Summary: 2005-01-11 20:29:45 I like this camera.
I've given it a rating here of four stars
only because I have neither adequate experience
nor the proper perspective from which
to grant it five ("One of the Best").
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First, a confession and a partial disclaimer:
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I'm a novice photographer who's never held anything
(well, at least not any camera) any more sophisticated
than a fixed-focus, point-and-shoot, 35 mm film camera ever before;
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I'm an engineer taught long ago to build a design
which delivers both power and performance, coupled with
intuitive convenience to the user -- which is why
I'm one of those weird 5% of the crowd who will use
only that computer which neither provides nor requires
a manual to read, while letting the rest of us do things
our own way, intuitively, without feeling so crammed in a box,
while handing us elegant and powerful tools with the package
to harness our own creativity at will.
~
This Nikon 5400 camera seems to deliver precisely that to me:
power, performance, intuitive convenience, plus what seems
like a measure of extensibility.
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This fledgling was able to produce marvelous pictures
under assorted conditions without bothering to open the manual at first.
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It looks and feels and handles, to me, like a camera "should."
~
Its sturdy, fully adjustable, perfectly-protected-when-closed,
brightly illuminated LCD renders this camera as effective
(for me, the Novice) as an SLR (what I see is what I get)
when framing close-ups with the camera perched upon
a short stack of books I'm using in place of a tripod for now.
~
This camera appears to accept the attachment of filters
and other lenses, I think. It provides for attachment of
an alternate item of flash illumination.
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Nikon's 5400 box comprises in additon to the camera
a lens cap, a sturdy and comfortable neck strap,
a battery charger, a 16 MB Compact Flash apparently
good for 12 photos or so at its highest resolution,
plus cables for connecting to my Macintosh or to television.
~
I've not gotten around to installing or evaluating
the software on the CD provided for transferring stored
images to one's computer, since my Macintosh did
what Macintosh's do: it recognized the camera instantly
when I connected its USB cable to my computer, and
the standard Macintosh software sprang to life
and displayed the photos for any further examination.
~
It's battery endured "only" 8 hours of my fiddling around,
and then recharged itself in an hour and a half
in the charger included.
~