Nikon 5700 ??

Poor focusing in low light is a common complaint.


"slhawks" wrote in message
...
I am thinking of making a purchase and have been told of poor focusing
Is this correct ????
Many Thanks



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"slhawks" wrote in message
...
I am thinking of making a purchase and have been told of poor focusing
Is this correct ????
Many Thanks

I own the 5700 (have for a bit more than a month), and yes--in low-light
anyway, autofocusing is horrible. I have a Sony DSC-P50 point & shoot camera
which I just got--a $100 camera WITH a 64 meg stick--and honestly its
autofocusing is better. For a camera which just last year sold for
$1000--many still sell it for close to $600--for such a class of camera the
5700's autofocusing in low-light leaves much to be desired.

That said, one thing that helps a lot is to turn OFF manual selection of the
autofocus points. (The menu says either AUTO or MANUAL or OFF; turn it to
OFF). I did that, and that did help somewhat.

Many say the camera's abilities are so great that if you can workaround the
autofocusing in low-light that you will LOVE the camera. I agree. I toyed
for a bit with the idea of selling it and getting a Sony DSC-F717 (below),
but decided to stay with the 5700 and I don't regret it.

If it's that big of a deal--and I've seen the time where it was to me--then
instead consider the Sony DSC-F717. It has a laser beam which helps
tremendously with low-light autofocusing. It also has longer battery life,
another common (but less severe, to me anyway) 5700 complaint. On the other
hand, the zoom range of the Sony is less (35-190 vs 35-280 for the 5700), it
doesn't shoot it RAW (which is itself a blatant "serious camera" omission)
and it has less parameters (I believe noise reduction, saturation and
contrast are not adjustable as they are in the 5700--but I think sharpening
is).

Some I've seen do a wrig-up where they buy a flash bracket-type of thing and
attach an aftermarket laser-pointer as a "pseudo" DSC-F717 type of device
for their 5700.

LRH

"slhawks" wrote in message
...
I am thinking of making a purchase and have been told of poor focusing
Is this correct ????
Many Thanks

No problem under normal conditions. Under very low-light conditions, you
may need to choose a high-contrast edge to focus on. The newer 8700 has a
foxus assist light, which is reported to improve the situation.

I have had a 5700 for about a year and have been delighted with it. I
recently bought a Minolta A2 as an "upgrade", but the image quality is no
better and I sent the camera back.

Cheers,
David

Fine Camera
Had mine for 5 mounts and all good pictures.
The new 8700 two noisy for me.




"David J Taylor"
wrote in message ...
"slhawks" wrote in message
...
I am thinking of making a purchase and have been told of poor focusing
Is this correct ????
Many Thanks

No problem under normal conditions. Under very low-light conditions, you
may need to choose a high-contrast edge to focus on. The newer 8700 has a
foxus assist light, which is reported to improve the situation.

I have had a 5700 for about a year and have been delighted with it. I
recently bought a Minolta A2 as an "upgrade", but the image quality is no
better and I sent the camera back.

Cheers,
David

On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 01:12:31 GMT, "slhawks"
wrote:

I am thinking of making a purchase and have been told of poor focusing
Is this correct ????
Many Thanks


I also own a 5700 - the focusing is a bit slow and in low light very
poor. Nikon did not make it compatible with their Speedlight AF
assist either. And no TTL metering. Bad! So I use a much less
expensive Vivitar 730AFNi. BUT, I still love the camera. Very
sharp images and excellent colour - with enough menu choices to allow
the serious amateur a lot of creative options.

The battery does drain quickly but I find that NO problem. Third
party batteries from Sterlingtek.com are cheap and I find work just
fine - I keep a couple charged all the time.

Also look at third party accessories - many, surprisingly, are better
thought out than Nikon's. Check out Ching-Kuang Shene's excellent
Coolpix information site: http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/



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"slhawks" wrote in message
...
I am thinking of making a purchase and have been told of poor focusing
Is this correct ????
Many Thanks

Added to that, how does it perform overall and does the oddly-sited power
switch cause any problems? I too am thinking of getting one, having decided
the Canon S1 is too poorly contructed.

--
Yours

Zebedee

(Claiming asylum in an attempt
to escape paying his debts to
Dougal and Florence)

Thanks to all


"slhawks" wrote in message
...
I am thinking of making a purchase and have been told of poor focusing
Is this correct ????
Many Thanks



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Zebedee wrote:
"slhawks" wrote in message
...
I am thinking of making a purchase and have been told of poor
focusing Is this correct ????
Many Thanks

Added to that, how does it perform overall and does the oddly-sited
power switch cause any problems? I too am thinking of getting one,
having decided the Canon S1 is too poorly contructed.

Mine has seen a year of use, makes good photos when I prepare and point
it and shoot it right. Like nearly (?) all other-than-dSLRs, there is
lag to learn and compensate for. It is a proprietary-energy-cell user,
and a little hungry in that regard, but the add-on 6-AA and new release
and zoom button appliance seems to last forever on rechargeable NiMhs.

Only *serious* problem has been the fatal lens error when the switch
turned on while in the bag: I guess it strips a gear or something if it
can't deploy its lens without interference. You need to be careful with
add-on filters if you choose other-than-Nikon; theirs are deep set to
accommodate that.

It was a two-week turnaround to Nikon Torrance California to get it back
(with the hot pixel eliminated, nice touch). Like looking both ways
before stepping off the curb (kerb), I have learned to switch to
view-review before stowing the camera.

These are some albums of (mostly) CP5700 photos, many with the 1.5x
teleconvertor. In the second URL, one of the
Sun-through-SanDiego-wildfire smoke photos is with the standard lens
(35mm) the other with the wide-angle convertor (28mm). Hard to tell
which.

http://www.fototime.com/inv/6EAD9D36F0ADC7B
http://www.fototime.com/inv/A1ADDE202286826

If you are serious and driven to use a CP5??? camera for wide views, get
the CP5000 and its wide convertor which takes you to 19mm equivalent.
Very good. Nikon offers fisheyes for a 183-degree(?) view.


Those two cameras and a convertor each kit you up from 19-420mm. Without
the 6AA paks, they are light and compact. With them, they last a long,
long time. You pays you money and you makes you choice.


Frank ess

Another Question.

Can a third party flash (Dumb) be used on the shoe

Thanks Again



"slhawks" wrote in message
...
I am thinking of making a purchase and have been told of poor focusing
Is this correct ????
Many Thanks



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"slhawks" wrote in message
...
Another Question.

Can a third party flash (Dumb) be used on the shoe

Thanks Again

Some can, but you have to be careful about voltage issues. I think, say, the
Sunpak PZ5000AF or PZ4000AF could. Some have mentioned using (I think) a
Vivitar 730i.

But an old Vivitar 283 or Vivitar 285? That would be quite risky. Wein makes
a voltage thingie--can't remember what it's called--that suppressed the
voltage of such flashes to make it safe.

LRH