Reviews for Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

1.5" LCD - 2592 x 1944 Image - 320 x 240 Video - MPN: 25513

  • 5
  By member: biantim - May 6, 2005

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: wide-angle coverage, great image quality, Video capture with room in and out, low comparative price ,15 modes of shooting

Weakness: a bit heavy, CF card is slow in response, no automatic cover

I've used quite a few different digital cameras and this one can be called a mid-professional one.
5M is the trend for today's digital camera and 4X room is necessary. With small LCD, its battery can sustain longer time, so in my opinion, its 1.5 inch LCD is an advantage! CF card responds slower than XD or SD, yet it is the cheapest storage. I totally bought 1G CF card, which means 800 pics! Its 15 modes can help you shoot at any time in any condition. I also love its video capture feature as sometimes I prefer video to pics.

But you have to buy a case for it. Common cases can't fit for it.

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  • 3
  By member: geocam - Nov 27, 2006

coolpix nikon 5400

Strengths: size, features, many useful capabilities, 15 scenes

Weakness: slow to cycle up, no blur motion corection feature, poor reliability CCD failed after 8 months

This was a very nice camera. I really liked all the advanced features and after 6 months still enjoyed learning all the pleaseant new features this camera offered.

I was taking some very nice photographs and was limited by the inability to focus correctly in the low light situations that this camera did not excel in. This could be worked around by using other features and a monopod to capture more light.

I guess I liked this camera until the CCD failed, Now after 8 months all it does is take pictures of varying dark shades of black. All the other functions still work mind you, the screen does too but all it can take are shoots of darkness.

if it had lasted more than 2500 shoots , say 5 years I may have been happier. Oh yea there is no recall on the ccd for the 5400 as per nikons own service department.

oh well , the good die young and this one sure did that. tooooo bad I probably will look for a more reliable replacement

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Reply by member: geocam
Jan 22, 2007

Hi sent the camera to Nikon USA, they have repaired it free of charge cause it was under the 1 year warranty still. thank you Nikon for that ....

I am now waiting to get it back and hopefully it will work for a few more years

I really think that a five year or 250,000 picture warranty for all digital cameras should be mandated as mandatory as minimum for reliability just like the car manufactures offer , right hahahaha

  • 1
  By member: lenprovost - Jan 12, 2007

Coolpix 5400 FAILURE

Strengths: Great while it worked.

Weakness: The CCD failed as in their 5700 model which was recalled and repaired at no charge.The CCD went "black". Pictures can no longer b taken; though you can print black squares and waste consumables.

DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA. I had a similar problem with a Canon Powershot 400 that I bought in Washington DC in 2003. They repaired the camera at no charge; evn paid freight both ways.

Nikon is not supporting product that was shipped with a manufacturing defect in my opinion and that of many others on the web. Search with the string: black coolpix 5400 ccd if you want to see a few more vistims feelings regarding the failure

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  • 4
  By member: Snakedance - Jan 10, 2005

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: Includes everything this Novice needs to produce and display quality (5 MP) pictures, straight from the box. Remarkable simplicity and flexibility at an irresistible ($248 total, delivered) price

Weakness: I find no clear weaknesses, although, I've not figured out how to trigger manually a succession of shots quickly, yet one of the semi-manual, "Continuous" settings seems to accomplish this.

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").
~
First, a confession and a partial disclaimer:
~
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;
~
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.
~
This fledgling was able to produce marvelous pictures
under assorted conditions without bothering to open the manual at first.
~
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.
~
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.
~

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  • 5
  By member: pandatoledo - May 25, 2004

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: This is a 5MP digital camera with 4 digital zoom. Many preset macros to use. It also has optional remote control you can get from ebay for about $70.

Weakness: Little buzz sound when I use LCD in photo mode. I'm not sure if i'm the only one who has this minor problem.

Like this light weighted camera, and plan to take it with me in summer vacation.

