Nikon 5400 Camera help

beartracks42 · February 22, 2005 5:12AM

Hey folks,

I purchased a new Nikon 5400 to replace my Nikon 885, because it would just not give me the sharp pics that I wanted. The rep at the place where I purchased the 5400 is telling me that I need a different, high speed memory card to get the pics that I am looking for. He told me that I would not be happy with the regular memory cards that I have now.

I need some straight scoop here. I do not want to buy something that I do not need or to be taken by a smooth talker. He has a "special" on a 128 Mb card for the 5400 at $109.00, IF IT IS BOUGHT WITH THE CAMERA. Is he blowing smoke up my pantleg?

Thanks, from a non-photographer.

Gary

K6AZ · February 22, 2005 5:17AM

Yeah, he's blowing smoke, and is full of it. While the 16mb card that comes with the camera is kind of small, the card has nothing to do with the quality of pictures taken. The 5400 will produce nice, sharp images of coins.

Over $100 for a 128mb card? That place is a rip off on accessories then. Look at what you can get at Newegg for under $100:

Sandisk Ultra II 1gb $85.91

Cameonut · February 22, 2005 5:21AM

Yup, smoke all over the place.
Just bought a 512MB card for my Nikon 5400 at Costco for $48 two days ago.

Guess you now know where the dealer is making their money!

PS - bought my 5400 online (no refurb) for $400 - less $200 rebate = $200 net

Purple73 · February 22, 2005 5:23AM

Something dont sound right. I'm not huge on cameras...but what does the memory card have to do with how good the images are?

I have a cool pix 3200 that takes images like this. This Pic is Resized by about 65%(smaller) I have a 128Mb card in my camera and I only ever used it once when I took 125 pics of this past christmas.

K6AZ · February 22, 2005 5:24AM

Cameonut, where did you get one for that price?

BWRC · February 22, 2005 5:31AM

I ordered one online and they pulled the same bait and switch on me. The shipping was moved out to 4-6 weeks, I needed all kinds of extras because the basics were not good enough etc. I told them to cancel the order and am still looking elsewhere for a 5400.

BWRC · February 22, 2005 5:34AM

BTW, mine was $397 nimus $200 rebate for $197 but when I wanted faster shipping than 6 weeks the price had to be increased to $475 minus $200. He called the first deal the foreign package that wasn't in stock and the US package that was in stock was more money.

K6AZ · February 22, 2005 5:39AM

Brian, the 5400 seems to be sold out at the lowest price legitimate etailers. B&H still has them in stock at $499 with a $200 rebate. Be very careful of these too-good-to-be-true places, it sounds like you have had a typical experience with them. Another one is selling refurbs as new, claiming there is a rebate. By time you find out you're not getting the rebate, you've been had.

K6AZ · February 22, 2005 5:42AM

Brian, which outfit was this? I can almost guess, Abe's of Maine?

wvinchic · February 22, 2005 5:50AM

I just got my 5400 last week.

How are you taking the pictures? Are you shooting closeups? Are you in macro mode? Are you using the Auto mode? It is the one that is green with the camera pic in it. It auto focuses.

I HIGHLY recommend sitting down with the camera and the manual and reading through the first few chapters. It really helps familiarize you with the camera. This camera has a steep learning curve and if you haven't used a Nikon before (even if you have) it can look like a bunch of Greek!

To take Macro pics, set the camera to the Green Camera mode on the top of the camera. Then, turn the camera on. Then, you must hit the AF button to turn on the Macro. The macro setting is a Green Little flower. You can also turn on Macro with a 10 Second timer by hitting the AF button again. Then, turn the flash OFF by hitting the button on top that looks like a lightning bolt. It is off when the flash is surrounded by the circle with a slash through it. Then, you can take the picture.

I hope I didn't sound mean or anything. but, some people are brand new to digital cameras and don't know much about the icons on the camera.

Once you get down pat how to take the macros, you can start experimenting with white balance and all of those goodies.

If you need any help, gimme a yell!

Stacy

BWRC · February 22, 2005 5:52AM

Trying to find my paperwork. It was something like bestchoicedigital.com?

The order was processed online and looked fine. I knew something was up when they emailed me about 2 days later and asked me to call some guy at their number and an extension. It sounded like a boiler room in the background. Then the sales pitch began.

wvinchic · February 22, 2005 5:53AM

You can buy it

Here

for $417.99. With the rebate it will be $217.99. This is where I bought mine. I got it quick with NO phone calls!!!!

This is the cheapest of the legit places I found.

Stacy

BWRC · February 22, 2005 5:53AM

Stacy,

Would you tell us folks where you bought your 5400? the price and the service from the dealer. TIA

K6AZ · February 22, 2005 5:59AM

<< <i>Trying to find my paperwork. It was something like bestchoicedigital.com?

The order was processed online and looked fine. I knew something was up when they emailed me about 2 days later and asked me to call some guy at their number and an extension. It sounded like a boiler room in the background. Then the sales pitch began. >>

They are even worse than Abe's of Maine, and have one of the lowest scores I've ever seen on resellerratings.com:

Bestchoicedigital.com

The company Stacy mentioned is rated pretty high there, you may want to check them out.

VTCoins · February 22, 2005 6:02AM

I bought my 5400 from butterflyphoto.com. When I purchased it, It was $409 with $200 rebate. It is now $449 with $200 rebate.

