Anyone using Nikon CPs here?

John Khoo · 14th August 2004

Hi, I'm a newbie here so pardon my ignorance.

I have a Nikon F401s with Tamron 35-200 lens
also a Canon A70 3mp digital cam.

Interested to get a more "professional" digicam but am hesitating on the D70 as yet.

Most of the threads here seems to discuss the D70 or D100 which we all know is very good.

But I would like to get more informaiton about the other Nikon CPs such as the CP5400, 5700 or CP8700

Yeh, I know we can get a D70 kit for about $2000 whereas the CP5700 is about $1300 and the CP8700 is abouit $1600. But if you add the other accessories to the D70, it can come up to more than that amount especially when we consider the flash and other lens. So it's still a considerable gap in "Total Cost of ownership". I might consider the D70 in future (maybe 1 year's time)

Anyway, i think the CP5700 might serve me adequately for now and so would like to hear especially owners

Thanks for all your advice.

Squid · 14th August 2004

Welcome to Clubsnap!

Information related to Coolpix camera can be found at http://www.nikon.com.sg/TechSupp/Man...PIX_Manual.htm. Coolpix 8700 seems to rectify some weakness found on 5700 such as "slow" file saving speed and difficulty in auto focusing in low light condition through auto-focus light assist. In addition, 8700 has added in preset SCENE mode which is absent from the 5700.

John Khoo · 15th August 2004

Squid, thanks for the comments. Looks like CP8700 is a good candidate. Exept it's going for about $1,600 at the moment. Still a bit ex.

ahcal · 15th August 2004

Originally Posted by John Khoo

Squid, thanks for the comments. Looks like CP8700 is a good candidate. Exept it's going for about $1,600 at the moment. Still a bit ex.

call ap for a quote.got mine from them about 3 weeks ago at $1350.other places all higher.very good service from them to.

espn · 15th August 2004

I have the CoolPix 5700, I think you'd love it if you're not ready for SLR yet.

obviousdude · 16th August 2004

i second that, the 5700 second hand will be affordable (you're not likely to find many resale 8700 right now)

it provides lots of manual options which will allow you some of the creativity you're used to with your slr.

John Khoo · 16th August 2004

Thanks for all the comments.

Seems there are quite a few CP5700 fans after all? What about the poor autofocusing in low light? (I know it doesn't have a focus assist lamp and had read a few reviews about the difficulty in autofocus when lighting is poor. How do you guys overcome that issue?

obviousdude · 16th August 2004

Originally Posted by John Khoo

Thanks for all the comments.

Seems there are quite a few CP5700 fans after all? What about the poor autofocusing in low light? (I know it doesn't have a focus assist lamp and had read a few reviews about the difficulty in autofocus when lighting is poor. How do you guys overcome that issue?

shine torchlight.

D2Hpeter · 16th August 2004

Originally Posted by John Khoo

Thanks for all the comments.

Seems there are quite a few CP5700 fans after all? What about the poor autofocusing in low light? (I know it doesn't have a focus assist lamp and had read a few reviews about the difficulty in autofocus when lighting is poor. How do you guys overcome that issue?

you would hv to sacrifice some to gain some, you know. It is a fact of life.
Recently i hv been shooting mostly RAW on it and was quite amazed by the quality. It is a bit slow though. That is why i decided to get a D70.
But it is still very handy and versatile.

btw, i hv realised that the batt drain rather fast when shooting RAW...50% sign shown with about 30-40 shots. Could it be due to the extensive writing of data to the card?

John Khoo · 16th August 2004

Thanks to all fellow CS for their posts and PMs. I'm still thinking about whether to go for an "interim" cam such as CP5700 (2nd hand) or bite the bullet and go for the D70 (new) now. Will let you guys know what I finally decided.