It has many preset configurations in scence mode, that lets you take landscape, close-shot, book-copy, etc (like 20 options) without configure the shutter speed and aperture yourself. For a novice like me, this is a wonderful feature.

When I want to copy some documents, point and shoot in book-copy mode, then I can review them using the LCD back home using the total 16 x zoom, you can read each single word explicitly.

The drawback of this camera is the menu for different modes, there are so many options you can change. For pros, this could be helpful if they wants to control all the photo factors. It's a trade off for this high-end (in my opinion) camera.

To the end, you need to "crack" the user's manual before finnaly use it. I read it twice before start shooting.

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  • 4
  By member: maynardflower - Mar 29, 2005

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: Excellent picture quality. You can choose to use its point and shoot function or you can also get your more professional pictures by playing and tweaking it

Weakness: a little heavy, i can't carry it for a long time

This is a 5MP digital camera with 4 digital zoom. Picture comes out in very good resolution.Because of this, my younger sister even decided to buy a 4MP one for she is so afraid of been captured of her pimples on the face:-)

This is a go-between product, i mean between a consumer and professional camera, good for those who want to upgrade their interests.

Besides all the goods this camera has, i found one problem with it, not sure whether it is only mine that has the trouble,that is the Focus. The camera has no auto-focus assist lamp, so sometimes it comes out with a poor performance in focusing in indoor light situations. If not this defect, i would say, this product is a wonderful one.

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  • 4
  By member: philcrocetti - Jul 3, 2004

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: Image quality, manual controls, battery life, accessories

Weakness: None

I purchased this camera for Real Estate work. The panorama assist mode made it easy to do virtual tours of homes to post to the web. I no longer work in Real Estate, but this camera is great for family events too. Image quality is fantastic. If you want to get creative, take the camera out of automatic mode and adjust the controls to your liking. This camera has a lens with a wider angle than most right out of the box. Nikon provides screw threads if you want to add additional lenses or filters. This is a top-of-the-line consumer camera.

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  • 4
  By member: tshi - Jan 7, 2005

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: 5M pixels & 4x optical zoom provide a good enough image quality for most customers. Cool appearance. Nice night photo mode. Battery good for around 100 minutes operation with LCD opening.

Weakness: A little bit heavy. Some keys are too small for operation. Small LCD 1.5". Lens cap is not automatic.

This is nice median level digital camera that may meet the requirements for most people. Easy to operate and connect with computer. Separate recharger for the battery included. Currently, there is a nice rebate of $200 from the manufacturer. Together there may be some printers after rebate. So it is a good deal if handling properly. Hurry up and get one!

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  • 5
  By member: ceelo421 - Oct 23, 2003

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: Simple to use. About the size of a regular 35mm camera. Quality of the shots are wonderful! Extremely clear. Swiveling LCD screen allows for more shot mobility.

Weakness: None so far.

The Nikon Coolpix 5400 is great for me, an ametuer photographer. Its simple to use! Everything on it is straightforward and user friendly. The 5400 is just right for those who want a lot out of a camera, but don't know much about them. If you want to get complicated, hop up to the 5700. Other reviews I've read say that this camera sucks in taking low-light shots. I disagree. This camera automatically slows down the shutter speed to absorb as much light as possible - so if you want a focused shot, you should have a tripod hand to steady your hand. A shaky hand and slow shutter speed are what make blurry shots at night. Also, the swiveling LCD screen is great for taking shots in wierd positions, and also taking self portraits you don't have to guess whether or not you're centered in the shot! The LCD will face you, and show you were you're at in the shot. The software is great also. It has your basic photo editing stuff. Good stuff! Too bad they only give you a 16MB CompactFlash Memory Card to start with - in the 5MP mode, it really cuts how many shots you can take! But overall, its a wonderful camera! But here's some advice - get a computer that can handle all of the shots!

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  • 5
  By member: gpapajohn45 - Apr 14, 2004

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: One of the strong points of this camera is definitely the ease of use. If you can point, you can shoot.

