Nikon's exciting, advanced 5.1-megapixel Nikon Coolpix 5400 digital camera adds a new dimension to the popular Coolpix line of digital cameras and combines a host of enhanced features and design elements. With superior 4x Zoom-Nikkor ED optics, wide-angle coverage and the exclusive new Best Shot Selector (BSS) feature, the Nikon Coolpix 5400 provides the ideal tool for digital photographers who are serious about the art of photography. The durable and lightweight Nikon Coolpix 5400 is the perfect tool to enhance any advanced photographer's creative imagination.
Amazon.com Product Description
Optics and Resolution
The Coolpix 5400 uses a 5.1 effective-megapixel CCD to capture images at a maximum native resolution of 2,592 x 1,944 pixels. This allows for clear printouts up to 20x30 inches in size. The camera incorporates a wide angle Zoom-Nikkor lens with a maximum optical zoom of 4x coupled with a stepless 4x digital zoom for a 16x total zoom. The lens contains nine elements in eight groups, with the Zoom-Nikkor lens using Extra-Low Dispersion (ED) glass and two aspherical lenses completing the setup. With a focal length range of 5.8 mm to 24mm, the 4x optical zoom is equivalent to a 28-116mm lens on a 35mm camera.
The camera has fifteen preset shooting modes for easily shooting portraits, panoramas, landscapes, and many more. Users can select center-weighted, spot, AF spot, or a special 256-segment matrix metering mode in conjunction with TTL white balance to provide incredible exposure and color balance. Shutter speeds vary from 1/4000 second to ten minutes, making it possible to capture a wide variety of shots, and the Ultra Macro Mode allows for close-ups from a range of .4-inches.
Storage and Transfer
The 5400 stores images on either Type I or Type II CompactFlash cards and is compatible with 512 MB and 1GB MicroDrives. Shots are stored in either uncompressed TIFF-RGB format or compressed JPEG format. The camera uses a USB 1.1 interface and also outputs (selectable) NTSC or PAL video.
Movie Mode
It is possible to capture 70 seconds of video with audio using the 640 x 480 TV mode, or 180 seconds of video with audio using the 320 x 240 Small Movie mode.
More Features
It's always easy to get the perfect pictures thanks to the 5400's Best Shot Selector. In this mode the camera snaps five consecutive shots, analyzes them, and saves only the best of the bunch based on several selection parameters. A similar Auto Exposure Best Shot Selector mode does the same thing by comparing the tonal range and gradation of five consecutive shots snapped in quick succession. All the other pictures are then discarded to conserve storage space. All this is made possible by the camera's integrated 64 MB buffer that can quickly store several shots without committing them to the slower CompactFlash card.
Test
solid 5MP camera with 4x zoom, but compare vs competition, September 23, 2003
Reviewer:
"jemaer_rf" (United States) - See all my reviews
the nikon coolpix 5400 is a solid 5MP, 4x zoom camera with a strong feature set. but it has a few shortcomings so make sure to consider its competition.
pros:
- 5MP and 4x optical zoom.
- good color response, average resolution for 5MP.
- photos have very low noise.
- allows a great deal of manual control.
- macro mode better than most.
- low redeye occurrence.
- virtually free of chromatic aberrations.
- shadow highlights maintained.
- timed exposures up to 10 minutes.
- expandable with a boatload of lenses, flashes, and other accessories from nikon.
- wider lens than most.
- supports CF card types I and II.
- flip-out LCD display - protects LCD when not in use.
- high resolution LCD with anti-reflective coating that actually works.
- very comfortable to hold with a deep hand grip made of soft rubber.
- compact body feels solid.
- reprogrammable FUNC button, and initial record menu.
- above average battery life (i still recommend getting a spare though).
cons:
- some lens distortion, especially at maximum zoom.
- images occasionally appear soft around corners.
- slow response interface, non-intuitive menus.
- no AF assist light - very puzzling why nikon doesn't provide this.
- to add insult to injury, this camera has a hard time focusing in low light so an AF assist light would really come in handy.
- average auto focus speed.
- buffering issue? the camera locks towards the end of write process.
- slow CF write speed / processing.
- you're on your own when using manual focus - it doesn't show focus distance.
- LCD smaller than competition.
- RAW mode not supported.
- flimsy cover for CF slot.
- no live histogram in record mode.
- no support for external Speedlight features such as AF assist or flash zoom.
- connectivity options all over the place rather than in a central location.
- uses proprietary battery so make sure you add some $$ to your budget to get a spare.
- the supplied 16MB CF card is inadequate - again, more $$ for more memory.
the coolpix 5400 is a solid camera from nikon with a very strong feature set. it will produce very good pics in point and shoot mode but still has full manual control if you want to be more creative with your shots. i've given this a 4-star rating because of two important factors for me: the lack of an AF assist light and the dead time at the end of write process. i would suggest that you consider the canon g5 and the sony dsc-v1 before committing to the nikon 5400.
i hope this helps with your buying decision. peace.
Beginner to Advanced, November 8, 2003 Reviewer: Andrew J. Knell (Washington, D.C United States) - See all my reviews What can I say? I love the 5400! It is my second from the Coolpix series. My first was a CP 880 that took a fall so the 5400 was a replacement. It's well worth the money. I looked around a lot and couldn't find anything I liked from other manufacturers that packed the features and flexibility of the 5400.
