jag2112's Full Review: Nikon D5000 Body Only Digital Camera
A little over a year ago, the first 3 megapixel digital still cameras were becoming common-place - but at a price. At that time, the general consensus was that 3 megapixels would be more than enough for everyone's use.
That was then. This is now.
As more and more images are being snapped off digitally, the need for finer resolutions, better color management and superior features became all to evident to a number of major players in the camera market. Having gotten the itch for a boost to my own personal megapixel rating, I decided to go test drive two of the leading models - Nikon's CoolPix 5000 and Sony's DSC-F707 Cybershot. Fortunately, through my sources, I was able to take both of these beauties out for an extensive month-long test, with the notion to bring reviews on both to this forum.
As the title indicates, this review will focus (pardon the pun) on Nikon's 5 megapixel entry, the CoolPix 5000. My next review (to be posted within a day or two of this one) will be based on Sony's entry. So, on to the CoolPix 5000, the latest in a series of CoolPix cameras from Nikon.
I'm going to start off by first talking about the price. Usually, I don't get into those specifics until the end of my review, but I feel it's important to note what range (outside of megapixels) this camera falls under. With a street price of around $1,100 and a optimum buying price around $800, this is clearly a 'high-end by price' camera, which makes it largely inaccessible to a normal consumer. That being said, aside from the megapixel rating, there are specifics that justify the high price here. As a consumer, you need to decide whether this is the right camera for you.
Initially, when viewing the CoolPix 5000, it appears to be a standard SLR. Obviously, looks can be deceiving because this is a fixed lens digital camera with a somewhat disappointing 3x optical zoom. For nearly $1,000 I was hoping to see a more robust lens or a true SLR body. Alas, this wasn't to be. In fact, if you want to put a filter (protective or otherwise) on the lens, you'll need to purchase a lens attachment mount (item number UR-E5 according to Nikon). This is always a good idea for protective purposes, so the lack of screws on the lens is a puzzling omission by Nikon.
The SLR styled body is smaller than you would expect (images of the camera do not properly reflect the size, however the camera has a sense of quality and durability when being held. Those with large(r) hands will need to be conscious of where they are placing their hands so that they're not covering the flash sensor or other crucial areas. But while it is on the small size, after limited use, it felt completely natural to hold and to use - especially when establishing a shot.
The CoolPix 5000 comes with an assortment of features that you would expect from Nikon and a camera in this price range. The optical viewfinder is a pleasure to use, accurately framing the shot and clearly reflecting a properly focused image. But if you select to use the built in LCD screen, you won't be disappointed. In an interesting design feature, Nikon opted to build a flip-out swivel LCD screen which allows for increased flexibility when in use. I've found myself using it more and more despite my normal habit of sticking with a viewfinder. Out of doors, the LCD screen holds its own, but in direct sunlight, you'll be hard pressed to make out the image. Still, the 1.8" LCD with over 100,000 pixels is a nice complimentary feature.
Additionally, CoolPix 5000 offers such features including:
- ISO sensitivity from 100 to 800, manual or automatic
- External flash connectivity via a hot shoe for more lighting options
-The ability to manually override nearly every automatic setting, including: exposure mode (S,A,P,M), focus distance, AF focus areas (5), flash level compensation, sharpening, white-balance, etc.
- Advanced (spot, center-weighted, matrix) metering
- 3 User adjustable configurations allows you to adjust quickly to different shooting styles/situations.
- Adjustable shutter speeds (From shorts of up to 1/2000s or longs of up to 8 seconds.
- Auto red eye reduction
- self timer (30 seconds)
- Quicktime movie mode with limited (but common) resolution setting of 320 x 240)
The CoolPix 5000 also has a unique featured dubbed the 'Best Shot Selector' or BSS. Essentially, with the BSS activated, the camera will take 3 frames in quick succession, storing only the 'best' image. The camera definition of 'best image' may differ from your own, but for the most part, I found that fiddling with this option netted some nice results, although since I never could see what it was comparing itself to, it's hard to judge just how useful this feature is. Still, knowing that shutter lag is always an issue with digital cameras, this option is welcomed.
