Nikon D5100 Digital Camera Review

I thought I would take the opportunity to post some feedback on the new Nikon D5100 I got to replace my Sony SLT-a33.  After selling my a33 and all its lenses, I still wanted to have an SLR on hand and this was even after getting the Fuji X100. The X100 is a fine camera and excels for street type and artistic photography and has a superb small form factor but for work purposes and shooting Tokyo cityscapes, I struggled a bit with its weaker Macro and fixed focal length (I still do shoot the X100 all the time and it is my travel camera, for me personally it seems to be more of a complimentary camera – I did use it to take all pictures in this post that the D5100 is actually in).

As I had mentioned before on the blog, the a33 was in fact my first ever DSLR and the Nex-5 I had last summer my first ever interchangeable lens camera. So I still do consider myself a reasonable newbie to photography albeit an enthusiast newbie with some technical ability. I also love trying all kinds of new gadgets so this time around, I thought I would try something new and began looking at Pentax, Canon and Nikon.

To be completely honest with you, Pentax was originally my first choice after doing a ton of research on lenses and picture quality. I opted to order a new Pentax K-5 and several of Pentax’s very sexy Limited lenses. My K-5 and lenses arrived the next morning after I ordered and I immediately began testing the camera but to my shock the K-5 had noticeable sensor stains, a known Pentax announced late last year. However this was now April and I was not pleased that I was receiving a body with a known problem from over 6 months ago. So I sent the body back and got another one… BUT the second K-5 also had sensor stains. At this point I was frustrated so I sent the K-5 back along with the lenses and decided to move on to another brand. Please note this is certainly not reflective of the K-5’s ability to take great pictures, I think I just had some bad luck in getting two lemons. I ended up deciding on Nikon over Canon based on many reviews I have read online about the new Nikon sensors which have superb high ISO performance. This was quite a tough choice as here in Japan both are revered with a vast array of lenses and highly touted performance and quality.

I ordered the new D5100 which is my first ever Nikon. Since its my first Nikon, its difficult for me to make comparisons to older Nikon models so instead I’ll look at it from the point of view of an enthusiast looking for an easy to use camera that takes great pictures. So what do I think of the D5100 after a month and is Nikon’s new lower end but enthusiast DSLR a tool that can produce beautiful shots with minimal effort? While I’ve titled this post as a “review” it won’t be in depth like many of the great reviews out there on the web, just my personal opinions and observations on the camera as a hobbyist.

One of the major factors I chose the D5100 was the way it fits in my hands. Everyone is different so this is a very subjective factor. Like the Sony a33, the D5100 is on the smaller side and I have reasonably small hands and when camera testing found bulkier larger grip cameras harder to hold firmly and comfortably. The D5100 fit nicely and effortlessly with my index finger naturally falling right on the shutter button and my thumb right below the single back dial on the thumb rest. While its not quite as small as the a33, many will still find it more of a compact DSLR. I was tempted to get the D7000 which does share the same 16.2 megapixel 23.6 x 15.6 mm CMOS (DX format) sensor as the D5100, but is considered higher end with more pro like options.  However the heavier and larger body didn’t suit me ergonomically.  Extra features are great but they do come at a higher price tag and they don’t always equal better pictures. As I’ve said in other camera posts I’ve made on the blog, the camera is after all just a tool that a photographer uses to capture his or her inspiration. It certainly is nice to have a very advanced tool but for many of us, the extra features don’t equal superior photos.

The D5100 does have an articulating screen which is great for high and low shots where you can’t use the viewfinder or look at the very nice 3 inch 921k dot LCD.  This isn’t necessarily a deal breaking feature but its certainly nice to have and present on many models in this price range today. Apparently because of this swivel screen Nikon was forced to reposition some of the buttons on the back of the camera. For me this was not an evident change since this was my first Nikon but based on the button placements I’d say I don’t like where the Menu button is or the Function button which is placed on the front left of the camera right below the flash button. However the rest of the buttons fall easily to the thumb on the right hand.

