Review: Nikon Coolpix P5100 digital camera

An update to the Coolpix P5000, the P5100 retains the 3.5x optical zoom lens and vibration reduction of its predecessor, while boosting the pixel count from 10 million to 12 million.

The Nikon's magnesium alloy body feels exceptionally well built, with rugged good looks that are professional rather than fashion-conscious.

There are no gimmicks and plenty of features designed simply to take better photos.

Aperture and shutter priority, as well as full manual modes, give the experienced photographer full control over exposure. The aperture control is smoothly adjustable rather than simply flipping between two settings; full auto and scene modes are also provided for quick point-and-shoot operation.

The P5100 is compatible with a range of accessories, including wide angle and telephoto lens converters, and a built-in hot-shoe adapter. Although very compact, it's a little chunkier than most and while the rubberised handgrip feels great while shooting, it would be uncomfortable in a small pocket.

The camera also doesn't have the most intuitive menu system. A conventional mode dial sits on the top of the camera, accompanied by a horizontally-mounted rotary thumb selector. There's also a four-way cursor pad and sometimes it's not obvious which control you should be using to navigate a menu.

For a point-and-shoot camera, focusing can be frustratingly slow in low light. Leaving you with a point-and-wait experience that cam results in missed shots.

However, we found the P5100's image quality to be among the best we've seen from any compact 12-megapixel camera. There was a small amount of chromatic aberration apparent but noise levels were impressively low and the stabilisation system worked a treat enabling superb shots at ISO 64.