Tried it for a week and returned it

Author's Rating:

Pros: Cool design, very full featured, 15 scene modes

Cons: Image quality and performance not as good as I expected.

The Bottom Line: 
Nice piece of equipment, better than most in the 5 megapixel below $1000 class. I recommend it - but try before you buy, at $799 expected better from Nikon

Author's Review
As there are several excellent reviews already listed here that go over the specifications for this camera, I will not repeat any of that info. Plus you can get all the specs you want from Nikon.com -

I will stick to what I liked about it, what I didn't, and my conclusions:

WHAT I LIKED:

- look and feel of the camera is professional and stylish.

- The dial on the top of the camera for switching between modes is very well designed and thought out. It did not take me long to get the hang of it and how it should be best used to quickly switch between modes and settings.

- The fully adjustable LCD on the back is great. The display is bright and clear, and it can even be rotated so that you can see the screen for self portraits.

- The ergonomics of holding this camera are great. The grip on the camera's right side fits perfectly into your hand, and the zoom control and shutter release are perfectly positioned. This camera is a pleasure to hold.

- Black finish on the camera body has a slightly rough texture that will hide any smudges or prints from your use.

- The camera feels generally very sturdy and the fit and finish is excellent. It feels like a serious piece of equipment.

- The ability to fully control the camera's settings is incredible (albeit at times one must maneuver multiple menus to get to them).

- BSS (Best Shot Selection) allows you to take a set of shots and the camera will automatically select the sharpest image for you and save it.

- 15 scene modes! Just about any scenario you could think of (portrait, night portrait, fireworks, indoor party, museum, etc etc). This allows you to quickly go to custom settings depending on the situation without having to do manual adjustments. Kudos Nikon.

- Red eye flash is excellent

- Image quality was pretty good (but I expected better - more later).

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE:

- Focusing performance in even moderately low light was poor. This camera had problems in even regular indoor lighting (incandescent lights in evening). There is no AF assist, and this camera needs it. At this price there should be one. This issue was one of the things that made decide to return the camera.

- The LCD is a bit small at 1.5".

- The images seemed to be "soft" to me. Not blurry but not quite the razor sharp I was expecting. I had trouble getting a shot that was really "crisp". It seems that this camera is made to soften the image (to reduce other issues that can come up with digital images, I am sure) but I did not like the effect. This was a major reason I did not keep this camera.

- Manual focus is available (good) but hard to use (bad). I found it very awkward to focus manually, which seemed to be needed a lot when I had the camera in macro mode for very close shots. It seems to have trouble focusing perfectly in macro mode.

- Speed from shot to shot was "okay" but I was expecting it to be faster. At 5 megapixels in normal light normal shooting I found it to be a bit sluggish.

- The optical viewfinder is okay, typical for cameras in this class (at least the lens barrel does not block a third of the shot like the Canon G5) but I found it uncomfortable to use. Try putting one to your eye in the store, and you will see what I mean. The LCD sticks out in the back when folded up against the camera body, and it really makes it awkward to put your eye to the viewfinder. Also, I do not like the fact that the viewfinder only shows you about 80% of the actual shot. I wanted a camera with a decent viewfinder (to save batteries by not using the LCD - plus being an old timer I am used to putting my eye to the camera). I know this is also a problem with competing models, I ended up going with another camera that has an electronic viewfinder that shows 100% of the actual image for the shot.

- The neck strap that attaches to the camera ends up tilting the camera up towards the sky when you wear it around your neck. I found this really annoying.

- Price: $799 seems a bit stiff. But, its a Nikon.

CONCLUSION:

I find the 5400 to be a very stylish full-featured camera. But while some of the ergonomics impressed me, I was disappointed in the end by a few design issues, poor low light performance, and the looks of the images it produces. I am a long time Nikon fan, but I have to say that some of the others that compete with this camera (the Canon G5 and a few others) are worth a look over the Nikon. I advise you to try this camera out before you buy it (or buy it from a chain where you can return it within 2 weeks). I thought I would love this camera but ended up disappointed.

UPDATE: 10/11/03 - I note now that major outlets (ie. Circuit City) have reduced price on this camera from $799 to $699. It must not be selling well.