Nervous about Nikon Coolpix 5700 purchase

[Raedeke]

We have owned a Canon Digital Camera for about 6 or 7 years. My wife is very much into her Canon AE-1. And we are in need of a new digital camera. So I bought her a Nikon Coolpix 5700 thinking that she could still enjoy the great features of her SLR, but in a digital format.

Was looking at a Canon A80 or the S1 IS, but ended up with the Nikon.... Didn't do my home work on that unit and when I got home I was concerned to read about all the troubles people were having. Specifically with the lens gears and the low light AF.

Should I return this thing and reconsider my purchase or are these troubles from a handfull of individuals?

Would love some opinions of the subject.
My wife will probably never give up her AE-1 and rightly so, but I'd like to have something that's a bit better than a standard point and shoot digital and love the 5MPix on the Nikon - any suggestions...

Thanks so much.

[another view]

There's always something coming out that's newer/better/faster/cheaper, so I wouldn't be too worried if you got a good deal on it. The 5700 was replaced by the 8mp 8700, but just because the resolution is higher doesn't mean that the images are better.

What was it about the 5700 that made you want to buy it? Would the 8700 be better? Maybe, maybe not - but it will (of course) be more expensive. The 5700 is a capable camera and should be fine. I have a 5000 (discontinued 1-1/2 years ago) and it's been great. I would believe that there's a lot of common parts to these cameras. One thing, there aren't any cameras out there I'm aware of that are like this that will do well in low light (main complaint being image noise, not AF though). If that's a concern, only a DSLR will do. My 5000 seems OK here, or as much as I would expect it to be.

[Michael Fanelli]

We have owned a Canon Digital Camera for about 6 or 7 years. My wife is very much into her Canon AE-1. And we are in need of a new digital camera. So I bought her a Nikon Coolpix 5700 thinking that she could still enjoy the great features of her SLR, but in a digital format.

Was looking at a Canon A80 or the S1 IS, but ended up with the Nikon.... Didn't do my home work on that unit and when I got home I was concerned to read about all the troubles people were having. Specifically with the lens gears and the low light AF.

Should I return this thing and reconsider my purchase or are these troubles from a handfull of individuals?

Would love some opinions of the subject.
My wife will probably never give up her AE-1 and rightly so, but I'd like to have something that's a bit better than a standard point and shoot digital and love the 5MPix on the Nikon - any suggestions...

Thanks so much.

The Nikon 5700 is a reasonable camera for the type and price range. As with all cameras, it has good points and bad points. Comparing a P&S digital with an SLR isn't really fair!

What is it about the camera that YOU PERSONALLY don't like?

Be very careful about the opinions you get (including mine). Users never write "This camera has never had a problem." You only hear from people who have had bad experiences or are clueless about photography. There is no way to judge the numbers!

[Raedeke]

My intention was to buy a camera that had 4MP or greater, at least 5x optical zoom and was more than just a point and shoot. My hope was that the 5700 would have the same control over the shoot as she does with her SLR. Which I believe it does and perhaps more.

I went to the store intending to purchase the A80 or the S1 IS. And found that the 5700 had the best of both worlds. But I had not read up on the camera before I went and looked at it - it just wasn't on the radar.

When I got back I read the CNET site and was very concerned to read about all the problems people were having. The main issues were that the gears on the lens was having problems and broke and that you couldn't use the auto focus in low light.

Now granted I have no idea what they mean by low light, or have any clue if these were technically challenged individuals who just didn't understand the camera, but the volume of complaints and the indication that the unit should be recalled, seemed to indicate to me that I had perhaps made a mistake buying the camera.

My hope was to find people who actually know about cameras, this one in particular and see if the stories are founded.

Hope that help clarify my request.
Thanks
R

[damnhandy]

As someone who has owned a 5700 for over two years now, I can tell you that this is a fine camera. The camera has few weak points:

1. Slow low-light autofocus
2. non-intuitive menu system
3. no focus ring

Aside from that I have been VERY happy with this camera. The camera really shines in manual mode. But you REALLY do need to read the manual in order to use it properly. The images are top notch, but start to get noisy at 400ISO and the 800ISO is very noisy. I also have added an SB-50DX external flash and teh MB5700 batery back and horizontal grip. It's a great camera with a lot of power. I think she'll be happy, after she reads teh manual of course

[damnhandy]

Half the folks that complain about an item in the "User reviews" don't actually own the product, or have some type of brand loyalty to a competing brand. Take those reviews with a grain of salt. The same goes for the CNET Editorial revies; anyone who reviews a Pro DSLR and find that one of the cameras "flaws" is that the "LCD doesn't work as a viewfinder", shouldn't be reviewing an SLR IMHO.

[wburychka]

Shame on you, Raedeke. Why didn't you post that question BEFORE you bought the camera? I had a CP5700 for about two months. I read the manual backward and forward as I always do--and I do understand cameras and photogaphy. I bought a Nikon F in 1968 and took pictures for 30 years with that manual focus, match needle exposure camera including hundreds in Vietnam and thousands after that. I used a Nikkor 50mm F1.4, a Nikkor 135mm, a Kenko fisheye, and even had the first Tamron 28-135mm zoom. For several years, I had my own darkroom. While strictly an amateur, I've had a few paid gigs over the years. I can tell the difference between a bad camera and a good one. Here's my quick and dirty:

The good:
Excellent lens.

The bad:
Autofocus slow in most conditions, extremely poor in low light. Manual focus impossible with the EVF. I truly believe that EVFs are the future of digital camera viewfinders--but they're definitely not the present. Give me the clear view of an SLR.
Shutter delay--not a problem except with wildlife, people, or anything else that won't stand still.
Filters--you have to buy a 3rd party adapter for $25 or Nikon's kit.
Eronomics--too easy to accidentally press buttons on the left side of the camera.
Battery life--poor, especially if you leave the continuous focus turned on. You need a spare battery and a fast charger or the external battery pack.
External flash--the camera could really benefit from the focus assist light in Nikon external flash units. Unfortunately, it will not use that feature.
Servo-controlled zoom is not precisely controllable.
Above 100, the images are somewhat noisy by P&S standards, quite noisy by DSLR standards, although Noise Ninja does a good job on them.
No aperture smaller than F11. You'll need a polarizer or ND filter in some bright conditions.

Thank goodness my dealer was sympathetic and took the camera back.I used the CP5700 and studied the manual--not believing at first that a Nikon could be so poorly designed. Frankly, the CP5700 seemed like it must have been put into production before the bugs were worked out.

Apologize to your wife, and then return the CP5700 and get her a Canon 300D today.