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Nikon's new flagship digicam, the Coolpix P5100 represents a minor update to its predecessor, the P5000. Sensor resolution is increased from 10 to 12.1 megapixels. The lens is the same in both models and includes lens-shift VR image stabilisation. Raw file capture has not been re-introduced, which puts the P5100 at a disadvantage when compared with Canon's PowerShot G9.

Both models have the same well-built magnesium alloy body, which has undergone some minor cosmetic adjustments in the new model, where the lens surround and control buttons are black instead of metallic. The print/share button has been dropped but no other obvious changes have been made. With the slightly larger sensor on the P5100, the angle of view of its lens is slightly wider than the P5000 (35-123mm vs 36-126mm equivalent). However, the monitor is the same 2.5-inch 230,000-dot, wide viewing angle TFT LCD and the small optical viewfinder and built-in flash are also unchanged.

Both cameras have identical top panel controls and the base panel is also identical, with the battery and memory card slotting into a compartment in the base of the camera, alongside the metal-lined tripod socket, which is centrally placed. The battery is also the same as the P500's but, because of the P5100's larger imaging chip and higher resolution, the number of shots per charge has been reduced from 250 to 240 in the new model.

Like other recently-released Coolpix digicams, the P5100's image processing chip is derived from "a custom application of Nikon's innovative Expeed digital image processing concept", according the Nikon's press release. We're not sure what that means but assume it's an improvement on earlier image processors. Nor can we say whether the new processor significantly improves the speed of processor-related features like the Face-priority AF and continuous shooting or the noise levels with high sensitivity recording.

Camera Controls
With so much of the P5000's control layout retained, it's not surprising to find the menu design essentially unchanged as well and users can still choose between a text-based or icon-based user interface. The same 16 scene modes are provided, along with seven movie modes, an Anti-Shake mode that combines VR stabilisation with BSS and boosted sensitivity. Face-priority AF and VR image stabilisation are also provided.


The text menu option.


The icon menu interface.

The same dedicated High-Sensitivity mode provides a top ISO 3200 setting that automatically reduces the image size to 5M (2592 x 1944 pixels) or smaller. The Multi-shot 16 continuous shooting mode is blocked at the top ISO setting. BSS (Best Shot Selector) settings are the same in the P5000 and P5100. There's also a fixed range auto setting that allows users to limit the ISO range to 64-100, 64-200 or 64-400, presumably to ensure shots aren't noise-affected.

The Optimise image menu contains the same pre-sets for Normal, Softer, Vivid, More Vivid and Portrait colour and tonal renditions as well as a B&W setting and a Custom mode for creating your own rendition by adjusting Contrast, Image sharpening and Saturation (+/- 2 steps for each). No Sepia setting is provided but the B&W mode includes a Custom setting with Contrast and Image sharpening adjustments plus digital filters that replicate the monochrome effects of yellow, orange, red and green filters.

One potentially useful addition to the shooting menu is Distortion control, which will correct barrel distortion in shots taken with the wide lens setting. When distortion is detected, the camera will crop the image to remove it. However, irritating idiosyncrasies like tucking the VR stabilisation and digital zoom controls away in the set-up menu persist in the new model.

In-camera editing functions include the same D-Lighting, cropping, 'Small Pic' resizing (for emails) and red-eye fix functions. A new editing function in the P5100 lets you add black borders to shots with a choice of three border thicknesses. For each editing function, the camera will save the edited version of the shot as a copy. If you don't like the chances you have made, it's easy to return to the original.

The Optimise image menu contains the same pre-sets for Normal, Softer, Vivid, More Vivid and Portrait colour and tonal renditions as well as a B&W setting and a Custom mode for creating your own rendition by adjusting Contrast, Image sharpening and Saturation (+/- 2 steps for each). No Sepia setting is provided but the B&W mode includes a Custom setting with Contrast and Image sharpening adjustments plus digital filters that replicate the monochrome effects of yellow, orange, red and green filters.

Among the annoying changes in the shooting menu is the adjustment to the continuous shooting mode that prevents you accessing anything except the single-frame and interval timer modes when Noise Reduction has been set to On. This is totally counter-intuitive and it's difficult to track down why you can't shoot continuously in the user manual. The answer is only provided in the Troubleshooting section under "Camera does not shoot continuously'.

