Customer Reviews

Nikon Coolpix P5100 12.1MP Digital Camera with 3.5x Optical Vibration Reduction Zoom

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I love this camera. My guess is you'll love it too, at least if your needs are similar to mine:

I cut my teeth on a Pentax Spotmatic in the 1970s, and appreciate the flexibility of manual controls. Point-&-Shoot digital cameras are small and light, but (nearly) everything is automatic. The P5100 allows you to manually adjust the shutter speed and aperture, just like with a DSLR; but unlike a DSLR, the P5100 is (while a bit heavier and bulkier than I might ideally like) pocketable. It's a compromise between a DSLR and a P&S, and in that sense works really well for me.

The build is really solid, the controls are exceptionally easy to use, and image quality is superb. My only real complaints are that it's a bit slow (shutter lag seeems longer than most, there's a lag while the image is being processed, and it grinds and struggles to focus in low light) and the on/off switch is located in the wrong place (the center of the grip, so I find myself turning the camera on & off when I don't mean to). I consider these minor inconveniences.

So if you're a photo enthusiast who wants more control than offered by most P&S cameras, but you don't want to deal with the bulk of a DSLR, you may love the P5100 too.

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UPDATE: I've had the camera for nearly 3 months now, so a brief update. I still rate it as an amazing little camera -- a lot of features and flexibility are squeezed into a small, solidly-constructed, pocketable box. If pocketability is what you want, this camera is I still believe an excellent choice. It's truly like having a DSLR in your pocket in many respects.

And it's not perfect: I wish I could give it 4-1/2 stars. When there are so many features packed into a small box, I guess there are bound to be compromises.

The P5100's compromises show up mainly in low light. First, there's a lot of noise above 400 ISO (although it's rated up to 3200). In that sense, this camera behaves more like a film camera -- which isn't so terrible, I've learned to work with it. The bigger problem is AutoFocus: It's a bit slow in the best of circumstances, and in low light it can take up to ten seconds to fix a focus. This doesn't lend itself to "point-&-shoot" captures. Again, I've learned to live with this: In low-light situations, I frame a shot and pre-focus: I depress the shutter halfway well before I'm actually ready to shoot, and then just wait. It works, but takes getting-used-to. I've also learned that center focus is a lot faster than the other auto focus options, and that in landscape mode, AF is turned off, with focus set at infinity. Most important: from a half-depressed position, the shutter release is very responsive. Bottom line: Low light photography requires a bit of advance planning.

When shopping for this camera, I preferred both the Canon G9 and A650 to the Nikon P5100, each for different reasons. But neither Canon camera is IMO pocketable. So if you want DSLR-like flexibility in a small box, I still think the P5100 is about the best you can do at this point.

First let me tell you what to buy with the camera. 1) the UR- E20 adapter tube. You can leave it on all the time as protection and for extra finger grip, I do. It weighs next to nothing 2) the wide angle converter lens, also very small gizmo, another hundred dollars but gives you a wide view of 24mm equivalent and the menu option allows the camera to correct some barrel distortion inherent in this type optic.Works pretty darn good except at extreme edges 3)Nikon's SB400 flash,which is a marvel. Small,light,dedicated to the system and has a swivel flash tube up front for bounce,unusual in anything this small and two celled. Flash uses two AA size standard power and delivers a lot more than the built in body flash pintsize runt,rechargeables are better natch. And if you get the flash you prolong the camera batter,a nice bonus and less less redeye4) a spare Li-Ion battery by Nikon another mere 20 bucks or so.Fast 2 hour charge will do it. Now this whole kit and kaboodle will run the tab up a bit more than you expected,but you will get shots that are equal or better than a heavy SLR with a heavy zoom lens.I do not joke. The camera's Program mode is one of the better ones out there. Meaning I trust it a lot.

Some professional reviewers tend to poke away at this camera's lack of zip to them, and forget it is powered by a minute size battery,about the size of a slice of cheddar on a buffet table:-). It can't do burst shots and start up in a microsecond, true. They are not accepting it for what it delivers at this price. What else is out there but heavier and pricier in this category I mean.


