Nikon D5100 review

For the opportunity Nikon D5100 body camera review Many thanks to Sergey Svirida.

Nikon D5100 review

Nikon D5100 review

I want to write everything at once about the Nikon D5100 - it's just awesome multimedia harvester, which manages to squeeze just the prohibitive image quality. In this review, information is only about the camera itself Nikon D5100 body. Very often, the Nikon D5100 is sold along with universal lenses, and this set is called Kit. Usually in a set Nikon D5100 Kit such lenses as:

The best option is an 18-200mm lens, it is enough for all occasions - from a wide angle for a landscape or a small apartment, to photographing birds and bunnies. If you still need to start somewhere, then the kit lens 18-55m is quite suitable, and do not believe that the kit lens is so terrible, just important how to take pictures, and not on what technique. For portrait shooting, I advise you to look towards the lens Nikon 50mm f / 1.8G AF-S Nikkor, and as a good sharp fast aperture fixed lens for every day can act Nikon 35mm f / 1.8G AF-S DX Nikkor.

View of the Nikon D5100 camera from different angles

View of the Nikon D5100 camera from different angles

Nikon D5100 - This is an amateur SLR camera from Nikon, a highly updated version of the Nikon D5000. The camera can shoot Full HD video and take pictures at a speed 4 frames per second.

Sample photo on Nikon D5100

Sample photo on Nikon D5100

Important points:

Matrix Nikon D5100 matrix based Nikon D7000. The matrix Nikon D7000 can give out a picture high dynamic range, excellent color reproduction and low noise at high ISO. The Nikon D5100 does the same. When I took the first test shots on Nikon D5100 and ISO 6400, I was just amazed at the image quality. The result was really very juicy and lively picture, and this is at 16,2 megapixels, because in this review there are many night photos as examples. ISO camera can be set from value 100 to 25,600, values ISO 12.800. и ISO 25.600. are denoted as Hi1 и Hi2, I do not recommend shooting at such high ISO.

Nikon D5100 installed CMOS 16.2-megapixel sensor. Yes, the Nikon D5100 has as much as 16,2MP, which is the same as that of Nikon D7000 and full frame Nikon D4. More megapixels can only be found in the very expensive Nikon D3x, Nikon D800,D800E, D3200, D600, D5200 (at the time of writing). The number of megapixels is not a serious indicator of the quality of a photograph, but still, the more the better. If you are chasing megapixels, I advise you to pay attention to my note Battle of Megapixels. I shoot 6.2 megapixel without any problems Nikon D40I advise you to go to the review page Nikon D40 and make sure that even at 6.2MP you can get an excellent image result.

Nikon D5100 uses a sensor manufactured by Sony, the same sensor is found in cameras:

Photo on Nikon D5100

Photo on Nikon D5100 - saturated colors of the camera

Actually, the matrix is ​​the heart of the camera, and the better it is, the better your photographs will be. Nikon D5100 has the same matrix size as the more advanced ones Nikon D7000, D90, D300s. The Nikon D5100 APS-C sensor available, which means that the matrix is ​​2.25 times smaller in area than the matrix of full-frame SLR cameras, such as Nikon D700 or D3s. This entails an effect. crop factor. When using lenses from full-frame cameras, the viewing angle will be narrower than on film or in a full frame. More details in the article Crop Factor.

Sample photo on Nikon D5100

Sample photo on Nikon D5100

Other important points that really affect the operation and functionality of the camera

