Nikon Coolpix 5000Nikon moves into the 5 megapixel era with a new chip, new lens, and new body, but no retreat from the legendary Nikon feature set!<<Optics :(Previous) | (Next): Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests>> Page 6:Exposure & FlashReview First Posted: 9/18/2001 |
Exposure
Just as we've come to expect with Nikon digital cameras, the Coolpix 5000 provides a lot of exposure control, with a choice of Program AE, Flexible Program AE, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Manual exposure modes. A wide range of shutter speeds are available, from 1/4,000 to eight seconds. (Although the 1/4,000 shutter time is only available when the lens is set to its smallest aperture. The fastest shutter time is 1/2,000 otherwise.), and a Bulb mode for longer exposures up to one or five minutes. (The maximum bulb exposure time defaults to 1 minute, but can be increased to 5 minutes via a menu option.) In addition to the benefit of a Program AE mode which automatically selects the aperture and shutter speed, the Flexible Program AE mode offers the ability to select from a range of exposure settings by turning the Command Wheel. (Simply turn the Command Wheel on its own while in Program mode, and an asterisk appears next to the "P" in the LCD display. Further rotation of the Command Wheel will cycle through the available combinations of shutter speed and aperture.) This lets you select from several equivalent exposures, allowing you to decide between a faster shutter speed or a smaller lens aperture. Personally, I find this more useful than the more common aperture- or shutter-priority metering options, as it gives the camera more latitude to get the shot you want, while letting you express a "preference" for larger or smaller aperture settings.
As noted above, the top shutter speed of 1/4,000 of a second is only available when the lens is set to its minimum aperture. - My guess is that the shutter is some sort of a moving-blade design, and the maximum shutter speed is limited by the distance the blade has to traverse to interrupt the light path: This time is reduced when the lens is at its minimum aperture.
Metering Options
Four metering options are available on the Coolpix 5000: 256-Segment Matrix, Center-Weighted, Spot, and AF Spot. The 256-Segment Matrix setting meters the exposure based on several areas in the frame, averaging the values together to determine the best overall exposure. Center-Weighted metering measures light from the entire frame but places the greatest emphasis on a circular area in the center. Spot metering is pretty self-explanatory, taking a reading from the dead center of the image (best when using the AE Lock function). With AF Spot the spot metering actually centers on the specific focus area selected, giving you the option for off-center spot metering. (See the previous Optics section of this review for a discussion of the 5000's AF Area focusing mode.)
ISO& White Balance Options
ISO can be set to a range of values, including Auto, 100, 200, 400, and
800. White balance can be set to Auto, Fine (daylight), Incandescent, Fluorescent,
Cloudy, Speedlight, or Preset (which allows you to manually adjust the white
value by using a white card or object as a reference point). All white balance
settings can be adjusted from -3 to +3 units on an arbitrary scale. (This is
a feature that's relatively unique to Nikon cameras, and one that I particularly
appreciate. In my experience, I very frequently find that I'd like to "tweak"
the preset white balance settings of a camera, and Nikon's finally given us
a way to do it. When I tested the Coolpix 885, I found that setting the incandescent
white balance adjustment up by 2-3 units produced much more natural photos under
household incandescent lighting.) There's also a White Balance Bracketing mode,
which captures three images at slightly different white balance adjustments
allowing you to pick the best image when you get them all back on your computer.
Basic Exposure Adjustment
Exposure compensation on the Coolpix 5000 is adjustable from -2 to +2 exposure equivalents (EV) in one-third step increments, and is controllable in all exposure modes. The Auto Bracketing feature takes three or five shots of the same subject with varying exposure values determined either by the photographer in Manual mode or by the camera in all other modes. Exposure settings for bracketing can vary from -2 to +2 EV (values are added to the already chosen exposure compensation value), with step sizes of one-third, one-half, or one EV unit, and the bracketing biased toward either underexposure, overexposure, or centered around the main exposure value.
Another signature Nikon feature is the Image Adjustment menu. This menu offers options that let you increase or decrease contrast, as well as lighten or darken the entire image. An interesting feature about these tonal adjustments is that the 5000's "lighten" and "darken" options allow you to adjust the midtone values of the image without affecting the white and black values. (That is, "lighten" will brighten the middle brightness values in the image, without blowing-out white areas, or lightening black ones.)