The lens will not open as wide at tele end as an indoor shooter would want without flash, and is not the speediest performer out there overall. BUT FAST ENOUGH if you pre- focus, and why not prefocus I say...it tells you that the lens has found its target. Nikon has done a good job on this product and you just can't go wrong at the price. I am really falling for this little fellow as a grab and go item. The LCD is hard to see outdoors except for the histogram playback. Indoors it is a delight to see. You may also want to pick up a wrist lanyard vs the neck strap which comes with it. Your preference.Battery delivers plenty juice for a day of reasonable shooting even with LCD viewing. When I go next trip to the Serengeti ,well, I take a generator and power inverter (:-), or maybe just a car battery adapter. I carry all this kit,if you are interested, in one half of a Mountainsmith Aurora II Camera Bum Bag/ Lumbar Pack with room for trail mix and cellphone..
Why schlep heavy stuff on a vacation? Enjoy.

Ok so my last camera was a Nikon 3200 which we loved but the shutterspeed was slow and it was just a little outdated. We decided it was time for a new camera so we went to the store and ended up with an Olympus 1000 (great sale price). We got home and after we used it a couple of times we realy didn't like the camera because many pictures were blurred and just not very clear. So we sold the Olympus and splurged and got this camera. This camera is worth every penny! The pictures are so clear and the camera is actually much easier to use than I thought it would be. We took a picture of our ceiling fan while it was on high just to see how it would turn out and in the picture it is as clear as if the fan was off. This is an amazing camera with awesome features and my husband and I are both blown away by the picture quality. We can't wait to get outside and use the camera to try all the features.

I bought the P5100 as it travels a lot easier than my D70 and can do more in some respects. The main reason to choose this one over the rest is that it has a hotshoe and is compatible with my Nikon SB600. Here is a comparison with my D70 nikon SLR a bit unfir but the P5100 holds up surprisingly well. The P5100 has a Mg alloy body and is sturdy but light enough to hold steady on a skinny pocket tripod. it has video capability although the built-in mic is awful. It does better than the D70 in very low light. built in VR is excellent and can drop at least 2 f-stops without distortion. It has a face id for focusing and a Panoramic shot assist--( when you use this setting the screen displays the edge of the previous photograph so that you can align the next shot perfectly when you pan the camera.).You cannot get dust on your sensor even if you try. and twice the megapixels compared to the D70! The limitations (compared to the SLR) are cannot shoot multiple frames per sec. very slight shutter delay compared to SLR. Slow autofocus and no focus area options and limited metering options.Cannot shoot in RAW format.
For less than Half the price of the D70 this is an excellet deal. Go for it! Make your Day!

First let me say that I was surprised by the very small size of the 5100. It literally fits in the palm of my hands.

My last Nikon was the Coolpix 995 (950 before that) and I never used most of its advanced options because the menu system was too complex. The 5100 is crammed with buttons and dials so that choosing most options can be done without paging through multiple levels of menus. Plus it has 15-preset types of "scenes" (portrait, sunset, museum, etc., plus the super-cool panorama setting) which make all the necessary settings for you automatically for a particular type of picture. Another cool feature is its ability to make time-lapse movies, as well as 640x480 30fps movies and sound recordings.

But the main attraction of the camera for me was its fast lens with Vibration Reduction. I've taken sharp pictures in very low light which I had been unable to take with the old Nikon.

Another feature I was not aware of until I got the camera is its ability to do digital zooms without image degradation (if you are shooting at less than maximum size, which I usually do anyway). When I shoot at 1600x1200 size, I can use digital zoom to get the equivalent of about a 7x optical zoom lens.

I was considering the Nikon S10 (too much noise in low-light and difficulty focusing in low light) and then the D40 (no auto-focus in-camera, no VR without buying very expensive lenses). It would be nice to have something like an 18x optical zoom on the 5100, but short of that, this camera is very, very good -- especially at such a low price.

I have no complaints about this camera. I am in Iraq right now and this camera is holding up better then I was expecting. The quality of this camera extremely good. I have some combat camera friends and they said it is on the professional level. I would recommend this camera for anyone that is looking for a high quality camera for a really reasonable price.

