Nikon D5100 Review
The Nikon D5100 is latest ‘upper-entry-level‘ DSLR of the company. In April 2011, D5100 announced two years later after its predecessor D5000. With D5100, The Nikon Company aimed at beginners or those wanting a step-up from a basic budget model. It’s a signal that Nikon is refreshing of its non-pro DSLR lineup.
Nikon D5100 sits very comfortably between the beginner-friendly D3100 and the high-end D7000 by its pricing and goes head-to-head against Canon’s EOS 600D.
The D5100 has 16.2MP CMOS which is very similar seen in the D7000. But it loses out on that camera’s high-end build and feature-set. It means no wireless flash, 39 AF point (D5100 has just 11 auto focus points) or magnesium alloy build. But the underlying image quality is all but identical.
Nikon D5100 inherits the great sensor of the D7000, screen size, resolution and hinge mounting, and borrows the core movie capabilities of the D3100 and D7000, while also offering a broader selection of frame rates at 1080p and a microphone input. In addition, user also get the new EFFECTS mode which can be applied both movies and photographs, along with an HDR option.
• Selective Color
You can choose the colors to be shown in the image and the rest will remain in black and white.
• Miniature Effect
This effect makes distant subjects appear like miniatures by deliberately changing the focus area, similar to lensbaby lenses. Miniature effect movies play back at high speed.
• Color Sketch
Make your images come out like colorful drawings. Movies shot in this mode play back like a slide show made up of a series of stills.
• High Key
Creates bright, shimmering images filled with atmosphere.
• Low Key
Creates dark, striking images with prominent highlights.
• Silhouette
Capture your subjects in silhouette against bright backgrounds.
• Night Vision
Take black and white images in extremely low-light conditions.
Hoping for faster continuous shooting, improved AF or a big viewfinder will make you disappointed, if you consider these features as disadvantages.
Nikon D5100 has good video features but it’s still a DSLR and it has to take great photos. In the end, people want to buy a good DSLR camera that also shoots video.
The images look stunning, colors are well saturated and there is a tremendous amount of detail in the JPEGs. If you change the JPEG format to RAW, Nikon D5100 will shine and capture far more detail.
The Nikon D5100 provides no less than 14 white balance modes and presets include Incandescent, Fluorescent, Direct Sunlight, Flash, Cloudy, and Shade. In addition, the D5100 can set white balance when shooting in JPEG mode. With bracketing enabled, the camera saves three copies of each image–the default, plus one with a warmer tint, and one with a cooler tint.
Nikon has included its consistent Picture Control system in the D5100, so that camera settings for sharpening, contrast, brightness, saturation, and hue can be finely adjusted and ported to other Nikon digital SLRs that support the system. The D3 was the first camera compatible with the option, and all Nikon SLRs since, as well as the D5100 follow the standard. The Nikon D5100 has six presets called Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, and Landscape, and up to nine custom presets can be defined, named, saved, and copied.
Nikon D5100 16.2MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm Nikkor Zoom Lens
Compared to D5000, differences are written below;
• Higher resolution sensor (16.2MP vs. 14MP)
• 1080p video mode
• Wider ISO range (100-25,600 equivalent)
• Full-time AF mode (AF-F in live view)
• Dual IR receivers (front and rear)
• Side-articulated LCD screen (as opposed to bottom-articulated)
• 921k dot LCD screen
• 14-bit NEF (Raw) mode
• Effects modes
Compared to D7000, differences are written below;
• Same sensor (16.2MP vs. 14MP)
• 4fps High speed continuous shooting (D7000 features 6fps)
• Up to ISO 6400 (native) (Same with D7000, uses same sensor)
• Expeed 2 Imaging processor (Same with D7000)
• 3-inch 921K-dot Vari-angle Monitor (Fixed in D7000)
• 11 focus points (D7000 has 39 AF points)
• 1080p Full HD video recording (D7000 records Full HD videos at only 24p and 720p at 24, 25 and 30 fps)
• Weight & dimensions (D5100 is 560 g, D7000 is 780 g)
• Effects modes
Compared to D3100, differences are written below;
• Higher resolution sensor (16.2MP vs. 14.2MP)
• 3.0 inch swivel screen, 921k pixel (D3100 has 3.0 inch screen, 230k pixel)
• 4fps (RAW + JPEG) (D3100 features 3 fps)
• Both have 11 point AF
• 1080p, 30/25/24fps, 20min max (D3100 shoots 1080p 24fps video, 10min max)
• Up to ISO 256000 (for D3100 up to 12800)
• Effects mode
• Expeed 2 Imaging processor (Same with D3100)
Compared to Canon EOS 600D, differences are written below;
• Lower resolution sensor (16.2MP vs. 18MP)
• 3.0 inch swivel screen, 921k pixel (600D has 3.0 inch vari-angle screen, 1040k pixel)
• 4fps (RAW + JPEG) (600D features 3.7fps (34 jpeg, 6 raw))
• 11 focus points (600D has 9 focus points)
• 1080p, 30/25/24fps, 20min max (600D shoots 1080p 30/25/24fps, 29min max)
• ISO100-6400, extendable to 25,600 and 104,200 (for 600D 104,200 ISO100-6400 extendable to 12,800)
• Expeed 2 Imaging processor (600D uses DIGIC 4)
Nikon D5100 Conclusion
Pros:
• Brilliant image quality and high ISO performance
• Records 1080p movies at up to 30fps
• Chromatic aberration automatically reduced in JPEGs
• Unintimidating interface, but with plenty of manual control
• Expressed, high-resolution LCD screen
• Excellent AF system for the price
• Easy manual selection of off-center AF points
• Extraordinarily fast Live View AF for a low-end DSLR
• Beginner friendly effects modes
• Lots of post-processing options
• Flip out screen
• External microphone jack
• In-camera HDR
Cons:
• No image stabilization
• No live histogram
• Full-time AF not very effective in live view
• Auto ISO logic is good for action, but not suitable for everyday casual shooting
• Effects modes low on customization
• Most popular choices are available but the camera will not focus all Nikon lenses
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