For the opportunity Nikon D5100 body camera review Many thanks to Sergey Svirida.
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:
- Nikon 18-105mm f / 3.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S DX Nikkor
- Nikon 18-55mm f / 3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor (or one of its 3 modifications)
- Nikon 18-200mm f / 3.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkorcan be met very rarely
- Nikon 55-200mm f / 4-5.6 AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkoras optional included
- Nikon 55-300mm f / 4.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S DX Nikkor as optional in kit
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
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
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:
- Nikon D7000
- Pentax K-30
- Pentax K-5
- Pentax K-01
- Sony a580
- Sony A55
- Sony NEX-5N
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
Other important points that really affect the operation and functionality of the camera
- 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
- Very fast EXPEED-2 processor, with which the camera shows excellent speed.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 the Nikon D5100. Snowy glass.
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- 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
- 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
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
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
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
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
Arkady hello! Help with choosing the first DSLR D5100 18-105VR, D90 18-105VR, D7000 18-105VR. The camera is needed mainly for good photos. Video may be rare. The price does not matter. Thanks!!!
For amateur photography I recommend D5100 18-105VR, you can read about the choice of cameras here - https://radojuva.com.ua/2013/01/what-camera-nikon-shoud-i-buy/
Arkady hello! Tell me, in what mode to put the exposure metering in everyday family shooting?
In matrix metering, automatic mode.
Say, be a caress, on skіlki frames REALLY vistachaє batteries D5100 with 18-55mm VR, just know without a hitch? !!) I go on a trip to Carpathian, it’s quite possible to charge the battery, and if you buy one trochy it’s a little expensive!) I want 1000 frames pull 7! Crazy!)
If you do not view the shot material on the display, then it should be enough, but no more.
Arkady thank you very much for the link is a very good article. Just did not understand a bit, it turns out that the D3200 is better than the D5100? And the matrix of the D3200 is also from the D7000 or better, is it newer than the year of release? And another question, if you buy, is it better to 18-105 or a set of 18-55, 55-200? Thanks!!!
The D3200 has its own matrix, not the same as the Nikon D5100. In the article https://radojuva.com.ua/2013/01/what-camera-nikon-shoud-i-buy/ the priority for the latches is indicated, and there 18-55 + 55-200 is higher than 18-55.
Arkady, hello! The article is very good and clear! I was saddened by the only thing, yesterday I bought a d5100, my first DSLR in my life and my second DSLR in my hands, a week later I go to training courses for photographers, the bottom line is that reading all this I was upset because I could buy a model d5200. The fotik is excellent, he arranged for me gorgeous, and in the limit of 40 tr. fit in with the flash, bag, memory card, and other nice little things. I bought it with a Tamron lens AF18-200mm. as they said it is universal (which I needed) and I think it's better than a standard whale. Should I be too upset about the fact that I could have purchased the next model d5200?
No, it’s not worth it to get upset, but you can learn from anything.
Tell me what to think in the following situation:
I tried to remove the lens hood from the 18-300 lens, which is very tight, the force fell on the entire lens and it turned about 1 mm in the bayonet mount. The lens goes back and forth tight. Is such a backlash critical and is it worth paying attention to? I didn’t notice from 55-300 before, apparently I didn’t make such an effort. Check what?
My question remained unanswered. Just tell me, can all mounts play a little bayonet or should it sit like a glove?
The mount on the camera should not have any shifts and sit tight.
Arkady, I probably put it a little incorrectly. After clicking the bayonet lock, the lens fits very tightly, but slightly rotates to the right to the left, if you apply effort to the lens (of course, the zoom is stronger than the ring). You can try spinning on a Nikon, which is not very sorry for any lens relative to the body, is there any movement. Maybe it's a little latch. The question is the same, is it worth worrying?
If there is a slight backlash, don't worry.
Good day. I did not think long about choosing a camera, thanks to your rating, I am going to take the D5200 with 2 lenses 18-55 and 55-200. The problem is that we do not have it in the city yet, but there is an opportunity to buy it in USA. Have you encountered devices from there or can you wait for them to appear in the store?
