Would you have bought the Nikon CP 5000

[John Lai]

Frankly, how many of you would have bought the Nikon CP 5000 if it were available at the time you bought the F707?

Why such a question? Well when it first appeared, I had a very bad opinion about it. Now I find it is not a too bad camera after seeing pics like this:
http://www.pbase.com/xl1ken/lv&page=all

Best Regards
John
(Have neither the CP 5000 nor the F707.... just finishing my homework)

 

[Lisa Young74699]

Nope I wouldn't ever consider it because I already have the Nikon CP 990 and even prefered my 2.1 mp Sony Mavica FD-95 over it. I did consider the Minolta Diamage 7 before the 707 came out, but once that 707 came out, I decided that was going to be my next camera and the rest is history.

Lisa

Frankly, how many of you would have bought the Nikon CP 5000 if it
were available at the time you bought the F707?

Why such a question? Well when it first appeared, I had a very bad
opinion about it. Now I find it is not a too bad camera after
seeing pics like this:
http://www.pbase.com/xl1ken/lv&page=all

Best Regards
John
(Have neither the CP 5000 nor the F707.... just finishing my homework)

 

[You Wish]

Frankly, how many of you would have bought the Nikon CP 5000 if it
were available at the time you bought the F707?

Why such a question? Well when it first appeared, I had a very bad
opinion about it. Now I find it is not a too bad camera after
seeing pics like this:
http://www.pbase.com/xl1ken/lv&page=all

Best Regards
John
(Have neither the CP 5000 nor the F707.... just finishing my homework)

 

[Ulysses]

Frankly, no. I would not.

I have respect for what Nikon is trying do do. However, the camera absolutely crushes the highlights out of its images. As Phil mentions, they take on a sort of camcorder video-like quality. Not good.

Other than that, I like its color. But the lack of smooth gradients due to the way it renders highlights and dark shadows is a deal breaker. I would still have gone for the F707. No doubt.

Frankly, how many of you would have bought the Nikon CP 5000 if it
were available at the time you bought the F707?

Why such a question? Well when it first appeared, I had a very bad
opinion about it. Now I find it is not a too bad camera after
seeing pics like this:
http://www.pbase.com/xl1ken/lv&page=all

Best Regards
John
(Have neither the CP 5000 nor the F707.... just finishing my homework)

 

[John Lai]

Ulysses,

I agree with you about the highlights & dark shadows. There are work arounds with contrast settings & tweaking with PS. Newer sample images posted are much better. Definitely the default settings are wrong. What looks most attractive to me is the wide focal range, 28mm built in & 19 mm adapter.

Best Regards
John

Frankly, no. I would not.

I have respect for what Nikon is trying do do. However, the camera
absolutely crushes the highlights out of its images. As Phil
mentions, they take on a sort of camcorder video-like quality. Not
good.

Other than that, I like its color. But the lack of smooth gradients
due to the way it renders highlights and dark shadows is a deal
breaker. I would still have gone for the F707. No doubt.

 

[lycale]

Best Regards
John

Frankly, no. I would not.

I have respect for what Nikon is trying do do. However, the camera
absolutely crushes the highlights out of its images. As Phil
mentions, they take on a sort of camcorder video-like quality. Not
good.

Other than that, I like its color. But the lack of smooth gradients
due to the way it renders highlights and dark shadows is a deal
breaker. I would still have gone for the F707. No doubt.

I DID buy the CP5000 and returned it for the Sony 707. I have a Nikon 990, which I still love and often use, but I had so much trouble getting good pictures (I am a real amateur) with the 5000. First, you have to be careful not to get your thumb in the way of the flash sensor. Second, I often had trouble getting the camera to focus. (The focus light would keep flashing). Third, so many of my photos came out overexposed. Fourth, the camera is so light and small (to many, an advantage) that if you are holding it in your hand and NOTusing a tripod, it's hard to keep it steady. When the picture came out right, it did look quite good, but it didn't come out right often enough, unlike with the 990 which is a good, easy-to-use camera. I am quite pleased with my Sony. The only thing that I like better about the Nikons is that the color and saturation are more accurate.

 

[Floating_Fotoman]

I traded up to my Sony, and I'm always looking for a direction to go to improve annoyances I have with my current camera.

When the CP5000 first came out, it looked like it might have been the way to go. But there were too many shortcomings that are on my personal critical list, such as the lack of AF illuminator for dark pictures, the tiny slow lens, and the poor JPG in-camera rendering. It could have been a truly great camera, but I think they really botched it.

Best Regards
John

Frankly, no. I would not.

I have respect for what Nikon is trying do do. However, the camera
absolutely crushes the highlights out of its images. As Phil
mentions, they take on a sort of camcorder video-like quality. Not
good.

Other than that, I like its color. But the lack of smooth gradients
due to the way it renders highlights and dark shadows is a deal
breaker. I would still have gone for the F707. No doubt.

