By Ian Burley
18th September - 2001
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Nikon has followed Minolta, Sony and Olympus into the echelons of the 5 megapixel camera club. The new CoolPix 5000 announced today won’t be on sale in the UK until January next year and is expected to have a price tag in the region of £1,000.
But that’s the bad news. The good news is that if we are to believe the Nikon press release, this is their best consumer camera yet. Points we are told will wow us include very fast start-up times, extra-responsive controld, a sophisticated new 3x 28-85mm (35mm equivalent) Nikkor zoom lens which incorporates three aspherical lens elements, plus - for Nikon - a fresh new look, though we are told the camera looks larger than it is in real life. Its dimensions are: 101.5 x 81.5 x 67.5mm and its magnesium alloy chassis means it weighs in at a relatively lightweight 360g without batteries.
An integrated flash dominates the front panel of the CoolPix 5000, but a fully-featured hot shoe for use with Nikon flash units is also featured.
It’s remarkable how different the 5MP offerings from Minolta, Sony, Olympus and, now, Nikon have turned out. However, one thing that makes the Nikon stand out is that it’s unique in this esteemed company in that it is not an SLR-style camera. You must make do with a separate viewfinder.
But we will just have tro wait and see if this observation handicaps the Coolpix 5000.
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