Nikon D5100 – as good as it gets?

Bargain Time, upgrade time

Prices for camera gear have come down a lot since the Aussie dollar has muscled past the greenback. For the first time in a long time, we can buy camera gear cheaper than Americans - as long as we buy it from Hong Kong, that is. The local retailers have yet to give up their fat margins - $1000 for a D5100 body - while reliable HK sellers charge around $700 including freight.

My old D5000 went for $400 on eBay (paid $650 for it 15 months ago), along with a spare lens for $200. I made the move because the D5000 had some shortcomings for me:

• It’s a little too big and heavy compared to the old D40
• The articulated screen is hinged at the bottom, a dumb idea
  
• The live view AF is ‘please work before I die of old age’ slow
• The sensor (in common with the Nikon D90’s) gets noisy at ISO 1600

In addition, the new camera offers 14-bit RAW and ISO expansion to 25,600.

Seeing further in the Dark

I’ve written more than once that it’s not about the camera, but I shoot landscapes, often before sunlight or with night approaching fast. Also, I shoot music gigs my son mixes the sound for in dimly lit venues, and the D5000 really struggles here. The sensor of its successor produces cleaner images at ISO 3200, and even ISO 6400 is usable. It’s wide dynamic range puts it right up there in the top 10 next to the Nikon D3 and D700 in DxOMark’s sensor rankings, ahead of the Sony a900 and various Hasselblads and Phase Ones: http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Cameras/Camera-Sensor-Ratings

Here’s one of many interesting comparisons you can get DxOMark to run for you:

 

I thought the Canon’s numbers would’ve been closer to the D5100’s. Last year, I tested the Canon T2i/550D which shares the 18mp sensor with the newer 600D, the 60D and the 7D. I'd expected the image quality to be compromised by two many pixels on too small a sensor but I was wrong. ISO 3200 was better than I expected, and ISO 6400 was usable in a pinch. Thus I'm surprised by the big difference in the DxOMark comparison above. Check the 550D image gallery in the pages section in the right margin, or click on this link http://briard.typepad.com/get_the_picture/canon-eos-550d-gallery.html.

A second opinion from dpreview.com says: ‘At ISO 1600 and above, the D5100's image quality is more or less the same as the EOS 600D and Sony SLT-A55, but at ISO 3200 a gap appears between the D5100/A55 and the EOS 600D, which only widens as the ISO sensitivity gets higher. At ISO 6400, the D5100 gives class-leading performance ...’ DPReview also says: ‘The Nikon D5100 is the lucky owner of one of a new generation of sensors that show exceptionally low shadow noise at base ISO. In fact, the D5100 has the same sensor that impressed us so much in the D7000, and as such, it has a considerably lower noise floor than the entry-level D3100 and the last-generation D5000.’

High ISO Reality Check

DPreview is a serious outfit that carries out exhaustive tests, but life is not a well set-up studio. shooting carefully lit wine labels on a tripod is one thing, shooting all kinds of stuff in mixed conditions and poor light is another story. Here’s an ISO 6400, 100% crop (click on the image), the kind of shot you’d see in most reviews. Almost perfect.

And here’s an image shot at ISO 3200 out there on the street - it’s a different story, isn’t it? You can already see the noise creeping in. Click on the image for a 100% file.

At ISO 6400, the noise is too loud to be ignored, and detail is lost.

Neither of these shots have had NR or sharpening applied. Once that’s done, there’s no question that we’ll come up with decent quality images at ISO 3200 and usable ones at 6400.

Image Quality

On the whole, it’s excellent if not clearly superior to D5000’s IQ in any area other than low light/high ISO. Images seem to come out a little more polished, that is they look a little smoother perhaps due to the extra resolution and detail in the images. They’re a fraction sharper as well, but you’ll have to stare hard at the screen to see that. On the down side, skin tones can come out with an orange tint in bright sunlight (easily corrected in PP).

File size has gone up again. Who on earth needs 16 or 18 megapixels? Pro shooters do but they would never buy a camera like this or the Canon T3i. Thankfully there’s a medium size option that produces 9mp image files. Perfect for day to day shots. The options are:

NEF (RAW) + JPEG Fine
NEF (RAW) + JPEG Normal
NEF (RAW) + JPEG Basic
NEF (RAW)
JPEG Fine                Large
JPEG Normal            Medium
JPEG Basic               Small

I ended up shooting JPEGs because my favourite ACDSee image editor doesn’t yet support D5100 NEF, nor does Adobe Elements 8. Curiously, Google’s Picasa does, and so does Nikon’s ViewNX2 which comes in the box, but I don’t like either much for RAW conversion. Simple question, Nikon: why is D5100 NEF not the same as D7000 NEF? And do we really need another new battery? The D5000’s was compatible with my D40.

When shooting JPEGs, I turn all the processing options off or set them to zero or neutral. The only exception is Active D-Lighting, which reduces highlight clipping and brightens shadows. Nikon does this really well.

Shooting action

The D5100 is fast enough. Ready in an instant. Responsive. AF is snappy, except in very poor light. Only 11 points? Do you really need 167? The ability to shoot at higher ISO ratings also helps with indoor sports. Great AF-system. Autofocus in Live view is still a bit slow but a lot better than it was. Acceptable. Works during video recording too, or rather full HD movie making, not something I do much of.

The D5100 can shoot at 4 frames per second, not that fast these days, but it can do so in any file format, and Active D-Lighting no longer makes a difference to the number of frames the buffer can handle. Shooting JPEGs, the buffer can accommodate 100 frames. When shooting RAW, the buffer chokes after 15. When the buffer is full, the camera begins to stutter and spurt out shots whenever more space is freed up.

