Nikon Coolpix 5000 vs D100 and D60

I am looking and trying to decide between these three cameras. The Photo shop said I should consider the 5000 as I probably would not notice a large difference.

My question is what do you think? Certainly the price difference between them is substantial. Is the price difference worth getting the D100 or D60?

My wife certainly would vote for the 5000.

Please give me a hand with this decision.

ps I have not shot SLR

Either way, you'll need a strobe(s), so we'll leave that out of the comparison. Same goes for a sync cord(s), strobe arm(s), Flash cards, etc:

Coolpix 5000 - 5 megapixels: $850

CP5000 housing: $900

CP5000 WA Lens: $175

CP5000 WA dome port: $175

Total: $2,100

That is about the price ($2,100) of the D60 or D100 body alone.

HTH

James Wiseman

I agree, we don't need to add in strobes etc.

Is there a substantial difference in the quality?

I believe you are saying for the price difference stay with the 5000?

No, I'm not saying that at all. If I could justify the cost of buying a DSLR or write it off for work, I'd do it in a minute.

I can't compare the two, since I don't own both. It's really a personal choice. If you "can afford it" then go for a DSLR. I'm not sure it's worth it for a camera that will be superseded by a much better one in a year... Alas, that is the love/hate aspect of digital photography.

Cheers

James Wiseman

I use an Oly C-4040z so maybe I can be objective about the cameras you mention. (Insert gratuitous dig about how much James Wiseman likes his Coolpix here (kidding, kidding!)). Since the D-60 just hit the streets about a week ago and the D100 hasn't hit the streets at all yet, not many of the folks here can give you much feedback on the quality differences. Eric Cheng is in Hawaii right now trying out his new D-60 and loves it (see his trip reports linked from this forum). James Watt, an U/W pro was with Eric for the first part of that trip and subsequentlt posted a note to the UW-Photo listserv claiming that film might be dead. Anyway, read through the reviews at Steve's Digicams and dpReview and I think you'll find that the quality of the D-60 is better than that of the 5000. But the question is how much better and at what cost? What do you plan to use the pictures for? Do you plan to use the camera topside more than underwater? Do you already own lenses? Right now you're looking at $2000 for the D-SLR body, around $1000 for a wide-enough lens to give you good scenics with the focal length multiplier (a 14mm becomes a 21mm on the D-60 and D100 -- the good news is that a 50mm macro lens ($400-500) becomes a 75mm). Then you've got another $3000-5000 to invest in a housing and ports. The housing price is a bit squishy since only one company that I know of makes a housing for the D-60 and it isn't cheap. That being said, if Ike doesn't already have one in the works, I'm sure he could make you one for less. I may eventually get a D-60 (or whatever is available once I save up that much money) because I already have a Canon system and can use my current lenses for above-water photography. It will be a long time for me before I can afford to house it, though.

HTH

Mike Oelrich

I was looking at the Kona post and saw the big smile on Jim's face.

It was Jim that got me going in the digital way. After him showing me what his D30 could do in January I knew I had to go this way.

I'll see what he has to say on the subject.

Hi again,

Of course there is a huge difference in quality. The coolpix is "consumer electronics" whereas the D100 is "serious amateur/professional."

With the DSLR, by definition, you can change lenses instead of being stuck with a 28-85mm zoom. I'm sure that the DSLR will also let you record files in RAW mode, as opposed to TIFF for the coolpix.

And lastly, and most importantly, no shutter lag w/ the DSLR.

You just have to decide for yourself if this is worth a few thousand dollars, and if it is, can you afford it?

HTH

James Wiseman

Ike already has a custom housing for the D30, I would imagine it would be awfully close to the same.

Only drawback that I saw of Ikes housing is that you won't be able to see the entire review screen due to the housing design. (I think Brett told me it was a modified MF housing, but not sure about that)

The advantages that jamesw metioned are important.

However, I think the biggest advantage of a DSLR is the bigger image sensor which

should give you much better dynamic range.

The dynamic range of the sensor should roughly be proportional to the

pixel area which means a DSLR should be about 3 bits better.