Color Adjustments - Saturation Control
This is a feature appearing on more and more cameras these days. Until recently, each camera produced a particular color balance and intensity, and what it gave was what you got. Lately, there seems to be a movement afoot (which I highly endorse) to give the user more direct control over their picture-taking, including color saturation. (If the term is unfamiliar to you, think of it as color "intensity.") Like other recent Coolpix digicams, the 5000 provides a range of color saturation options, including maximum, normal, moderate, minimum, and black & white. I actually prefer to see more, finer-grained steps for color saturation than the 5000 provides (allowing you to really customize the camera to your personal preferences, rather than just using color saturation as a special effect), but this is nonetheless a step in the right direction.
Sharp Shots in Low Light: The Best Shot Selector
One of the more unique Nikon digicam features, the Best Shot Selector (BSS) takes several images and allows the camera to choose only the sharpest (least blurred) to be saved. Best Shot Select makes it feasible to handhold the camera for surprisingly long exposures. You can also check your own work immediately as the camera gives you a quick preview of the captured image (when shooting with the LCD monitor) and gives you an option to delete or save the image. I've really enjoyed the available-light and low-light photos BSS has let me bring home those times when I've taken a Nikon digicam with me on a trip or outing. Since it chooses the sharpest image from among several that it shoots, it's at its best when you have a fairly static subject. - When shooting people-pictures, it tends to miss fleeting expressions. Still, it's a remarkably useful photographic tool, one I'd be happy to see on cameras from other manufacturers.
Detail Control: Image Sharpness Adjustment
This feature has become almost mandatory on higher-end digicams. All digital cameras apply some amount of in-camera "sharpening" to their photos, to reverse the tendency of the CCD cells to smooth-out detail in the image. This is fine for "normal" photos, but there are times when you'll want more or less sharpening than the camera designers elected to add. (More often less than more.) Like its lesser siblings in the Coolpix line, the 5000 offers a variety of options for adjusting the amount of in-camera sharpening applied, from lots to none.
User Settings for Convenience
The Coolpix 5000 allows you to save up to four sets of user settings for focus, exposure, and other camera options, for rapid recall via the setup menu. This can be a real time saver in rapidly switching between widely different sets of shooting conditions. My one complaint about the implementation of the User Settings on the Coolpix 5000 is that you have to select one of them, or you can't access any of the camera's powerful special features. The default "A" user setting corresponds to the camera's full auto mode. This isn't a big deal, just confusing on first exposure to it. (It made me actually read the manual to find out how to enable the camera's advanced capabilities. If I have to read the manual to figure something out about a camera, it's way too obscure for "normal" users, IMHO.) I doubt this will actually prevent anyone from enjoying their Coolpix 5000, but do think the distinction between "auto" and "advanced" modes should be made a lot more clear in the user interface.
Self-Timer
No big deal about this, just a standard self-timer function. The one added sophistication though, is that you can select either a 3 second or 10 second delay. The shorter delay is great for those times when you're talking a long exposure on a tripod, and want to use the self-timer to trip the shutter so you won't jiggle the camera.
Long Exposures & Noise
I mentioned earlier that the Coolpix 5000 has a "bulb" exposure mode that allows exposures as long as (one or five) minutes. This is an exceptionally long exposure time, but would normally be almost useless due to the amount of CCD noise that can accumulate during that interval. Like other recent Coolpix models, the 5000 uses a noise reduction technology that appears to use a form of "dark frame subtraction," whereby a second exposure is snapped immediately after the first, but with the shutter closed. The pattern of noise in this "dark frame" is then subtracted from the image itself, resulting in a drastic reduction in apparent noise levels. (I suspect that the actual algorithm is more complex than simple subtraction though, involving data substitution to prevent black pixels where the noise current saturated the CCD photosite.) This Noise Reduction can be enabled via a menu option, and is applied to any exposure longer than 1/4 of a second.