I DID buy the CP5000 and returned it for the Sony 707. I have a
Nikon 990, which I still love and often use, but I had so much
trouble getting good pictures (I am a real amateur) with the 5000.
First, you have to be careful not to get your thumb in the way of
the flash sensor. Second, I often had trouble getting the camera to
focus. (The focus light would keep flashing). Third, so many of my
photos came out overexposed. Fourth, the camera is so light and
small (to many, an advantage) that if you are holding it in your
hand and NOTusing a tripod, it's hard to keep it steady. When the
picture came out right, it did look quite good, but it didn't come
out right often enough, unlike with the 990 which is a good,
easy-to-use camera. I am quite pleased with my Sony. The only thing
that I like better about the Nikons is that the color and
saturation are more accurate.

 

[Ulysses]

I would say that if you don't notice it in prints, and if the wide lens is more important to you, then that is what you should go for.

For me, I like retaining details in the hightlights and shadows without having to fiddle in an image editor. It seems each camera has its set of challenges. For us as photographers, we choose the set of things that we don't mind dealing with and tweaking in post-processing. But they all need it.

Ulysses,
I agree with you about the highlights & dark shadows. There are
work arounds with contrast settings & tweaking with PS. Newer
sample images posted are much better. Definitely the default
settings are wrong. What looks most attractive to me is the wide
focal range, 28mm built in & 19 mm adapter.

 

[Detlef J]

Frankly, how many of you would have bought the Nikon CP 5000 if it
were available at the time you bought the F707?

Why such a question? Well when it first appeared, I had a very bad
opinion about it. Now I find it is not a too bad camera after
seeing pics like this:
http://www.pbase.com/xl1ken/lv&page=all

Best Regards
John
(Have neither the CP 5000 nor the F707.... just finishing my homework)

I do not have my DA that long now, so the CP5K was available. I had the chance to decide on Minolta D7, Nikon CP5K and Sony F707. It was hard, but I ended up with the F707.
And I am still happy with that decision.

Detlef

 

[Floating_Fotoman]

Well put, Ulysses. We are each stuck with the bugbears we choose to accept in the bargain when choosing one of today's digicams.

If a bit of necessary post processing doesn't scare you off, and you are craving wide angle, then there is one other very strong candidate that has been around longer than the CP5000 and has thus come down in price tremendously. Its effective resolution is equivalent to a good 4 Meg camera, and its lens is vastly superior. Do you know which camera I'm talking about? Unfortunately, its achiles heel is a slow and foundering AF - which is why I'm holding my breath for its younger brother, the 7i.

 

[rabarker]

As for me, I jumped for the F707 perhaps a bit prematurely -- before investing alot of time and research -- because I though I wanted the sharpest, fastest, longest telephoto I could afford for shooting primarily my daughter's fastpitch games. How could anyone possibly dismiss the lens on this thing?

Having purchased the 707 almost soley because it seemed to
provide the "best" overall lens I could afford, I was THEN in the position
of having to reconsider what I had done. What IF I had bought,
instead, the Nikon (or even say a Sony S85, for the lower cost)?
I especially started out wondering if I'd screwed up bigtime after
finding this site and reading all about DLS, LEVBFS, etc., etc.!!!

But having survived, those initial scares of DLS, etc., I've settled
down and realized that -- hey, this 707 is even MORE than I initially
hoped for. For an old geezer from the analog days, I am finding the
707's menus very intuitive and efficient. From what I had read even before
my purchase, I was ready to accept some white balance problems and
perhaps overly saturated reds. But, now, I have to say I would never
have noticed any such "problem" on my own.

Although most of the "advice" one finds here, at dpreview, is positive and worthwhile, I think you have too first trust your instincts AND the f707's capabilities, which I have found to be flat out astonishing, even without considering its super sharp, fast, and long (5X) lens! Thankfully, I think I can honestly say that my earlier concern over whether I should have bought the Nikon or whatever are over. So the answer is, thankfully, NO!

Frankly, how many of you would have bought the Nikon CP 5000 if it
were available at the time you bought the F707?

Why such a question? Well when it first appeared, I had a very bad
opinion about it. Now I find it is not a too bad camera after
seeing pics like this:
http://www.pbase.com/xl1ken/lv&page=all

Best Regards
John
(Have neither the CP 5000 nor the F707.... just finishing my homework)

 

[Dale M]

The CP 5000 was available at the time I made my decision. I was swayed by the EVF and the zoom range of the 707. The EVF solved the problems I kept encountering while trying to shoot macros in daylight with an externa LCD display. The zoom range gave me the telephoto I've been looking for. I've been very happy with my choice.

You just need to decide which features or characteristics are important to you. Good Luck!

Dale M.

Frankly, how many of you would have bought the Nikon CP 5000 if it
were available at the time you bought the F707?

