Nikon Coolpix P5100 review

The Nikon P5100 is the 12.1-megapixel flagship camera in the Coolpix range. 'P' stands for 'performance' on this, the highest-specced camera in the range, packing SLR-style features and controls into a compact frame for less than £300. We tested to see if this was the best of both worlds, or neither fish nor fowl.

Design
The P5100's SLR-styled body is made from magnesium alloy. The black retro looks are designed to associate the highly specced P5100 with dSLRs and gives the illusion in pictures that it's bigger than it really is. This is very much a compact camera, smaller than most bridge or superzoom cameras but with a wealth of features.

SLR-esque features include an optical viewfinder, although it only has about 80 per cent coverage. A control wheel adjusts some settings, although it takes some getting used to. A configurable function button gives access to your favourite settings. A hotshoe sits up top, although we noted that it isn't hard to find external flashes that are heavier than the camera. Despite its size, the P5100 has a chunky, textured and easy-to-grip feel.

The 1/1.72-inch CCD sensor is bigger than the typical compact, but the 64mm (2.5-inch) screen and 3.5x zoom -- equivalent to 35-123mm -- are fairly average.

The lens is compatible with various converter lenses that improve wide-angle and telephoto reach.

Features
The built-in flash is pleasingly brisk. A nifty continuous flash feature lets you shoot full speed ahead without having to wait for the flash to recharge. Built into the lens is optical lens shift image stabilisation, which is even better than sensor-shifting vibration reduction, especially when shooting video.

The P5100's SLR-like controls include a chunky mode wheel and thumb wheel for changing settings

The P5100 makes use of a number of processing features, which take care of image issues in-camera thanks to its Expeed processor. The 'D-Lighting' feature is designed to identify and lighten shadows to bring out detail in just the darker areas, rather than lightening the whole image. The adjusted image is non-destructively saved as a separate file to the original.

Another excellent processing feature is optional distortion control, taking care of distortion at the wide end. It doesn't allow you to use continuous shooting, bracketing and BSS modes, however. Red-eye reduction is also available.

Performance
Speed is an issue for the P5100. The autofocus feels slow, sometimes struggling to find a subject, and not just in low light. This means moving subjects are a problem, although you could use the continuous mode and pick the best shot from a sequence. Continuous mode isn't the fastest, though, managing 0.7 frames per second at maximum quality with a SanDisk Extreme III SD card. The buffer fills up too quickly to capture a long sequence of shots.