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Review: Nikon Coolpix 5700
Though digital cameras offer tremendous advantages over their film counterparts, most use 3x or 4x lenses that don’t offer a lot of telephoto power. Nikon’s new Coolpix 5700, an update to their 5 megapixel Coolpix 5000 combines a beefy 8x zoom lens with the same, excellent feature set of its predecessor. Though the camera suffers from some design and control layout issues, its image quality is top-notch.
The 5700’s 8X zoom lens is equivalent to a 35-280mm lens on a 35mm
camera. A typical 3X zoom offers roughly 35-130mm equivalence, so the
5700 provides far more magnification at the telephoto end than most digital
cameras. As one would expect from Nikon, the 5700’s lens is of very
high quality, with little distortion occurring at either extreme.
Like the 5000, the 5700 has a flip-out LCD screen that can be swiveled
into different positions. The screen is bright and clear, and remains
fairly visible in bright sunlight.
Our biggest complaint with the 5700 is the electronic viewfinder that
replaces the optical viewfinder of the 5000. An electronic viewfinder
is a tiny LCD, just like you’d find on a video camera and, though
it provides better coverage than the optical viewfinders found on most
digital cameras – as well as a detailed status display – the
5700’s is very dim in low-light. More importantly, the display’s
image quality is poor enough that it can be distracting while shooting.
The 5700 is a comfortable camera to hold, though we were often frustrated
by how easy it is to accidentally turn the camera on. Also, we would prefer
easier access to some of the camera’s features. For example, to
change exposure compensation, you must hold down a button on the top of
the camera while rotating the camera’s control dial. This can be
hard to pull off while looking through the camera’s viewfinder.
Over the years, the Coolpix feature set has grown, and the Coolpix 5700
provides an incredible array of settings and options. In addition to a
full automatic mode, shutter and aperture priority modes, and full manual
control, the 5700 provides all of Nikon’s stand-out features like
White Balance Bracketing, User Sets, and separate controls for adjusting
sharpness, contrast, and saturation.
The 5700’s image quality is excellent, offering good detail and
natural, accurate color. Though images appear a little soft on-screen,
we had no concerns about sharpness or detail when printing.
Though the 5700 is small, it’s still rather an odd shape -- not
the kind of camera you can stick in a pocket. But, if you want more shooting
flexibility than what the typical digicam provides, the 5700 is a good
choice.
Buy a Nikon Coolpix 5700 at Amazon.
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