Malakite · 16th August 2004

about a month back i was facing the same problem with u.. and in the end i bought the Nikon cp 8700, whlie my friend bought the d70, i might have paid a bit more for my camera than u would be able to get now, bought it when the reail price was abt 1888, sheesh.but still all in all, after buying my mem card and wide angle conversion lens plus the mb5700 batt pack and a crumpler bag plus a slik tripod, i still paid less than wat my friend paid for his d70 and the lenses and such.. good grief, lenses are not cheap! hahaha,
anyway that aside, i seem to have more fun playing with my camera and taking pictures than my fren, mebbe the cam is new so he's kinda afraid to take it out often?

haha i find that the coolpix is good enuf for most situations, but mebbe u'll might look into getting a flash for it, the built in flash is kinda weak. but the af assist is a heaven send for shooting under low light. heheh

just my 2 cents worth...

John Khoo · 17th August 2004

espn · 17th August 2004

Urm... DSLR and DCs vary by quite a larger number of factors, do drop by the Nikon Council if you can, there's more information there to help make up your minds, not including the temptations...

Heehee.

John Khoo · 17th August 2004

BTW, for the uninitiated, please let me know wat's "Nikon Council"?

ltma · 17th August 2004

I use cp 5700 before D100. I still have and use cp 5700. Your selection will depend on your use. I found CP 5700 great when doing candit. The "twistable" LCD also helps when taking picture at low levels and odd angles.

When I am travelling and really want to travel light, I will bring my CP 5700.

espn · 17th August 2004

Originally Posted by John Khoo

BTW, for the uninitiated, please let me know wat's "Nikon Council"?

A bunch of photocrappers/copiers/graphers that use mainly Nikon as their tools actually. We meet rather often, maybe 5/7 on weekdays after 5.30pm, sometimes ocassionally on weekends at about 1pm+.

Mainly we talk about cameras, equipment, share slides/prints/ideas on photography. It started small and seemed like a council... hence the name "Nikon Council".

Some believe contrary that it's a Canon bashing ground and lame equipment wankerers. So I'll just leave them to think as is.

Location: Spinellis Cafe (beside Ruby)

Check it out, we always position ourselves near the ordering counter, so often till the cafe workers there know us already!

Squid · 17th August 2004

Originally Posted by John Khoo

What about the poor autofocusing in low light? (I know it doesn't have a focus assist lamp and had read a few reviews about the difficulty in autofocus when lighting is poor. How do you guys overcome that issue?

Some time ago, I came across the a forum dedicated to Nikon Coolpix 5700. I can't remember the website address. In it, the replies on the forum propose using manual focus to work around the difficulties in low light focus problem. In fact, some went as far as to publish a table showing the focus distance at various manual focus setting points. The PDF file version of this table can be found at following locations.

http://www.geocities.com/cat_cero/5700.pdf
http://www.digitalsecrets.net/secret...Ch3G-Extra.pdf

IMHO, of the two PDf files, the table from geocities website is easier to use.

Malakite · 17th August 2004

Originally Posted by espn

A bunch of photocrappers/copiers/graphers that use mainly Nikon as their tools actually. We meet rather often, maybe 5/7 on weekdays after 5.30pm, sometimes ocassionally on weekends at about 1pm+.

Mainly we talk about cameras, equipment, share slides/prints/ideas on photography. It started small and seemed like a council... hence the name "Nikon Council".

Some believe contrary that it's a Canon bashing ground and lame equipment wankerers. So I'll just leave them to think as is.

Location: Spinellis Cafe (beside Ruby)

Check it out, we always position ourselves near the ordering counter, so often till the cafe workers there know us already!

hey can i come along too? i'm a newbie in photography but i've always been using nikon....

Azure · 17th August 2004

I'm still using a Coolpix4500, my dSLR notwithstanding. And my fav beloved lil' CP still churns out lotsa good stuff for me.

Gymrat76 · 17th August 2004

Originally Posted by Malakite

hey can i come along too? i'm a newbie in photography but i've always been using nikon....

