Manual Control Options
There are plenty of manual controls on the Nikon P5100. It has Manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter Speed Priority, and Program modes in addition to its set of automated exposure modes. It has a jog dial that makes it quick and easy to navigate through shutter speeds and apertures, a borrowed feature from DSLRs. This little camera also has the typical manual controls such as white balance and ISO. There are more manual controls outlined in the following sections.
Focus
Autofocus (7.0)
The older Nikon P5000 has a slow auto focus system that causes major lags. This is the camera that people will grow to hate because they will miss so many spontaneous shots. Users push the shutter release button only to wait more than a half-second before the picture is actually taken. This is embarrassing for Nikon’s so-called “Performance Series” digital cameras and a big turn-off for enthusiasts and DSLR owners who want a high-end compact.
The contrast detection autofocus system can focus as close as 1.6 inches in the macro mode and 1 foot normally. When zoomed in, the camera can normally focus from 2 feet, 4 inches. The nine-point autofocus system has several options in the recording menu. It can be set to single or full-time autofocus, and the autofocus area mode can be changed from auto to manual, center, and face priority. The manual mode isn’t to be confused with a manual focus mode: that isn’t included on the P5100. Instead, the manual area focus mode allows users to move a small focus point around the frame to 99 different locations rather than letting the camera choose. There is also an autofocus assist lamp that can be turned on in the menu; it shoots out an orange light when needed. This is handy for shooting in low light, but adds even more lag time to the picture.
The Nikon Coolpix P5100 has improved face detection and plays it differently than on the P5000. The older model could recognize one face at a time and did so slowly, then placed a scary smiley face over the subject’s face obstructing the view. It was also positioned as its own Scene mode and couldn’t be used in any other mode, whereas the face detection on the P5100 can be used just about anywhere as it is found in the recording menu.
The face detection system on the P5100 is superior to Nikon’s face priority of old. The new system can recognize up to 12 faces at a time. It does so quickly, but is also finicky. If more faces appear in the frame, the boxes surrounding the already-recognized faces seem to flash and disappear and rearrange. It doesn’t track very well either. It’s an improvement, but it isn’t the best on the market.
The face detection system is improved on the Nikon P5100, but the overall speed of the autofocus system is unfortunately unchanged. It was slow on the P5000 and it is still slow on the P5100. DSLR owners and picky consumers will be highly disappointed at the response time.
Manual Focus (0.0)
Manual focus modes on compact digital cameras are always tedious and flawed so it’s not terribly surprising that the P5100 opted to leave this out. Perhaps Nikon assumed that DSLR owners would only use manual focus on their DSLRs and likely not for their pocket camera; this assumption is likely accurate, but there will always be a situation in which some photographer somewhere will want manual focus on the P5100.
ISO (8.0)
The P5100 pairs its large image sensor with an Expeed image processor, which is not included in the older P5000. The new processor guarantees a better signal to noise ratio, which we put to the test.
The new processor delivers on its promise. The P5100 keeps noise lower than the older P5000 even with more resolution. The noise remains quite low between ISO 64-400, and then increases from there. A chart showing the amount of noise at each manual ISO setting is available in the Testing/Performance section.
Despite the new processor, the options remain the same as those found on the older P5000. Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 2000, and 3200 are available, although the top ISO 3200 setting is only offered at the 5-megapixel image size or less. The automatic ISO setting has a default 64-800 range, but can be truncated to 64-100, 64-200, and 64-400 in the recording menu. This is a new trend among compact digital cameras. The Pentax Optio Z10 allows users to adjust its automatic range from 64-3200.
White Balance (7.0)
This Nikon Coolpix P5100 has the exact same white balance options as the P5000. The list isn’t really extensive but it covers the basics: auto, preset manual, daylight, incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy, and flash. Many cameras offer more fluorescent options because of the variety of fluorescent bulbs and some cameras offer a shade white balance setting, but the P5100 keeps its options basic. It does have the manual white balance setting, which is the most important anyway. Measuring the white balance is simple and intuitive, and done in the menu.
The manual setting is the most accurate because it can adjust to any lighting, but if users shy away from it they should keep to this rule: use the auto outside and the presets if shooting indoors. More details on that in the Testing/Performance section.
Exposure (7.75)
One of the big draws of the Nikon P5100 is that it allows users so much flexibility with the exposure. Users can manually adjust both the shutter speed and aperture at once or individually with the Manual and Priority modes. In other modes, users have some control over the exposure with the +/- 2 exposure compensation feature that adjusts in increments of 1/3. The exposure compensation can be accessed by pushing the right side of the multi-selector. There is a live view of the brightness changes. In the recording menu, there is an auto bracketing mode that allows users to shoot three images in a short burst at +/- 0.3, +/- 0.7, or +/- 1 EV intervals. If all of this still yields unpleasant results, there is a quick fix in the playback menu called D-lighting. This automatically adjusts the brightness and contrast of images to look more flattering; it works favorably.
Metering (7.0)
This digital camera has a 256-zone metering system that it uses to judge the exposure. It has the same options that were available on its predecessor: matrix, center-weighted, spot, and spot AF area. Most digital cameras have the first three options, but only a handful of cameras have the spot AF area option. This allows users to move the focus point to 99 different points around the frame and sync the metering with it.
Shutter Speed (7.0)
The high-end P5100 has a shutter speed range common on compact digital cameras. The mechanical and charge-coupled electronic shutter can flip as fast as 1/2000 of a second and as slow as 8 seconds. It is automatically controlled unless in the Manual or Shutter Speed Priority exposure modes. In these modes, the shutter speeds are shortened even more: users are limited to long exposures of a half-second or less. And when the aperture is opened wider than f/7.3, the fastest shutter speed is limited to 1/1000 of a second. The jog dial control is a comfortable interface to scroll through the options, but the options are often limited on the P5100.
Aperture (6.0)
The P5100 has the same 3.5x optical zoom lens as the P5000 and the same apertures as well. It has a six-blade iris diaphragm that can be controlled manually or automatically. There are Manual and Aperture Priority exposure modes that allow full control over the aperture. The jog dial scrolls through available apertures, and in the Manual mode the right side of the multi-selector allows users to move back and forth from the aperture to the shutter speed and so forth. The aperture opens to a nice and wide f/2.7, letting plenty of light in to hit the image sensor. When the lens is zoomed in, the widest aperture is only f/5.3. Throughout the range, the smallest the aperture can shrink is f/7.3. Most digital cameras apertures shrink to f/8.