  1. Large rotary display. The display has 921.000 points. Nikon D5100 uses the same number of pixels as the camera D3, D3s, D3x, D700, D300, D300s, D90, D7000, D3200 и Nikon D5200
  2. Very fast EXPEED-2 processor, with which the camera shows excellent speed.
  3. Nikon D5100 uses 11 focus pointsfor which the focus module is responsible Nikon Multi-CAM 1000. The same module is on such cameras as Nikon D90, D3100, D3000, D80, D200 and D5000. Focusing is accurate. Focusing speed is highly dependent on the lens and shooting conditions.
  4. Measurement exposure implemented using a 420-pixel sensor, the same as that of Nikon D80, D90, D60, D40x, D50, D5000 and D3100. The camera measures the exposure perfectly, the only one, because Active is on D-lighting the camera sometimes exposes the frame.
  5. The shooting speed is 4 frames per second. This is just a little less than 4.5 fps for a more advanced Nikon D90. 4 fps is enough for any type of shooting. Even a full-frame professional Nikon D800 can shoot a maximum of 4k \ s. Personally, I always have enough even 2.5 frames per second on my old woman Nikon D40. A high rate of fire is needed only for certain situations. A high rate of fire requires a large frame buffer and a fast memory card. For example, when I reviewed the Nikon D5100, the camera used a slow 8GB SD flash drive. Since I was shooting in RAW for review, the camera was very slow after 2 seconds of shooting in fast mode. Due to the fact that RAW files from the camera weigh about 15mb, I had to wait a very long time until the files were written to the memory card. Indeed, the whole charm of fast continuous shooting at 4 fps can be estimated by shooting only in JPEG.
  6. Frame buffer when shooting in RAW format is 11 frames. This is as much as that of Nikon D90 when shooting in RAW. How much the camera will slow down during serial shooting will greatly depend on the buffer capacity. In an earlier model Nikon D3100, frame buffer is 13 pieces in RAW.
  7. Attention: Nikon D5100 Nikon's first amateur camera to use RAW with 14 bit color depth. This is very good news for fans of processing RAW photos. Unfortunately, like all Nikon amateur cameras, the D5100 does not have a choice of RAW compression levels or a choice of color depth.

    Example photo on Nikon D5100

    Example photo on the Nikon D5100. Snowy glass.

  8. Full HD movie shooting 1980 * 1080, with maximum quality you can shoot videos up to 20 minutes long. Believe me, 20 minutes is enough for the video. You can choose different shooting modes in different quality. Another important detail to shoot video on the desired aperture, you first need to install it, and therefore already enable Live View and start recording. When Live View is on, aperture change is not available.
  9. Convenient menu and overall camera ergonomics. At first, it might seem that controlling the camera with one hand is difficult, but then you can quickly get used to the control.

    Example photo on Nikon D5100 at high ISO

    Example photo on Nikon D5100 at high ISO

  10. A bunch of useful additions - automatic correction of distortion, aberration, Active D-lighting, Breckening, Live View, Timelapse, etc. Important! Automatic correction of distortion and chromatic aberration is removed only when shooting in JPEG.
  11. The camera has one great feature - HDR. HDR takes two frames with different exposures and saves them in one file. Very comfortable and interesting. The HDR function is not available when shooting in RAW. The HDR function is conveniently programmed with the FN button.

    Example photo on Nikon D5100 at very high ISO

    Example photo on Nikon D5100 at very high ISO

  12. A little about the shortcomings - this is an amateur camera, because in the camera no many features from more advanced or professional cameras. Personally very important to me fast flash sync, flash command modeFine tune focus manual exposure metering and availability focus motor - Nikon D5100 doesn't have them. Highly I consider “picture braking” a strong drawback when sighting through Live View and approaching the image area 1 to 1 (or similar) - the picture slows down quite a lot. There is no such effect on Nikon D90. Such an approximation helps to very accurately sharpen the desired focus point.

All sample photos on the Nikon D5100 from this review were shot in RAW -> JPEG, without processing, only resized to 720 * 477 pixels with imprinted EXIF in order to be able to judge the shooting parameters. Please note that at high ISO photos are more or less acceptable.

Example photo on the Nikon D5100. Loss of juiciness of the color gamut when raising ISO

Example photo on the Nikon D5100. Loss of juiciness of the color gamut when raising ISO

Recommendations

In order to speed up focusing, use the optical viewfinder. When focusing in Live View, the focusing accuracy will be very high, but the speed will be very slow, since the camera and the lens will need to measure contrast at different focusing distances and only then put the lens in the desired position. When focusing through the optical viewfinder (through the eye), the camera is much quicker to cope with focusing. It is for this reason that older cameras such as Nikon D300, D300s, D700 etc., there are two Live View shooting modes. These are tripod mode and hand mode. In hand-held mode and Live View on, when you press the shutter button halfway, Live View turns off and autofocusing occurs through the phase sensors, after a successful focus is achieved, Live View turns on again.