If you are a new digital user, the auto mode and scene modes are great. I usually shoot in P or M modes and can turn the dial to Automatic mode and hand it to my wife who likes the ability to point and shoot without thinking about adjusting anything. You can grow into this camera if you don't know yet how to shoot manually.
The 15 different scene modes to choose from are excellent. The panoramic assist mode is particularly cool. You can shoot a panoramic horizontally, vertically or in a 360 degree circle. You take photos and then put them together after download with the ArcSoft software that comes with the camera. It even allows you to fine-tune the pictures in case they do not align they way you want them too.
Pros:
Turn a fully automatic camera into a fully manual camera with the turn of a dial. I haven't found anything this camera cannot do that my recently auctioned SLR could do. Picture quality is equal to me.
The camera feels great to hold. All of the buttons are in convenient locations. Menus can be customized to show what you adjust frequently and you can store two different user settings using the function button.
5-shot buffer is great. It will take photos as long as you hold down the shutter release. It only stores the last five frames even if you have held the shutter release down long enough to make 20 exposures. Also does time lapse.
Shutter speed from Bulb to 1/4000.
Crisp Macro shooting.
The Vari-Angle display is much better than a fixed position display.
Three metering options- Matrix, Center-weighted and Spot are very effective.
Takes Type I and II compact flash. I wouldn't go with anything less than 256mb. Make sure it is USB compatible memory if you plan to use a Compact Flash reader in a USB port.
Hot shoe for accessories is a great addition. When a speedlight is attached, you can set the camera to fire the internal flash and speedlight or you can turn off the internal flash and use only the speedlight. This is great if you want to bounce your speedlight and use the internal for a fill-flash. It also works with a SC-17 remote cable if you want to get the flash off the camera for close up/macro shots. (If you are thinking about getting a Nikon speedlight, go with the SB-80DX or find an old SB-28 or SB-28DX versus going with the SB-50DX. It's worth the extra money if you are going to do any manual shooting/adjusting of speedlight. There is no manual mode on the SB-50DX so you can't really fine tune lighting if you are shooting with the camera in manual mode.)
Battery life is good (about 1.5 - 2 hrs.) It comes with a charger and 1 battery. A second (or 2CR5) as a back-up in my case has come in handy.
Cons:
The autofocus is not very good in low light situations. I have a Nikon SB-28 speedlight with autofocus assist but the 5400 doesn't activate it. I knocked off half a star for that.
You have to go through a 1/4 view screen before going to full-screen view when using the Quick Review. I think it would be better if it went straight to the full-screen view and did away with the 1/4 screen view. (-1/4 star.)
The only option for adding filters is the HN-CP10 hood with 77mm filters. It's great to have a hood large enough to stay out of wide angle compositions but the 77mm filters are very expensive. (last 1/4 star)
Card cover is flimsy. I have a card reader and each time I open the door to remove the card, I think about how flimsy it is. The 880 had a much more sturdy door.
Area through the viewfinder is significantly different than what you see in the monitor. I read somewhere it is about 35% less through the viewfinder than the monitor.
Overall, it's a great camera for the beginner or advanced user. As a result of purchasing this camera, I shoot only digital and don't miss my SLR one bit. The owner's manual is 160 pages and thoroughly explains all the camera's features. I've had it for 3 months now and am still learning what this camera can do.
A digital beginner's impression: Very good, but not perfect, November 28, 2004
Reviewer:
golden comet (Oklahoma USA) - See all my reviews
Although I have had years of experience with conventional cameras in both 35mm and medium format, the Nikon Coolpix 5400 is the first digital camera I have owned. I had grown weary of traveling with a 35mm and several lenses, or even more bulky medium format cameras.
Other reviewers have amply written about the features of this camera. I am going to focus on performance.
The Coolpix 5400 has good optics. I have shot the equivalent of several rolls of film on it. The photos have been crisp, had faithful color rendition without any glaring digital artifacts, and really don't need any software manipulation. So far, so good.
All is not roses, however. The Coolpix 5400 is very, very, very slow in writing from the d/a converter to the flashcard. Fire off a bunch of shots in continuous mode and get ready to wait. And wait some more. Smokers will have time for a cigarette or two; others could take a short bus ride or file their nails. It's that bad. I find this to be inexcusable in a camera sold
at the original price point of the 5400. In fact, a lot of less expensive cameras are quicker. Canons don't do this and Sony with its new V3 may be the fastest prosumer camera on the block for the time being. I think most other name brands will be quicker also.
Another shortcoming: the autofocus in dim light problem that has been amply documented by other reviewers. This has not bothered me that much, but it is a problem to be aware of (this problem is not unique to Nikon).
A former shortcoming, the lack of a RAW file format has been rectified. You can now download firmware enabling RAW files from the Nikon website.
Were it not for the glitches I listed above, I'd highly recommend the camera to just about anyone. As it is, the Coolpix 5400 is suitable for someone like a landscape photographer who takes a long time to compose a picture and has some patience; but it's not for the person who wants to take action shots and review them quickly.
The Coolpix 5400 has been recently discontinued by Nikon, and, depending where you shop. the price has dropped from a bit to enormously. That may make its few flaws more acceptable to the new buyer. My advice: shop around and try to use the camera you are interested in buying as much as possible. Online reviews can provide a good guide, but you really need to put your hands on a camera and run through the controls to see if it is right for you. What feels good in my hand may not in yours.
Hope this has been of some help.
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