Up from 16.2- to 24.1-megapixels, the sensor promises to be a winner. Other headline features include the 39-point AF system with nine cross-types, lifted straight from the D7000, along with its 2,016-pixel Matrix metering system, too.
It's tricky to see where the D5200 sits in the market, now that the demarcation lines have become blurred. It obviously beats the recently upgraded Nikon D3200, and on paper it also has the measure of the more expensive D7000 on manyaspects. too. Tht D5200 competes most closely with the Canon 650D, though currently the D5200 costs about £100 more at £720 with 18-55mm VR kit lens. The D5200 is still very new, so the price could settle a bit lower, but even as things stand, it looks tipped to become the new leader of the pack.
Handling & ease of use: SCORE 22/25
Don't let the colour put you off! Its also available in conventional matt black, though to be fair, a vox- pop around the office was fairly evenly split. Nikon calls it red, but it's much more red wine than postbox, and there's also a browny-bronze version.
Colour aside, the shiny finish emphasises the plastic shell, but all manufacturers use plastic these days, certainly for anything below full pro-grade models, and it's hard to be too critical when the fit and finish is as high as this and saves both weight and cost.
Low weight is almost always welcome, and at 555g for the D5200 body and battery, this is about as light as it gets - roughly 40% less than a semi-pro DSLR. The smaller size is more of a double-edged sword, though, as it doesn't make that much difference to portability and the downside is controls can be a bit tight and fiddly for anyone with larger hands - you might even press something accidentallywith the palm of your thumb. Nikon's design helps out here with a large and secure front hand grip, and rubberised and contoured rest on the back to keep your thumb out of trouble. When holding the camera correctly, with the weight supported in your cupped left hand, all is well.
There is direct access. or semi-direct access, to key controls for shutter speed, aperture and ISO, all well placed. In manual, for example, the command dial under your thumb adjusts shutter speed by default, and pressing the exposure compensation button at the same time changes aperture, and these functions swap roles according to mode priority. There is no ISO button, but the Fn button near your left thumb around the lens mount can be customised to this.
All settings come up on the rear LCD, and this is one of the camera's several highlights. The screen is large at 3in, fullyarticulating for easy viewing with the camera above your head, on the ground, or it can be swivelled forward fora self-portrait. The image is bright and sharp with 921.000-dot resolution, and features Nikon's neat 'graphic' display, with a lens iris icon that changes size according to f/number, and a virtual shutter-speed dial that rotates analogue style. If you prefer numbers only, switch to 'classic' presentation, and another option is to change the background colour to differentiate between modes like auto. scene or effects.
Features: SCORE 23/25
The new 24.1-megapixel sensor has got to be top of the new features list, and its exceptionally good. It's driven by an uprated Expeed 3 processing engine from the D3200, but despite that camera's extremely similar sensor (24.2-megapixels, made by Nikon themselves), this one is different. It's not made by Sony either - Nikon's usual bedfellow in these affairs - but by Toshiba. It has slightly more dynamic range and better noise performance, and it also runs one stop higher at an expanded ISO 25600.
Action photographers in particular will welcome the new 39-point AF system. with nine cross-type sensors for more reliable focus locking with difficult subjects. It operates very well with the circular multi-selector to shift the AF point and it's easy to move around almost instinctively while composing the shot. Combined with a respectable five frames-per-second shooting rate. the D5200s servo AF tracking ability is the best and simplest to use of any DSLR at this price level.
The 2.016-pixel Matrix metering also comes from the D7000. It is colour- sensitive and has sufficient resolution for face recognition and 3D servo tracking, to aid the autofocus. Auto-ISO has also been given a makeover - you can now specify the minimum shutter-speed threshold, plus it can also be set to adjust for focal length changes to combat camera-shake.
The D5200 has a full set of scene modes - sport, landscape. close- up and so on - in line with other cameras in this category. and there is a selection of digital effects that can be applied at the shooting stage - like colour sketch, miniature, selective colour etc. As expected, they're mostly a matter of taste. Rather more usefulare in-camera Raw processing options, like post-capture adjustment of exposure, noise reduction, White Balance, contrast, sharpening, cropping, rotation, straightening verticals and more. In-camera processing is a little laborious, as you have to adjust one thing. apply it, then go back in to make the next adjustment, but there is a surprising amount of scope to exploit the benefits of Raw without going near a computer.
There are also a few things missing from the D5200 to note, though nothing too serious or unexpected. There is no in-camera AF drive so you can't use lenses without their own built-in drive motors, though that's mostly older ones. And the pop-up flash has no commander mode to control off-camera flashguns remotely, if you were hoping for that
Performance: SCORE 24/25
The best thing about the Nikon D5200 is its performance. Image quality is first rate, with the new 24.1-rnegapixel sensor being at least as good as any APS-C format camera available, quite possibly the best - and that's saying something. You can use it with confidence up to ISO 1600. and beyond that without much hesitation. The normal range runs from ISO 100-6400. with expanded options up to 1S025600, though these boosted settings are not great.
The 39-point AF system is also exceptionally good for this class. and while not quite as sophisticated as the Nikon D300s, in terms of practical capability, you're unlikely to notice it. The five frames-per-second shooting rate is enough to nail most moving targets. The metering is well above average, too. with 2,016 pixels analysing the image and also passing subject movement data to the AF system.
Second-tier features are comprehensive, only missing out on relative non-essentials like the top shutter speed of 1/4000sec. And it's a nice machine to use with well-placed controls and that niftyfold-out LCD. It would be good to have a little more real estate around the quite tightly clustered buttons, but that's just how it with a compact body and a large LCD taking up most of the area.
Specifications:
Body only: $796.95
Image sensor: CMOS DX-format
Image resolution: 24.1 megapixels
LCD: 3.0in (921,000 dots)
Storage: SD (SDHC/SDXC)
Weight: 555g (inluding batery and card)
Key Features:
CMOS SENSOR: The D5200's all-new I 24.1 megapixel is made by Toshiba. Image quality is very high, super sharp, and with better noise performance than the sensor in the D3200 produced by nikon
CONTROL PANEL: The graphic control panel is neat showing key camera senttings with animated icons. It can be switched to more conventional numbers and the background colour can also be changed to differentiate between modes.
ARTICULATING LCD: 3in LCD Is big, bright and clear with 921,000 dots. It folds out to swivel and tilt in every direction you'd need it to, including facing forward for self portraits. Can be reversed for protection.
FN BUTTON: Fn button is positioned around the lens mount, close to your left thumb. It can be assigned numerous functions for direct access, with ISO being perhaps the most useful.
VIEWFINDER: The viewfinder is fed by a penta-mirror, which is lighter and cheaper than a pentaprism, but also slightly less bright. It offers 95% image coverage at a magninfication Of x0.78. 39 AF points have good coverage, with nine cross-type sensors for added sensitivity.
Verdict
There is much to like about the Nikon D5200, even to admire. The affordable pricing belies serious performance underneath that is a cut above the rest in key areas of image quality, autofocus capability and metering.
It can take on almost anything, including action sutjects that are usually the preserve of more expensive models. The only caveat is that the D5200 needs high-grade lenses to both allow the AF system to perform at its best, and also for the sensor to shine. The consumer-grade zooms that most owners are likely to fit will probably be the weakest link in the chain.
Handling & ease of use: 22/25
Features: 23/25
Performance: 24/25
Value for money: 24/25
OVERALL SCORE: 93/100
View latest price and read customer reviews
