Most cameras here are aimed at casual users, but Nikon has keen photographers in mind with the Coolpix P5000. There is a hotshoe for an external flash unit and a threaded lens ring for attaching wide-angle and telephoto adaptors. These lens adaptors are expensive, though, and the lens's 3.5x zoom range is disappointing.
A command dial makes it quick to adjust the shutter speed and aperture, and an additional button quickly switches the dial
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to ISO speed duties. However, the shutter speed control moves in whole stops (rather than thirds of a stop), which is too crude for fine adjustments. Face detection is included, but applies only to focus and not exposure. It's also disappointing to find no manual focus or RAW capture mode on a camera aimed at enthusiasts. Still, the optical image stabilisation is better than any other system we've seen, keeping all 20 of our 1/30s test shots sharp.
The Coolpix P5000's image quality doesn't disappoint, with faithful colours, sharp detail, expertly chosen automatic settings and remarkably low noise at ISO 800. The ISO control goes all the way up to 3200, although the resolution automatically drops to five megapixels and pictures still look blurred.
The biggest problem is the speed at which pictures are captured. Autofocus takes up to two seconds, and the camera managed a shot every 3.4 seconds on average. Continuous mode was the worst here at 0.4fps. Enthusiasts wouldn't put up with this, and neither should anyone else.