The camera's continuous shooting capabilities are unimpressive. The drive mode has settings for single, continuous, continuous flash and interval timer shooting and three- and ten-second self-timer modes are provided. The results of our tests are provided in the Performance section below.

Image files are saved as JPEGs, with 11 sizes provided and three compression levels. Interestingly, in addition to high-resolution pictures in 3:2 and 16:9 aspect rations, the P5100 also provides a 1:1 square format that captures images with 2992 x 2992 pixels. Compression ratios are essentially the same as in the S-series models and somewhat high for an advanced digicam. Typical file sizes are shown in the table below.

The Coolpix P5100 provides a wider range of movie settings than other Coolpix models by adding B&W and Sepia movie modes.  However, it also lacks widescreen recording capabilities and, unlike the point-and-shoot models, does not provide a stop-action movie setting. Typical clip lengths and frame limits for the various movie modes are shown in the table below.

* - regardless of memory card capacity

Focus mode selection and exposure compensation are available in all movie modes but the self-timer can't be used and the flash is only available for time-lapse movies. Optical can only be used before movie recording starts but up to 2x digital zoom can be applied while shooting movies, except in time-lapse mode. All other camera settings are fixed with the first frame of the clip. Voice recording is also provided, with a limit of five hours.

Playback functions are essentially the same as in the P5000. You can also turn on the camera in Playback mode by holding down the quick review button for several seconds. Pressing the display button in Playback mode toggles between displaying the shot with and without shooting data overlaid and with a histogram and shooting data plus flashing highlights where over-exposure has occurred. (Histograms are not available in the shooting mode.)

 
Playback display options.

Optional accessories that will fit the P5100 include the 0.67x wide-angle converter WC-E67 and 3x telephoto converter TC-E3ED, both of which require the UR-E20 step-down ring adapter. Nikon's SB-400, SB-600 and SB-800 Speedlight flash units can also be fitted via the hot-shoe. The camera will accept SD and SDHC cards up to 4GB in capacity. 


The hot-shoe allows Nikon's Speedlight flash units to be fitted.

Software
Nikon has replaced the PictureProject software that was bundled with all its cameras before the most recent releases with a new disk titled 'Software Suite for Coolpix'. It contains the following applications: PTP Drivers for Coolpix series cameras, Drivers for D1 series cameras, ArcSoft Panorama Maker 4, Apple QuickTime 7, Nikon Transfer, My Picturetown Utility, Microsoft DirectX 9 and Kodak EasyShare.

Nikon Transfer is an image uploading/organisational utility, while My Picturetown Utility is a wireless utility for other Nikon cameras (which isn't much use with the P5100). Panorama Maker 4 is a straight panorama stitcher, with no real editing capabilities. The only editing application is Kodak's EasyShare software, which allows users to make some minor colour and tonal adjustments, rotate shots, apply red-eye correction and editing effects. It also provided facilities for creating albums, CDs and DVDs from image files and displaying slideshows. Direct links are provided to a Kodak Gallery Account or online printing service (Kodak, of course).

Performance
The dynamic range in outdoor shots taken with the test camera was even narrower than we found with the P5000 we reviewed back in April. Blown out highlights were common in shots taken in bright sunlight and shadows tended to block up. The higher-resolution sensor in the P5000 produced slightly better digital zoom shots and colour accuracy was generally good.

Imatest showed resolution to be below expectations, although not by quite as much as we've seen with some other 12-megapixel digicams. Performance was relatively even across the camera's aperture range, with some tailing off at the widest and smallest apertures. The graph below plots the Imatest line width/pixel height figures against the lens aperture for a series of test shots at ISO 64.

Colour accuracy was good – but not outstanding. Imatest detected shifts in several hues, including skin tones, purplish blues and olive green. Saturation was slightly elevated in pinkish reds. Lateral chromatic aberration was moderate and coloured fringing was observed in outdoor shots at 100% magnification.


Coloured fringes were observed at the edges of outdoor shots.

Image noise began to affect resolution at ISO 200 and became obvious in shots at ISO 400 and above, particularly in shadowed areas. The noise reduction system could not provide adequate correction at ISO 800 and above and tended to produce blotchiness and softening at the highest ISO settings, particularly with long exposures. The graph below plots the relationship of the camera's ISO setting against resolution in line widths/pixel height, derived from our Imatest tests.