Weakness: The only weakness I can find is the users' manual. You have to flip back and forth to get all information about certain topics.

This is a product I would recommend to anyone looking for a
very good, reliable camera that is as easy to use a camera
from the grocery store, yet with many functions you can use as you progress in your picture taking techniques. It can range from the the beginner to the expert and everywhere in
between.

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  • 5
  By member: joerevolver - Aug 1, 2003

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: picture quality,construction,light weight, many easy to use features for more advanced users

Weakness: wish it had a bigger LCD,also would like it to be a little bit bigger,would help handeling.

This camera is all that I hoped it would be. It has a very solid feel,great swiveling LCD,making it easy to take shots from odd angles without standing on your head to see the LCD. A true wide angle lens, not the semi-wide you get with most others. the picture quality made on a Kodak picture maker at Wal-Mart at 8x10 is simply OUTSTANDING! you also get a real neck strap,not a girly little wrist loop,sorry girls! All in all this is a winner, now if they can just get the price of the SLR's down I will be in heaven! Bottom line, if you want a 5 megapixel this one will not dissapoint. Buy it, NIKON did this one right.

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  • 4
  By member: nwu - Dec 17, 2004

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: - 5MP and 4x optical zoom. - good color response, average resolution for 5MP. - photos have very low noise. - allows a great deal of manual control. - macro mode better than most.

Weakness: - some lens distortion, especially at maximum zoom. - images occasionally appear soft around corners. - slow response interface, non-intuitive menus.

the coolpix 5400 is a solid camera from nikon with a very strong feature set. it will produce very good pics in point and shoot mode but still has full manual control if you want to be more creative with your shots. i've given this a 4-star rating because of two important factors for me: the lack of an AF assist light and the dead time at the end of write process. i would suggest that you consider the canon g5 and the sony dsc-v1 before committing to the nikon 5400.

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  • 5
  By member: mhenderson - Mar 17, 2004

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: One of the strengths is how easy it is to use and take pictures. Just set it to manual and shoot away.

Weakness: The biggest weakness I found is the zoom. If you are in the bleachers shooting a picture it does not zoom as close as you would like.

The CoolPix 5400 offers many features to please the beginner to the expert photographer. I set the camera on manual until I learn all the new features. One cool feature is the black and white exposure. I've contacted Nikon and they recommend if you want a better zoom, to purchase teh TCE 15ED 1.5 telephoto lents.

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  • 4
  By member: chenhao80224 - Dec 15, 2004

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: Image quality, ease of use. it will do all the job for you. Battery is longer than most of the other cameras.

Weakness: Need improve in the low light condition, otherwise no questions!

If you are looking a good, reliable, easy use, good picture quality camera. This is the one you should get. I have had several cameras and this is the best model so far for $500 range. It is a good choice if you are a beginner of photographer.

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Reply by member: alison_nowaydude
Jan 4, 2005

I couldn't understand your review because your English is like a 7 year old's!! I have a tip for you: Hooked on phonics!!!

  • 5
  By member: BrianT - Apr 8, 2004

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: Definitely-- ease of use. Set it in any number of different modes and it will do your job for you. Photos upload quickly to computer w/out need of the included software.

Weakness: I am used to a Nikon F so a larger size would make it seem a little less like a toy. But people like lightness and compactness.

OK, I have to admit I have owned my last digital camera for 8 years-- so any new camera was bound to be far superior. This Nikon is a quantum leap forward from the Casio QV-100 I was using-- and for less money. The picture quality is superb at any resolution; it even takes movie sequences and automatically records a voiceover while shooting. The one I purchased was reconditioned and $250 less than a new one; you would never know it. Original packaging, all included accessories, totally brand new camera with just a shorter warranty. Buy a card reader with it and save battery life on uploads.

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  • 4
  By member: akgupta - May 25, 2004

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: Small & light weight, crisp outdoor pictures, comes with a lot of point & shoot picture modes.

