Nikon Coolpix P5000 Anyone?

[Ryan]

I'm interested in what you're saying about shutter lag times, since it's the one thing that has me hesitant to purchase the P5000 (I want to believe you!). I was looking at timing tests between the Nikon and the G7 ...

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikonp5000/page4.asp

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong7/page5.asp

... and they seem to disagree with your observations. OK, it's not an SLR, and there's going to be some delay, but some sites just slam Nikon for this issue on the P5000 and others say, not that big a deal. In your work, you must have had your hands on enough different units, and you're really OK with the Nikon??

I'm aware of the DPReview timings, and in real world underwater situations haven't found them to be accurate... 10 dives now. I dived the G7 4 times in Bonaire, and while I was happy with it, I didn't find the focus to be accurate enough for my taste. If P5000 is slower in the situations I shoot in it isn't perceptibly so, and I find it to be quite accurate.

I also have a lot of experience with much slower cameras, so prefocusing then waiting for a fish to do something cute is quite natural for me. Shutter response from half press is instant.

VR is a great feature for UW use.

Not sure I agree with that, though. I drink a lot of coffee and I can hand hold this guy at really slow shutter speeds... Not that VR is a bad thing, I just don't think it is very effective in this camera, even topside.

 

[chuckm]

Is the P5000 built-in flash useable at all with the ikelite housing. I know many cameras have marginally useful internal flash with a diffuser built into the housing. I see no such diffuser on the ikelite housing and from pictures it looks like the flash may infact be behind the lens barrel. Can't afford strobe just yet and I am considering the P5000.
thanks in advance.
Chuck

 

[Working on Plan B]

You know, of course, the p5100 is now available. The same ikelite housing works for it as well. Biggest difference (my opinion, in an underwater environment) is an increase to 12.1 Mpixels (lots of cropping potential here), continuous flash for 3 frames, potentially some speed improvements due to EXPEED image processing (so they say). I can't compare the p5100 to the earlier p5000 since I only have the new one. Still no RAW capability, but if you want that in a P&S, you should consider the Cannon G9...but these seem to be having early run Q.C. issues that haven't quite been sorted out yet.

Looking at the flash, and the ikelite housing, I also have concerns. If anyone tries this, I would like to know how it worked out.

 

[DivnSapper]

I'm also very curious on how the new P5100 is working out... and likewise considering it with the Fantasea housing. Anyone has some U/W photos yet?

How about the strobe side... the Fantasea housing doesn't allow use of the hot shoe but is that really a major impact?

Ryan

 

[chuckm]

I just returned from a week in Palau and used my newly acquired P5100 with FantaSea FP5000 housing. Still learning the camera but I managed to capture some decent pics. I think previous complaints about long focus and shutter time are exagerated. I found response to be much quicker than my Olympus C5050.

I used the internal flash successfully for some shots but noted a shadow from the lens barrel on others. I haven't quite yet figured out whether that was related to zoom position and/or distance to subject. I'm going to play a bit in the pool to check that out. I would have to say that judging from my experience with this setup and looking at pictures of the Ikelite housing, the internal flash is almost certainly completely unuseable with the Ikelite housing.

I also used the FantaSea WA lens and was quite happy with that. I was able to do some fun pictures combining near/far subjects. Overall I feel a lot of bang for the buck with the FantaSea gear.

No experience yet with external strobe. You can do a lot with internal flash if you recognize the limitations.

 

[DivnSapper]

Very nice, picture looks quite good! I'm feeling tempted to spring for the same but really think I'm going to add a strobe as well.

I've really been disappointed with my Canon A620... maybe it's the strobe but I've reached the point where I'm convinced that there is no hope on the white balance / graininess problems I've had with mine... probably operator error but I've tried out a lot of different settings and I'm still getting poor results.

If nothing else this gives me an excuse to upgrade a bit.

Thanks for the pics!

Ryan

 

[CFordtran]

ScubaSteve, What did you decide on? I am in the same boat. I love my Nikon, but I haven't taken the plung on the Housings and Lights. Your advice is greatly appreciated. Cfordtran

 

[jugglematt]

Hello All

im also using the p5000 ike setup .using 2x inon strobes 1 sync fired , 3 inon stacked macro lenses and a inon uwl 100 with dome attachment .

click on this link to see some of my shots

Flickr: Photos from cliffbutt100

now that i have the hang of this set up im quite happy with it .

i think both the p5000 and the g9 with the correct seup have the ability to get y pleaseing images .

comments welcome
Matt

 

[chuckm]

Matt, I love your work - I'm a big fan of nudibranchs. With closeups like that the focus and distance is so critical - well done!! What f-stop are you typically using for those? I'm attaching one of my nudibranch shots taken with internal flash only - a strobe with focus light is on my Christmas list. Mine pales in comparison but I'm encouraged to see what can be done. Lots of potential in this setup.
Chuck

 

[jugglematt]

Matt, I love your work - I'm a big fan of nudibranchs. With closeups like that the focus and distance is so critical - well done!! What f-stop are you typically using for those? I'm attaching one of my nudibranch shots taken with internal flash only - a strobe with focus light is on my Christmas list. Mine pales in comparison but I'm encouraged to see what can be done. Lots of potential in this setup.
Chuck

Hi Chuck
when shooting nudibranchs i use maximum fstop eg f 7.6 .i use 1/1000 sec shutter speed also . most of the close up shots were taken with 2x inon close up lenses stacked . the nudi head shots are taken with3x stacked . also the more lenses the more i zoom in ....i lense 1/3 zoom ,2lense 2/3 zoom 3 lense 3/3 zoom . i position the subject in the frame and dont even pre focus untill the subject is clear/sharp then i prefocus and shoot . the dof with the 2 &3 lenses is so narrow so i shoot many photos. also selecting the spot focus point in the menu helps a lot .so if your into shooting nudies at least 2 inon ucl-165.m67 are a must as well as a strobe .

regards
matt