Nikon P5100

Reviewed November 2007

Image Quality

Although the Coolpix P5100 has a bright aperture of f2.7 when its 3.5X zoom is at the wide angle end, at the telephoto end the brightest aperture is only f5.3, making the VR (Vibration Reduction) image stabilization system almost necessary to avoid having images ruined by camera shake. This type of aperture range is not uncommon with the small lenses used on compact cameras, and it has been a prime motivator for the addition of image stabilization systems.

The Nikon Coolpix P5100 uses an in-lens stabilization system, one of two systems that are used by manufacturers — the other moves the sensor — that physically move an internal part of the camera to compensate for the unintentional movements of the photographer. These movements tend to be exacerbated by small apertures or long telephoto lenses, resulting in slow shutter speeds.

Flowing with the current trends, the Coolpix P5100 not only provides a 12-megapixel image size and a 16:9 aspect ratio in addition to the standard 4:3 and 3:2 ratios, it also offers an expanded sensitivity range. Starting at 64 ISO, the P5100 has a sensitivity range that tops out at 3200 ISO. At that level, however, the image is very noisy and contains little detail, even when the 5 megapixel image — the maximum image size at 3200 ISO — is reduced.

Lower sensitivities are better, but even 1600, 800 and 400 ISO levels contain colour noise and shadow noise.

Images captured at 200 ISO, particularly when printed, are less likely to show noise, although it can easily be seen when the image is looked at at 100% scale on a computer. Images captured in the 64 to 100 ISO range, however, is generally noise free when the camera can benefit from good light, but still, can occasionally contain shadow noise.

Optically, the lens used on the P5100 appears to have the same characteristics as one that was used on a previous model which we reviewed. However, our test camera exhibited a flaw that had not been observed before, a visible softness in the upper left corner of images captured with the wide angle end, that lead us to suspect that it might be specific to this particular camera. This aside, however, the wide angle yields images that are a touch softer than those captured at any other focal lengths.

Otherwise, the zoom reveals no major flaws. Barrel distortion is negligible at the wide end and there is no discernible pincushion distortion at the telephoto end. Likewise, there is no detectable chromatic aberration throughout the entire focal length range of the zoom.

The P5100 saves all images in JPEG format, providing any one of three compression levels. The highest image quality, Fine, is described in the manual as having a compression ratio of 4:1, but this may well be an error. None of the photos we took with the P5100, including photos of some very busy subjects that do not lend themselves to compression, had a compression ratio less than 8:1 (the average file size in comparison to the uncompressed file size), something common to all the 12-megapixel cameras we have seen to date.

While this level of compression used to be commonly used as an average compression with cameras that had sensors with a lesser resolution, it seems to have become the norm on high resolution compact cameras. As a result, when images are seen at full size on a monitor, they usually exhibit some loss of detail.

But, when the same images are processed and printed by either a newish printer at home, or by a service or kiosk, the results tend to be excellent.

This is due in no small measure to the excellent Matrix metering of the P5100, and the similarly accurate auto white balance. The matrix metering yields images, even under poor lighting conditions, that are realistic and which accurately reflect the brightness of the subject, even when the sun is shining directly into the lens. The auto white balance handles both sunny and cloudy weather easily, and even when used under incandescent light, the auto white balance will often produce colours that are more life-like than the tungsten setting.

The Coolpix P5100 is designed to be both a point and shoot and a camera that can satisfy the needs of a more assiduous photographer thanks to the inclusion of more advanced modes and a fully manual mode. And once printed, or reduced in size so as to be seen whole on a monitor, or on high definition television or through a projection system, the images from the Coolpix 5100 should please most people.