Weakness: No autofocus lamp, poor picture quality in low light conditions.

It is a very good 5 Megapixel camera to have. It gives better results than my Olympus camera when taking outdoor pictures. However, the quality of pictures taken indoors and in dim light leaves a lot to be desired. I believe this is due to lack of an autofocus lamp.

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  • 4
  By member: raise - Jan 5, 2005

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: large optical zoom and megpixels; easy to use; cheap memory supplies;

Weakness: not good to use under the low light condition (indoor/evening); bulky;

4 optical zoom is fantastic (compared with others in the market is 2~3 optical zoom). The color balance looks fine.

The camera is bulky. If you are looking for a cute digital camera, it is not the one for you. As to the photo quality, it is very good.

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  • 4
  By member: msh9999 - Mar 16, 2004

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Coolpix 5400 have very good picture quality and alot cool functions with time-lapse motion picture shooting function, voice memo, and accessory shoe for external speedlight.

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  • 4
  By member: ryanwu - Jan 12, 2005

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: Image quality, ease of use, and long battery life

Weakness: none

I got this camera for around $200, after $200 rebate. It is an excellent camera and I would recommend it. It comes with wide-angle zoom, which is pretty cool. It only comes with 128M CF, definitely not enough.

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  • 5
  By member: quantom007 - Jan 11, 2005

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: This camera is known for its high image quality. Its 5MP capacity provides plenty of image to look at. Also, the $200 manufacturer rebate reduces the cost of this camera significantly.

Weakness: This camera is known to be a bit slower and bulkier than its competitors (ie. Canon A95). However, this this means that "more" is packed into this camera to provide quality images

The Nikon Coolpix 5400 is an amazing camera for its current pricepoint of $299 after rebate. I believe that the camera fully deserves 5 stars because it can truly deliver some amazing pictures.

It provides the user with a multitude of user options so that the advanced user will be able to spend days or even weeks with this camera and never get bored. The camera also is easy for beginners to use because there are fifteen preset scene modes such as sports, cloudy, nightime, etc. to make it easier for the beginner. This camera is great for both the beginner and the professional.

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  • 4
  By member: hawkeyesun - Jan 11, 2005

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: 1. 4x optical zoom 2. Compact flash is cheaper than other memory 3. LCD is designed to be protected by folding. 4. Looks professional

Weakness: 1. bulky, 2. ugly in my view. 3. 16M CF card enclosed is small.

Overall it is an excellent camera and I would recommend it. At this time, the $200 rebate makes this camera an incredibly cheap for the functions and the package it provides.

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  • 4
  By member: liyingjian2000 - Dec 31, 2004

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: excellent quality, excellent battery life, wide angle lens

Weakness: Dim-light auto focus not good,no wireless remote

The macro shots I have taken have been nothing short of of
fantastic. Any flash photos you take, will require the
add on flash attachment, as the one incorparted within
the camera just does not cut it.

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  • 5
  By member: sanxxx - Dec 31, 2004

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: Quality of pictures if great. Scenes mode is very conveneient and takes away the burden of manually setting the camera for different light settings.

Weakness: May not be the best bet for a pro. Some of the photographs are not very sharp at the edges. For some it may be a little too big as compared to a lot of other small cameras.

This is my first 5 MP camera and I am very satisfied. Some of the features I love
- facility to attach an external flash,
- wide angle zoom (better than the Canon Powershot I had earlier).
- Scenes mode (A choice of 15 preset scene modes for different light, scenarios)
- The camera looks like a camera and not a toy.

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  • 4
  By member: liyantim - Jan 15, 2005

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: compact design, software features, scene mode, manual mode, good lens, good battery life

Weakness: bulkyness

This camera is loaded with very good software feature, and is useful for both beginners and amateur photographers. The scene mode is a very convenient feature. The price is also nice given the fact it has 5 mega pixles.

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  • 4
  By member: deshwasi - Jan 21, 2005

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: Features. Nikon optics.

