MINOLTA DIMAGE A1 or NIKON COOLPIX 5700

hallo! Can you help me about to choice within these two cameras? Some
friends of mine did tell me that nikon 5700 have problems with low
light. Is it true?
Thank you in advance for your replay. Bye.

 

Hi,
I don't have a Nikon 5700 but last year when I researched what camera to buy I
narrowed it down to the D7hi and the 5700.
Here is why I bought the D7hi, the previous version of the A1:

I liked the 28mm wide angle.
I preferred the manual zoom of the Minolta
I prefered the 49mm threaded lens so that I could use off the shelf filters
without adapters.
There was something else buy I forgot.

In addition to the above, the A1 has the stabilization mechanizm that will let
you take low light pictures without a tripod.

The 5700 is an excellent camera and you will not go wrong getting it. It is
just that I personally would prefer the Minolta.
Rosita

 

I believe the real question is do you really need the longer focal length
of the 5700 and/or the available added converter lenses.
________________________________________________________
Ed Ruf Lifetime AMA# 344007 ()
http://members.cox.net/egruf
See images taken with my CP-990 and 5700 at
http://members.cox.net/egruf-digicam

 

I have the 5700 and love it BUT it does not (atleast in my opinion - and it
is my 7th digital camera) focus well in low light. It will EVENTUALLY get it
right, but generally takes awhile.
My friend just got the A-1 and he is very impressed with its focusing speed,
also the way it focuses in low light.

 

hallo! Can you help me about to choice within these two cameras? Some

I had to make the same decision as the CP 5700 and the A1 where the hot
favorites on my list. I had a detailled look at both cameras and went to a
local dealer, because actually the dealers like the Nikons more and I had
not so much information about the Coolpix.

I bought the A1 because:

- The A1 has more wide angle zoom
- A1 has manual zoom which is much much more convinient, exact and faster
than to it with buttons
- The A1 provides AntiShake, a real great feature
- A1 has more controls and the bigger feature set (like a professional SLR)
- A1 has the ability to use 49mm filters like a pol filter or a UV-0 for
lens safety
- Battery pack available, where you can use both, the original rechargable
battery or AA
- EVF moveable, EVF with eye recognition
- A1 has 11 point AF with single, continous, 3D predictive, FFP (flexible
focus point)

With one word: with the A1 you get much more cam for the money. All consumer
cams are using the CCD for focussing and that's not that effective than to
it like the SLR, especially in low light situations. But with the A1 it
definitely works fine.

 

Hi Rosita - could I ask you about your 7Hi?

I was thinking of the Sony 828 but the recently posted images don't look al
that great - not for a camera in that price bracket anyway.

The next obvious choice would be the A1 - but I've read a few reviews that
suggest that the A1 is mostly plastic and 'lightweight' (feels cheap)

So, what about the 7Hi? - how much plastic is there on it? I know it might
sound picky, but it is important to me that the camera looks and feels like
a quality piece of equipment.

Finally, how would you rate the 7Hi's pictures against the A1?

Many thanks.

Marc

 

The next obvious choice would be the A1 - but I've read a few reviews that

Plastic? Feels cheap? The A1 has a metal-alloy body and is very very solid
and robust. My friend's A1 felt down from 1m height to the street and
nothing happened but some tiny scratches in the metal body. The A1 is quite
solid and has a impassible surface.

That the A1 is lighter than f.e. the Sony F828 is an advantage, as it
doesn't make your backbone a question mark on a trip. But if you like it
more massive, you can buy the additional battery pack and use it with two
LiIon batteries or 6 rechargable AA, this will increase both your standby
time and the weight.

The 7Hi was an even great camera already, but the A1 is the consequent
sequel, with a lot of improvements. I wouldn't consider the predecessor.

 

Hi,

If you would like to chat with me directly, e-mail me at this ID.

I like the 7hi. It weighs about 24 oz with batteries and the rubberized grip if
very comfortable for me. To tell you the truth I don't know if it is plastic,
magnezium or metal under the black skin but after using it for over a year it
does not have any rattles, creak or loose parts. Can't compare pictures with A1
but if you would like to se a few from the 7hi (and others) check out
http://www.fototime.com/ftweb/bin/ft.dll/guestlogin

and enter my e-mail address of hrosita at aol.com.

 

Fabio,

I do not have the 5700, though I can tell you the A1 is a very
flexible and feature rich camera. I did not look at the Nikon
specifically due to low light problems discussed on the net, and the
fact that my experiences with predecessors (CP900, CP990) were very
menu intensive. Also the shutter lag on these coupled with low light
problems just would not allow me to take the shots I needed.

I bought the A1 after reading all the reviews, and then seeing the
pictures on www.steves-digicams.com, of the concert. These are low
light pictures of a concert and the clarity, colors, and relatively
low noise was impressive.

I have since used my A1 in similar lighting (Middleschool concerts),
and have been very impressed with what this camera can do at 100 to
800 ISOs. IMHO, noise is not an issue, as even the noisiest images
when brought into photoshop elements and despeckled (reduce noise)
come out great.

That and the numerous bracketing options (exposure, filter, color,
contrast), direct manual focus for fine tuning auto focus, and the
zoom options for manual focus, make this a very flexible and usable
camera (control are extremely well layed out and accessible)...thoug I
wish that Exp Compensation buttom was just a little closer to my thumb
(lol).

The batter life is huge. I never get to use the second NP-400 in my
bag.

Regards,

db

 

Agreed! I love this camera too. I don't know how I used the
electronic zoom buttons on my previous cameras (thought the Oly
2100-UZ was pretty good).

Don't forget those customer memory recall settings. They are real
easy to set and use and saves me lots of time going from/to indoors,
outdoors, portrait, and action shots.

Only thing I wish the A1 did not do is downsize the digital zoom to
1280x960 images. Though they look pretty good, they are not as useful
when post-processing on the computer.

db