In this post, I link up to professional and user reviews, impressions and feedback on the Nikon P5000. You might like to download the P5000 user manuals prior to reading the reviews.
User reviews
Lars’ P5000 Review
P5000 user review samples by Lars
In this P5000 review thread, Lars indicated that he was very satisfied with the ergonomics of the P5000, but less than impressed with the image quality (links to full-sized images are embedded in the forum post).
In my opinion, however, the high ISO images he shared are some of the best seen coming from compact digital cameras, with no visible signs of smearing from noise reduction — here’s the link to his ISO706 and ISO1467 images — the non-standard ISO values is a result of the automatic ISO functionality on the P5000 which boosts the sensor sensitivity in order to maintain reasonably fast shutter speeds. Peter adds that the high ISO images are way better than from his Canon G7 and Fuji Finepix F30.
Peter Bendheim’s P5000 Review
He really likes the SLR-like user interface on the P5000. He concludes that there is not much difference in image quality between the G7 and P5000, and went on to post a more extensive P5000 conclusion, saying that for ultimate control and features, the high-end G7 cannot be beat, while the P5000 makes for a “nice travel camera that is compact and light and gives you reasonable manual control”. He also adds that not having manual focus and live histograms are minor irritations, but the Black and White mode on the P5000 is quite good.
GlenGrant’s P5000 Review
GlenGrant (of Glenegrant.com) is full of praise for the P5000’s hand grip and thumb rest, likening it to his Nikon D2H, D200, D2Xs professional cameras. He also provides a link to a full-sized, unretouched image of his cat.
Miscellaneous impressions and feedback
Ricoche finds the P5000 to resemble a mini D200 DSLR camera in terms of its handling and menu systems.
Professional reviews
Digitalcamerainfo.com has a very nice writeup on their first impressions of the Coolpix P5000.