Nikon Coolpix P5100

Sitting at the very top of the range of seven digital compact cameras announced by Nikon today is the Coolpix P5100

Its new flagship digicam updates the P5000, adds a new digital image processing engine and wedges in a slightly beefier 12.1 megapixel sensor.

The lens is the same construction as its predecessor, offering a 3.5x optically-stabilised zoom (35-123mm equiv) which employs with Nikon’s VR technology to battle against the woes of camera shake, low light photography and drunken snapping (or all three).

Shame Nikon couldn’t have expanded the wide angle range to a more useful 28mm, but the f/2.7-5.3 is reasonable for such a compact snapper. Good to see an AF focus lamp onboard – if you’ve ever used a camera without one of these babies in low light, you’ll soon get to appreciate their worth.

The camera looks suitably upmarket with a sober black finish and solid magnesium alloy body, hotshoe, rubberised grip and optical viewfinder.

Sensitivity slides upwards to ISO 3200, although at the expense of reduced resolution (5MP) and enthusiasts will be pleased to learn that a variety of converter lenses are available.

There’s also four advanced exposure modes as well as the usual automated and scene modes, to keen dabblers and tweakers happy, all accessible via the P5100’s Mode dial

Storage comes in the shape of the a SD/SDHC card with approx 52MB of internal memory lurking within its raven-back exterior.

The camera is scheduled to shuffle on to the shelves sometime in the Autumn of 2007, with a price tag of £299.99.

Nikon Coolpix P5100 specifications

Sensor
1/1.72″ Type CCD, 12.1 million effective pixels

Image sizes
4000 x 3000
3264 x 2448
2592 x 1944
2048 x 1536
1600 x 1200
1280 x 960
1024×768
640 x 480
3984 x 2656 (3:2)
3968 x 2232 (16:9)
2992x 2992 (1:1)

Movie clips
TV movie (640) at 30fps/15fps,
Small size (320) at 15fps
Smaller size (160) at 15fps
Sepia (320) at 15fps
Monochromatic (320) at 15fps
Without sound: Time-lapse movie at 30fps

File formats JPEG
Motion JPEG(AVI) with sound

Lens 3.5x Zoom-Nikkor (35-123mm equiv.), f/2.7-5.3, 7 elements in 6 groups
Image stabilisation Lens-shift VR
Conversion lenses YesDigital zoom Up to 4x
Focus Contrast-detect TTL AF
AF area modes Auto (9-area automatic selection), Manual (99-area manual selection), Centre, Face-priority AF mode
AF assist lamp Yes (LED)
Focus distance 30cm (1 ft.) to infinity [W], 70cm (2 ft. 4 in.) to infinity [T]
Macro close-up mode: 4cm (1.6 in.) to infinity [W], 40cm (1 ft. 4 in.) to infinity [T]
Metering Through-the-lens (TTL) metering, 256-segment matrix, Spot, Centre-weighted, Spot AF area
ISO sensitivity ISO 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 2000, 3200 (ISO 3200 5MP or lower), Auto (ISO 64-800)
Exposure compensation -2.0 to +2.0 EV in steps of 1/3 EV
Exposure bracketing Yes
Shutter speed 1/2000 to 8 s
Aperture Six-blade iris diaphragm, 10 (in steps of 1/3 EV)

Modes
Auto shooting mode
Program (auto)
Shutter Priority Auto
Aperture Priority Auto
Manual
Movie mode
Scene mode
High-sensitivity shooting mode
Anti-shake mode

Scene modes Face-priority AF, Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night Portrait, Party/Indoor, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Dusk/Dawn, Night Landscape, Close up, Museum, Fireworks show, Copy, Back Light, Panorama Assist, Voice recording
White balance Daylight, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy, Flash, Auto, White bal. Preset
Self timer 10s, 3s
Continuous shooting Single, Continuous (approx.0.8fps ,image quality Normal, image size 10M), Interval timer shooting, Continuous flash
Image parameters Normal, Softer, Vivid, More vivid, Portrait, Custom, Black-and-white
Flash Built-in
Range: (W) 0.3 to 8.0m (1 ft. to 26 ft. 3 in.), (T) 0.3 to 4.0m (1 ft. to 13 ft. 1 in.)
Auto, Auto with red-eye reduction, Anytime flash, Flash cancel, Slow sync., Rear-curtain sync.
Viewfinder Real-image zoom viewfinder, Approx 80% coverage
LCD monitor 2.5-in wide viewing angle TFT LCD with anti-reflection coating, 230,000-dot
Approx 97% coverage

Connectivity USB, AV out
Print compliance PictBridge

Other features
Time zone function
BSS (Best Shot Selector)
D-Lighting
In-camera Red-Eye Fix
In-camera barrel-distortion fix (also available on live preview)
Histogram display
Voice memo
Menus available in 23 languages
Optional wide, tele converters
Optional Speedlight flashguns
Storage SD / SDHC card (optional), Approx 52MB internal memory
Power Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL5 (supplied)
AC Adapter EH-62A (optional)
Weight (no batt) Approx. 200 g (7.1 oz.) without battery and SD memory card
Dimensions Approx. 98 x 64.5 x 41 mm (3.9 x 2.5 x 1.6 in.) excluding projections