Rating: Summary: Great camera for advanced users Review: For me, the main past failings of digital cameras have been the lack of resolution and the lack of wideangle capability. With 5+ mpixels, the Nikon 5000 is finally up with 35mm film, especially after considering that a 35mm frame must be cropped to achieve the standard 5:4 image shape of the 5000. The 28mm equivalent of the low end of the zoom is not bad, and with the wideangle adapter it is really there. If you take long telephoto shots, you are going to need a tripod anyway, and you probably will be better off with a 35mm SLR.The controls are complicated, but no worse than a Nikon F100. I doubt the control of many, many options can be solved neatly with anything short of a full-blown computer interface, and there is no space for that on a small camera. If you want to do much more than point and shoot, it really is necessary to read the manual. Complaints about the camera having only a 32MB memory card seem off base to me. 128MB cards are about $50, so go buy a hand full. If Nikon included more memory, the price of the camera would just go up. The controls are small, and I do believe that could be a problem depending on the size of your hands and your dexterity. I have average size adult male hands and average dexterity, and I do not have any problem at all. But give me just a few years, and there is a good chance I'll need the large-knob edition. The small size is a great tradeoff as far as I'm concerned. I travel a lot, and taking an F100 with a zoom lens is right up there with carrying a spare anvil. The 5000 allows photography at well above the point-and-shoot level with great convenience. It's a gem.
Rating: Summary: Best digital camera ever Review: I love the wide angle--no one else has a 28mm-85mm. It's perfect for families. The resolution is unbelievable and the color accuracy amazing. I use it for architecture and design as well as family shots. It reminds me of a digital Leica M4 or M6. It's small and I can take stealth shots of anyone. I do not know what some of these other reviewers are thinking but I doubt if they own one even! Trust me, this is the best camera you can buy.
Rating: Summary: too bad..from a retired after 30 years TV photojournalist Review: this is the 3rd nikon digital camera I've had and returned (thanks Amazon).I had the 775,885,and the 5000.For me,and this is a personal observation,they're too damn small!! I have poor eyesight and the screen and menus are too small for me to navigate.sure,you could set it up for idiot proof but why spend $1100 for a totally adjustable camera? I did try a few pictures and they seemed fine but once again I didn't take the time to really use the features.I couldn't.I'm not sold on digital photography for my purposes.you could buy an excellent 35mm camera for 1/3 the cost of the 5000 and buy a $150 scanner and do the same thing.I've used Nikon equipment for 30 years and love them.It's too bad that these cameras don't work for me.maybe they will for you.GO LOOK AT THEM before buying and make sure they are what you want and need.
Rating: Summary: Highly Recommended Review: You will not find another camera under $1200 with more manual control than the Nikon Coolpix 5000. Pro D1 users will be right at home but point-and-shoot photographers will have quite the learning curve to tackle. It's definitely a finesse camera so don't expect great shots to just spit out without a little tweaking of the extensive manual controls. Nikon's first rate construction, numerous features/controls, and very good image quality (although I did find the Sony F707 image quality to be slightly better) make this camera a worth wild buy and, therefore, I highly recommend the Nikon Coolpix 5000.
Rating: Summary: Doesn't compare favorably... Review: I had the opportunity to evaluate the Coolpix 5000 VS the Dimage 7 side-by-side and the Dimage 7 won my evaluation.. The image quality is excellent on both, but the Coolpix shows clear signs of chromatic aberration when shooting a bright object against a dark background (I shot a neon sign againts a night sky) the purplish glow is noticeable on the coolpix and non-existent on the minolta.. menus ara also bothersome to navigate on the nikon, and very intuitive on the dimage. Zoom? no comparison here! nikon:3X minolta:7X. You can argue all you want about which one is the best, but to my eyes (literally) the Dimage 7 lens system is superior. Cost is also important, as the nikon will cost you more.. For me, the nikon is not the best cost-wise and more importantly, optically...
Rating: Summary: Too slow! Review: By the time this camera is ready to shoot, your subject is either long gone or scowling at you. Just forget candids of the family unless you're lying in wait--and wait you will. This is classified as a "still camera," but more accurate would be "still-life camera," because that's about all it's good for. From turn on to illumination of the red and green ready lights the delay can be around 30 seconds, it seems. And another thing, it gets the flash exposure wrong quite often, and not just when light from the flash is bouncing off your finger into the sensor. Also, the histogram usually appears to be inaccurate. In short, it can take high quality pictures if you have the time to wait for it, and then retake the picture. Ironically, it's a little like using a 4x5 view camera. Although the 5000 is small, it's no zippy little joy. Memory is not a problem. Just pop in a 1 GB IBM microdrive. Batteries are not a problem either. Just keep a spare in your pocket and you'll go (or wait) all day. If you power it up in review mode or with the USB connected, you don't need to remove the lens cap.
Rating: Summary: Disappointed in the coolpix 5000 Review: Hi. I am a Nikon camera user for many Years.Using Digital and film cameras.I am very happy with my coolpix 990 and beliving the 5meg coolpix is a much better camera I have purchased one as soon as the camera become avilable.Big mistake! The camera not as good as the 990. The software excellent but the camera so far produced an unsharp photos and I find much slower then a 990. John Somer.
Rating: Summary: Great design that fits comfortably in your hand. Review: I traded up from a Canon Digital Elph (which was a real nightmare to use and had horrible resolution) to the Nikon CP 5000. The two cameras are like night and day. It is true thast the Nikon is 3 times the price of the Elph. However, the Nikon is easy to operate and the picture quality is super fine. The design of the camera body is great because it is very closely related to what you are used to holding when you use a conventional camera (a comfort I find lacking in many digital camera's oh-so-desperate to be futuristic designs). There is a right hand rubber grip that makes for a very firm grasp. I got this camera a few days before I left for a trip to Lisbon and I returned with great pictures and didn't spend a lot of time scratching my head. It is an expensive piece of machinery and with the rapidly evolving technology of digital cameras the prices tend to drop fast, so give it a lot of thought.
Rating: Summary: Nikon excellence ? Review: Having recently purchased the 5000, My first impressions are that, the camera feels good, handles well and is fairly light in weight. The facilities it has is enough to keep anyone busy for some time. And once you have learned the basics everything else is easy. The quality of the lens is typical Nikkor quality, which produces some excellent pictures, However I wish Nikon had given it a greater focal length, my feeling is that I will have to buy a convertor just to get me that greater amount of distance. Two points that I find most dissapointing about this camera is the flash....which is too close to the lens and causes red eye despite in fill flash. (Come on Nikon you should have forseen this problem) The battery life is very dissapointing...again I will need to buy a spare battery. The memory card should have been 64MB as standard. Overall despite the few drawbacks. The quality of the pictures it has produced are absolutely superb and cannot be faulted. If given the choice again I would still choose this camera over any others, even the Minolta Dimage 7.
Rating: Summary: They need to work the bugs out Review: Within two hours of taking delivery of our long awaited Coolpix5000, the lens malfunctioned. It became stuck in the fully extended position. We phoned Nikon and were informed that this was a "firmware" problem in early shipments. They instructed us to return the item to them for repair...We liked all the "promised" features, however we fear that this camera may spend more time with Nikon than with us.
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