Nikon missed on the cp5400

The new 5400 is really just a 5000 with minor changes.The telephoto focal length was increased ,two buttons were replaced by a dial,and the ccd capacity was increased slightly;but the major improvement needed was a folding hood for the lcd which included a protective cover. With the 5000 I tried the nikon solid lcd hood,It helped but was cumbersom and it could not be used as an eyelevel viewfinder. I remedied this by installing a low power magnifyer from a Bronica waist level finder .This allowed viewing the entire lcd screen sharply defined at eye level,but it was still inadequate .It coundent be stored in a case with the hood attached and it dident really protect the lcd screen.I toyed with the idea of adapting a folding screen using all of a bronica waist level but couldent come up with a design which gave access to the lcd control buttons. A full folding lcd hood which included an eye level magnifyer was what was reallt needed. if anyone has any bright ideas of how this could be accomplished lets hear them. Maybe Nikon will be listening.

no folding LCD hood/cover? Everyone wants to complain about what they didn't do.

As a beginner/intermediate I see a number of positives.

ED optics
4X lens
moved the hot shoe over the lens
moved the zoom control away from your thumb position
Same ED wide angle & telephoto lens as 5700 (I know too big)
+ others

RonA
Nine Ninety Five, Five K
Meade ETX-90RA

Hi,

The screen on the CP5400 is a "New Vari-Bright, clear 1.5-in., 134,000-dot, highly transmissive advanced TFT-LCD monitor. Monitor brightness and hue adjustment is available."

Due to the nature of the new LCD design, a hood is not supposed to be required.

Rgds,

Bill

RonA said:

no folding LCD hood/cover? Everyone wants to complain about what
they didn't do.

As a beginner/intermediate I see a number of positives.

ED optics
4X lens
moved the hot shoe over the lens
moved the zoom control away from your thumb position
Same ED wide angle & telephoto lens as 5700 (I know too big)
+ others

RonA
Nine Ninety Five, Five K
Meade ETX-90RA

Click to expand...

Lawrence Smithers said:

The new 5400 is really just a 5000 with minor changes.

Click to expand...

Lawrence, the 5400 may share basically the same body with the 5000, but with at least one MAJOR change. It can't use the WC-E68 which gave the 5000 an effective "19mm" wide angle, and made it unique amongst consumer/prosumer cameras.

The WC-E80 that fits the 5400 gives it about a 23mm wide angle, not much wider than the 9** series or 4500 with the WC-E63 and, as a result, it ceased to be unique. No problem, unless you need the great wide angle that only the CP5k and WC-E68 can offer.

I agree with your comments on the need for a decent LCD viewer. I have used a Peak 4x loupe on all my CP's , but while it works well, like your Bronica finder, it is difficult to store the cameras with the viewer fitted. Same goes for the Extend-a-view and modified slide viewers.

If you manage to come up with a viewfinder that folds or concertinas let us know!!

John Drummond
CP 950,4500 & 5000

John Drummond said:

Lawrence, the 5400 may share basically the same body with the 5000,

Click to expand...

Only thing that is the same is the styling of the flash and optical finder. Otherwise it is more like the 5700.

--
http://www.pbase.com/ken_5

My 5000 has adjustments for brightness and hue.

Bill Marks said:

The screen on the CP5400 is a "New Vari-Bright, clear 1.5-in.,
134,000-dot, highly transmissive advanced TFT-LCD monitor. Monitor
brightness and hue adjustment is available."

Due to the nature of the new LCD design, a hood is not supposed to
be required.

Rgds,

Bill

RonA said:

no folding LCD hood/cover? Everyone wants to complain about what
they didn't do.

As a beginner/intermediate I see a number of positives.

ED optics
4X lens
moved the hot shoe over the lens
moved the zoom control away from your thumb position
Same ED wide angle & telephoto lens as 5700 (I know too big)
+ others

RonA
Nine Ninety Five, Five K
Meade ETX-90RA

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/ken_5

Ken. said:

Only thing that is the same is the styling of the flash and optical
finder. Otherwise it is more like the 5700.

Click to expand...

I agree. It is more like the 5700 but perhaps aimed more at the mainstream market with its scene modes, but lacking for eg the 8x zoom, and apparently optional battery pack etc.

It certainly isn't a true "successor" to the 5000.

John Drummond
CP 950, 4500 &5000

John Drummond said:

It certainly isn't a true "successor" to the 5000.

John Drummond
CP 950, 4500 &5000

Click to expand...

