Review based on a production Coolpix 5400
The Nikon Coolpix 5400, announced at the end of May 2003, is the immediate successor to the Coolpix 5000 it has a very similar design and maintains the Coolpix 5000's unique wide angle zoom lens, although in the 5400 this has been extended to four times optical zoom. This means that the compact Coolpix 5400 has the fairly unique position of being a five megapixel 'prosumer' digital camera with a 28 - 116 mm (equiv.) zoom range.
Those observant among you may have noticed that despite an increase in zoom range the real focal length range of the lens used on the 5400 (5.8 - 24 mm) is less than that of the Coolpix 5000 (7.1 - 21.4 mm), this can be accounted for in the difference between the size of sensor used. The Coolpix 5000 used a 2/3" (8.8 x 6.6 mm) CCD, the Coolpix 5400 uses a newer (and slightly smaller) 1/1.8" (7.2 x 5.3 mm) CCD.
Here's a quick summary of the primary differences between the Coolpix 5400 and 5000.
 Nikon Coolpix 5400 |
Nikon Coolpix 5000 |
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| Sensor | • 1/1.8" (7.2 x 5.3 mm)
CCD • 5.2 million pixels total • RGB color filter array |
• 2/3" (8.8 x 6.6 mm)
CCD • 5.2 million pixels total • CYGM color filter array |
| Lens | • 4x optical zoom • 28 - 116 mm equiv. • F2.8 - F4.6 • 9 elements in 8 groups |
• 3x optical zoom • 28 - 85 mm equiv. • F2.8 - F4.8 • 9 elements in 7 groups |
| Min. focus range | • Normal: 50 cm • Macro: 1 cm |
• Normal: 50 cm • Macro: 2 cm |
| Image size | • 2592 x 1944 • 2592 x 1728 (3:2) • 1600 x 1200 • 1280 x 960 • 1024 x 768 • 640 x 480 |
• 2560 x 1920 • 2560 x 1700 (3:2) • 1600 x 1200 • 1280 x 960 • 1024 x 768 • 640 x 480 |
| Image format * | • TIFF • JPEG (EXIF 2.2) |
• RAW • TIFF • JPEG (EXIF 1.1) |
| Shooting / exposure modes | • Auto • Scene • Program AE (shiftable) • Shutter Priority AE • Aperture Priority AE • Manual Exposure • Movie clip |
• Auto • Program AE (shiftable) • Aperture Priority • Shutter Priority • Manual |
| Scene modes | • Portrait • Party/Indoor • Night Portrait • Beach/Snow • Landscape • Sunset • Night Landscape • Museum • Fireworks Show • Close Up • Copy • Back Light • Sports • Panorama Assist • Dawn/Dusk |
None |
| Sensitivity | • Auto • ISO 50 • ISO 100 • ISO 200 • ISO 400 |
• Auto • ISO 100 • ISO 200 • ISO 400 • ISO 800 |
| BSS | • BSS • AE-BSS |
• BSS |
| Drive modes | • Single • Cont. H (3 fps, up to 7 frames) • Cont. L (1.5 fps, up to 18 frames) • Multi-shot 16 (2 fps, 16 img in one) • Cont. UHS (QVGA; 30 fps, 100 frms) • 5 shot buffer (1.5 fps) |
• Single • Cont. H (3 fps, up to 3 frames) • Cont. L (1.5 fps, up to 8 frames) • Cont. HS (SXGA, XGA, VGA; 1.6 fps) • Cont. UHS (QVGA; 30 fps, 100 frms) • Multi-shot 16 (3 fps, 16 img in one) |
| Movie clips | • 640 x 480, 15 fps up to 70
sec • 320 x 240, 15 fps up to 180 sec • Time-lapse movie mode |
• 320 x 240, 15 fps up to 60 sec |
| Flash modes | • Auto • Flash Cancel • Red-Eye Reduction • Anytime Flash • Slow Sync, front-curtain • Rear-Curtain Sync • Repeating Flash |
• Auto • Flash Cancel • Red-Eye Reduction • Anytime Flash • Slow Sync, front-curtain |
| LCD monitor | • 1.5" TFT LCD • 134,000 pixels • Flip-out and twist • Anti-reflective coating |
• 1.8" TFT
LCD • 110,000 pixels • Flip-out and twist • Anti-reflective coating |
| Supplied storage | • 16 MB Compact Flash card | • 32 MB Compact Flash card |
| Dimensions | 108 x 73 x 69 mm (4.3 x 2.9 x 2.7 in) | 102 x 82 x 68 mm (4.0 x 3.2 x 2.7 in) |
| Weight (inc batt) | 380 g (13.4 oz) | 414 g (14.6 oz) |
* Coolpix 5400 will get RAW format support early next year via a firmware update, the Coolpix 5000 has had RAW format support since firmware 1.7 posted last September.
If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital
Photography Glossary before diving into this review (it may help you
understand some of the terms used).
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Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (normally 960 x 720 or smaller if cropped) image in a new window. To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top. DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C. |
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This review is Copyright 2003 Phil Askey and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author. For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images) please contact: Phil Askey.
Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom | $279.00 |
Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom | $279.00 |
Nikon Coolpix 8700 8MP Digital Camera with 8x Optical Zoom | $400.00 |
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