I usually own at least two digital cameras, one DSLR and a smaller one that I can carry around. Currently, I have a Nikon D200 and a little Casio 7 mp Exilim. I like the Exilim because it's small enough for a pocket, but the picture quality is only so-so.

After reading the positive reviews of the Coolpix P5100 here, I decided to buy the P5100 to replace the Casio.

Picking up the camera for the first time was a joy. The camera just feels right in my hands and doesn't feel cheap (the body is magnesium alloy, not plastic).

The P5100's exposures were spot on, alhtough there tends to be some clipping of the highlights and shadows. The colors are very accurate.

If you are a beginner who doesn't want to get involved with post-processing, this camera is probably not for you. Nikon has decided to do minimal in-camera adjustment to the images, which can be a good thing if you know your way around Photoshop and don't mind working on the images on your computer. Some other cameras boost sharpness in-camera. You can set the P5100 to increase the sharpness, but at the normal setting, you may find yourself increasing the sharpness with Adobe Bridge or Photoshop.

I don't agree with the reviewer here who complained about the video. The video is as good as any digital SLR that I've used. It won't give you the same results as using a digital video camera, but no camera does. The only problem with the video is that the sound ends about a half-second before the image does, so you're left with a silent bit and the end. This isn't a big deal to me. If I want high quality video, I'll use my video camera. In 15 years, think I used a still camera to take video exactly once.

Regarding reviews complaining about shutter lag and focus time; yes, there is some shutter lag, but not enough to make it a problem for me. Same thing with focus. This isn't a camera to use to take action shots at sporting events. If that's what you're looking for, spend the cash to get a good DSLR.

Another great feature is the hot shoe. I don't think there are other point and shoot cameras that allow you to use an external dedicated flash. I can use my Nikon SB-600 flash on this little camera. How great is that? The built-in flash works really well, too.

The menus are a little bit confusing and not as intuitive as I would have preferred.

If the P5100 did RAW, I would have given it 5 stars, because some other cameras in its class allow you to shoot RAW. Still, for the price, this is a sweet little camera that should fit the bill as a grab and go for times when you don't want to lug around a DSLR and a host of lenses.

2011 update: Since I have written this first review, I have bought two ther cameras, a Pentax SLR and a Panasonic Lumix. I still use this Nikon as it remains highly functional, easily portable and is unique in that it is the smallest camera with a hot shoe that I have. Lighting is essential for good photographs and having the hot shoe helps me with flexibility.

Original review:

Wow what a great little camera! I bought this to photograph family members and to take with me on trips. This was a replacement for a much older 5 MP Sony that I had. I had traded my old Canon A-1 for the Sony after much careful shopping around. For this current iteration of camera shopping, I checked out the local Best Buy and Ritz to compare features on all of the latest cameras and decided on the Nikon P5100. The sales staff at both of these places did not know much about the Nikon as it had just come in. The Canon Powershot G9 was nice, but I was worried about design-flaws and quality issues that were described in recent reviews on Amazon (including tilted LCD screens, and extraneous lines and pixels on the display. After trying it out and comparing with some other cameras, I decided on the Nikon.

The Nikon P5100 Coolpix offers a mix of being simple and convenient to use and features that allow flexibility and some experimentation. It is a great looking camera and very light with its magnesium body. I was very impressed with the design and functionality included in this camera.
The placement of controls and the handle allows for easy one-handed operation while shooting. The wheel for review of photos was new to me as the Sony did not have this feature. Very nice.

Accessories -
I bought a Nikon SB-400 AF Speedlight for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras to go with this. The SB-400 takes two AA batteries. I put the Energizer e2 Lithium AAs, which are lighter than many of the other AA batteries. Keeps it lightweight, but very functional. Having had experience with Sony and Canon Digital cameras previously, the built-in flash, while useful for close-ups do not work well in settings like the school auditorium for my children's events or out at night in an outdoor setting where distance is a problem. I can get about 80 to 90 feet range with the SB-400.

