Nikon D5100 specs found.... Release april
- Thread starter jamin100
- Start date
- Messages
- 141
- Name
- mark
- Edit My Images
- Yes
oh dear, they've gone for a moving lcd
- Messages
- 1,244
- Name
- Mike
- Edit My Images
- Yes
D5000 had a swivel LCD as well, but it swiveled on the bottom meaning you could not swivel it out when mounted on a tripod. At least they changed it to swivel on the side on the D5100.
- Messages
- 7,391
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Well, the swivel LCD now swivels from the side rather than the frankly useless hinged bottom, is now larger and the LCD is 4x the resolution of the D5000 too. The video is now full 1080 HD. Dual infra red remote receptors. (about time) Small improvements, but improvements not the less.
Was that a serious consideration?
Seems like a sideways move even before seeing the D5100 specs. :shrug:I think the lower down the range you go, and the more often the models are updated, that there is only time for small evolutionary changes between models rather than the bigger technological jumps further up the ranges.
Fozzybear
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 312
- Name
- Kev
- Edit My Images
- Yes
...Was that a serious consideration?
No.
- Messages
- 6,605
- Name
- Graham
- Edit My Images
- No
I think this looks like a reasonable improvement over the D5000.
I take the view that as a near entry level DSLR, there isn't that much wrong with the D5000 and the D5100 seems to be bringing the same package up to date.
It's not going to get people trading in their D90's and it's unlikely many people will swap from the D5000 either. I'm not even sure that many people would upgrade from a D3100 or D3000 but I'm sure it'll do a fine job of bringing in new customers, just like the D5000 seems to have done. It's an entry level camera with a few nifty features (showroom appeal at least) that some other's don't have and a very good sensor as well. In that respect I think it's exactly what I would have expected.
It's still the D7000 that I fancy to replace my D5000 in a year or so. This doesn't change that.
I take the view that as a near entry level DSLR, there isn't that much wrong with the D5000 and the D5100 seems to be bringing the same package up to date.
It's not going to get people trading in their D90's and it's unlikely many people will swap from the D5000 either. I'm not even sure that many people would upgrade from a D3100 or D3000 but I'm sure it'll do a fine job of bringing in new customers, just like the D5000 seems to have done. It's an entry level camera with a few nifty features (showroom appeal at least) that some other's don't have and a very good sensor as well. In that respect I think it's exactly what I would have expected.
It's still the D7000 that I fancy to replace my D5000 in a year or so. This doesn't change that.
Llamaman
Proud Addick
- Messages
- 7,422
- Name
- Not an addick!
- Edit My Images
- Yes
As expected, it's more of an update than an upgrade. Some welcome additions (new sensor and better LCD) but nothing really radical.
Like many D5000 owners, I don't think an upgrade to a D5100 or D90 offers enough improvements to justify the cost. The D7000 is a different matter, but I'll need to see the cost come down a fair bit for that to work for me - hopefully some D7000 will hit the 2nd hand market in a year or so (especially if Nikon release an update to the D300s which might tempt a few D7000 owners to upgrade).
I think Nikon have made a sensible decision to not add a motor to the D5100. Both the D3xxx and D5xxx range are pitched as small, light, cheap DSLRs to tempt P&S / bridge users, and this is seen in other design decisions (pentamirror, small viewfinder, single control dial). I suspect many purchasers never get much beyond the 18-55 and 55-200 kit lenses and so the lack of motor isn't an issue.
Like many D5000 owners, I don't think an upgrade to a D5100 or D90 offers enough improvements to justify the cost. The D7000 is a different matter, but I'll need to see the cost come down a fair bit for that to work for me - hopefully some D7000 will hit the 2nd hand market in a year or so (especially if Nikon release an update to the D300s which might tempt a few D7000 owners to upgrade).
I think Nikon have made a sensible decision to not add a motor to the D5100. Both the D3xxx and D5xxx range are pitched as small, light, cheap DSLRs to tempt P&S / bridge users, and this is seen in other design decisions (pentamirror, small viewfinder, single control dial). I suspect many purchasers never get much beyond the 18-55 and 55-200 kit lenses and so the lack of motor isn't an issue.