I didn't have a cable ("remote") release to use for testing long exposures with the Coolpix 5000 sample unit, so wasn't able to shoot any test images that would be worth posting. (Even on a rock-solid tripod, the jiggle from pressing the shutter button in bulb mode with your finger gives blurry photos.) Casual testing though, showed that even unusually (absurdly?) long time exposures (2 minutes at ISO 100, for instance) came out showing very low noise, and essentially no "hot" pixels when the noise-reduction system was engaged. Very impressive, the Coolpix 5000 looks like a great low-light shooter! (Also see my notes in the Test Results section of this review for an example of an amazing Photoshop "action" by Fred Miranda that cuts image noise dramatically!)
Clear Image Mode
This is a new feature on the Coolpix 5000, intended to reduce image noise and improve color and tonal gradation in images of SXGA resolution (1280 x 960) and smaller. Based on my own testing though, I'm personally not convinced of its usefulness.
According to the manual, in Clear Image mode, the Coolpix 5000 snaps three exposures for each image, two with the shutter open, and one with it closed. It then compares these & averages the results to reduce the noise in the image. When I looked at test shots of my "Davebox" target (the best choice to evaluate flat-tint image noise), I found the following:
- Clear Image Mode does indeed reduce image noise somewhat, although the effect isn't dramatic, and in some situations, noise in specific color channels may actually increase.
- Clear Image Mode seems to act more on noise in the chrominance (color) channels than luminance, although some effect is visible in both areas.
- Clear Image Mode reduces image sharpness and acuity somewhat.
- Clear Image Mode isn't useful for any photos that include moving objects.
- Clear Image Mode is only available in resolutions of 1280 x 960 and lower, which leads me to wonder who would actually use it. - I think any photographer who's sufficiently concerned about image noise to invoke a special camera mode to reduce it would also be a photographer concerned about image sharpness, not to mention raw resolution. If Clear Image Mode had a similar impact on the full-res 5 megapixel images (or even 2 megapixel ones), it might be useful to some photographers. Restricted to image sizes of 1280 x 960 and lower though, it seems to me to be little more than a curiosity.
For those interested (I've gotten several emails on this topic), here are some numbers, showing noise (expressed as standard deviation in each of the RGB color channels, plus luminance) for a couple of swatches from the MacBeth chart in the Davebox test target. Note that the biggest reduction in noise was in the yellow swatch, where the camera was dealing with hue controlled primarily by small amounts of a "contaminant color", in this case blue. By contrast, the reduction of noise in the luminance channel of the neutral gray swatch was virtually nonexistent, and noise in some of the individual component-color channels (RGB) actually increased. Overall, it appears to have the greatest effect reducing chroma noise in highly-saturated colors.
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CI Off |
CI On |
CI Off |
CI On |
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| Luminance Std. Dev. (Avg Value) |
(109.47) |
(107.27) |
(176.28) |
(174.88) |
| Red Std. Dev. |
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| Green Std. Dev. |
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| Blue Std. Dev. |
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To illustrate my point about reduced resolution in Clear Image Mode, check out the image crops below, showing the same area with and without Clear Image Mode engaged. (Both shots enlarged 200% via simple nearest-neighbor interpolation in Photoshop.) - Note the loss of acuity in the type above the color blocks.
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Image Off |
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Image On |
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Flash
The Coolpix 5000 features a built-in flash with five flash modes available, including Auto, Flash Cancel, Anytime Flash, Red-Eye Reduction, and Slow-Sync. The Slow-Sync option is useful when shooting subjects with dark backgrounds (such as night scenes) because the camera actually leaves the shutter open longer and then fires the flash before the shutter closes. This allows more ambient light into the image and can provide a nice motion blur effect. Red-Eye Reduction mode fires a pre-flash before the main exposure, to reduce the reflection from the subject's pupils.
To my mind, one of the biggest features added to the Coolpix 5000 relative to earlier Coolpix models (apart from the obvious boost in resolution) was the top-mounted hot shoe. This means you can connect a more powerful external flash unit, either a Nikon dedicated unit, or a generic third-party one. The shoe connects to Nikon Speedlight models SB-50 DX, 28DX, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, and 22, although I was surprised to learn from another reviewer (Steve of Steve's-Digicams) that the shoe mount didn't make use of the zoom head on an SB-50DX speedlight. - The higher-end Nikon speedlights can focus their flash heads, to match the angular coverage of the lens you're shooting with. Thus, when shooting with a telephoto lens, the illumination from the speedlight is focused into a relative narrow beam, concentrating its power and providing greatly increased flash range. While you can always manually zoom the head, it's obviously much more convenient if the camera does it for you automatically. It's hard to understand why Nikon didn't implement this functionality on the Coolpix 5000.