Why such a question? Well when it first appeared, I had a very bad
opinion about it. Now I find it is not a too bad camera after
seeing pics like this:
http://www.pbase.com/xl1ken/lv&page=all

Best Regards
John
(Have neither the CP 5000 nor the F707.... just finishing my homework)

 

[tstat]

I bought a Sony DSC-85 and ending up returning it due to horrible indoor pics with flash. I own two sable collies and their coats are a red-orange color. No amount of coaxing could get accurate color. I returned it and purchased a Coolpix 5000 and a Cannon G2. I love the Nikon and am able to get great pictures. The Nikon has been outstanding indoor and out and take a variety of add on lenses. No camera is perfect and one has to decide which features and flaws they can live with. For me the Sony color inaccuracy really showed with the dogs. Neither the G2 or the Nikon had that problem. I have not had low light focusing problems either. Image quality is a combination of many factors.
T

Dale M.

Frankly, how many of you would have bought the Nikon CP 5000 if it
were available at the time you bought the F707?

Why such a question? Well when it first appeared, I had a very bad
opinion about it. Now I find it is not a too bad camera after
seeing pics like this:
http://www.pbase.com/xl1ken/lv&page=all

Best Regards
John
(Have neither the CP 5000 nor the F707.... just finishing my homework)

 

[JohnK]

also, now that I've tried it I really like the 707's EVF, don't have to put glasses on for every shot.

Frankly, how many of you would have bought the Nikon CP 5000 if it
were available at the time you bought the F707?

 

[David Jameison Brown]

Nope!

I investigated the D7, CP5K, and the F707. Have owned all analogue Minoltas in the past. The D7 sure looked good on paper, but... Checked out the CP5K, but having to write a paper on the 950 for a friend, well.

My friend, who is quite wealthy, bought on impulse and brand name, can't use the camera, and he doesn't use the camera. Those dam_ menues. I don't have time for that, even if you can master a beautiful photograph with it. I can do that with the F707. BFS fixed.

Had the SONY F505, so the F707 was a natural progression for me. No regreats. None whatsoever.

Regards.

David J. Brown.

 

[StixStixStix]

Nope. Nikon lost my business after producing its previous slow, blurry-cornered lens (cp995). I skipped the 5000 and plan to skip subsequent Nikons as well.

Frankly, how many of you would have bought the Nikon CP 5000 if it
were available at the time you bought the F707?

Why such a question? Well when it first appeared, I had a very bad
opinion about it. Now I find it is not a too bad camera after
seeing pics like this:
http://www.pbase.com/xl1ken/lv&page=all

Best Regards
John
(Have neither the CP 5000 nor the F707.... just finishing my homework)

 

[per o christiansen]

No, better picture on 707.

Frankly, how many of you would have bought the Nikon CP 5000 if it
were available at the time you bought the F707?

Why such a question? Well when it first appeared, I had a very bad
opinion about it. Now I find it is not a too bad camera after
seeing pics like this:
http://www.pbase.com/xl1ken/lv&page=all

Best Regards
John
(Have neither the CP 5000 nor the F707.... just finishing my homework)

 

[Andrew Coupe]

Not on the strength of those pictures. But then, they seem to be so heavily JPEG compressed as to be useless for drawing image quality comparisons. (These are the first CP5K pictures I've looked at, and at first I thought "this is terrible" until I realised a 2560x1920 shot is 250k in size - JPEG artifacts everywhere.)

Although I didn't consider the 5K (it wasn't out when I decided), I can say that I'm very pleased with my '707. No problems with BFS or LEVBFS (or any other -S, that I've noticed). My one gripe is the amount of noise in shadowy areas, but that only really shows if you blow pictures up very big (like when you're nitpicking image quality .

It's a better camera than I am a photographer!

pinback

Frankly, how many of you would have bought the Nikon CP 5000 if it
were available at the time you bought the F707?

Why such a question? Well when it first appeared, I had a very bad
opinion about it. Now I find it is not a too bad camera after
seeing pics like this:
http://www.pbase.com/xl1ken/lv&page=all

Best Regards
John
(Have neither the CP 5000 nor the F707.... just finishing my homework)

 

[Shutter.]

John, its difficult to use the photographer as the sample for a decision. What if the photographer would have had a 707? Then think about how awesome the shots would have been!!! ;-)

I "half" tongue-in-cheek. Look at Charlie Brown's POTD's on digitalphotocontest.com -
http://www.digitalphotocontest.com/archivedisplay.asp?photographerid=2656

Now you want a 707 don't you?

Jim

Frankly, how many of you would have bought the Nikon CP 5000 if it
were available at the time you bought the F707?

Why such a question? Well when it first appeared, I had a very bad
opinion about it. Now I find it is not a too bad camera after
seeing pics like this:
http://www.pbase.com/xl1ken/lv&page=all

Best Regards
John
(Have neither the CP 5000 nor the F707.... just finishing my homework)

 

[Teresa51867]

I am not nearly as experienced as a lot of the other users of this forum but I love my 707.. I briefly considered the Nikon then bought the sony and thousands of pictures later I have never regretted my decision.
Teresa

Frankly, how many of you would have bought the Nikon CP 5000 if it
were available at the time you bought the F707?