Camera response times were relatively slow. It took just over two seconds to power-up for shooting and we measured an average capture lag of 1.3 seconds, of which the major delaying factor was autofocusing. With pre-focusing, shots could be recorded in less than 0.1 seconds. Shot-to-shot times averaged 2.9 seconds – with or without flash – unless the red-eye reduction flash mode was selected. This mode combines pre-flashing with post-capture processing. In our tests, processing times were extended to an average of approximately four seconds.

The high-speed shooting mode could only capture two high-resolution (4000 x 3000 pixels) shots at just over one frame/second with normal quality. By four frames, the frame rate had slowed to one frame every 3.2 seconds, which was the camera's approximate processing rate. Even the Multi-shot 16 burst mode was relatively slow, with a capture rate of just under one frame/second at reduced resolution. In our tests, 16 frames were compressed to fit into a single 920KB file, which took roughly four seconds to display.

Flash performance was similar to the Coolpix P5000, although the new model struggled to illuminate an average-sized room at ISO 64. Exposures with the flash were even from ISO 200 to ISO 2000. The influence of ambient lighting produced a warmish cast at ISO 3200. Using flash with the burst mode caused few delays to shooting or processing times – as long as red-eye reduction was not selected.

Conclusion
This would be a great little camera if it had an 8-megapixel image sensor and raw file capture and if Nikon fixed some of the menu's anomalies and boosted response speeds a bit. Small enough to be pocketable and ruggedly built, the P5100 is, in the main, pleasant to use and contains most of the controls and functions keen photographers require.

The autofocusing system needs a shot in the arm but metering is mostly spot-on. Low ISO output is excellent and the flash system has lots of potential. If you aren't interested in shooting raw files and absolutely must have a 12-megapixel digicam, it's certainly a good, affordably-priced choice. But, for more serious photographers, Canon's PowerShot G9 is worth the extra $200.

IMATEST GRAPHS

SAMPLE IMAGES

Auto white balance with incandescent lighting.


Auto whtie balance with fluorescent lighting.


Close-up.


Digital zoom.


Short exposure at ISO 64.


Short exposure at ISO 3200.


Long exposure at ISO 400.


Long exposure at ISO 3200.

Image sensor:  '1/1.72-inch' type CCD sensor with 12.43 million photosites (12.1 megapixels effective)
Lens: 7.5-26.3mm, f/2.7~5.3 zoom (35-123mm in 35mm format)
Zoom ratio:  3.5x optical; up to 4x digital
Image formats: Stills – JPEG (Exif 2.2); Movies – AVI/WAV
Image Sizes: Stills – 4000 x 3000, 3264 x 2448, 2592 x 1944, 2048 x 1536, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 1024×768, 640 x 480, 3984 x 2656(3:2), 3968 x 2232 (16:9), 2992x 2992 (1:1); Movies -
Shutter speed range:  1-1/2000 sec. (4 sec. in Fireworks mode)
Image Stabilisation: Lens shift VR
Exposure Compensation: +/- 2EV in 1/3 EV steps
Focus system/range: Contrast-detect AF; range 30 cm to infinity; macro to 4 cm
Exposure metering/control: 256-segment matrix, centre-weighted and spot metering; Auto, P, A, S and M shooting modes plus 16 scene modes
ISO range: Auto (ISO 64-800), ISO 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 2000, 3200 (5M size only).
White balance:  Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Flash, White bal. Preset (manual)
Flash modes/range (ISO auto): Auto, Red-eye reduction, Anytime flash, Flash cancel, Slow sync.; range 0.3-8.0 metres
Sequence shooting:  Approx. 1.0 fps
Storage Media: Approx. 52MB internal memory plus SD expansion slot
Viewfinder: Real-image optical
LCD monitor:  2.5-inch 230,000-dot, wide viewing angle TFT LCD with anti-reflection coating
Power supply:  EN-EL5 rechargeable lithium-ion battery (240 shots/charge)
Dimensions (wxhxd): 98 x 64.5 x 41 mm
Weight: 200 grams (without battery and card)