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WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE?

So, with all of this good stuff incorporated into the 5100, you're more than likely asking yourself "What's not to like?" The answer to that would be performance. The camera is sluggish at best and tortoise-like at worst. The P5100's shot times are typical. What slows the camera down is the focus. The camera will track to and fro for the proper distance and seems to have real difficulties adjusting the focus to the proper setting. The result is that it can take many seconds to compose, focus and finally shoot the image. In using the camera, ten seconds was not unusual to complete these tasks with the longest being the focus. Once the camera is dialed in and focused, the burst rate is typical at about 1 shot per second.

The focusing was incredibly slow and clumsy, and we missed more than a few shots because the image simply wouldn't focus. Most cameras in this class are "one chip" cameras, meaning that they have a main processing chip that's responsible for all of the camera functions, including shooting the image and processing it after the exposure. When using the camera I had to wonder if a camera with all of these abilities would be more responsive with multiple chip sets. Between shooting, VR monitoring, processing and facial detection, you'd have to assume that that's one busy chip inside the P5100! Of course, adding another chip would increase the cost, but the trade off in features and control, plus the performance boost would more than justify the additional expense.

Another issue that's akin to performance is that of battery life. We were surprised to see that the P5100 was able to shoot a mere 240 images on a full charge using CIPA standards. This is 10 shots less than the P5000 and significantly less than some competing models. We assume though that because the camera does so much with image processing, optical VR technology, optical zooming on the viewfinder, and all of the other features, that it takes a significantly greater amount of power to make all of this work, and therein lies the difference.

It doesn't make sense either to have a camera that's got such great exposure and lighting control, yet only allows you to shoot JPEG images and not RAW files. If you're going to give us the keys to the car, make sure it has all four wheels too! RAW should be a given with the EXPEED processing and all of tools provided within the camera, yet sadly, it's not.

If Nikon really wants to make radical improvements to the P5100, they'll make it larger as well. The features within the camera are wonderful, and Nikon deserves a pat on the back for being so thoughtful in many aspects of the design. The simple truth though is that the camera is too small for the available feature set and if it had more "room" for these features, it would give the engineers some wiggle room to improve toggle switch size and viewfinder issues. It really is a cool little camera, and it's exciting to see cameras in this class get beefed up to a point that allows the user to decide if they want total control over the image creation process or the fully automatic options.

If you're shooting landscapes and still studio type images and you want a lot of control over all areas, by all means, buy a P5100. But, if shooting landscapes and stationary objects aren't your gig, and you get aggravated because you've missed a shot of your child running to first base because the camera won't focus, the P5100 will be a lesson in patience.

SPECS

98 x 64.5 x 41 mm (3.9 x 2.5 x 1.6 in.) excluding lens projection
Approx. 200 g (7.1 oz.) excluding battery and SD memory card
52MB of internal memory
SD Card removable memory
In the Box:
Coolpix P5100 camera
Strap
USB Cable
Audio/Video cable
Rechargeable EN-EL5 Li-ion battery
Battery Charger MH-61
Software CD
Quick Start Manual
User's Manual
Warranty and Registration Card

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