Retro Digital - The Nikon Coolpix 5000

The E995 - 3.2 MP system camera
Hiyotada, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Back at the turn of the millenium, Nikon wowed us with the Coolpix 950  (E950) - a nearly 2 megapixel digital camera with an unmistakable twist - the body swiveled to provide the user with a more stable handling, while the lens section was pointed at the subject.  That was not the first appearance, though. The swiveling body was introduced a year earlier (1998) in the Coolpix 900, a 1.2 MP camera.  To be fair— at the time, such a revolutionary design was quite a departure from the digicams that had been appearing on the market.  Anyone that was a serious photographer scoffed at the 1.2 MP toy that Nikon had introduced.  Well, a year later, the 950 appeared with improved features and because it was a NIKON, it should be taken seriously.  Then in 2000, the Coolpix 990 (E990) appeared with a 3.2 MP sensor, more improvements, as well as a suite of attachments and accessory lenses.  Nikon sought to capture the advanced photographer that wanted a decent digital camera, and the only other option at the time was the D1, a monster of a camera that was weighty, slow, and too expensive for most of us.  The Coolpix addressed a different audience, and the Coolpix 990 camera became quite popular. With a price of about $900, it offered a slew of features that a lot of the competition just didn’t have.  Not to be outdone by competitors, Nikon released the Coolpix 995 (E995) in 2001, and while still with a 3.2 MP sensor, it incorporated a number of improvements, including the use of an EN-EL-1 rechargeable battery.  Part of the attraction of the Coolpix 9XX series was the 28mm filter ring on the lens, which allowed the continued use of attachments that were not obsoleted by a newer model.  Nikon’s use of accessory lenses, filters, and flash attachments was far better than other manufacturers at the time, and the Coolpix 995 was considered to be a serious digital camera. At about $900, it was significantly cheaper than the Nikon D1, which sold for $5500.  It was not until 2002 that the 6 MP D100 DLSR was introduced, with a price tag about double the Coolpix 995.  

I used a Coolpix 990 and 995 quite a bit in 2002-2007 in my work at the Museum of Zoology at the University of Michigan.  The camera was really good for a lot of close-up photography  and with the ES-28 Slide and film copying adapter, I used it extensively for quickly digitizing hundreds of 35mm slides. The ability to use an external flash was a tremendous advantage, as it allowed me to use my Nikon Speedlights  for better flash photography than you would get with the pop-up flash on the E995 body.   In short, the Coolpix 900-series ecosystem offered a serious user a lot of options via the accessory lenses and adapters.  I’ll discus those things a bit later.

Some examples from the E990 and E995:

My old darkroom with the wide-angle adapter

The E990 with off-camera flash

E995 with off-camera flash

E995 with off-camera flash

Over the past few years, I have come across a lot of the accessory lenses, such as the fisheye and teleconverter, as well as the ES-25 slide copier.  They have sat in a box, and one day I found an adapter that I had not seen before.  It was to use the 28mm accessories for the Coolpix 900 series on a Coolpix 5000.  What? What was the Coolpix 5000?  After some research, I found that the Coolpix 5000 had some similar features of the 995,  but it was a rigid body with a 5 MP sensor.  Hmmm.  I really didn’t want to find a used E995 with only 3.2 MP, I wanted the E5000 with 5 MP!  A quick search on eBay brought numerous E5000 cameras, but one offering looked great - and for $14 + shipping I got a like-new E5000 in the original box with all the chargers, connectors, manuals, and CD that it came with.  

About the Coolpix 5000 camera

The Coolpix 5000 was introduced in November 2001 at the price of $1099.00. It retained use of all the 28mm accessories with a UR-E5 adapter, which is a big deal for those who had invested heavily in the E900 series accessories.  The body of the camera is Magnesium alloy, giving it a very durable and comfortable feel.  The rear LCD screen - which is minuscule by today’s standards - and very similar to the rear LCD on the E995 - pops out away from the body and can be rotated in various directions.  You can use the optical viewfinder in lieu of the LCD, and save battery power, as well as for ease of use. The lens has the focal length equal to a 28-85mm zoom on a full-frame camera, with maximum apertures from f/2.8 - 4.8.  

Camera specs:

• Sensor- 2/3” (5.24 megapixel total)

• Image sizes-  2560 x 1920, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480

• Image formats-  TIFF, JPEG, MOV (movie clips)

• Aspect ratio- 4:3 / 3:2 (2560 x 1700)

• Lens- Nikkor 3x optical zoom, 28 - 85 mm (as 35mm equiv.)