I would not take from the USA, because in which case the guarantee is more difficult to implement. They will be in local Internet stores very soon, in Ukraine, for example, for 3 months already.
Oleg in my city already has one in the store !!! I’m worrying for several days already that I did not go to the consultant and did not ask what the difference is between 5100 and 5200, maybe I would take it.
You should not worry, because, for example, having 5100 late issues you are insured against childhood diseases of new products. In general, it is reasonable to skip 1 generation ahead even for money - 2000-3000 UAH. the difference between these cameras does not justify the technical novelty, and the price in a year and a half will be 4000-5000 UAH, in comparison with the current 7000 UAH and more. I took 5100 right after its release. I would not change to 5200 even if they offered me the price I paid for it in May 2011.
Arkady, if on Nikon 3200 a full-time Nikkor 35mm lens is used (indoor photographs, portraits on the street, background architecture), will it be a normal option?
Yes, that would be a great option.
A direct competitor, for the file and functionality, Kenon 650 at Nikon?
Most likely you are not asking about the quality of the files, but about the quality of the photos. A direct competitor is the D3200, D5100.
First of all, I can clearly see the difference in the quality of signs - Nikon 3200 and Kenon 650?
D3200 has an advantage, in general, 650D uses a rather old matrix from another 7D.
Thanks for the detailed article. Help with advice that it is better to choose a beginner in order to take very high-quality amateur photos, and portraits, and landscapes, depending on the situation. I want to buy Nikon 5100, but there are 2 options: a set of lenses 18-55 and 55-200, or only one lens 18-105. The advantage of the second is that you do not need to change anything, but is there a big difference that there will not be this interval up to 200? I’m trying to figure out exactly how much up to 105 is enough for me, or is it better to take a lens up to 200, so as not to regret it later? Or is the difference visible only to professionals?
200mm is twice as close as 100mm. Find recommendations for selection here - https://radojuva.com.ua/2013/01/what-camera-nikon-shoud-i-buy/
Thanks for the answer, I still can’t choose between 18-105 or two 18-55 and 55-200 at once, so that you would recommend enough for the shootings of your family, landscapes, and city streets. I read other reviews, who praises all these lenses, who scolds. Another thing is that I can’t imagine the difference visually between 105 and 200, but if there were just 2 of these volumes, you could see what happens, it would be easier, but for now everything is theoretical. You do not have a photo where the same plot, then with different lenses, so that it was clearly? I hope this is not a stupid question, I'm still just beginning to understand everything.
a lens, a typo, I’m writing from transliteration.
I also read that a good aperture is at a maximum of 2.8, and all of these lenses have more, i.e. generally, doesn’t it have a good aperture?
Yes, in general it doesn’t happen.
Some people remove fixes both this and that, and it turns out cool. But I was greedy and took 18-3000. Although there are those who advise taking 70-200 with aperture of 2,8
The focal difference is easy to see here - https://radojuva.com.ua/2012/10/lens-mm/ I advise two lenses.
Thank you so much, what you needed was better to see once with examples, a wonderful article by reference.
Arkady tell me! On the nikon d5100 in the menu in the settings for the maximum aperture value, what should I set?
In which menu item?
SHOOTING MENU / ISO sensitivity settings / Maximum shutter speed: 1s. - 1 / 2000s. what to choose???
Look at the focal length of the lens, for example, if you use 18-55, then set 1 \ 100s, if 18-200, for example, then set 1 \ 400. This is done to combat hand shake blur in photographs. The shutter speed is calculated like this - the maximum focal length of the lens multiplied by two. More details here - https://radojuva.com.ua/2012/01/how-to-make-photo-by-hand/
Hello, please help with the choice of lens. I have kit 18-55, I would like a lens that gives maximum blurring of the defocus zone, even when the subject (in particular, the person) enters the frame at full height.