And while, initially, the sheer volume of features and user settings was daunting, I found that the online menu system coupled with the informative user manual made the entire learning curve very easy and intuitive. Once I learned about to perform a certain task, I rarely had to go back to the manual to brush up on the action. That's important when you're constantly making adjustments to the settings and set-up of the camera and/or each individual shot you're taking.
Moving back to shutter lag, several reviews and reviewers were thrilled with the lack of shutter lag the CoolPix 5000 presented. I was looking forward to this 'feature' but ultimately was a little disappointed. There is lag here - especially when you don't preset the focus on a shot. Is it less of a lag than other digital cameras? Yes, without a doubt. But the lag, which can reach upwards of 1 second, is still an issue that, hopefully, future digital cameras will resolve with faster processors and image sensors.
Finally, lets discuss the images themselves. At 5 megapixels (when using that resolution setting) you are treated to some extraordinarily sharp and detailed images (depending on the subject matter of course). One issue I've always had in the digital domain was poor rendering of colors, especially flesh tones. Whether it's the 5 megapixel rating or the superior processor inside this CoolPix 5000, I found that the color representation was absolutely beautiful. My only concern was that the built-in flash tended to wash out some of the coloring when taking indoor pictures, but not to the point of making the images worthless.
And since this is a 5 megapixel camera, expect the images, when using the highest setting, to be enormous in size. Unfortunately, Nikon decided to include a 32 MB compact flash card which will only hold several images. Opt for a 128 MB card if you plan on really exploiting the features of this camera without having to upload the images to your PC in order to clear the card.
As you'd expect, the CoolPix 5000 comes fully connectible with video out options, USB connectivity and more. Batteries and the charges work well enough, but (as you'd expect) drain far faster when you continually use the LCD screen over the view finder.
All in all, the Nikon CoolPix 5000 does everything a solid 5 megapixel camera should do. It's fairly easy to use once you go through the manual and play with it for a while. It has all the features and flexibility a novice to professional might look for in a camera. It's small enough for portability yes durable enough to handle rough handing. And finally it produces images of incredible clarity - images you'll be proud to call your own.
Is it worth the near $1,000 price tag? For all that this camera does, I would say yes. Will it drop in price in the foreseeable future? Certainly, as do all electronics. But if you're shopping for a solid 5-megapixel camera, you can certainly do a lot worse than the Nikon CoolPix 5000. But if this doesn't suit your needs, perhaps you should check out my next 5-megapixel camera review - coming soon.
Should you have any questions regarding this, or any other review I've posted, please don't hesitate to leave a comment or email me directly.
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Full camera specifications follow.
Nikon CoolPix 5000 Specifications
- Body Material: Metal
- JCIA effective pixels: 5.0 megapixels
- CCD size: 2/3" (5.24 megapixel total)
- CCD Colour Filter Array: C - Y - G - M
- Max resolution: 2560 x 1920 (4.92 megapixel)
- Lower resolutions
* 1600 x 1200
* 1280 x 960
* 1024 x 768
* 640 x 480
-Image ratio w:h: 4:3 / 3:2 (2560 x 1700)
- Image formats
* JPEG (EXIF)
* TIFF (8-bit)
-JPEG Quality Levels
* FINE
* NORMAL
* BASIC
-Sensitivity equiv.
* Auto
* ISO 100
* ISO 200
* ISO 400
* ISO 800
-Lens Thread:
* With UR-E5 adapter: 46 mm
* With UR-E6 adapter: 28 mm
-Zoom wide (W): 28 mm
-Zoom tele (T): 85 mm (3 x)
-Zoom type: Stepper motor driven, 14 positions from wide to tele
-Lens Aperture: F2.8 - F4.8
-Lens Construction: 9 elements in 7 groups
-Digital zoom: x1.2 - x4.0 in x0.2 steps
-Auto Focus: Contrast detection
-AF Illumination lamp: No
-Manual Focus: 2 cm - Infinity (0.8 in - Infinity)
-Normal focus range: 50 cm - Infinity (19.7 in - Infinity)
-Macro focus range: 2 cm - Infinity (0.8 in - Infinity)
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