Nikon Coolpix 5700 Review

Overall Rating

The lens is a good one with good contrast and sharpness. Image color and extra features like the revolving screen / monitor is more than handy.

I gave Image Quality a 6 because even though it takes great photos outdoors, to often indoors, near evening and real overcast days produce blurred images due to the slow 8x zoom of f 4.2 at full zoom. Also anything over ISO200 is plagued with bad image noise, not found in other brand cameras. The lack of IR or any focus assist is not reasonable. Only remote available is aprox. $80 and no cable release is available. The add on battery pack, the MB-5700 is very nice and makes the camera more comfortable as well as useable however, after paying top dollar for a Nikon camera having to pay another $130 for a part that should ship with this expensive camera is unreasonable. The TOTAL lack of threads for mounting any UV or other filters on a camera of this level is not acceptable. The battery offered by the Li-On battery (supplied) is only 1 to 1 1/2 hours, only with the addl. battery pack can you achieve the 2 to 4 hours often needed for uninterrupted shooting. I gave 6 stars for the value because only being able to sell this camera about 6 months after it is new and in perfect / new condition with box and all papers for less than half of the paid price is NOT a good value. Even if you keep the camera there are situations that will cause you to miss getting the photos that most digitals even half this price would have no problems getting.

This Nikon Coolpix 5700 digital camera has good and bad points. The 5700 makes great images in open sunlight, often with flash at 14' or less and at night or where the image noise reduction is engaged, only below 1/30th sec. shutter and ISO of 100 or 200 Max. The lens is very good in bright light but is to slow to use at full zoom in to many situations. With maximum apertures from f 2.8 to f 4.2 at full zoom the shutter speed is forced to low to take telephoto shots without motion blur from camera shake. Mine had lots of problems focusing for several months. Forums for Nikon folks blamed me and not the camera. I sent the 5700 to Nikon where they did in fact fix part of the focus issue but, it wasn't until Nikon released a new firmware Ver. 1.1 was the focus issue fixed to where it worked within reason. By that time I was fed up and sold it for about half of the $1200 I paid about 7 months before. In my mind this is a very unreasonable loss in that short time.

Members' Comments onTonyStIves's Review

• Hanspluygers on 10th May 2005

  Terrible Auto Focus I agree. It was a lot of money for a camera that only really lasted 18 months. Now I need to change it again.
  
  It is of course all relitively new technoligy, so should we complain? Nothing is perfect, and yet everything is also. Amazing, a box that takes such (imperfect) pictures. Still like my roll film EOS 1N. Like driving a classic car. Quality!