I also bought a Nikon wideangle lens and the Nikon URE20 Converter Adapter Ring. Putting these together, the camera looks, feels, and functions like something that cost twice as much to put together.
I can also strip it down to the the base unit and still have a very functional digital pocket-sized camera.

I did not like any of the cases available from Nikon. The base unit fit perfectly into the pocket case that came with the camera bag set from Expedition Outfitters - which I purchased from Sam's Club.

Trying it out -
The camera is fast and does not get caught up between shots like some of the other digital cameras I have tried. The camera is SD and SDHC compatible as far as memory cards go. I have had no problems with 1 GB SD, 2 GB SD and 4 GB SDHC cards. I have an 8 GB SDHC card on order.

I am finding that I need the larger cards to shoot any practical length of video with this camera. A 1 GB card will fit about 20 minutes of video using the 640 resolution or 333 still shots at 12.1 MB per shot. I have been trying out the difference between Class 2, 4, and 6, with Class 6 being the faster read/write for the SD cards. While technically, the speed may be faster, with day to day shooting of family shots and nature shots, it is not as important. However, I do notice the difference when I am uploading the photos onto my MacBook. The Class 4 and 6 really do reduce the down-load time. Also, they are much faster than my old Sony Memory Sticks that I had been used to.

The 12.1 MP resolution is great for blowing up the photos, or for cropping. The 5 MP on my old camera was pushing the resolution when I tried to make a poster or when I tried to print an 8 x 10 of a cropped shot.

The low-light function on the camera works well and I get some great photos in indoor situations when I would rather not use flash. The macro feature is great on this camera for my close-ups of plants and to record signage to mark Events with my photo batches (iPhoto on the Mac).

The videos are great and work well on this camera, even though it was not designed with that use primarily in mind. The zoom/wide angle feature is smooth and allows for some basic video technique.

The lithium powercell for the Nikon lasts a decent amount of time. I bought 3 to rotate out as they get used when I am on a trip. They are very light and compact. They are also easy to swap. The camera comes with an AC charger for the power unit, but not the AC adaptor for the camera, which you have to buy separately should you need one.

Summary -
Again, this is an all-around, great camera, light-weight, functional, and the best of the new 12.1 MP point & shoot cameras that is upgradeable as of late 2007. I hope that I will be as happy with this camera for the next several years as I had been with my Sony.

just upgraded from a nikon 5400 because i wanted something more portable. this is a small, well-built, ergonomic little camera, that's feels great in your hand.

i've been really pleased by the upgraded performance too, compared to the 5400. the 12 megapixels gives significantly more detailed pictures. the built in vibration reduction software is amazing. it makes it possible to take sharp handheld pics at 1/8 or 1/4 of a second. and the d-light software magically transforms underexposed elements of a pic (like a backlit subject against a bright ground) without affecting the correctly exposed parts.

wish it had the 28mm of the p50; but a very pleasing little camera.

Has anyone else experienced the "LENS ERROR" problem? Does anyone else agree with me that this camera has had way too many problems?

I was a bit disappointed with the Nikon Coolpix P5100. The camera was obviously designed to compete in a specific digital camera class - hi-res, feature-rich, and capable P&S digicams for photography enthusiasts. The P5100 is very user friendly and it consistently delivers good static images. It's an excellent choice for casual photographers who want a camera that's compact enough to drop in a pocket and take along everywhere they go, tough enough to stand up to the rigors of modern life, and cheap enough to be competitive. The P5100's tough as nails magnesium alloy body, nifty rubber clad hand-grip, logical control array, optical viewfinder, hot shoe for i-TTL Nikon Speedlights, and superb ergonomics make this camera an outstanding camera choice for casual shooters, but it's slowness, tendency to clip highlights, and noisy high ISO shots/poor low light performance will hurt its reputation with photography enthusiasts. The P5100's price and features are clearly competitive with the Canon Powershot A650 IS, but its performance just as clearly isn't.

Pros:

User friendly
Compact and lightweight
2.5" LCD screen
Nice ergonomics

Cons:
Slow
Tendency to clip highlights
Poor low-light performance