The other obvious "missing feature" relative to Nikon speedlights was autofocus assist illumination. Several of Nikon's higher-end speedlights incorporate infrared autofocus assist illuminators, which likewise aren't utilized by the Coolpix 5000. Given the nature of these features, there's little or no hope of them being added to the 5000 via a firmware upgrade, but let's hope the Nikon engineers read this review and consider adding them in future models. (Actually, the IR AF assist light may have fundamental issues, given that the 5000's AF is based on the signal coming from the CCD, and the CCD has an IR filter over it to improve color rendition. I really don't see any excuse for leaving out control of the SB-50's zoom head though.)
The other benefit of a hot shoe though, is that it provides an easy interface to studio strobe systems. Previous Coolpix cameras only offered the proprietary Nikon flash sync connector. An adapter to convert the connection to a standard PC sync terminal was available, but exceptionally hard to find in the marketplace. The standard hot shoe is a much more accessible connection for people looking to interface their Coolpix to third-party strobe systems.
The last feature (or lack thereof) that I need to discuss about the Coolpix 5000's flash system is through the lens (TTL) metering. Photographers migrating to the digital world from the conventional, film-based side of things will be accustomed to through-the-lens flash metering on high-end cameras. In fact, in the film world, Nikon's 3D Matrix flash metering is renowned for its accuracy and relatively foolproof exposure determination. In film cameras, TTL flash metering is accomplished by a variety of means, but invariably involves a separate light sensor positioned somewhere in the optical path. (The most sophisticated systems actually measure the light being reflected from the film surface itself.) With digital cameras though, in most cases, there simply isn't room for the additional sensor. Even if there is, light reflection from the CCD surface is apparently pretty problematic, forcing even advanced professional SLRs (like Nikon's own D1x) to resort to tricks such as bouncing light from a metering pre-flash off the shutter curtain itself. All this long-winded explanation is by way of explaining why the flash metering on the Coolpix 5000 isn't TTL, and why in fact this is by far the rule rather than the exception in prosumer digicams. - The actual flash exposure sensor peeks out from a tiny window between the top of the handgrip and the flash tube itself, providing area-averaged exposure feedback. This works pretty well most of the time, but can be tricked by subjects with greatly different reflectance than their backgrounds, especially when the lens is zoomed all the way to telephoto.
Continuous Shooting Modes
The Coolpix 5000 offers a number "motor drive" rapid-exposure modes for capturing quick sequences of images. Five modes (Continuous L, Continuous H, High Speed Continuous, Ultra High Speed Continuous, and Multi-Shot 16) are selectable under the Continuous option of the settings menu. Continuous L mode captures as many as three frames, at three frames per second. Continuous H mode captures as many as four frames, at three frames per second. High Speed Continuous mode captures SXGA, XGA, VGA-size images at approximately five frames per second, with the maximum number of frames depending on the amount of CompactFlash space available. In Ultra High Speed Continuous mode, the Coolpix 5000 captures as many as 100 frames at 30 frames per second, in the QVGA resolution size. Multi-Shot 16 mode subdivides the image area into 16 sections and captured a "mini-movie" of small images (400 x 300 resolution), which fills-in a 4x4 array within a single high-resolution image as the shooting progressed. Frame rates in Multi-Shot 16 are as fast as five frames per second.
Movie Mode
The Coolpix 5000 also records moving images with sound. In Movie mode, the camera captures movies as long as 60 seconds (depending on the amount of available memory space) at approximately 15 frames per second. (Note that these numbers differ from ones published by Nikon prior to the 5000's release - those numbers stated 30 frames/second, and 40 second maximum length.) Movies are recorded at QVGA (320x240) resolution. The prototype 5000 let me zoom the lens while the movie was recording, but this proved to be a really bad idea, as the sound of the lens motor totally swamped any sounds I might have been interested in recording. The production model wisely disables the lens zoom during movie recording, but does give you a fairly small digital zoom range, so you can do at least a little framing while recording movies.
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