Summary: I purchased this camera for two reasons: 1) it was the update of an earlier coolpix which many of my colleagues use for macro photography of mineral specimens and wildflowers, and 2) the continuous modes. I've not been disappointed in the macro modes - excellent close up capabilities resulting in very nice images (especially for a point and shoot). This is alot easier to pack around than my Canon F1 with a couple of lenses. However, I've been generally disappointed in the continuous mode for sports photography - seems the camera is rather slow to focus and holds the focus from the first image, assuming you had time for it to focus in the first place. The result is quite a few fuzzy ski photos, especially as the subject gets close enough to fill the frame. That's certainly one thing where my 10 lbs of Canon hardware excels. Overall, a good quality camera with lots of features, takes great close ups, stills and portraits, not so great for action photos.
Strengths: Macro photography - focuses to 1" with great clarity and accurate exposure
Great point and shoot capability
Weaknesses: Continuous mode for action photos - slow to focus, does not re-focus.
All the knobs and dials are very easy to inadvertantly change settiings, including menu options.
Similar Products Used: Nikon 5200, Fuji finepix 4800, lots of Canon film cameras.
Customer Service: B& H was great - fast shipping, great prices, everything I needed in stock.
Summary: There is no doubt that nearly everyone loves the construction of this camera. It is beautiful to look at and very comfortable to hold and operate with just one hand. The controls and layouts are very good and most commonly used features are now easily accessible. This is accomplished by the efficient use of a dial on top of the camera to select white balance, sensitivity, movie mode, etc, and a “my menu” feature in the menu to store 5 most frequently used features. The pictures captured by this camera are sharp with good color balance that is however more on the cool side. By contrast, my old Coolpix 995 gives a warmer picture. The major reason that I bought this camera is its ability to zoom out to 28mm without any adapter lens. I have one of those wide-angle adapter for the CP995. It performed very well, but it is bulky. Furthermore, the macro created by this camera is unbelievable (and this is most effective at wide angle). The move mode is easy to operate and thus fun to use. I do agree with others that the camera is not fast on the AF and the write time. However, I found a few tricks to speed things up. I found the AF is more accurate and faster if you select “Auto” in the AF area mode, instead of doing it manually by using one of the five areas for focusing. In the Auto mode, the camera will select a region at or near the subject in the center that it can lock on. To shorten the time between shots, someone else has found that you can save some time if you turn off the shutter sound. I also found that imprinting date or text info significantly lengthening the write time. I wish the camera has a better designed lens cap, eg, the lens can be retracted and sealed off when not in use. It is annoying to have to carry a plastic cap. There is a $200 rebate now, which probably means that a new 5400 is coming out soon. But it is a bargain to get this camera at about $210 after rebate.
Summary: Nice looking little camera with fine ergonomics, a very well-performing wide angle Nikkor lens, and relatively well-controlled noise throughout its sensitivity range. However, the problems for my shooting style are legion: for starters - and most obviously - the articulating LCD screen, though pixel-dense, is too small in my opinion. The bigger problem, though, is the terrible AF and file-recording implementations. Even in bright light, the autofocus is slow and seems to have a time with either horizontal or vertical details. I had the best luck either with diagonals or turning the camera itself to create diagonal details from horizontal or vertical. Forget about taking candids of children unless you are clairvoyant enough to predict their whims and manage to prefocus. Likewise, you won't likely be taking advantage of the decent high-ISO performance as the AF flat out fails at even moderately dim, late afternoon indoor lighting levels. And here's perhaps the most inane and annoying thing about the 5400: you must wait for the camera to write the shot you just took to the memory card before you can take another picture. That's right, there seems to be NO BUFFER AT ALL. And the write times seem rather leisurely as you're missing a handful of opportunities while you wait. Even my old Canon Powershot G1 will let me continue shooting while it writes to the CF Card. There is, of course, the option of either "continuous low" or "continuous high" drive modes, but these disable the flash, which I find quite irritating as the majority of candid images can be improved greatly with a kiss of fill flash. And, adding insult to injury, the battery life is pitiful! The manual says to expect 2 hours of continuous use with the LCD on a good deal of the time. In my experience, that's optimistic unless you're only using the LCD for brief review right after taking a shot. Use the flash, and it's down to maybe an hour. All in all, a nicer camera to desire - with its slick black metal-clad body, and true wide angle coverage - than to actually shoot with. Resold mine on eBay (for no little bit of a profit, even) after a couple frustrating weeks. Guess I'll stick with the ancient, 3 megapixel Canon for my non-SLR digital needs. Too bad for Nikon, cuz I really wanted to like this little camera.
Strengths: Ergonomics. Lens optical performance. Well-controlled noise at higher ISO settings. Can use 2CR5 lithium battery in a pinch, which is good since the camera has...
Weaknesses: Pitifully short battery life. Terrible AF performance. Apparently NO BUFFERING ABILITY - thus, terrible write times and useability. Too-small LCD. Must go into the menu to change ISO and metering (unless you have one of them set to be controlled by the programmable function button - but only one!)
Similar Products Used: Canon Powershots G1, G3, A70, Coolpix 990, sundry Kodak digital Point & Shoots.
Customer Service: Never had to use for a digital device, but they were outstanding in replacing a broken part for my FM10, which was out of warranty by more than a year, for free. Note, however, that they are pain-in-the-ass sticklers for the U.S. Warranty issue: NO COVERAGE AT ALL FOR GRAY MARKET ITEMS.
Summary: Got this to replace a Coolpix 990. Have done travel and outdoor photography mainly.
Strengths: Very high quality pictures, that include night time shots, without too much noise.
Nice wide angle lens,
Weaknesses: Build quality is OK, it wasn't made in Japan, like the CP990, but Korea and that shows. The LCD had a few blown pixels. However worst of all there was dust in the lens, which got worse over time, even though I looked after it very well. I have found that dust in Nikon lenses to be a real problem. I bought a CP8700 and took it back after 1 day because of dust in the lens. Its seems that the quaity control has become a joke.
Summary: It took me one month to dived into internet and made many comparisions finally decided to buy 5400,it is a very good camera for intermediate even professional , small body for travel and snapshoot; The picture taken by 5400 is sharp ,nature and wonderful, I like it .
Strengths: Wide angle
5 megapix
A,P,S,user defining mode
NIKON ED LEN
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