Weakness: A bit slow.

This is a great consumer level camera that has high resolution and great optics from Nikon. It has lots of features and sufficient scope for experimenting. Pics come out great. Flash cards are cheap too. So buy a bigger size card to go with this. Overall its a great value buy (with the rebate).

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  • 5
  By member: catknows - Jan 4, 2005

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: (1) Macro mode is awesome (2) Battery life (3) Zoom 4x (better than most of the rest of the camera) (4) Complete package. (Rechargeable battery, charger, decent size memory card)

Weakness: Just a little bulky

Incredible macro mode. I took a picture an IC that is about the size of a penny and here it is. www.smelectronic.com/i...

Comes with 128M CF by Lexar, enough to take more than 100 large pictures. The battery charger is super fast.

I pick this model over the 4800 because of larger number of pixels and the manual focus that give more control on the objects.

Too many functions that I have not used.

At this time, the $200 rebate makes this camera an incredibly cheap for the functions and the package it provides.

Just great.

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  • 4
  By member: farzee2k - Jan 17, 2005

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: Nice grip, robust body. Very good outdoor results. Manual control. rotating LCD screen. $200 rebate from nikon.

Weakness: small LCD screen size. Average indoor results. Not very intuitive. Slow focus in low-light conditions.

Overall I'm satisfied with the performance of this camera for the price I paid for it. It has lots of features, but one has to read the manual thoroughly to be able to use them. If you are a beginner and looking for just point to shoot operation, then you should go for some other simple point-and-shoot camera. I've observed that in low-light conditions, the performance is not so good as it is slow to focus and makes a small buzzing sound. You will need to buy a fast operating CF card (at least 128MB)to be able to take pictures at 5MP.

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  • 4
  By member: geitac - Dec 19, 2007

Nikon Coolpix 5400 - still going strong after...

Strengths: wide angle lens, easy to use, 15 scene modes, Nikon customer support, Nikkor optics

Weakness: small lcd screen, ccd failure

great camera, great value for price. extremely easy to use with many options and features. Used as a daily work horse; still going strong after 20,000+ photos and expect to use it for another 20,000+ photos. This replaced a similar Nikon Coolpix that was dropped one too many times, which also was used as a daily work horse and was still taking good photos after 40,000+ photos, even though you could hear broken pieces rolling around inside.
The CCD did fail at close to 20,000 photos but Nikon repaired it promptly at no cost. The wide angle lens is extremely useful and very hard to find in this price point. Overall a great camera. Buy a Nikon, it is durable and takes great photos.

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  • 5
  By member: monkey2003 - May 1, 2005

Nikon Coolpix 5400 5.1 Megapixel Compact Camera

Strengths: solid design,high quality pictures

Weakness: Though the model is getting old, the price is good.

Compared with other brand 5MP digital cameras, the coolpix 5400 is superior in picture quality, body design, and manual controls. Comfortable feeling of hold and convenient control button positions. A $200 manufacturer rebate makes the price more attractive. Would be perfect if higher optical zoom capability is provided.

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  • 4.0
  letsgodigital.org - Mar 20, 2007

Nikon Coolpix 5400

Nikon has delivered an excellent camera, this Coolpix 5400. The images are fresh and colourful. There are lots of settings for those who want to creatively take pictures and at the same time Nikon has broadened the possibility of automatic settings.

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  • 4.0
  Macworld.com - Jan 1, 2004

Nikon Coolpix 5400

It's nice to see some camera manufacturers trying new things these days.

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  • 5.0
  Imaging Resource - Jul 12, 2003

Nikon Coolpix 5400

Nikon's new 5 megapixel/4x zoom Coolpix 5400 manages to deliver every feature an "enthusiast" could ask for, yet at the same time remains approachable for rank beginners, thanks to a very simple full auto mode and an rich assortment of scene modes. Overall, a very worthy contender in the 5 megapixel end of the market.

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