Nikon Coolpix P5000

We gave you our first impressions of the Nikon Coolpix P5000 from the PMA trade show floor in March 2007. A few months later, we’ve subjected the P5000 to our test routine and taken thousands of pictures and videos to see if it’s all Nikon talks it up to be. The 10-megapixel Coolpix has a range of manual and automatic modes and controls along with the flexibility of a hot shoe and conversion lenses.

Physical Tour

Front (7.25)
The front of the Nikon Coolpix P5000 looks like a standard compact digital camera. The lens, labeled Nikkor 3.5x Optical Zoom VR, is located on the right side and is decorated in chrome. Along the bottom edge of the lens’ rim are its specs: "7.5-26.3mm, 1:2.7-5.3." There is a larger chrome ring around the base of the lens that protrudes about a quarter of an inch from the rest of the camera body. The very outer rim of the chrome is serrated and can be screwed off to reveal threading for conversion lenses. Above and to the right of the lens is the built-in flash; it isn’t directly on-axis with the lens, which is unfortunate. To the upper left of the lens is the optical viewfinder with the Nikon logo just below it. Below the "on" of the logo is a round auto focus assist/self-timer lamp. To the lower left of the lens is a hole in the body that serves as the built-in microphone, with a Coolpix logo beneath it. On the left side of the front is a sizable hand grip with a rectangular rubber patch. At the top of the patch is the shutter release button.

Back (8.0)
The back of the P5000 looks like a cross between a DSLR and a compact. Most compacts cram all the control buttons to the right of the LCD screen, while DSLRs tend to have more buttons and scatter them around a larger area.

The Nikon P5000’s 2.5-inch LCD screen is slightly left of center. On the far left edge is a vertical strip of five circular buttons. The top button is labeled "Fn" for "function." The next button down can change the LCD’s display - the Playback button, Menu button, and Delete button are below that. All of the buttons are chrome and raised on a platform that slopes downward to the left edge of the camera body.

Below the LCD screen is a Nikon logo and above the screen is a miniscule optical viewfinder that sticks out only as far as the LCD screen. To the right of the viewfinder are two LED indicators; the top one is labeled with the flash icon and the bottom one "AF."

To the right of the LCD screen is an inch-wide area with a comfortable rubber thumb rest at the top and a round multi-selector below it. The multi-selector has a central OK button and large icons around it to show what the control does when not wandering through menus. From the top and moving clockwise the icons are flash, exposure compensation, macro, and self-timer. An icon below the multi-selector indicates that the OK button doubles as a transfer function for printers and computers.

A few features are visible across the top edge of the camera’s back. The curled metal of the hot shoe can be seen on the left. The mode dial has ribbed edges and is located just right of the viewfinder. On the right edge is the similarly ribbed control dial. Both dials hang over the back edge a bit so they are easier to rotate.

Left Side (7.0)
There isn’t much to speak of on the left side. There is a strap eyelet on top and a series of holes that serve as the speaker on the bottom.

Right Side (8.0)
Another neck strap eyelet sits at the top of the right side, which is considerably thicker. At the bottom of this side are two tiny rubber doors. The bigger of the two is labeled USB/AV, while the smaller one opens a little hole to the battery compartment where the AC adapter can fit through.

Top (8.0)
The top of the Nikon Coolpix P5000 looks thick. The lens and hand grip protrude from the front, and the optical viewfinder protrudes from the back. The left side has a long and narrow neck strap eyelet that is visible from the top. To its right, but still very much on the left side, is the hot shoe that accepts Nikon Speedlight SB-400, SB-600, and SB-800 flash units. A Coolpix P5000 logo is printed to the right of the hot shoe and the optical viewfinder’s housing sticks out the back. To the right is the circular mode dial, which is labeled with a mix of icons and text. On the right side of the P5000’s top is a chrome oval plate that surrounds the shutter release/zoom ring, power button, and command dial. The shutter release button is circular and domed, and surrounded by the zoom ring that has a small nub that can be pushed right and left. The much smaller power button is located to the bottom left of the shutter release. Hanging over the back of the camera is the command dial, which is just slightly smaller than the mode dial. On the right side, but visible from the top, is the neck strap eyelet that matches the one on the other side.

Bottom (7.75)
The bottom of the camera has a battery door on the left side and a metal tripod socket in the center.