Everyone's welcome to join us for coffee and a chat

14th August 2004	#1
John Khoo Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Bishan, Singapore Posts: 82	Anyone using Nikon CPs here? Hi, I'm a newbie here so pardon my ignorance. I have a Nikon F401s with Tamron 35-200 lens also a Canon A70 3mp digital cam. Interested to get a more "professional" digicam but am hesitating on the D70 as yet. Most of the threads here seems to discuss the D70 or D100 which we all know is very good. But I would like to get more informaiton about the other Nikon CPs such as the CP5400, 5700 or CP8700 Yeh, I know we can get a D70 kit for about $2000 whereas the CP5700 is about $1300 and the CP8700 is abouit $1600. But if you add the other accessories to the D70, it can come up to more than that amount especially when we consider the flash and other lens. So it's still a considerable gap in "Total Cost of ownership". I might consider the D70 in future (maybe 1 year's time) Anyway, i think the CP5700 might serve me adequately for now and so would like to hear especially owners Thanks for all your advice.

15th August 2004	#3
John Khoo Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Bishan, Singapore Posts: 82	Thanks for the response Squid, thanks for the comments. Looks like CP8700 is a good candidate. Exept it's going for about $1,600 at the moment. Still a bit ex.

16th August 2004	#6
obviousdude Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: West Coast of sunny Singapore Posts: 1,470	i second that, the 5700 second hand will be affordable (you're not likely to find many resale 8700 right now) it provides lots of manual options which will allow you some of the creativity you're used to with your slr. Last edited by obviousdude; 16th August 2004 at 12:19 PM. Reason: edited to correct grammatical errors only

16th August 2004	#7
John Khoo Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Bishan, Singapore Posts: 82	Wat about the poor auto focus in low light? Thanks for all the comments. Seems there are quite a few CP5700 fans after all? What about the poor autofocusing in low light? (I know it doesn't have a focus assist lamp and had read a few reviews about the difficulty in autofocus when lighting is poor. How do you guys overcome that issue?

16th August 2004	#10
John Khoo Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Bishan, Singapore Posts: 82	Thanks to all for their comments Thanks to all fellow CS for their posts and PMs. I'm still thinking about whether to go for an "interim" cam such as CP5700 (2nd hand) or bite the bullet and go for the D70 (new) now. Will let you guys know what I finally decided.

14th August 2004	#2
Squid Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 1,028	Welcome to Clubsnap! Information related to Coolpix camera can be found at http://www.nikon.com.sg/TechSupp/Man...PIX_Manual.htm. Coolpix 8700 seems to rectify some weakness found on 5700 such as "slow" file saving speed and difficulty in auto focusing in low light condition through auto-focus light assist. In addition, 8700 has added in preset SCENE mode which is absent from the 5700.

15th August 2004	#5
espn Deregistered Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Planet Nikon Posts: 22,045	I have the CoolPix 5700, I think you'd love it if you're not ready for SLR yet.

16th August 2004	#11
Malakite Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 227	about a month back i was facing the same problem with u.. and in the end i bought the Nikon cp 8700, whlie my friend bought the d70, i might have paid a bit more for my camera than u would be able to get now, bought it when the reail price was abt 1888, sheesh.but still all in all, after buying my mem card and wide angle conversion lens plus the mb5700 batt pack and a crumpler bag plus a slik tripod, i still paid less than wat my friend paid for his d70 and the lenses and such.. good grief, lenses are not cheap! hahaha, anyway that aside, i seem to have more fun playing with my camera and taking pictures than my fren, mebbe the cam is new so he's kinda afraid to take it out often? haha i find that the coolpix is good enuf for most situations, but mebbe u'll might look into getting a flash for it, the built in flash is kinda weak. but the af assist is a heaven send for shooting under low light. heheh just my 2 cents worth...

17th August 2004	#12
John Khoo Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Bishan, Singapore Posts: 82	Thanks Malakite

17th August 2004	#14
John Khoo Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Bishan, Singapore Posts: 82	Thanks, espn BTW, for the uninitiated, please let me know wat's "Nikon Council"?

17th August 2004	#15
ltma Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 154	I use cp 5700 before D100. I still have and use cp 5700. Your selection will depend on your use. I found CP 5700 great when doing candit. The "twistable" LCD also helps when taking picture at low levels and odd angles. When I am travelling and really want to travel light, I will bring my CP 5700.

17th August 2004	#19
Azure Deregistered Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: ClubSNAP community Posts: 2,783	I'm still using a Coolpix4500, my dSLR notwithstanding. And my fav beloved lil' CP still churns out lotsa good stuff for me.