Rating: 
Summary: Electronic Problems
Review: I purchased the Nikon CoolPix 5000 camera in late March, 2002. Three weeks later the electronics went dead. The camera was returned to Nikon for service. Three weeks later it came back and two weeks after that the elctrronics failed again. It is now back in Nikon service. I have requested the camera be replaced with no response from Nikon.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely Surprised
Review: I recently purchased the Nikon Coolpix 5000, my first digital camera, and am very impressed with the ease of use and the results of the images. This camera has a ton of functions and you need time to learn how to maniplate the aperture and shutter speed, if you want manual control. The flash that is built in does the job, without red-eye, which has been a criticism of this design. In the macro mode (micro-photography) feature though the flash tends to be too bright and washes out the image. A hot shoe mount is built-in so you can use an alternate flash for macro. Cropping images digitally and zooming features were exceptional, with crisp results. Bulb settings (night time) and self timer features are other features of this cam. I am impressed and would definitely recommend and purchase a Nikon digital cam again.
Rating: 
Summary: Glad I didn't bust it
Review: I was very disappointed when I first got this camera. I had a Nikon FM (totally manual) camera for over 20 years and had FULL control over the pictures I took. Once I started taking pictures with it, I was ready to dash it on the rocks! I'd see the image properly framed in the monitor and in focus, I'd press the shutter button, then the lens would dance in and out before it snapped a totally out-of-focus image. How frustrating! I then tried a novel approach: I read the manual! There's a lot of options on this camera to give it flexibility. You need to get acquainted with it before you just go out shooting pictures, or you'll be TOTALLY frustrated. I'm getting better with it and have been amazed at the resolution. It does have its idiosyncrasies, but the more I learn and experiment with it, the more I know how to overcome those. Expect a longer than normal learning curve, after which you'll start getting your money's worth!
Rating:
Summary: Sales brochure does not tell all
Review: Be careful of this camera if you need filters. Nikon sells a filter kit but fails to included a necessary adapter. In addition, when you use the adapter(required) you can only zoom about 60% of wide angle. Also the literature does not tell you that the wide angle lense will not take ANY filters!!
Questionable marketing.
Rating:
Summary: Very Cool Camera
Review: I bought this camera primarily for archetecural shots and interior design. I am very pleased with the resolution, clarity and functionality. Nikon has gotten rid of that pesky little bug that shut the camera down if you started it without removing the lens cap and now what we have is a very nearly professional grade product. The only limitation is the number of lenses available to it, but given the rest of the quality in this product, I find that to be a minor inconvenience.
Rating:
Summary: charming, but difficult
Review: This is my second digital camera. (The first being a canon Elph) I have found it able to produce extraordinary results in some areas, but difficult, unpredictable, and cantankerous in others. Certainly, the sharpness and gigantic resolutions are wonderful. However, I have found that its' auto-focusing mechanism seems somewhat unreliable in the macro-mode when compared to the Canon that I was using previously. IT seems to produce inherently high contrast images so that I keep the contrast reduction switch in the on position all the time. Also, since I am old and anchored in the silver age of photography, things like multiple function buttons, and multi-page electronic menus are not only hard for me to see, but take a while to become familiar with. The good news is that I am now using the little devil every day, and have become quite adept(after six weeks) with it's particular ways of viewing the world. In summary, I would like to see them make a camera that blind old men like myself could see the menus etc. without having to put on reading glasses. But, the camera is sweet, and I would recommend it to the serious and dedicated photographer who is anxious to move into the realm of high end "prosumer" digital photography. It is not for beginners.