Photo at Nikon D5100 at low ISO in low light

Photo at Nikon D5100 at low ISO in low light

If desperately needed maximum frame buffer, then you need to turn off all functions that reduce the number of photos in the buffer. I think you will be surprised when in paragraph 5 it is written about 11 frames in the buffer, but in reality there will be less of them. The number of frames that the buffer can fit is shown in the lower right corner of the viewfinder when you press the shutter button halfway. Usually, with noise reduction turned on for high ISOs and slow shutter speeds, as well as when active D-lighting the number of frames in the buffer drops sharply. Therefore, by disabling these functions you can get the claimed 11 frames. Well, if you do not need RAW, then in high-quality JPEG with advanced settings enabled 16 frames - and this is for 4 seconds of continuous shooting. It is unlikely that someone takes a burst of longer than 4-5 seconds.

Photo on Nikon D5100

Photo on Nikon D5100

When you place the camera in a case (in a photo bag), turn the display with the dark side out, and the LCD monitor in the middle so that the monitor does not scratch during transportation. If shooting in JPEG, I recommend turning on noise reduction at high ISOs and slow shutter speeds. For a saturated picture you can use Active D-lighting in HIGH mode. You can also configure the FN programmable button, which is located next to the flash up button. I usually program the FN button for the ISO control function.

Sample photos on Nikon D5100 using a lens Nikon 50mm f / 1.8G AF-S Nikkor. Photos without processing.

Don't know what to choose?

Usually, a person who wants to buy a camera of this level stops at 2-3 Nikon models. it Nikon D3100, Nikon D5000, Nikon D5100, D5200. I recommend taking a simpler model Nikon D3100, which can do the same thing as the D5100, but its price is much less. D5100 is more suitable for those who like to shoot in poor lighting conditions at high ISO. Saturation and image quality on the D5100 and D3100 very similar to low and medium ISO. Of course newer Nikon D5200 in many ways beats the Nikon D5100.

D5000 D5100 D5200
Exit time June 2009 April 2011 November 2012
RAW color depth 12 bit 14 bit 14 bit
Number of megapixels 12,20 16,08 24,00
Burst Speed 4 fps 4 fps 5 fps
Minimum ISO 200,00 100,00 100,00
Minimum Extensive ISO 100 (Lo1) - -
Maximum ISO 3200,00 6400,00 6400,00
Maximum Extended ISO 6400 (Hi1) 25600 (Hi2) 25600 (Hi2)
Video length max. qualities 5 minutes 20 minutes 20 minutes
Video 1280 x 720 24fps 1920x1080 30fps 1920 x 1080 60i
Sound mono mono stereo
Display 2.7 inches, 230.000 points 3 inches, 921.000 points 3 inches, 921.000 points
Focus module Multi-cam 1000 Multi-cam 1000 Multi-CAM 4800DX
Number of Focus Points 11,00 11,00 39,00
Measurement exposure 420-pixel RGB sensor 420-pixel RGB sensor 2016-pixel RGB sensor
Memory cards SD,SDHC SD, SDHC, SDXC SD, SDHC, SDXC (UHS-I)
Weight without battery, g 550,00 510,00 505,00
HDR no Yes Yes

I do not recommend buying an older Nikon D5000, it does not have autofocus when shooting video, and it is quite difficult for an ordinary user to focus on sharpness manually.

By the way here a list of all CZKs from Nikonmaybe he will help in choosing.

Photo on Nikon D5100

Photo on Nikon D5100


Prices for modern Nikon cameras in popular stores can look at this link.

Comments on this post do not require registration. Anyone can leave a comment. Many different photographic equipment can be found on AliExpress.

Conclusions

Nikon D5100 gives a very good picture one click on the shutter button. Camera for photo lovers who just need a good result in a photo without unnecessary troubles. Full HD and a swivel display makes the camera even more attractive. Given that the camera has a matrix of very high quality Nikon D7000then Nikon D5100 can be used by advanced amateurs as well.

Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram

Add a comment: Arkady Shapoval

 

 

Comments: 1 914, on the topic: Nikon D5100 review

  • Anton

    I have a d5100, and I want to say that it is still worth overpaying for it compared to the d3100, if only because of the screen resolution. And also a decent number of small advantages (the same is not the possibility of using i-to consoles for 3100). I would also like to say about the noise at 6400 ... they are horrible. Although it depends on what to compare. The rest, as always, is well written! + I would like to add, not everything is so simple with the Nikkor 18-200 AF-S VR lens. I also fell for its versatility, but then I was disappointed and here's why: it's big and heavy, it's bad at 18 and at 175-200, the photo quality is mediocre, and the price is absolutely inadequate.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      In the review, I expressed my opinion, maybe for someone the D5100 is more suitable.

  • Andrey Berdyansk

    The device is fine, I use it myself. The remote control functionality was a bit disappointing

  • Svirida Sergiy

    Garni camera can be used for professional purposes to earn money. I take pictures of them with studio doors for good reason. So right up to the remote control, then I’ve wanted to launch the video by launching the video and pressing it into a new one.

  • Dmitriy

    I’ve been using it for 6 months now. How can I say I like this camera + a good person + good glass = strength))) now I want to try Soviet lenses who can tell me something to help write !!!)))

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Give it a try. You can start with Helios-81n

  • Roma Donetsk

    The camera deserves respect and knowing how to use it, you can get good pictures, but at 18-55, I got good photos, in particular the starry sky, I managed to take a lot of constellations, star clusters, I captured in all the beauty of the Pleiades criticized by many 55-200 (m45) and the Orion nebula (m42), took off the planetary parade, captured Venus and Jupiter, and despite the fact that apart from the shift and fade5c, there was no experience in the photo back in 90g. I chose K and Canon 600d between the pentax, I think I wasn’t mistaken, it’s frustrating that there is no intra-chamber stabilization as I wanted to use lzovat with a telescope, but also so every time during 9 months of use, take the D5100 in your hands and always with positive emotions, after reading your review even more sure of the correct choice, thank you)))

  • Roma Donetsk

    Arkady would like to hear your advice, I’m thinking about what’s better on the D5100 Samyang 8mm f / 3.5 Aspherical IF MC Fish-eye or Samyang 14mm f / 2.8 IF ED UMC Aspherical, I want to use it for a wide angle, I favor 14mm (so as you want, and the angle is wide and the ability to take ordinary photos without a frisky trick) but all the information on the network is somehow contradictory, some say the second will be that it is (14mm) for a full frame, there won't be a big angle, almost a second month in a stupor))) I think the answer will be useful to many, sorry for the confusion of the question, but the soul hurts, thanks !!!

    • Arkady Shapoval

      14mm - really for a full-frame sensor and a super wide angle will not give. For a Super Wide Angle, something like the Tokina 11-16 2.8 would be nice. Although, at the same time, the question is, how much will you feel the difference between 14mm and 10 (11) mm. Personally, I would take a Samyang 14mm and not really sweat it.

  • Roma Donetsk

    Thank you very much for the answer, perhaps I will focus on 14mm.

  • Igor Donetsk

    Many thanks to the authors of the article - it helped a lot.
    Taking the next step in acquiring the camera, studying prices, I came across a lot of advertisements for the sale of Nikon D5100 + kit 18-105 for 500u.e. and Nikon D7000 + kit 18-105 from 800 to 1100 cu (2 year warranty) from the UK. What can you suggest on this issue?

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Radozhiva has only one author. Now the entire Internet is crammed with offers from Britain, I communicated with one of them via Skype, in my opinion - the matter is at your own peril and risk.

    • anonym

      if you still need to. you can order. you did it yourself. look at the seller’s rating !!!!

  • Benjamin

    Arkady, can you tell me if you shoot RAW + JPEG, the automatic correction of distortion, chromatic aberration and HDR in JPEG will not work either?
    Thank you in advance for your response!

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Must work. I can’t check now.

  • nana

    this is my first SLR, I still have to study and learn)) but I'm already happy with the result

  • Andrey Berdyansk

    Please tell me what Soviet lenses can be used with this camera?

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Any how practical it is and about different adapters can be found in the article Soviet optics.

  • Anatoly

    The site is a find, everything is intelligible and understandable. Now the question is: can Vivitar lenses be attached to this camera?

