Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Wonderful. Worth the investment in time (& money).
I have been using the Coolpix 5000 for the past few weeks, just enough time to shoot 1,000+ photos. My 3rd Nikon and 1st digital, it's lived up to my expectations: I've been more than pleased with the quality of the images, my ultimate criterion. While you'll hear a lot of wasted drivel on feature A,B,C and comparisons with model X,Y,Z, you need to decide what you're trying to achieve before investing this much on a new gadget. If you want to capture quality digital images for selected printing in 8x10 sizes or larger - and are willing to invest the time in learning how to make that happen - then this could be the camera for you.This is no simple point-and-shoot, which explains why some users have been apprehensive. Personally, I prefer the multitude of options it offers, including these (all of which I have used so far):
- Ability to manually override nearly every automatic setting, including: exposure mode (S,A,P,M), focus distance, AF focus areas (5), flash level compensation, sharpening, white-balance, etc.
- ISO sensitivity from 100 to 800, manual or auto, enabling hand-held shooting indoors
- Spot, center-weighted, and matrix (256 segment) metering
- Hot shoe to connect external flash for more lighting options
- Wide angle lens (28mm equivalent) is wider than most 'standard' lenses on similar cameras
- 3 User Set configurations let you adjust quickly to different shooting situations/styles
- Shutter speeds short (up to 1/2000s) or long (8 sec) If you do like novel features, then don't worry, you'll also get red-eye reduction, self-timer, movie mode (QuickTime up to 60sec @ 15fps, 320x240) and "best shot selector". Rumor has it BSS is a cool feature that rattles off 3 frames and stores only the 'best' - the one with the most information, i.e., sharpest & best exposed (but I haven't used it). I did like discovering after I played back the first movie that the camera even has a built-in speaker for audio during playback. I also like the ability to zoom into images up to 6.0x during viewing to examine carefully whether you captured what you wanted. The buttons and menu settings, while overwhelming at first, really are intuitively designed - once you've figured out a feature, you don't have to keep returning to the manual. I've been really pleased with the images I've captured so far. Fleshtones are realistic, sharpness of images is pleasing (not excessively sharp, or 'digital'), and metering is accurate. There's plenty of data to work with in the 5 megapixel images, which I shoot in FINE .jpg mode yielding a 1.5-2.0 MB image at 2560x1920 pixels. The lens glass on the CP5000 is the largest of the Coolpix's so far, which probably explains the higher image quality. The typical 'knocks' on the CP5000, and my opinion:
-"85mm is too short!": so is 200mm. If you want to shoot models on South Beach, get an SLR and a 400mm lens instead.
-"32mb CF card is too small!": if you rely on only one CF card, you shouldn't be spending this much on a digital camera.
-"images are soft!": I prefer mine stirred, not sharpened, and do the rest in Photoshop. If you let the camera over-do it for you, there's no getting back the lost/interpolated data.
-"battery life's too short!": you'll run out of card space first (I use 128mb CF). You just spent a grand - stop whining and buy a 2nd battery. So, what are its real "issues"?
- No way to screw in a UV/protection filter. For some reason, Nikon opted not to put threads over the glass. You have to buy the lens attachment mount (UR-E5) and attach filters to it. An inconvenience, since you can't replace the lens and really should protect it with a clear filter.
-It's slow to autofocus, especially in low-light situations, as there is no AF-assist illumination. I generally use manual focus or set the Single AF mode in such situations, and it seems to work just fine.
-My indoor pictures using the built-in flash sometimes over-saturate the reds in fleshtones. I suspect this is because the bulb is a bit blue/green, and the white-balance logic on the camera over-compensates. I have kept the WB setting on "Auto", but I may fiddle with this a bit to see if another manual setting produces better results. When this has happened, I just tweaked the Saturation of Reds in Photoshop and they look fine.
- It feels smaller than it looks in the promo photograph. If you have big hands, you need to break the habit of groping the camera with your right hand. Otherwise, you'll cover the flash sensor and over- or under-expose your flash shots. Should you buy one? Qualified YES! It's not for everyone. You can pull it out of the box and start 'snapping photos', but you might end up with snapshots that you could have made with a cheaper alternative. If you give it a little time and really learn how - and when - to use its many features, then I think you will produce even better images than you'd imagined. You'll really like the CP5000 if:
-you like the convenience of Auto-Everything features, but want the creativity that only comes with Manual settings;
-you like the idea of plugging your CF memory card into an Epson/HP photo printer and spitting out snapshots, but you'd prefer to 'tweak' them yourself in an image editor like Photoshop.
-you can't afford a digital SLR right now, but you can't wait to start experimenting with digital photography I like it, and I think you will, too. Make an informed decision, and be sure that whatever you buy is the right tool for the job.
Rating: - Very pleased with the CP 5000
I have owned several (seven, to be specific - Olympus, Canon and Nikon) digital cameras in the last three years and, like others, I have constantly upgraded in search of the "ultimate" camera! I recently bought the Nikon CP5000 and am extermely pleased with it. The picture quality surpasses all the other pro-consumer models I have seen. If you like simplicity or if you are a control freak...the camera has it all! It accepts a variety of add-ons (lenses and flash units). The only one beef I have with the camera is that it does not make use of all the functions of my external Nikon Speedlite SB-24 flash (which has low-light focus and zoom capabilities). The external flash unit works flawlessly in TTL mode but I would like to be able to use the additional features it offers as well. Perhaps Nikon will resolve this with a firmware release in the near future (as an enhancement) - I am keeping my fingers crossed! Otherwise, the camera is spectacular!
Rating:  - Extremely Surprised
I recently purchased the Nikon Coolpix 5000, my first digital camera, and am very impressed with the ease of use and the results of the images. This camera has a ton of functions and you need time to learn how to maniplate the aperture and shutter speed, if you want manual control. The flash that is built in does the job, without red-eye, which has been a criticism of this design. In the macro mode (micro-photography) feature though the flash tends to be too bright and washes out the image. A hot shoe mount is built-in so you can use an alternate flash for macro. Cropping images digitally and zooming features were exceptional, with crisp results. Bulb settings (night time) and self timer features are other features of this cam. I am impressed and would definitely recommend and purchase a Nikon digital cam again.
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