Timings & File Sizes

The Coolpix 5400's startup time proved to be relatively quick, this no doubt thanks to the fast extending lens system. Shot to Shot times (without changing settings) were also very respectable, just under two seconds. Auto Focus wasn't particularly fast, certainly no better than the Coolpix 5000. There were also several strange issues related to its performance:

• If you leave the shutter release sound enabled (factory default) shutter release lag is approximately 0.3 seconds versus 0.1 seconds with it disabled
   
• If you disable the record review display (review image after shutter release) the camera write times are actually slower than with it enabled (the opposite of what you would expect)
   
• Poor buffering and slow write speeds left the camera feeling unresponsive and sluggish at times (see File Write / Display and Sizes below) - affects shutter release

Timing Notes: All times calculated as an average of three operations. Unless otherwise stated all timings were made on a 2592 x 1944 Fine JPEG image (approx. 2,400 KB per image). The media used for these tests was a 256 MB Viking CF card.

Action	Details	Time, seconds
Power: Off to Record	Lens extension	3.9
Power: Off to Play *1	Image displayed	3.2
Power: Record to Off	Lens extended	2.4
Power: Play to Off	Lens already retracted	0.1
Mode: Record to Play *1	Image displayed	1.1
Mode: Play to Record	Lens already extended	2.1
Play: Magnify	To 6x magnification	2.8
Play: Thumbnail view	2 x 2 image index	0.9
Play: Thumbnail view	3 x 3 image index	1.4

Action	Details	Time, seconds
Zoom from Wide to Tele	Full zoom from 28 mm to 116 mm (4 x)	1.7
Auto Focus LAG	Wide angle	0.9 - 1.2
Auto Focus LAG	Telephoto	1.0 - 2.0
Shutter Release LAG *3	Using Viewfinder	0.1
Shutter Release LAG *3	Using LCD Monitor	0.1
Total LAG	Wide angle	~1.0
Total LAG	Telephoto	~1.4
Off to Shot Taken	Wide angle	4.8
Shot to Shot	Wide angle	1.9

Auto Focus LAG is (roughly) the amount of time it takes the camera to autofocus (a half-press and hold of the shutter release button), this timing is normally the most variable as its affected by the subject matter, current focus position, still or moving subject etc. This timing is an average.

Shutter Release LAG is the amount of time it takes to take the shot from the moment you fully depress the shutter release button, measured both as a time including auto focus and a time assuming you have already pre-focused by holding a half-press of the shutter release.

Continuous modes

The table below shows the results of our continuous shooting test, indicating the actual frame rate along with maximum number of frames and how long you would have to wait after taking the maximum number of frames before you could take another shot. The media used for these tests was a 256 MB Viking CF card.

Continuous High

A fair performance, a good fast frame rate and relatively good buffer, certainly better than both the Canon G5 and Sony DSC-V1. Flush times here are acceptable.

Continuous Low

I think it's fair to say that Nikon has a major bug with the Coolpix 5400's 'Continuous Low' mode, flush of the buffer full of images simply takes forever. I honestly gave up after doing the 1600 x 1200 timing, goodness only knows how long it would have taken for the 1024 x 768 buffer full. While the images are being written you can not change mode or switch off the camera.. That means take a full burst of 2592 x 1944 Normal JPEG images and the camera can not be powered off for over five minutes.

Other Continuous Modes

File Write / Display and Sizes

Timings shown below are the time taken for the camera to process and "flush" the image out to the CF card, the timer was started as soon as the shutter release was pressed and stopped when activity indicator LED beside the viewfinder stopped blinking. This means the timings also include the cameras processing time and as such are more representative of the actual time to "complete the task". The media used for these tests was a 256 MB Viking CF card.

Surprisingly the Coolpix 5400 turned out to have slower write performance than both the Coolpix 5000 and Coolpix 5700. Indeed it was one of the slowest we have reviewed recently. A write time of 6.8 seconds for a 2,400 KB file equates to 352 KB/sec (includes processing), very slow.

Poor buffering compounds the problem

In addition to the Coolpix 5400's slow write speed it also has a pretty poor implementation of image buffering, this means that while the camera is writing images out of the buffer there are (a) certain features you can not access, (b) certain settings you can not change and (c) times at which the camera becomes unresponsive. Here's what we discovered:

• It is possible to take one shot quickly after another, the camera 'queues' images in its buffer and the CF indicator shows in the top left of the LCD monitor indicating it is writing images
   
• During the last two seconds of the write process the entire camera becomes unresponsive, this means you can not zoom, enter (or exit) the camera menu or change settings during these two seconds. The camera will not take a shot during these two seconds but does record the fact that you pressed the button and will take the shot as soon as it can (this in my opinion is awful, especially for such an expensive model).
   
• While there are images in the camera buffer is NOT possible to change:
  • ISO sensitivity
  • Image size / quality
  • AF mode

To me this seems to be a processor related problem, the camera is trying to buffer 'in the background' but is having to use the same processor to perform several functions, when that is bogged down in the write process it can't be responsive to the user.

This poor buffering in combination with the slow write speed left the 5400 feeling sluggish and unresponsive, especially in a situation where you want to quickly take several shots with slightly different settings.

Low Light Auto Focus

This test is designed to measure the minimum amount of light under which the camera can still focus. The focus target is our lens distortion test chart (shown here on the right), camera is positioned exactly 2 m (6.6 ft) away.

Light levels are gradually dropped until the camera can no longer focus. This is carried out at both wide angle and telephoto zoom positions (as more light reaches the focusing systems with a larger aperture).

This test target is the optimum type of subject for most "contrast detect" AF systems (as it has a vertical line at its center), you should consider the results below the best you could expect to achieve.

Light intensity (Lux) = 2.5 x 2^EV (@ ISO 100), 10.76391 Lux = 1 foot-candle (fc)

Without an AF assist lamp the 5400 struggles to focus in anything but moderate light. It produced the same low light focus ability for both wide angle and telephoto. Why Nikon can't fit one of their high end 'prosumer' models with an AF lamp but can put one on the Coolpix SQ is beyond me.

Battery life

We ran the camera through our new battery life test. This test is designed to be fair and comparative to each camera and battery type:

• Take 4 shots without flash
• Wait 2 minutes (50% of the time powering the camera off)
• Take 1 shot with flash
• Wait 1 minute
• Repeat

Batteries are fully discharged and recharged before the test and all cameras were reset to their factory default settings. Here are the results:

The Coolpix 5400 lasted well considering the relatively low capacity of its battery. Just breaking the three hour barrier and just over 300 shots, very good. Note that this is almost 30 minutes longer than the Coolpix 5000 it replaces.