The maximum blur will give something like Nikon 200mm F2.0, but for the money the best price / quality ratio is https://radojuva.com.ua/2012/02/obzor-nikon-50-mm-f-1-8-g-af-s/
Thank you very much)
Arkady, good afternoon! As I wrote to you earlier, they gave me NIKON d5100 from 18-55. I am very pleased with the camera. Everything works flawlessly. with sadness I recall those times when we shot on film with a sensitivity of only 65 units. I have a couple of questions about the Nikon D5100. 1. In automatic mode, it is not possible to set automatic ISO selection? 2.When registering on the Nikon website, the serial number does not pass. (Which is on the sticker) BJ 105860 The SB400 was registered successfully. camera made in THAILAND Bought in Moscow in the online store Photo Plus. In Photoshop, I noticed when viewing the file info, which shows the serial number of the camera is different, but not completely. where can I see this number and what, is it some kind of left camera? Thanks! Regards, Oleg!
How is it “different, but not completely”? Go to the store where you bought.
And where can I see the serial number in the menu?
Please tell me, I want to take a Nikon D5100 camera.
What is the best way to take the Nikon D5100 18-105VR Kit or
Nikon D5100 Body (and Nikon 50mm f / 1.8G AF-S Nikkor)
Thank you.
Hello. When shooting at home with a built-in flash, you can’t get clear pictures, fotal in different modes, it turns out some kind of yellow daub. Whale lens
Arkady, help me figure it out !!! I bought 5100 18-105 2 months. back. When shooting with a flash in the photo, a black spot from the lens is constantly produced, even without zoom. The spot appears at an object distance of 2m and closer. Is this a marriage of the camera?
This is a feature of the built-in flash.
Greetings, I am faced with a choice from
Nikon D5100 + 18-105 VR KIT - $ 830
и
Nikon D5200 + 18-105 VR KIT - $ 1150,
Will 5100 be relevant in a year or two, or is it already obsolete?
is 5200 good enough to overpay for it $ 320?
Instead of D5200, I would rather look at D7000. I have a D5100 - a great camera that allows me to take great pictures. But the D5100's control is not very convenient, almost completely through the menu. Lacks iso, WB and autofocus buttons. There is only one function key. Also, as practice has shown, the “rotation” of the screen is used very rarely.
more questions
-
Is it possible to take pictures at the same time when shooting a video?
Is it possible to use MicroSD with an adapter or is it necessary to use an SD memory card?
Hello Arkady.
My question is similar to the question above. Is it worth taking the d5100 now with an 18-55mm f / 3.5-5.6G VR lens. or is it better to opt for the d3200 with the same lens?
Camera recommendations here - https://radojuva.com.ua/2013/01/what-camera-nikon-shoud-i-buy/
Hello again, we still bought Nikon D5100 18-55 and 55-300 (there weren’t 55-200), we begin to understand. Only one question, Auto shooting mode, we tried both lenses, when we reach the maximum (55mm) and the second to the maximum (300mm) in the first one, the image becomes cloudy, but as soon as you press the shutter button halfway, the image becomes clear when focusing, this is normal? Or is something wrong?
Hello! I would like to know the following: I'm going to buy a DSLR, the choice fell on the D5100 or D5200, in the reviews I saw that they are equipped with a rotary screen. please tell me how can this be problematic? I haven’t encountered this yet, but there are doubts whether this screen will fail in a couple of years
I bought in September 12 d 5100 I am still studying and am amazed at the technical capabilities of the quality and the prospect of improving mastery. Previously, there was a film cue 4a bb but I put the lens sigma 17 70 f2.8 4 dc makro os from japan learn to take all the pictures
Arkady, please tell me. For a photo of girls with make-up and hairstyles of good quality, clear, and also in full growth in the image in a small room, which model is better to take the canon 600d or Nikon 5100? or maybe something else advise up to $ 700
The D5100 will be preferable, since without a flash (at high ISOs), the D5100 will work better than in 600d