Winning
on points. Not the maximum image, just the maximum number of
Really Good Images under the widest range of image challenges.
And the winner is...
For meritorious
service in the greatest range of shooting situations, the camera
that edged ahead of the others was the Nikon Coolpix 5400. Its
compact size, wide zoom, special features and extensive controls
made it the winner, closely followed by the Sony DSC-F717, Sony
DSC-V1 and Nikon Coolpix 5700 in that order.
Here's
a 5400 Victory lap:
_
_
Interiors,
low light captures with BSS, wide subject capture, flip out monitor,
long battery life, good physical grip and full-daylight external
monitor all contributed to the success of using the 5400. With
a sharper tele zoom it would have been farther out front of the
others, but it has no reason to crow, it just won on points.
Image quality
top honors went to the Sony cameras.
The
Sony DSC-F717 might have walked off with the prize if it had
been outfitted with a 28 mm wide zoom or BSS. Its exposures
were less dead-on compared to the Nikon models, but its extra
dynamic range allowed even slightly over-exposed images to be
brought back to fully normal looking.
Everything
on the camera is purposeful. The long barrel puts you in touch
with zoom and focus controls easily. One wishes that the external
monitor was more useful in bright sun.
The Sony
DSC-V1 isn't as fast or long as its older sibling, but the pictures
are just as long in dynamics and sharpness. A swivel monitor
may sound like an embellishment to those whose camera doesn't
have one, but this camera was edged out of second place due to
a lack of one. Many of the candids seen in this report were only
possible through use of the swivel monitor.
Like
the 717, the V1 needs something like Nikon's BSS. It can focus
in light that would give the Nikons fits, but it can't stabilize
the camera via luck, the way the BSS feature does.
The Nikon
Coolpix 5700 drops to fourth not because it lacks zoom range
or sharpness, but compared to the Sony cameras it doesn't quite
hang on to the image dynamics as well, doesn't manually focus
with ease or certainty, isn't as fast to power up, doesn't have
the photographer-friendly control ergonomics and, let's face
it, it's a lump. Sure, its smaller than the Sony 717, but at
least that camera lets you zoom and/or focus with options like
holding focus on a subject while zooming out to frame the shot.
It's
worth noting that any one of the cameras I traveled with would
bring back large numbers of really fine images. Depending on
how much low-light or long tele shooting you do, your own conclusions
might have been quite different from mine.
The single
greatest criterion for making this choice wasn't something that
was decided before shooting began, but it ends up being stated
something like this: When I reach for the camera, which one gives
me the most frequent confidence that I'm going to get the shot?
In fact, all of them usually gave me 
what
I was looking for, but the 5400 gave it to me most often.
Next time,
new cameras will be on the trip. Sony's 8-megapixel DSC-F828
has the wide zoom position I crave plus manual zoom and focus.
Like the current models, it allows capture at about 80% scale--a
proven memory card saving feature. And its new chip design promises
still greater dynamic range.
Will a
camera from Nikon or another manufacturer beat it to the finish
line? Stay tuned.
Other pages
to visit:
Nikon
CP5700 Gallery.
Nikon
CP5400 Gallery.
Sony
DSC-F717 Gallery.
Sony
DSC-V1 Gallery.
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