Cool Coolpix (Nikon Coolpix 5700)

Member Name: richkw

Product:	Nikon Coolpix 5700
Date:	28/06/05 (94 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great value, Picture quality, RAW capability

Disadvantages: Slow RAW processing, Difficult to sync with studio flash

I bought my Coolpix 5700 in March 2004 after a lot of research both on the Net and from talking to friends who owned one. I knew I needed a minimum of 5 mega pixels as I needed to produce exhibition quality prints at A3+ size. This criteria kept the range of options down especially as another must have was total control over exposure. In the end, and to save boring you, the decision came down to the Nikon and the Canon PowerShot G5. The G5 nearly won as it had all the features I wanted, produced superb results and would have continued a 20 year love affair with Canon. However, the deciding factor that tipped me towards the 5700 was the excellent 8x Zoom Nikor lens. the Canon lens is a 4x zoom).

Now, I'm a serious amateur and semi-pro photographer and exhibit my work all round the world, so this purchase, my first venture into digital had to be just right. I couldn't afford a digital SLR, so it had to be the very best 'bridge' camera on the market for around £500. In fact, it cost me £495 with a 32mb Compact Flash card.

I immediately bought a 256mb card and started a series of tests on a variety of subjects which included portraits, landscapes, moving subjects and product photography.

Initial results using auto mode proved most satisfactory, although prints at A3 showed quite obvious signs of over sharpening. Turning off the Auto Sharpening feature on the camera cured this immediately. Colour rendition, white balance and exposure accuracy are more than acceptable.

The ability to have total control is critical to my work. In this the Nikon excels. You have a choice between full auto exposure, aperture priority and shutter priority. Exposure Compensation up to 2 stops either way is available in all modes allowing very easy bracketing of shots.

The built in flash is useful for fill-in, but can be infuriating to use until you get used to all the controls and menus. Even then, carrying the camera's manual around is a must. The autofocus works well and is very accurate. Focus confirmation is clear and easy to see in the viewfinder, as are all other settings if you so choose.

As far as overall ease of use is concerned, the Nikon fairs quite well. A thorough read of the Manual is essential to both understand the myriad of features. Even after more than a year hopwever, I still find myself refering to it quite often.

The software provided is more than adequate for the job. As new, the camera comes packaged with Nikonview and AdobePhotoshop Elements, all of which is fine for basic downloading and photo manipulation. More advanced photographers will benefit from a full-blown version of Adobe Photoshop, particularly if shooting in RAW.

As for results, I rarely shoot in anything other than 'Fine', which produces a JPEG with a compression ratio of 1:4. This gives me just over 100 full size images on my 256mb card. As previously mentioned, the ability to shoot in uncompressed RAW is there, but this limits the 256mb card to just 28 images. In all honesty, I can't tell the difference between the two on an A3 print, despite all the 'experts' telling me that RAW is so much better. With the camera set at 100asa, I can produce exhibition quality prints up to A3+ on my Epson 1290, and thats all I ask.

The Nikon Coolpix is now discontinued but good secondhand examples can be found on Ebay for around £150. Currently, there are a couple of Hong Kong dealers offering new, factory sealed examples for around £245. At these prices this camera is an absolute bargain and I can fully recommend over anything currently at a similar price on the market.

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