Thanks to all for comments and suggestions. I'm satisied with my minature 5000 camera but I'd never trade it for my Bronica system.The 5000 does a lot of things but none of them well. Neither will the 5400.Film will be here for a long time to come among those who know and those who care.

I ran across a company making an lcd 2x viewfinder which attaches by velcro and is made for any size lcd screen.

Here is the link:
http://www.photosolve.com/main/product/xtendaview/index.html

Cheers,

Philip

John Drummond said:

Lawrence Smithers said:

The new 5400 is really just a 5000 with minor changes.

Click to expand...

Lawrence, the 5400 may share basically the same body with the 5000,
but with at least one MAJOR change. It can't use the WC-E68 which
gave the 5000 an effective "19mm" wide angle, and made it unique
amongst consumer/prosumer cameras.

The WC-E80 that fits the 5400 gives it about a 23mm wide angle, not
much wider than the 9** series or 4500 with the WC-E63 and, as a
result, it ceased to be unique. No problem, unless you need the
great wide angle that only the CP5k and WC-E68 can offer.

I agree with your comments on the need for a decent LCD viewer. I
have used a Peak 4x loupe on all my CP's , but while it works well,
like your Bronica finder, it is difficult to store the cameras with
the viewer fitted. Same goes for the Extend-a-view and modified
slide viewers.

If you manage to come up with a viewfinder that folds or
concertinas let us know!!

John Drummond
CP 950,4500 & 5000

Click to expand...

how can you complain about a camera you have not used?

John Drummond said:

Lawrence Smithers said:

The new 5400 is really just a 5000 with minor changes.

Click to expand...

Lawrence, the 5400 may share basically the same body with the 5000,
but with at least one MAJOR change. It can't use the WC-E68 which
gave the 5000 an effective "19mm" wide angle, and made it unique
amongst consumer/prosumer cameras.

The WC-E80 that fits the 5400 gives it about a 23mm wide angle, not
much wider than the 9** series or 4500 with the WC-E63 and, as a
result, it ceased to be unique. No problem, unless you need the
great wide angle that only the CP5k and WC-E68 can offer.

I agree with your comments on the need for a decent LCD viewer. I
have used a Peak 4x loupe on all my CP's , but while it works well,
like your Bronica finder, it is difficult to store the cameras with
the viewer fitted. Same goes for the Extend-a-view and modified
slide viewers.

If you manage to come up with a viewfinder that folds or
concertinas let us know!!

John Drummond
CP 950,4500 & 5000

Click to expand...

PAUL BARR said:

how can you complain about a camera you have not used?

Click to expand...

From reading his post I thnk he feels that it missed in that it will not go as wide as the 5000, and to go wider than 28mm you need to use that monster of a wide adapter that was made for the 5700. I feel the same way since the strong point of the 5000 was its' wide. Of course the camera may take great shots and probably will appeal to many users. Just disappointing that it is not a great as the 5000 as far as wide goes.
--
http://www.pbase.com/ken_5

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_4_406&products_id=8352

http://www.screen-shade.com/

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_reviews/opt-x.html

PAUL BARR said:

how can you complain about a camera you have not used?

Click to expand...

Paul, as Ken correctly noted, my principal complaint about the 5400 is that it isn't compatible with the WC-E68 and therefore can't offer the 19mm wide angle of the 5000. As I mentioned in my previous post, the 5000 and WC-E68 occupied a unique niche for wide angle photography- the 5400 and WC-E80 don't.

As Peter iNova noted in an earlier post, if you want a wide angle camera rush out and grab a 5000 and a WC-E68 before they disappear.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1007&message=5220800

I'm sure that the 5400 will prove both good and popular, but without the WC-E68 it doesn't meet my PERSONAl criteria for wide angle the way the 5000 does - thats all.

John Drummond
CP 950,4500 & 5000

wgm-cp4500 said:

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_4_406&products_id=8352

http://www.screen-shade.com/

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_reviews/opt-x.html

Click to expand...

Thanks for these links. These hoods are what I had dreamt about but I didn't realize they actually existed!!

John Drummond
CP 950, 4500 & 5000

wgm-cp4500 said:

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_4_406&products_id=8352

http://www.screen-shade.com/

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_reviews/opt-x.html

Click to expand...

Hi WGM Many thanks for the URL's you posted, the final one is an interesting approach particularly the mounting system; however it too bad they dident go the final step and develop a leaf folding hood with a closed cover .This would have avoided the obvious danger of mounting a magnifyer above the LCD .They had many examples to follow ,the older waist level finders on the Pentax ,before SLR and the Exacta , to name just a couple..