• Lens max. aperture- F2.8 - F4.8

• Digital Zoom-  x1.2 - x4.0 in x0.2 steps

• Auto Focus-  Contrast Detect,  5-Area Multi AF or Spot AF selectable

• Focus modes-  Continuous AF, Single AF, Manual

• Focus range- Normal: 50 cm - Infinity, Macro: 2 cm - Infinity 

• Metering - 256-segment Matrix. -center weighted average, spot, spot AF area

• Shutter speeds - Bulb (max 5 mins), 8 sec - 1/4,000 sec

• Apertures- Wide: F2.8, F3.1, F3.5, F4.0, F4.4, F5.0, F5.6, F6.3, F7.1, F8.0

• Tele: F4.8, F5.4, F6.0, F6.8, F7.6

• Exposure control-  Program Auto (with flexible program), Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Manual

• Exposure compensation- +/-2 EV in 0.3 EV steps

• Auto exposure bracket -  3 or 5 frames within +/-2.0 EV

• Sensitivity-  Auto, ISO 100-800

• White balance- Matrix Auto White Balance, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy, Flash, Preset, White bal. bracket

• Viewfinder- Optical type (with diopter adjustment)

• LCD monitor- 1.8" 110,000 pixel TFT, Flip-out and twist type

• Storage- Compact Flash Type I or II

• Shooting modes-  Auto, CSM #1 - #3 (three custom mode memories)

• Capture modes- Single, Continuous H (3 fps, max 3 images), Continuous L (1.5 fps, max 10 frames), High-speed Continuous (SXGA, XGA, VGA; 3 fps), Ultra High-speed Continuous (QVGA; 30 fps, max 100 images), Multi-shot 16 (3 fps, 16 frames on one image), Movie with audio (15 fps, max 60 seconds)

• Self-timer-  3 sec, 10 sec

• Flash- Guide no. 10, Sensor flash system, Auto, Cancel, Anytime, Slow-sync, Red-Eye reduction

• Accessory shoe-  ISO 518 standard

• External speedlights - Nikon SB-50DX,  SB-28DX, SB-28, SB-27, SB26, SB-25, SB 24, SB-23, SB-22s

• Play options- Single image, Thumbnail (4 or 9), Slide show, Movie play (with audio), Magnify (up to 6x), Exposure information, Histogram with highlight display, Focus confirmation indication

• Connectivity -USB 1.1,  A/V output (Video & Audio), DC Input

• Power- Nikon EN-EL1 Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery,  2CR5 / DL245 Lithium,  Optional battery pack: (6 x AA batteries),  Optional AC adapter

• Dimensions- 102 x 82 x 68 mm (4.0 x 3.2 x 27 in)

• Weight (no batt)- 360 g (12.6 oz)

• Weight (inc batt) - 414 g (14.6 oz)

As you can see, for its time, the Coolpix 5000 was an amazing little feature-laden digital camera with enough megapixels for printed 8x12 images.  With the following accessories, one could have a very flexible system:

• Fisheye Converter FC-E8

• Wideangle Converter WC-E68

• Telephoto Converter TC-E2

• Telephoto Converter TC-E3ED

• Adapter rings UR-E5, UR-E6

• Lens hood HN-E5000

• Battery pack MB-E5000

• Slide copy adapter ES-E28

• Remote Cord MC-EU1

I purchased the MB-E5000 battery pack from an online seller that was selling them as New Old Stock, for $24, including shipping.  It cost more than I paid for the camera, but the MB-5000 provides power from 6AA cells, as well as an extended grip with a vertical zoom control and shutter release.  The UR-E5 adapter ring allows me to use the FC-E8 fisheye lens as well as the TC-E3ED telephoto converter lens.  I’ve used the SB-50DX speedlight with the Coolpix 5000 with excellent results.  

with the SB-50DX and battery pack

with the fisheye lens and adapter

So, after 22 years, how does the Coolpix 5000 stack up?  When it was first released, a 6MP DSLR had yet to appear, and it wasn’t until a few years later that many less expensive point and shoots were available with 5 and 6 MP sensors.  Today, we see digital cameras — even low-end point and shoots, with 16 - 24 MP.  My iPhone has an 8MP sensor - although a much smaller sensor than the Coolpix 5000, it’s probably more capable in most situations.   The camera’s use of a Compact Flash card means that I have to use an adapter to transfer the images to my computer.  The rear LCD is small and hard to read in strong light.  It gives just enough detail to determine if you had a decent capture.  At the time, it was “okay,” but now, there is no comparison with the LCDs on current cameras.

with the fisheye lens

BUT…

This isn’t about comparing raisins to cantaloupes.  A retro digital experience should rest on its own merits, and while it’s obvious that a camera from 2001 has a very different user experience than one from 2021, can a Coolpix 5000 take good images?  Of course, it can.  Nikon’s color fidelity and lenses provided great results, and a 5MP image with good lenses can still have a “wow” factor.  You may have to work a little harder, but the camera still can do many of the things we have come to expect.  A while back, I reviewed the HP PhotoSmart - a low-end digicam with a 1.3 MP sensor that was in use at the same time as the Coolpix 5000.   Of course, the Nikon Coolpix 5000 outperformed that in every imaginable way.  The price difference was also quite considerable.  