If you need to grab lots of shots in fast series, use JPEG and set the size to medium for best performance. Or take a video. The D5100 inherits the D3100’s AF-F continuous autofocus mode for live view and movies, which tries to keep a moving subject in focus. It works, but very slowly. You can see AF-F trying to keep up (and failing) when you watch videos taken with the D5100. You can refocus with a quick touch of the shutter, and you can select AF tracking mode for faster focus, but it’s still pretty clunky. I think I’ll stick to my $150 Kodak Playsport for video.

Design and build

The D5000 felt a little half baked, but the D5100 feels fully done from the moment you pick it up and hold it. The first thing that strikes you is the size of this camera: it’s visibly smaller than the D5000, almost as small as a D40 in fact but a bit heavier.

This is exactly what I’ve been chasing: the best possible sensor in the smallest possible package. For my shooting, the D7000 merely adds bulk I don’t need and takes away the articulated screen I want. The D5100 is the only Nikon DSLR with an articulated screen, now a gorgeous high resolution 3-inch screen that’s articulated just the right way. You can even turn it forward for self-portraits or group shots with you in the group.

Yes, the D7000 body is tougher but build quality is hardly an issue with small Nikons: I took 35,000 shots in all kinds of places on my first D40 before selling it to my son. It still works fine. The D5100’s shutter, one of the quietest I’ve put my finger on, is rated for 100,000 actuations (and it’s one of the sweetest shutters since the F80). Unless you’re a reporter or mountain climber who is rough on gear, the D5100 is tough enough.

Handling

Reviewers have picked on the lack of drive motor with the D5000. I have no idea why, since these cameras are clearly designed for minimum size, and Nikon has made enough DX lenses with inbuilt AF motors in the last decade. So have lens makers Sigma and Tamron. In a any case, the older non-AF-S Nikon lenses are Full-Frame or FX lenses. On a DX body, their geometry gets messed up so that wide lenses look normal, normal ones look like short-tele lenses and so on. Only long tele lenses benefit from the 1.5 crop factor, with their reach increased by 50%.

Reviewers also pick on the lack of function-specific buttons on these small bodies. There is an Fn button, which I assign to ISO since that’s the number I change most often. I also use exposure compensation a lot, but there’s a button for that so I have no gripes. Why Nikon persists with 2 Info buttons is a deep mystery - why not make one of them a second Fn button?

The revised layout of the buttons that used to grace the left back side of Nikon bodies, which is now occupied by the LCD hinge, has caused more gripes. The new arrangement does look a bit messy at first sight, I admit, but you soon get used to that. The switch for Live View on the right side of the top control dial doesn’t bother me. What took more getting used to was the heavily sculpted grip around the shutter button. It’s a bit overdone for my delicate fingers, and much more pronounced than any other Nikon body I’ve handled. The other serious gripe I have is that Nikon took away the grid option in the viewfinder. Why?

How much better can it get?

Nikon has squeezed a great deal into the D5100's compact body. Mind you, we could say the same about Canon who managed to get this right 18 months ago. It took Nikon two attempts, but at least it got there. The 5100 feels more solid than the Canon. It’s a camera you love to hold in your hands, near D40 size but a little heavier. That makes for better balance with bigger or heftier lenses. The D5100 is a perfect match with my favourite Nikon 18-70mm.

In sum, most of the gripes you’ve read about are a bit rich, given the D5100’s size and price. Yes, it would be nice to have a DOF preview and a wireless control for distributed flashes. Sure, a 100% viewfinder would enhance the framing experience but the body would put on bulk. You can’t have it all, and what we have here is a whole lot that works really well. The fancy effects, plus HDR and HD video, will please many aspiring shooters, while those of us just looking for the best image quality in the smallest package at the best price will be over the moon. The D5100 is as good as it gets in my book.

I’ll only add one caution: Despite the mighty specs and the tall claims of their makers, progress with DSLR cameras doesn’t come in great leaps and bounds. The D40x produces good quality images up to ISO 800, the D5000 raised that bar to ISO 1600, and the D5100 to ISO 3200. That covers a span of 4 years. It really is one slow step at a time, but let’s not forget that we’re already on a pretty high plane.

I've put up a D5100 gallery of sample images under PAGES on the right. Here's the direct link http://briard.typepad.com/get_the_picture/nikon-d5100-sample-gallery.html

Kim

Additional resources

In-depth comparison with Canon T3i/600D http://www.digitalreview.ca/content/Canon-Rebel-T3i-EOS-600D-Compared-to-Nikon-D5100.shtml

The dpreview review http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond5100/

Ephotozine http://www.ephotozine.com/article/nikon-d5100-digital-slr-review-16109

DCresource http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/nikon/d5100-review

 

Comments

[Ilana]

Hi!
Thanks for these details. I am a beginner with dslr. I am looking into buying a D5100 body and using it with my dad's beloved 18-70mm lens. I see above that you too think it's a great match. Is it good for portraits and most everyday shots (kids on the go, landscapes, macro etc.)? Does it have to be vr or af-s?
Thanks!
Ilana

[Kim Brebach]

Ilana, the 18-70mm lens is a perfect match for the D5100. It's great for everyday shots from people to action to landscapes. VR isn't really necessary for this short zoom, just make sure the ISO is high enough to shoot action at > 1/500 sec. For landscapes 1/125 is enough if you have a steady hand.
For portraits, use the long end - 70mm - for better bokeh. As soon as you have a spare $200, I'd get the 55-200 tele zoom as well. Here's my review: http://briard.typepad.com/get_the_picture/2010/12/bargain-lenses-for-nikon-the-humble-55-200mm-vr.html
Best of luck!
Kim