The viewfinder which provides .78x magnification and a 95% field of view is clear and bright but I was disappointed that it did not have an eye sensor like my a33. Meaning when you bring your eye up to the viewfinder it does not automatically turn of the back LCD screen. It does however turn of the back LCD after you compose and half press the shutter to focus. Again this is by no means a bad thing, I was just used to the sensor on the Sony. The D5100 viewfinder is an optical viewfinder which allows the photographer to view the subject through the lens.  Focusing is very fast and accurate however if you’re using any of the special effects or shooting movies which require the camera to be in Live View, performance is clearly slower.  The Live View or LV lever is located on the top right of the camera next to the D5100’s one and only dial.

I don’t shoot often in live view as I find it laggy so a lot harder to get that “shutter chance” though I’ve tried some of the nifty effects that are included with the D5100 including miniature, selective color, night vision and others.  Video specs are very nice shooting in 1080p with 30, 25 or 24fps which as noted must be done in Live View. The thing about live view, once you set the aperture and switch to LV, the aperture is locked.  So you can shoot video wide open at say f1.4 for some great bokeh/out of focus areas but you can’t change it while filming. As for auto focus during videos, its very much hit and miss. In Live View, the D5100 uses contrast detection for focus and a lack of contrast causes a lot of missed focusing in videos. This was very noticeable compared to the mirrorless Sony a33 and a55 which were simply amazing at autofocusing during videos even with high action, like my dog running at full speed and cars racing around a track.  The D5100 autofocus during videos has a hard time even with stationary objects. Quality of the video is pretty good and if you get the knack of manually focusing, results can be very nice. Videographers who use DSLR’s for videos pretty much focus manually anyway for more control.

Overall the functionality of the D5100 is acceptable and by no means a difficult camera to use which is a good thing. You don’t know how many wannabe photographers here in Japan go into the camera store and just ask for the most expensive, most advanced camera and end up using less than half its features if any at all.  The D5100 menus are straight forward and controls not hard to use. This is an important feature for less knowledgeable photographers getting to learn more about how their camera works. If a feature is hard to find or use, its probably never used or let alone discovered.

So while performance of the camera is very good (outside of LV that is), how about image quality? A camera’s picture quality is effected by many things, including the sensor, image processor, lens used and of course the person behind the camera. I am by no means a pro, so pictures I take are certainly very amateurish. I shot the D5100 with the included 18-55 VR (vibration reduction) lens kit and a Tamron 60mm f2 Macro.  I should note that the D5100 does not have a built in autofocus motor so cannot focus lenses that do not have their own built in motors. This means for Nikon you have to have AF-S lenses or third part lenses with their own motors in order to autofocus. This is pretty much the norm for lower end DSLR’s and unless you own a collection of older lenses, usually not an issue. Here are some examples.

With AF-S 18-55mm VR Kit Lens at f8:

With Tamron 60mm Macro at f4:

I’m pretty happy with the D5100’s image quality including the wide dynamic range which shows great contrast and vivid colors.  Images are sharp and clear and coupled with the cameras fast performance the ability to catch quick and candid shots produces very promising results.  The Tamron produces wonderful smooth bokeh and excels for Macro (of course since its a Macro lens) but also for portraiture thanks to its super fast aperture and ideal focal length with the 1.5x crop factor of the Nikon.

The strongest point of the D5100 for me though, may be its high ISO performance. The D5100 uses an auto ISO system that allows you to set a minimum shutter speed and adjusts ISO accordingly. This is unlike other systems which calculate the best shutter speed and ISO combination to reduce camera shake.  The first picture above was in fact taken in a very poorly lit alley way in Tokyo using the D5100’s auto ISO set to 1/125th shutter speed. At f8 it chose ISO3200 and below is a 100% crop:

Here is another example of the sensor’s great low light performance taken indoors in a low lit room.

Overall I’ve been very happy with the new D5100 so far. I would like to get a few more lenses including a wide angle for taking pictures in Tokyo as well as a nice all around zoom for lighter travel. I’m looking at something like the Tamron 18-270 VC PZD which is very highly regarded here in Japan and something around the 10-12mm range. The D5100 handles well, has very good performance and takes very nice pictures. It does high quality video and has cool camera effects albeit with Live View Quicks and poor video autofocusing.  However, considering its low end price, it does not perform like a low end camera. The images and high ISO performance is reflective of a camera costing much more.  Definitely a worth while purchase!

Check out more picture examples below! Love the bokeh on that Tamron.

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