Rating:
Summary: Heaven Can Wait - But I can't
Review: The Nikon 5000 missed the chance to become one of the best on the market, if it had not made one major mistake: it's to slow. A great picture captures the essence of the moment. For most amateur photographers the time delay aspect is of lessor importance, however a Coolpix 5000 customer should expect superior performance. The time delay is way too long between pressing the shutter button and recording the picture. Even using a lower resolution setting the delay is unacceptable for this high-end camera. All other features of the camera are up to par with expectations, which I am more than happy about. Overall the quality of the hardware and the picture itself is excellent. However it is this one aspect of speed that irks me the most. For instance, taking a simple portrait is frustrating, as a facial expression I want to capture has changed by the time the camera is ready to shoot. If this one issue were to be fixed I would strongly recommend the Coolpix 5000
Rating:
Summary: Very good camera for natural light photography
Review: I bought my CoolPix 5000 late December 2001 and have been shooting with it in various locations since then. I am globally pleased with the camera, but found its enveloppe of usage to be somewhat narrower than I was expecting. As a foreword, I should say that, this being my first digital camera, as well as my first compact camera, I don't have any other obvious reference to compare it to. First, the good points: - very good images at 100 ISO,
- small size makes it very easy to carry the camera with you at any time. The 5000 is a compact camera, this should be kept in mind,
- very high feeling of quality when handling the beast,
- very convenient orientable screen,
- great zoom going down to 28 mm equivalent. Image sharpness appears to be very good at all focal lenght and appertures (without any scientific data though),
- good image results in point and shoot mode,
- very convenient tools for image review after shooting (including zoom to the pixel that makes it easy to assess the sharpness of the image). Downsides: - price,
- poor flash results (power and exposure),
- poor autofocus when selecting by hand which sensor you want to use. Most of the time, the camera is unable to find focus even on contrasty subjects. I gave up using this quickly. The automatic mode, in which the camera chooses automatically a sensor on which it could achieve focus, works fine for most cases (on point and shoot mode I mean),
- a lot of noise when using 200, 400 and 800 ISO modes (this could be the same with other digital cameras). I would strongly advise not to use these unless you really have to. They might allow you to take a sharp picture, but the result will mostly be unusable unless treated with special filters in photoshop (it seems some guys have created special actions that are good at removing such noise),
- slow electric zoom (but this is a normal feature for a compact camera),
- very short battery life. Any serious outing has to be planned with at least one if not 2 spare batteries,
- camera difficult to master (even with a strong Nikon background ranging from F-301 to F100, but the manual in Japanese did probably not help :-)). To summarize, I believe that Nikon just released the best compact digital camera for day light photography ever made. The problem is that, at this price, most users will expect it to be more than a compact camera and might therefore feel somewhat frustated when using it. Personnally, I didn't own a compact camera anyway, so I don't really regret my purchase :-) I also believe that the overall strategy of Nikon will become easier to understand when they will have released their low end digital SLR camera (which should happen soon according to persistant rumours). Bernard
Rating:
Summary: Cool Camera, the Nikon Coolpix 5000
Review: Shopped stores, catalogs, magazines, friends, websites - compared to the 5 most comparable cameras - Bought for business use - plus several accessories for a great price, well below the supposed great market prices out there. I found it to be very easy to use. Pics were crispy clear. I especially like the compactness.
Quite intuitive once you learn the basics.
My prior Olympus SLR OM-1 lasted 21 years.
Rating:
Summary: Impressive
Review: First of all, digital photography is not the same as traditionaly photography. There is a slow response time on digital cameras actually taking a picture when the shutter release is pressed; this camera is quicker than most digitals that i have used. One could have it configured to be quite slow when red-eye reduction is enabled or some of the other features. Yes that camera is small, and yes you could put your finger over the flash sensor resulting in poor lighting... but if the camera was big then the complain would be that it is too big... and they had to put the light sensor somewhere far from the lens (or you could not attach wide angle lens without blocking it)... now if you don't care about adding lens, having the ability to use an external flash, and lack interest in being able to manually control every aspect of a shot then this camera is not for you (and if you are looking in this price range may i suggest you consider the fully automatic and small canon s40). if you enjoy those sorts of things then this is the camera of choice... it takes exceptional photographs, but it is not a film camera and comparisions to such simply do not make sense.
also, great insight can be had on all digital cameras by reading the reviews at dpreview.com. good luck!
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