I think it’s quite interesting how far we’ve come with digital cameras since the Coolpix 5000 was introduced.  However, you know what?  I can pick up a 35mm film camera from the 1950s and put in a modern film stock and still create great images without the need for a battery, adapters, or computer.  As a photographer that’s seen the world go from nothing digital to digital everything, using a film camera might seem like an anachronism, but it’s not.  It shows how some technologies can escape the trap of obsolescence that’s been foisted on us by modern digital cameras.  So, grab a Pentax Spotmatic and a roll of film and see how effortless and fun it is to go make images.

However, if you aren't into shooting with film, these older cameras from 2001-2009 might be just the thing to have some fun with and can be had for the price of a pizza and a beer. 

HP Photosmart 215 - A 23 year old Digicam

 A few weeks ago, I found this HP 215 digital camera in a local thrift shop for ONE dollar. Typically, I used to see cheap point and shoot 35mm cameras for that price. For a dollar, I just figured that I’d take a chance that it still worked. 

One dollar bargain!

door opened to reveal USB slot, CF card, and 6V connector

that little wheel to the left is used to access the menus.
There is a 64 MB card in the CF slot.

 A few facts about the HP Photosmart 215 It was introduced in 2000, and has a 1.3 megapixel resolution with a fixed 43mm equivalent (to 35mm) f/2.8 - f/8 lens. In 2000, it was early years in the digital photography takeover of traditional film cameras, and at 1.3 megapixels, there is no way any serious photographer was going to buy this camera. However, computer users love the new shiny objects, and the HP 215 was marketed as part of the computer culture, promising instant photos that could be shared/printed as needed. Using 4AA cells, the camera was inexpensive to operate, and it came with a 4MB CF card. You can find the online manual on HP's site.

 The first HP Photosmart camera was introduced in 1997 with VGA resolution (640 x 480 pixels). So, the 215 is an improvement, but just barely. In 2000, a consumer-level 1.3 MP camera was considered to be low-end, but usable enough to make 4x6 prints, and of course, Hewlett Packard produced a suite of accessories with the Photosmart name - printers and scanners to match up with their Windows-based PCs. It wasn’t until at least 3MP cameras became widely available that the 35mm point and shoots were in trouble. For the snapshot audience, 1.3MP wasn’t too awful, and the HP 215 retailed for around $200, and I can just imagine folks saying how much less they would be spending on film. I recall having an Apple Quicktake that had less than 1 MP - I think the images were 640x480 pixels. For putting up images on the new World Wide Web, those were fine. I see them now as postage-stamp sized shots that can never be made better - unlike a film negative or transparency. Hewlett Packard continued selling HP Photosmart cameras into at least 2007, but their printers continued on after that. The Photosmart Cameras were always at the low-end, but they were affordable snap shot digital cameras. 

 The HP 215 is quite boxy-looking, and there are few controls. The lens is fixed at one focal length, but the auto-focus allows one to also use macro mode - 4” to 3 feet.  Normal mode is about 2 feet to infinity. To begin use, you insert 4 AA cells and a Compact Flash (CF) card. The first time I used the camera, I had a hard time examining the images from the computer until I reformatted the card in the camera. Import was just dragging and dropping the images to a folder on my desktop (Mac Mini, late 2012, running Mac OS X Catalina). I found the optical viewfinder to be relatively useless due to parallax at anything closer then 20 feet. So, I used the rear LCD screen to frame my image before pressing the shutter button. There is a significant, several second delay in writing the image to the CF card at full 1.3 MP resolution. The camera shows it age in the menu access and controls as well as the small LCD screen. But hey, this was the year 2000, and anything with a color LCD display was high-tech. Operationally, it takes a while to get used to the slowness of the camera, and the strange click wheel for accessing the camera settings. Once I loaded the images onto my computer, I was really a bit surprised at how good most of them turned out. Granted, they are only 1200 x 1600 pixels, and you really can’t crop them the way you can a 20 MP image, but if you only wanted to make small prints or put images up on the Internet, they are not bad. Of course, the color response and sharpness isn’t as good as modern digicams or even my iPhone, but for a dollar, I can’t complain. As you can see from the images below, the results are actually pretty good.

I get that young people may be interested in using these “vintage” digicams, and 1.3 MP may be lower than you’d want to go. The camera reminds me a bit of a “Digital Diana” that I owned around 2010. I did a little search on eBay, and was surprised to see the HP 215 cameras sold from $2.99 to $22.99, depending on what was included. If you want to make 4x6 prints, you could get by with one of these, and who am I to judge? 

 Going by what was available at the time - a Nikon D1 SLR with 2.7 MP sold for $5000 in 2000. That was the camera that basically took over the news industry, as it was good enough for newspaper printing. The 'best” digital camera for 2000 was the Nikon Coolpix 990, with 3.3 MP, an ingenious tilt/swivel camera that accepted a variety of accessories, and it retailed for about $900. I used a Coolpix 990 extensively, well after it was produced, and it was an amazingly good digital camera. At the other end of the spectrum was the kid’s Jam Cam with 640 x 480 pixels that retailed for about $60. So, in 2000, the HP Photosmart 215 was a good buy for the casual snapper that was going to be happy with making small prints or sharing images via email.  I think if you want to experiment with lo-fi digital, this camera would be a good place to start!