New Nikon dSLR: The Nikon D5100

April 5, 2011 @ 12:51PM

New Nikon dSLR: The Nikon D5100

Enough to make Canon quiver in their boots?

By Haje Jan Kamps

New SLR from Nikon!

This one came a little bit out of nowhere, but Nikon is adding a new dSLR to its arsenal - the D5100. It's got a nifty swivel screen (that Nikon loves to call 'Vari-angle'), and a full 1080p HD movie mode.

The D5100 replaces the rather fabulous D5000. The big thing Nikon are shouting about in this launch is the Vari-Angle screen, and continues the march of making SLR cameras more useable when using the increasingly useful Live View mode. The screen has nearly 1 megapixel worth of resolution (921k, if you wanna get picky), and is a whopping 3 inches across. Groovetastic.

A newbie-magnet?

It seems as Nikon are pandering to the n00bs with the D5100 - they've added a special effects mode to shoot "amazingly unique pictures" and HD movies. ("Amazingly unique?" Really? I thought they hired proper PR people these days...). The special effects mode are a choice of seven different effects, including selective colour, where you select up to three colours to appear in the still or movie while other areas are monochrome, and miniature effect, which makes "an image appear like a view of miniature scale" (so, basically, a digital approximation of a tilt-shift link). You can select which special effect to shoot in and they are directly accessible via the mode dial on the top of the camera. Personally, I think it's a load of wank, but hey - it may float your boat.

Built-in HDR function

The D5100 inherits a whole load of features from its bigger brother, the Nikon D7000, including a wicked 16.2 megapixel CMOS sensor, and the new(ish), image-processing engine, EXPEED 2. Adding to this the D5100 has an expanded sensitivity range to further help capture better images in challenging light conditions – the ISO ranges from 100 to 6400 and can be raised to ISO 25600 at Hi 2. Pretty cool - and a strong sign to Canon that they really need to step up their game.

The D5100 also introduces a built-in 2-shot High Dynamic Range (HDR) function, which are combined to produce a single image with a wider dynamic range. Pretty cool!

I don't think D5000 owners should run to the shops quite yet, but if you're looking to upgrade an older entry-level Nikon camera and you've got a decent array of lenses already... This does look like a pretty damn attractive piece of kit!

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Tagged with:
DSLR
nikon

Comments

Tim

1 year ago

Canon ... really need to step up their game

For the same money you could've had a Canon EOS60D last September or a 600D last month, with 18MPel instead of 16. Which part of this catchup exercise challenges canon in the slightest?

Haje Jan Kamps

Pixiq Expert

1 year ago

Hey Tim!

Those two extra megapixels won't make a lick of difference, to be honest.

In that particular paragraph, I'm talking about ISO, aren't I - and in this case, the D5100 has ISO 25,000 as its maximum, against the 600D's 12800. That's a whole stop's worth of ISO difference. More importantly, Nikon seem to be pulling away in terms of noise at high ISO - which is important to many photographers.

~ Haje

Tim

1 year ago

Wrong. I prefer to get my larger images by starting from more megapixels rather than assuming I'll have to stitch/super-resolve, and I don't need any more than the ISO 12800 it offers.

The variable LCD-panel is pure catch-up.

Haje Jan Kamps

Pixiq Expert

1 year ago

Fair enough - so the Canon is better at the thing you like best, and the Nikon is better at something you don't care about. If Megapixels is all you want, and you're completely sure about that, then your choice is pretty easy!

Don't get me wrong, I'm a Canon snapper myself, but I've been rather envious of the high ISO capabilities of Nikon's flagship cameras for a while. Having said that, Canon's cameras have been getting drastically better at low-light photography at high ISOs with every generation as well.

Cory Shannon

1 year ago

Well here is the problem with the argument going on here; Yes canon has more megapixels but they are crammed on a smaller sensor. Does this matter much? Yes it does. Low light performance in an unprocessed image will be at a lower quality than an image with larger pixels on a larger sensor. Besides I can easily get 20x30 images in photo print quality with just 12.3 mp.

The variable LCD was in the D5000 before it was in a canon design btw...

Plus the D5000 sensor scored 6 points higher than the 60D on the DxOmark tests. That was a year older than the 60D when it came out.

bryan broyles

1 year ago

Nikon is winning the ISO quality wars, but by an amount that is indistinguishable in all but the most rigorous circumstances.

Canon has more megapixels, as a rule, but it's unimportant but for some specific circumstances.

This particular camera having a high ISO limit isn't the same as having one with useable quality at 25600. The fact that it only goes to 6400 and the H1 and H2 are software enabled tells you all you need to know. The canon mentioned, the 60D also goes to 6400, and only expands to 12800 by software. But, if you want, hey, simply underexpose by a stop at 12800 and then fix later, that's what the H2 is doing anyway. It'll look like crap, but so does H2 (and frankly, H1 for that matter on all cameras).

The inclusion of HDR in camera? Jesus, just what we need, more crappy photos spamming flickr with "4 star, Great color Award!!"