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Yes, you can. Now Vivitar makes lenses with Nikon mount - I recommend finding just one.

  • Anatoly

    A person sells an inheritance without a clue about a bayonet mount, but there is no way to check

  • Anatoly

    An ambush there is only MD (Minolta) and K (Pentax) mounts. Do they have adapters or is it better not to bother?

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Adapters are, but do not bother.

  • Jury

    Recently I bought a D5100 kit, certainly a multimedia processor!
    Everyone likes it, although it takes time to study. It strains (at first) only a small viewfinder (compared to 60D)

  • Tanya

    Arkady, hello! What do you recommend a protective filter on d5100?

    • Arkady Shapoval

      The protective filter is not bought on the camera, but on the lens. Depending on the lens, the filter itself is selected. So I can’t tell you.

  • Svetlana

    Arkady, and yet I can’t decide which device to buy for an amateur who, besides a soap box, did not hold anything in his hands d5100 18-55 or 18-105

    • Arkady Shapoval

      There is only one device - this is the D5100, but it is better to take, of course, with the lens 18-105

  • Svetlana

    Thank you!

  • Eugene Krasnoyarsk Territory

    Earlier, the question of purchasing devices in Britain was voiced, I would like to convey to each and every one that be careful, because from my own experience I got caught in the network of scammers! According to the standard scheme, they ask to transfer money through Western Union, and after that they fool their heads (and the budget) by the fact that when goods pass the borders of countries, you need to “pay extra” for some fees / taxes! Be careful, and I would like to add on my own that every thing is worth its money !!! Believe the bitter experience of others ... Good luck to everyone, creative success! Great respect for the author!

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Thank you.

  • Arkady

    I bought it last week. I don’t understand anything yet, but the thing is very interesting. "When focusing in Live View, the focusing accuracy will be very high, but the speed is very slow." I didn't notice it. Mpasibo for the article, I was convinced once again that I bought what I needed !!!

  • Oleg

    Arkady, I bought the D 5100 and I really liked it, but in the future I want to buy a lens for it, so I don’t know which is better
    Nikkor AF-S DX VR 55-300 mm / f 4.5-5.6G ED; AF 50 mm / f 1.4D or what do you recommend 18-200mm? I would like to shoot nature and a portrait. And another question is it is possible to take pictures of nature in winter and at what low temperature? Thanks!!!

  • Arkady Shapoval

    All three lenses are completely different, telephoto, fast aperture (which without a motor will not focus on the D5100) and station wagon. If you ask such questions, then the 18-200 station wagon will be just right. Regarding winter shooting, you will find answers to your questions in my article https://radojuva.com.ua/2012/01/winter-photo-camera/

  • Aigul

    Good time of day. I am a lover. I want to have a SLR. a familiar photographer advised d 5100 whales 18-55 or 18-105 (as a beginner), another advises d90 18-105 (like take normal right away, long enough, it is stronger and has a longer resource). Please tell me, for starters, what’s better, but with the intention of not investing further. and immediately get a normal device. in the future, there are plans to make money on it at events.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      That would be enough for a long time - the D90 will be the best option.

  • Oleg

    Arkady, advise, I stopped at two AF-S 50mf / 1.4 and AF-S 35m f / 1.8 lenses and I don’t know which one to choose, to buy and use it for a long time and not to be disappointed? And how to check the lens when buying so that it is not gray?

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Legally, you are unlikely to be able to check for dullness. Better to take 1.4G.

  • Eugene

    So I also settled on two lenses AF-S 50mf / 1.8 and AF-S 35m f / 1.8 and I do not know which one to choose. D5100 camera. Although I don’t really like to shoot in an apartment, it seems to me that 75mm will be a bit much for everyday life, and the AF-S 35mf / 1.8 lens is not very praised and even worse than the AF-S 50mf / 1.8. Which one do you recommend taking?

    • Arkady Shapoval

      All the same, it is better to have a more or less normal portrait on a crop of 50 1.8, rather than just a station wagon 35 1.8. I have both, 35 1.8 I use less and less on crop, instead of it I hang more often 17-50 2.8, but 50 1.8 and 50 1.4 are a pretty nice thing.

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