One way to look at what this can buy you is that

you can be 3 stops underexposed on a DSLR and end up with something comparable

to a perfectly exposed shot from a consumer camera.

The place to look for the differeces in quality between DSLR shots

and consumer camera shots are ones looking directly into the sun.

Maybe Eric can give us a demo by taking the same shot that includes the Sun in the

background with the D60 and a coolpix and post them.

Herb

[Edited on 4-10-2002 by herbko]

My personal opinion is that if money is no object then DSLR is the only way to go. But (back to the real world) if you are looking at this as a hobby and don't want to spend $5000+++ then the 5000 is a good choice. I really think that you will see a difference between the two in dynamic range. Another very important thing to consider is what the Foveon will be offering in the next year. What I would do.... 5000 now, upgrade in a year or two to a DSLR with Foveon technology.

Do you mean go with the CP5000 or spend $5000

Sorry. CP5000 now. Get used to it, see if you like it, when you're convinced you can't live without shooting u/w, sell it....then get ready to spend, spend, spend. Oh ya, and don't forget that your wife will really hate you then.

The new technology that will be coming out in the next year or two for DSLR will dwarf what is out now.

Hey, guys - well exposed and focused D60 shots have surpassed anything I've seen scanned from slides. Of course, that's because the slide information has been digitized, and isn't in its natural form... but it's still very impressive.

I've been diving with David Fleetham these past few days, and he is also almost 100% sure that he will be shooting D60 as well.

Jim's D60 should arrive today, so I'm sure we'll be seeing some extraordinary shots soon.

However, I haven't felt that I've been as versatile as I was with the Coolpix 990 setup, because it had that wonderful ability to shoot wide-angle and macro without changing lenses and ports.

Good luck with your decision!

Also (rstark) - you can always wait a year or two for technology that will dwarf what is out now. But you have to step in at some point. It seems like a good time now, because the 6MP output is actually enough to get stunning, large prints, so you won't be limited by resolution in your creativity. My 2 cents.

You're shooting manual strobes, right? Or does the UK-Germany housing give you TTL through the hotshoe somehow?

A lot of film pros have both big housed slrs and a nikonos, because the nikonos is small and quick.

I originally considered selling my tetra housing and oly 3040, to get a housed digital, but the more I think about it, the more I think I will keep the tetra (it's small and quick), sell my nikonos (it's also small and quick, but not nearly as much fun) and save up for a housed digital in a year or two.

computers and digital cameras get a bit better every year, but I think that affordable digital slrs are at a very special stage, and will get much much much better in the next year or two. In my opinion, now is only the time to buy the slr if you are a pro or fundamentally spend a lot on equipment every year.

I'd go with the coolpix 5000. I think there will always be a place in your arsenal, on land and underwater, for a somewhat small 5 megapixel camera. In my opinion - and don't give me too much credit, I'm no expert - in 2 years, the coolpix 5000 will be less obsolete than the D100 or D-60.

A smaller second camera later....That's an excellent point.

I was going to do that with my Motormarine set up right now. Just to keep a film camera. But, that makes a lot of sense for a couple of years from now with the 5000

I also agree with the opinion to get into it and comfortable now with the lower priced alternative and then upgrade when the technology settles out a bit. And, I have more money.

Great points I appreciate the input.

Are you sure Ikelite has actually made the D30 housing. I talked to them last week and they said "we are evaluating the possibility of a D30 housing" so I asked about a custom and the guy I talked to said they hadn't yet made one.

Bill

Talk to Brett. I have an olde email from him at work where he said they could make one. I am out of town til Monday, but I will look to see if I kept it when I return.

Bob

They said the same thing, that they could make one, but as far as the guy I talked to knew, they hadn't yet made one. A small but significant difference.

Bill

Yeah, I shoot manual. No one has done hotshoe ETTL, unfortunately. If you can pop up the flash, you can shoot slave TTL, but the UK Germany housing doesn't support that.

Maybe Ike will answer the D30 housing question definitively. I was told that they had made one in the past, and I've also seen photos of the housing with a D30 in it...