Nikon Coolpix P5000 Review, May 2007
Simon Joinson

Based on a production Nikon Coolpix P5000

Just when Nikon fans had given up on the company ever producing a serious enthusiast compact camera again (thanks to the arrival of the affordable DSLR), along came the P5000, the nearest thing to a high-end compact since the demise of the Coolpix 8800 and 8400 a couple of years back. It's a big leap forward from the previous, slightly disappointing P ('performance', apparently) series cameras, with a more complete feature set, a flash hot shoe and a much more sensible design (previous models were modeled on a bar of soap, and offered similar handling). Although nowhere near as advanced as the real big beasts of this sector, it is much more compact than cameras like the Canon G7, and it does come with a decent level of expandability (add on lenses, flash etc) - and it's very keenly priced. So is this the camera to put Nikon back on the enthusiast compact map? Let's find out, starting with the headline spec:

• 10 megapixel 1/1.8-inch CCD
• 3.5x Zoom-Nikkor lens
• Lens shift VR (Vibration Reduction)
• ISO 64-1600 (3200 in 5MP mode)
• BSS (Best Shot Selector) identifies and saves the sharpest image automatically from ten sequential shots
• P/A/S/M modes plus 16 scene modes
• Compatibility with system-expanding accessories
• Macro shooting enables shooting from as close as 4cm (1.6 in.)
• SDHC card compatibility
• Approx. 21 MB of internal memory
• Face-priority AF, In-Camera Red-Eye Fix, D-Lighting
• 2.5-in wide viewing angle TFT LCD with anti-reflection coating

Nikon Coolpix P5000 specifications

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of the terms used).

Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions. 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 (typically VGA) 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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