Nikon Coolpix 5200: Does It Deliver?
by Stephen Caston on July 23, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Digital Camera
General Image Quality
For these pictures, the camera was reset to its factory default setting. Then, it was set to its highest quality recording setting. The pictures were then taken in Auto mode. Click on a thumbnail to view the full-size image. The crops below the thumbnails are 100%.  Click to enlarge. |
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| In this first crop, we can see that the CP5200 is capable of capturing a good amount of detail. In addition, the picture has a very even exposure. | In this image, although the camera overexposed the sky, car, and other bright white objects on the left side of the frame, we can see that the Nikon ED lens helped to avoid any significant chromatic aberrations. The main subjects in the image (the dumpsters) are well-exposed and sharp. | This image is exposed properly and the colors are well-balanced. However, there is some loss of detail in the shadows to the left of the door. |
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| This image shows a fair amount of grain, but detail is not lost and the color is right on. | In this macro shot, the subject is clear while the background is thrown softly out of focus. The colors are nicely saturated, detail is high, and image grain is not an issue. | Again, in this macro image, the lines are sharp and the colors are pleasant. |
Our outdoor images look pretty good overall. Despite the CP5200's tendency to produce slightly grainy pictures, the level of detail seems unaffected. In the picture with the overexposed sky, there is no problem with chromatic aberrations and the main subject of the image has good detail and color balance. The CP5200 demonstrates its versatility producing sharp and nicely saturated "walk-around" pictures in addition to vibrant and well-focused macros.
Video
Click on the thumbnail below to download a short video clip recorded in Movie mode at 640x480.
Right click to download.
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5 Comments
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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.