I also purchased the bundle kit which includes: 256mb Compact Flash Card, Nikon EH-52 Ac Power Adaptor, 2 Hr- Hi Capacity Li-on Battery EN-EL1, Nikon High Speed CompactFash Reader, Nikon Deluxe Weather Proof Case, Nikon CompactFlash Storage Wallet and a Nikon Lens Cleaning Cloth. Additional $109, but worth it.

They provided great service and I had the camera within a week.

wvinchic · February 22, 2005 6:04AM

I almost bought it at another place until I checked out resellerratings.com. Boy did I hurry up and close that IE window!

The camera was brand new. The box was pristine! You could tell the camera and its accessories had never been out of the box. You can always tell when something has been repackaged!

HTH!

Stacy

BWRC · February 22, 2005 6:06AM

Thanks for all the info everyone. I found butterfly first when they were like $399 minus a $200 rebate for $199. I waited a few days and went back there to order and they had raised their price to $449. Then I took the dive to worstchoicedigital.com

K6AZ · February 22, 2005 6:14AM

Brian, bookmark resellerratings.com. It will save you a lot of grief if you ever want to buy consumer electronics online.

beartracks42 · February 22, 2005 6:16AM

Hey Guys and Gals, thanks for the feedback. I followed Brian's link to Bestdigital.com or whatever they call themselves.

I will cancel and look elsewhere.

You folks are the greatest.

K6AZ · February 22, 2005 6:20AM

Uh oh, is that where you ordered the camera? Now it makes sense. Tell them you don't want any accessories and the camera will mysteriously become "out of stock". Check the place Stacy linked, they have a very high rating on resellerratings.com.

$109 for a 128mb card is obscene. Newegg sells several for around $15.

bfallona · February 22, 2005 6:50AM

Yep on the memory card it is a rip off. Most of the mail order companies especially NY ones pull this. Pop Photo had a big story on it awhile ago. And memory cards have ZERO to do with the photos quality or otherwise. And the hi speed cards are a big joke. Some of the them do load the pics a bit faster, but no way could you tell the difference between them and the regular cards. Run from this dealer.

K6AZ · February 22, 2005 6:59AM

Actually, with some of the newer high resolution digicams that shoot in TIFF and RAW formats, the faster cards do make a difference. I own three of the fast 10mb/sec Sandisk cards, and there is a big difference over the slower cards. But the price difference isn't much. The 1gb card I linked earlier in this thread is a 10mb/sec card for $86.

Bochiman · February 22, 2005 7:15AM

Eric's right.
The faster cards can/do make a difference with some of the formats and the larger pic sizes.

They won't make a difference wtih the quality itself, but for taking picture after picture (like you would with a regular camera or other digital camera), you will appreciate not waiting too long between shots. Of course, others have been right in saying that the offered price was ridiculous.

mgoodm3 · February 22, 2005 7:31AM

Faster card won't help.

I wrote this a while back for someone else with a 5400:

1. For shooting coins I use Aperture priority mode "A" on the big dial. The aperture is set on the small dial. The camera sets the shutter speed. I tend to use higher aperture numbers (shows what the aperture is in the lower right of the screen as F7.6 for example) to get a good depth of focus. If you are taking pictures at an angle you want enough depth to the focus to get the closest and farthest parts of the coin in focus. If you are trying to get color out of Morgans and shooting at an angle, I would stick to an aperture of 7 or more.

2. I allow for manually setting the focus area (by the round "joystick button) on the lower right of the camera. Get this by hitting "menu" button, go down to and click "show all menus". Keep hitting down button on joystick until you get to page 2 and click on "focus options", then hit "AF area mode", Then click "manual". Now when you're taking pictures it will show 5 brackets on the screen, the red one is where it is focusing. You can move that red area around with the joystick button. (I often use the outside one to get the coin out from under the camera a bit more). If shooting at an angle I focus about 2/3 to 3/4 up the coin ( i think it tends to focus on the slab which is in front of the coin and cheating up will put the focus plane at about the center of the coin that way).

3. I meter the exposure off the place where it is focusing off of. Hit "menu" , click "metering", then click "spot autofocus area".

4. Macro focus. Hit "AF" button. White mountain will show up first, hit it again and you get a flower. Flower is macro mode. You want to keep that flower green. If it's white you have too much zoom on the lens. It only allows good macro focus with a tiny amount of zoom. Hit the "AF" button again And it will keep the macro mode but add the auto timer feature to the exposure (sounds like you found that already). But you gotta keep the flower green or macro won't work properly.

5. White Balance. Turn the big knob to WB. Hit right arrow on joystick on "White bal preset" The camera will do a little jig. click down to "measure" and hit the center button on the joystick. Do this with a piece of white paper below the camera with the lights on the you intend to take the pictures with. You should get and accurate white balance as long as you don't change things too much.

Cameonut · February 22, 2005 9:21AM

Got mine at Butterfly for $397 + $12 shipping as well. Ordered online - no pressure to buy accessories that I didn't need.

Mgoodm3 - I am using your suggested setup and it works great. Thanks for posting it.

Rob85635 · April 30, 2009 2:16PM

Took my first pics with your settings advice mgoodm3. I think they turned out great. My little 5400 isn't so bad.

Nikon 5400 Camera help

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