Nikon P5100 (2 Viewers)

[Rob Hutchinson]

Am sure this will have been asked already so apologies in advance for being to lazy to trawl through all the recent messages for an answer...

I am using the 5100 entirely in A mode but I can't find a way to get a shutter speed of less then 1/2 second in low light conditions, I do a lot of digiscoping in very dark rainforests where a shutter speed to 1 sec or sometimes slower is really necessary. Any advice?

 

[rockfowl]

Am sure this will have been asked already so apologies in advance for being to lazy to trawl through all the recent messages for an answer...

I am using the 5100 entirely in A mode but I can't find a way to get a shutter speed of less then 1/2 second in low light conditions, I do a lot of digiscoping in very dark rainforests where a shutter speed to 1 sec or sometimes slower is really necessary. Any advice?

Hi Rob,

I'm a bit confused as to why you can't drop below the 1/2 sec in A mode. Just pointing mine under the darkened table gives me a choice between 2 and 4secs at F2.7 100 iso?

Mark

 

[Rob Hutchinson]

Hi Rob,

I'm a bit confused as to why you can't drop below the 1/2 sec in A mode. Just pointing mine under the darkened table gives me a choice between 2 and 4secs at F2.7 100 iso?

Mark

Oh! Then there is probably something wrong with my camera setup because I can't get anything slower than 1/2 second in any mode. I will have another play around or perhaps even take a look in the manual |:S|

If anyone else has any suggestions on what might be wrong then please fire away!

 

[Neil]

As I've been playing around with the P6000 and the D90 recently I had forgotten about the P5100 and how good it's been for me over the last year. Here are some images from last year that I've reworked a bit through CS2. Neil.

Nikon P5100 plus Swarovski STS80HD scope and Sw 30,45 and zoom eyepieces and DCA adapter

Hong Kong,
China.

 

[Feathered one]

Neil
My opinion, (and I am sticking my head out a bit here) is that all of those photos are as good as any taken with any SLR, with any lens. Brilliant.

I am sure a lot of us would be interested in seeing one of those pictures, straight from the camera, and then a description and values of the enhancements in CS2.
Apologies if I have asked too much from you Neil.

Malc

 

[Andrew]

Stunning Kingfisher shot, I see them all the time on the local canal, often twelve metres or so away and have never even had as good a picture yet. Nice one.

 

[Jaff]

High time for an update on how I'm gettin on with mine, grrreat!!! That's pretty much it.

Not to be outdone in the Kingfisher stakes though I've included my best to date along with some others.

 

[falconer2406]

I would be interested in peoples opinions on these photos.
The red deer was at least 150 yards away, put scope onto 40x zoom, I think the camera has handled it well.
Spotted fly was about 30 yards away and looks pin sharp to me.
Kingfisher was about 30 yards away also .

Haw anyone tried the new P6000 yet - looks impressive

Considering the distances involved i think they are awesome shots. I see i have still so much to learn, and will start to post some photes when i feel i have something to show. Well done :t:

 

[glynnsmith]

While searching for a suitable camera for digiscoping I found this thread and read it from end to end....then bought a P5100 and read it all again, copying settings etc and pasting into Word. Brilliant help and advice. The camera is a little gem!

The weather has been grim... but a hedgehog passing through gave me a chance to get some hand held shots (and a vid complete with little train noises).

Today I finally tried the camera through my Olivon T80 at 20X...handheld. A weary little greenfinch obliged by taking a rest in a rose bush. Due to low light I tried the auto setting to grab something before it was too late. Camera on infinity. Very gusty.

This thread has been a great help. Thanks to everyone that contributed!

 

[jason stannage]

nice pics guys, love the fisher neil was tempted to buy a p6000 last week as a back up camera but will probably stick with the p5100.

swarovski scope 20-60zoom dca set at 20x
video mode http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xNVEtgpJ1ns

more photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/jstannage/

 

[jason stannage]

swarovski scope 20-60zoom coolpix p5100 swarovski dca.

 

[Jaff]

Where's the Shrike at?

EDIT If it's that Steppe Shrike near Spurn then never mind. I see now that it is so forget I ever posted anything.

 

[rivetgun55]

Has anyone had a chance to try a P5100 on a Bushnell Elite 80mm. I have an Elite on a rifle and find it hard to beat for the bucks. Hope the spotting scope faires as well. Thanks

 

[Feathered one]

I have just put up a slideshow on my Digiscoping website, most of the pictures where taken with the Nikon P5100.

http://www.digiscoping.lynandmalc.co.uk/slideshow/index.html

Malc

 

[Lawts]

I've attached the eagle-eye optic zoom to the P5100 - waiting for a chance to try it out as an alternative to digiscoping using the scope.

I'm hoping to use it on auto focus rather than single auto focus, where there's nothing between camera and bird. Where I think it might work is for birds in the air and also at sea or on a lake. Often with the scope by the time I've found the bird in the viewfinder and then focused it has dived or moved. I'm hoping on things like divers / grebes etc. this may be an option.

Thoughts?

 

[Cactusdave]

I took some quite decent grab shots with the Eagle-eye X5 back in the old Coolpix 950 days. Good light was the key, so it was useful on holiday. It will be interesting to see how it fares with a top notch modern compact.

 

[fleisher]

Neil,

Given your experience with both the P5100 and the P6000, I am curious as to which one you would recommend for purchase if I could buy the P5100 for half the price of a P6000?

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Neil]

Neil,

Given your experience with both the P5100 and the P6000, I am curious as to which one you would recommend for purchase if I could buy the P5100 for half the price of a P6000?

Thanks,
Rich

Rich,
Each Nikon upgrade has made improvements to image quality, although the feature set hasn't changed that much. In saying this the difference between the Jpegs from the P5100 and P6000 would be less that 10%, but it is nice to have RAW. The wider lens makes it a bit more difficult to match the P6000 with various eyepieces without a lot of vignetting ( I use it on a balance bar and slide it in and out as I zoom the lens ). With the adapter you can't eliminate vignetting in the Green Macro zone where I like to shoot. I change eyepieces if I need more magnification.
The P6000 is a great travel camera now with it's wider lens.
In saying all this it's hard to justify the extra money for the P6000 for a small increase in quality but you will see some improvement in your images over the P5100.
Neil.

 

[lewis20126]

Hi

Could I use a P5100 with a Kowa 823 (with 20-60WA)? Is there a suitable adaptor?

I like the image quality of the 823 and can't yet aford to upgrade to the new Kowa. The 20-60WA has a very small diameter eyepiece and is always a big issue ref vignetting.

If not after professional shots just some good snaps of distant birds on an upcoming trip. May hand hold the camera if necessary!

cheers
alan

 

[RJM]

Rich,

Save yourself from Nikon digicam "hell" and get the Nikon D40 lens kit selling for just US$410 on Amazon.com now.

cheers,
Rick