- Messages
- 6,605
- Name
- Graham
- Edit My Images
- No
Yep, top screen and lack of external controls. It's stuff like this that you don't care about as a beginner but frustrate you as you advance. I'd sooner have a D90 than the D5100 right now, despite the inferior sensor but If I were still a beginner I'm not sure that would be the case.
Showroom appeal and glitzy features and all that. The novelty soon wears off and eventually you just want functionality but you don't know that in the early days. I'm certain the D5100 will sell by the bucket load, just not to me.
- Messages
- 6,605
- Name
- Graham
- Edit My Images
- No
Exactly. And apart from anything else, Nikon need a clearly defined model range and upgrade path. If the D5100 had all the features that are being mentioned here, it would be called a D7000 and cost £300 more. You pays your money....
- Messages
- 7,391
- Edit My Images
- Yes
I used to see the top LCD as a big plus but now that on most cameras you can press a button to have all the settings on the rear review LCD, and that added to the info in the viewfinder, and I don't find it as useful as I used to, though I'd rather have it than not. 
Having lots of features accessible on dedicated buttons I find more useful.
I agree that there has to be features to differentiate the models, and the 'in camera' AF motor is one of those features. It is a feature which wouldn't affect the vast majority of users imho. Again, nice to have if you get seriously into the hobby and buy a few older lenses, but otherwise :shrug:.
Now that many of the different cameras in a manufacturers range share the same sensor, pixel count is less significant. Even more so when when some of the entry level camera have more pixels than those at the mid/top of the range, as in the case with Nikon and the D90/D300S. Other features need to be significant to justify the extra cost. It is a balancing act that I wouldn't like to work out, get it wrong and you could cripple a range within cameras, but also lose badly compared to the opposition.
Having lots of features accessible on dedicated buttons I find more useful.I agree that there has to be features to differentiate the models, and the 'in camera' AF motor is one of those features. It is a feature which wouldn't affect the vast majority of users imho. Again, nice to have if you get seriously into the hobby and buy a few older lenses, but otherwise :shrug:.
Now that many of the different cameras in a manufacturers range share the same sensor, pixel count is less significant. Even more so when when some of the entry level camera have more pixels than those at the mid/top of the range, as in the case with Nikon and the D90/D300S. Other features need to be significant to justify the extra cost. It is a balancing act that I wouldn't like to work out, get it wrong and you could cripple a range within cameras, but also lose badly compared to the opposition.
Here you go for spec:
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/nikon-d5100-digital-slr-hands-on-preview-16027
http://www.dpreview.com/previews/nikond5100/page2.asp
But as Bristolian points out, still has 'letter box' of a Pentaprism view finder . . . its still got the frustrating menu operating system, no on board focus motor . . . but it has more pixels as per D7000, 'all hail the pixel gods' :rules: I wonder if it tends to over exposes in matrix mode the same as the D7000?
Frankly, all I want is that nice, 'side hinged, animated screen', incorporated on a D90 and I'd be a happy bunny
I use my G1 a lot because of the LH hinged animated screen, (dodgy knee) . . .CJS
Last edited:
Seems to be so much negative reaction here, (as always if feel), when a new camera is launched, all the die hards trying to convince themselves that their old models are still better than the new, same sort of critique that met the launch of the d7000.
What did you expect from the D5100, its been given the same sensor as the d7000, hd video, good effects features, bracketing, hdr, etc...etc. If they had also added the focus motor, pentaprism, viewfinder, etc......what would be the point of the d7000? Get a grip, its gonna be a sub £600 camera, it sounds good to me, sorry, rant over. :shrug:
What did you expect from the D5100, its been given the same sensor as the d7000, hd video, good effects features, bracketing, hdr, etc...etc. If they had also added the focus motor, pentaprism, viewfinder, etc......what would be the point of the d7000? Get a grip, its gonna be a sub £600 camera, it sounds good to me, sorry, rant over. :shrug:
Not sure mine was 'negative reaction', more personal experience and feeling a little as though the D5100 could have been even better, especially as the D90 is now a little long in the tooth? The changes are obvious, but are we being teased? I will wait, the D90 will go there eventually . . . not that I want to change . . . I'm getting tired of being played like a fish, by pier pressure, commercial must have, and my own weakness of desire . . . its time I threw the hook?
