Nikon Coolpix P5000 Easy Digital Camera Review

The Nikon Coolpix P5000 is designed for people who have inherited a bunch of Speedlight flashes and don’t want to lug around a heavy DSLR. The 10-megapixel digital camera aims to please with automatic and manual exposure modes, and a hot shoe to accept those flash units. The downside is that this is definitely not a DSLR, so there’s no taking off the stabilized 3.5x optical zoom lens on the front.

Luckily, the camera accepts conversion lenses. Nikon branded, of course. The flexibility is nice, but the amount of cash involved may not be worth it. The P5000 camera costs $399. Add a hundred bucks each for the flash unit, wide angle lens for close-ups, and 3x telephoto lens, and there’s a lot heavier competition in the price range.

So you didn’t inherit a bunch of flashes and don’t care to spend that much money on lenses? The Nikon P5000 has a built-in flash that fires an impressive 26 ft and still caters to point-and-shooters. It has automatic, shutter priority, aperture priority, program, manual, and 18 scene modes. One of those scene modes is called High ISO and accesses the camera’s 64-3200 range to photograph illuminated shots in low light.

The camera has an optical viewfinder, but it is only 80 percent accurate so framing a portrait of your mom will result in a shot with only 80 percent of her included. It is best to use the 2.5-inch LCD screen with its 100 percent accurate live view and high resolution of 230,000 pixels.

Worried about how easy it is to use? It’s easy to hold with its chunky grip and relatively small size. It is easy to navigate through the menus that can be personalized to appear as text or icons, and the menus can be avoided altogether with the custom Function button. And if you’re ever lost, there is a Help function to explain whatever setting you’re looking at.

Pictures from the camera look good – although you’ll have to wait for them. The Coolpix P5000’s auto focus system is horribly slow. There is even a face priority auto focus mode, and it is even slower. By the time the camera recognizes a face, it’s just about out of the frame. Taking pictures of kids? Forget it. The pedestrian P5000 also took only 1 shot per second. This is a very slow burst mode compared to similar cameras that can shoot 3 pictures a second. The slowness extends to the playback mode too. It takes nearly a half-second for an image to appear clearly focused.

The image while recording videos was decent but boring. Optical zoom couldn’t be used. The worst part of the movie mode was the audio. It sounds garbled and cuts off about a half-second before the image cuts. The resolution was standard at 640 x 480 pixels and 30 frames per second.

Nikon threw in a few interesting features like time lapse shooting, a voice recording mode, and a host of color filters and effects. The P5000 makes a fun digital camera for point-and-shooters looking to hone their photography skills. And, it is only a somewhat serious digital camera for those who have Speedlight flashes and Nikon conversion lenses laying around. Basically, point-and-shooters will be pleased and those who wish to actually utilize all the serious features on the P5000 will be disappointed. 

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Nikon Coolpix P5000 - THE BOTTOM LINE.... Rating:

Likes

- Wide view on LCD - Great handling features - Large text in menus - DSLR-like controls - Lots of flash options

Dislikes

- Clumsy face detection - Audible operation noise - Spotty flash coverage - Slow burst mode - Slow auto focus - No RAW format

Nikon Coolpix D40 Rating: 586.24	Canon PowerShot G7 Rating:	Casio Exilim EX-Z1000 Rating: 323.30	Olympus EVOLT E-410 Rating: N/A	Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX100 Rating: N/A
Better	Better	Better	Better	Better
- Interchangeable lenses: comes with 18-55mm lens - More flexibility - In-camera trimming, filters, color balancing - 520-shot battery - 2.5 fps burst mode - Better built-in flash unit	- 6x optical zoom lens - More effective face recognition technology	- Easier to use - Much thinner and lighter 3.6 x 2.3 x 0.9-inch body - Satin metal sheen - Fits into pocket more easily - 2.8 inch LCD with 230k pixels - 3 fps burst mode - 35 scene modes	- Dual slot accepts CF and xD cards - Interchangeable Four Thirds lenses - Dust reduction system - RAW, JPEG, and RAW + JPEG shooting - Optical viewfinder is 95% accurate - 60-1/4000 shutter speeds - 3 fps burst mode	- 12 megapixels - Wider 28mm lens - 2 fps burst mode in full resolution - 8 fps burst mode at 2.5-megapixel resolution - High definition movies at 1920 x 1080 and 1280 x 720 at 15 fps - Lighter at 5.1 oz - 20 scene modes
Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal
- Manual, priority, and automatic exposure modes - Red-eye correction - 2.5 inch LCD with 230k pixels and 170-degree viewing angle - Hot shoe	- Similar high-end compact design - How shoe for optional flash accessories - Compatible with conversion lenses - 10 megapixels - Optical image stabilization - Manual, priority, automatic exposure modes - Lots of picture effects	- 10 megapixels - Dysfunctional optical zoom lens in movie mode - VGA video resolution - Rapid Flash mode - Voice recording mode - Compatible with SD cards - Same starting retail price of $399	- 10 megapixels - Live view on LCD - 2.5-inch LCD with 230k pixels - Manual, priority, and automatic modes - Similar color filters - Hot shoe for flashes	- Similar size - 2.5 inch LCD screen - Similar 3.6x optical zoom lens - Optical image stabilization - ISO range up to 3200 - Accepts SD/MMC media - Flash to 16 ft
Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse
- Bulkier - Heavier at 16 oz - 6.1 megapixels - 3-area auto focus system - Pricier at $599	- Thicker and heavier - ISO up to 1600 only - More expensive at about $499	- Tiny control buttons - Inferior handling - Lengthy menus - No manual exposure control - No optical viewfinder - Less powerful flash - 3x optical zoom lens - 25 fps movie frame rate - Audio sounds worse in videos	- 49-point evaluative metering system - Chunkier 5.1 x 3.6 x 2.1 inch body - $699 for the body only	- LCD’s resolution sub-par at 207k pixels - Automatic and scene modes only