Nikon Coolpix 5200: Does It Deliver?
by Stephen Caston on July 23, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Digital Camera
Final Words
The Nikon Coolpix 5200 is a compact and lightweight digital camera that packs quite a punch. As our tests show, the CP5200 proves that it has impressive line resolution and detail. In our outdoor pictures, the colors are well saturated and have great detail despite being a bit grainy. The Auto White Balance setting performed great outside in the sun, but had some trouble with our tungsten lights. This is a common problem with most current digital cameras. However, we found that setting the WB to the Incandescent setting produced very accurate colors. The camera can also take natural-looking indoor pictures by using the built-in flash and slow sync. The camera has an AF assist lamp that makes low light focusing fast and efficient. The Macro mode on the CP5200 takes great-looking macros with the ability to focus as close as 1.6".Not only does this camera excel in image quality, but it has a decent startup time and quick Shot-To-Shot times as well. With a battery performance of 965 shots, you can expect the CP5200 to shoot all day without any problems. However, for about $25, we recommend picking up a spare EN-EL5 battery pack for multiple day trips. The camera's movie mode has a smooth look to it at 30 fps and the duration is only limited by the amount of free space available. One thing that we would have liked to see in the CP5200 is a shooting-priority feature in Playback mode. However, considering this is only a minor drawback, we think that the Coolpix 5200 is an outstanding little camera.
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Thanks again to Newegg.com for loaning us the Nikon Coolpix 5200 for our review.
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FFS - Thursday, July 29, 2004 - link
ANANDECH Please stick to HARDWARE REVIEWSThere much better sites over Internet for DigiCams reviews... You just could not compete with there competence.
Do not make the same mistake as TomsHardware guide did.
What would be next - Games... :(((
That is my POINT OF VIEW
And I'm also very disappointed (to say at least)
Thou not about english, my is not perfect as well.
WooDaddy - Friday, July 23, 2004 - link
Ok.. I guess..You might not what to make up a phrase like that and instead just call it what it is; play to record transition. That's the term that is widely accepted and would prevent confusion.
From other reviews I've seen on the 5200, this 'feature' exists and there are timings for this as well. Maybe try a full press .. or read the manual. Nikon probably uses a different method for switching between play and record modes. Each manufacturer is different... and their customers know this.
It's upsetting that I have to look to other reviews to validate or invalidate what you're written.
(Also, it's "Timing", not "The Times". Simple 8th grade grammar. And yes, I'm pissed again..)
stephencaston - Friday, July 23, 2004 - link
WooDaddy: When I say shooting priority, I am not referring to Shutter Priority. I am referring to when a half-press of the shutter button will switch the camera back to shooting mode from playback mode, menus, etc. Shooting priority means the camera's priority is to take pictures as opposed to reviewing pictures or changing menu options.Sorry for the confusion
WooDaddy - Friday, July 23, 2004 - link
You know I had to say something...Better, has potential. A few comments though:
The garbage dumpster in the parking lot... Come on man. That's a horrible subject. You can do better. Would you show that to your friends and say "Hey look at this cool picture!". I think not.
Shooting-priority - There is no such thing. You probably saw it somewhere but it is a poorly chosen marketing term. There are only four types of exposure based shooting: aperture, SHUTTER, manual and full auto. Think about it.. Shooting-priority. Shooting priority over what? Not shooting? It's a marketing term gone awry.
Even though you are showcasing the Nikon, you should still have a reference point from another similarly marketed camera from another company. I mentioned this in my last post. Even though this is not a camera roundup, it still applies here as well.
I can tell from your subjects (the subjects in your photos) and your commentary that you are still new to photography as a whole. A REALLY OUTSTANDING book is Photography by Barbara London and John Upton. It's about $86 but it is a great book for beginners and pros alike. It's the standard textbook that all photographers use. If you want some suggestions for subjects, I can be of help. PM me and I promise not to bite.
The final word didn't really convince me. The features you mentioned as being good are features that most 5mp have or should have and nothing that stands out. Try out the Minolta G500 as it is a similar camera. Compare them and I bet you'll see what I mean. Also, use dpreview.com. Compare their reviews to steves-digicams and imaging-resource.com. You'll see the WIDE difference between them from dpreview.com. The level of professionalism and inherent photography skill vs gadget love is obvious. I want you to decide which side you want to be on. It seems like you'd like to be a dpreview editor but I think based on AT's focus, you might just want to focus on prices, features and that's it. Most of us know about dpreview and will go there.
It'll take some time, but you'll get there...
And I promise, I'll be less harsh as time goes on. Us photogs can be ruthless ;)
LoneWolf15 - Friday, July 23, 2004 - link
For about $100 less, one can get the Fuji Finepix S5000, which has lower resolution (3.1MP) but compensates by having a 10x optical zoom, aperture priority, shutter priority, and full manual, as well as a digital TTL viewfinder. It has 6MP resolution with interpolation, which I wouldn't use, but I think you get more for the money overall.