CJS
yeah, that can be a real beach.
I presume its not the right 'pier'? . . . dyslexia is a bitch to live with, especially when people take the 9i55!!!
- Messages
- 7,391
- Edit My Images
- Yes
I'm not sure my comments were negative either. :shrug:
The D5100 looks a very good camera with a good set of features. If you don't have a DSLR it is a good place to start. If you have a D3000/3100, I would say it's not a great improvement on features. If you have a D5000, then maybe the next generation or camera further up the range, should you want to upgrade your equipment would be a better idea. If you have a D90, then I don't think there would enough features to warrant a change to the D5100, and indeed you would lose out in some areas.
Like I said, it's a good camera, just that if it isn't a huge jump in many features, then it will be seen as underwhelming. The Canon 50D to the 60D was the same, though that was a repositioning of the range, which made the new model look disappointing features wise to many 50d owners.
The D7000 is in a similar situation to the 60D, a new level of camera in the Nikon range, or maybe just a replacement/rename for the D90? :shrug: It was disappointing to D300S users, and possibly confusing to many D90 users as they are not sure if it is a replacement. :shrug: There are seemingly many happy/content D90 users, so any replacement camera would have to be a significant improvement in many areas to entice D90 user to upgrade. The D7000 it seems, is not 'the one'.
The more I think about the way Nikon have gone about things recently, the more I'm beginning to wonder . . . is the D90 setting its self up as a 'classic' . . . loved and appreciated by is owners. Technically superseded by models around it, such as the D7000, the D5100 . . . but still standing proudly balanced, head and shoulders above all . . . ?
. . . just a thought????
CJS
. . . just a thought????
CJS
- Messages
- 7,391
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Every so often a camera stands out as being a 'classic' for various reasons. I don't think that it is something the manufacturers can plan, as you would assume they are always trying to make the best camera they can, but features and external factors can affect how the camera is received.
I think I've had two 'classic' cameras in the past. maybe more by luck than judgement.
My first digital camera was a Fuji S602Z Pro, and I bought it because it gave all the manual options of a 'proper' camera, and coming from a film SLR in the past, I didn't want to a camera with little control after having total control. That camera seemed to have more apertures to play with than other cameras at the time, and even similar cameras now, f11 instead of the normal f8 limit of most of the 'prosumer' cameras. It also had dual memory card slots and a 15" - 1/10000th second shutter range.
Not even DSLRs have a 1/10000th second shutter, and the 15 seconds allowed for playing with long shutter speeds, were a lot of compact camera have a 3-4 second maximum shutter speed. It was great camera, and people got some great pictures with it.My 2nd classic, I think, was the Fuji F31fd. The Fuji F30 had a great reputation for low light performance, and the 6Mp was seen as enough for what most people would need, the 'fd' version was the same, but offered one of the first face detection systems. It also offered Aperture, Shutter and Manual modes which although limited by the available apertures, at least were there to play with. After this camera the megapixel race seemed to accelerate at the cost of image quality, and people looked back at these cameras, the F30/31fd, very well for many years.
I was very unhappy when I got both of these cameras stolen last year.
I liked the F31fd so much that I tried to track one down as a replacement, which I think says it all for a camera which came out in 2006. So for my two examples choices made by Fuji in the features they incorporated, what other manufacturers were offering, and changes to the camera trends of the time gave these cameras a certain something to make them stand out amongst the crowd, for longer than they should have.
The D90 has stayed ahead of the crowd for quite awhile. It has sold in huge numbers apparently, which may have delayed Nikon replacing it (if it ain't broke don't fix it etc
), but Nikon seemed to get a mixture of features 'right' for a lot of people. A replacement would have to be possibly amazing to get those owners to upgrade, and that is if you could entice them to upgrade, if they are a generally happy bunch, why change? :shrug: Whether it is a 'classic' is for history, and the owners to say.