto bracketing
- AF area mode
- Auto-focus mode
- Note that BSS is now listed under Continuous |
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SHOOTING MENU 3 of 4
- Flash exp. comp.
- Flash control
- Fixed aperture
- Noise reduction
- Converter |
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SHOOTING MENU 4 of 4
- User setting
- Reset user setting
- Distortion control |
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SHOOTING MENU ICONS
- All 1 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 (available as a movie option) |
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B&W MONOCHROME FILTER
- Select from Yellow, Orange, Red or Green filter effect
|
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CUSTOM CONTRAST 1 of 2
- Custom and Black-and-white allow you
to specify a value for Contrast, Image sharpening
and Saturation
- Auto, Normal, Low, Medium, High |
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WHITE BALANCE 1 of 2
- Auto
- Preset manual
- Daylight
- Incandescent
- Fluorescent |
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WHITE BALANCE 2 of 2
- Cloudy
- Flash |
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ISO 1 of 2
- Auto (64-800)
- Fixed range Auto (64-100, 64-200, 64-400)
- 64
- 100
- 200 |
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ISO 2 of 2
- 400
- 800
- 1600
- 2000
- 3200 [Image size = 5M]
- Slowest shutter speed of 2 sec. when ISO 1600, 2000 or 3200 |
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METERING
- Matrix
- Center-weighted
- Spot
- Spot AF area |
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CONTINUOUS 1 of 2
- Single
- Continuous
- BSS
- Continuous flash
- Multi-shot 16 |
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CONTINUOUS 2 of 2
- 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
- Face priority: focus on face
- 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
- Welcome screen
- Date
- Brightness
- Date imprint
|
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SETUP 2 of 4
- 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
- Auto off |
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SETUP 3 of 4
- Format card
- Language (23 to choose from)
- Video mode
- FUNC button: allows you to customize the
FUNC button
- Reset all |
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SETUP 4 of 4
- Firmware version
|
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SETUP MENU ICONS
- All 16 Set-up options summarized on a
single page of icons |
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SETUP - Menus
- Text
- Icons
- This is where you choose whether camera will display text or icons |
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LANGUAGE
- 23 different languages |
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FUNCTION 1 of 2
- Allows you to customize the FUNC button
to one of the following:
- ISO sensitivity
- Image quality
- Image size
- White balance
- AF area mode |
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FUNCTION 2 of 2
- Continuous
- Distortion control
- Converter
- Vibration reduction
- User setting
|
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FUNCTION - ISO 1 of 2
- If you selected to customize the FUNC button to bring up ISO, 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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FUNCTION - ISO 2 of 2
- Note on previous screen, the new convenient Auto ISO ranges: Auto 64-100, Auto 64-200 and Auto 64-400. |
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PROGRAM AUTO
- Clockwise from top left: Programmed Auto
mode, Macro ON, Flash mode OFF,
Auto ISO 64-400, Self-timer 3 sec., Date Imprint ON, space left for 25 images, Aperture F2.7, Shutter Speed 1/4 sec.,
Image Quality Fine, Image Size 12M, Exp.
Comp. +0.7EV, Flash Compensation -0.3EV, Distortion control, Image optimization, Preset WB |
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SCENE MODES 1 of 4
- Portrait
- Landscape
- Sports
- Night portrait
- Party/indoor |
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SCENE MODES 2 of 4
- Beach/snow
- Sunset
- Dusk/dawn
- Night landscape
- Close up |
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SCENE MODES 3 of 4
- Museum
- Fireworks show
- Copy
- Back light
- Panorama assist (with semi transparency) |
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SCENE MODES 4 of 4
- Voice recording
For convenience, the following options repeated on this menu:
- 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 (or more contrasty one) will
be selected |
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MOVIE MENU
- Movie oprions
- Auto-focus mode |
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MOVIE ICONS
|
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MOVIE OPTIONS 1 of 2
- TV movie 640 * - 640x480 @ 30fps
- TV movie 640 - 640x480 @ 15 fps
- Small size 320 - 320x240 @ 15fps
- Smaller size 160 - 160x120 @ 15fps
- Time-lapse movie * - up tp 1800 640x480 stills joined into an 60s silent movie played back @ 30fps
- Movie records until memory card is full
or file size of 4GB 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
- Hide image
- Small pic.
- Copy
- Black border |
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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 |
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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
- Infinity
- Macro (Continuous AF)
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FRAMING GRID
- Thin yellow lines
- Minimum info display
- Note that the thick yellow lines in previous models have now thankfully been replaced by thin lines.
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However, we still do not see the rationale behind displaying only a subset of the info instead of full info |
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SELF-TIMER
- Off
- 10 s
- 3 s
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The Nikon Coolpix P5100 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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