Expert: John Oliverio - 7/4/2006

Question
I want to try my hand at doing photog w/ people and pets, and I need a camera, and I can spend about $400, not including the external flash unit, slave flash(es), charger. I DO need to have the cam be 5 mp min, have a hot-shoe (so I can light studio setting properly for portraits)and/or external flash-sync port (what does this latter term REALLY mean, please)and am thinking of buying a used DIGITAL Nikon Cp5700 on Amazon. I am totally lacking int he understanding of how its battery works---it is EN-EL1, and does NOT come witha charger, but does this mean it IS recharge-ABLE? Any idea how long the battery lasts, how long it takes to re-charge? PLease no tech-speak, I am smart but I have ltd camera-lingo.  

Answer
Nance,

The camera you want is (in my opinion) not appropriate for studio work.  That doesn't mean you couldn't do it anyway.  The 5700 does not have an external flash-sync port (known as a PC or Prontor-Compur socket) built in but you could use an old PC adapter on the hot-shoe. A PC socket is the standard way to connect flash and studio lights to a camera.  It is an old connection and was designed back in the 1950's.  It is very usefull and many higher-end digital SLRs still have them.  It should be pretty easy to hunt down a hot-shoe to PC adapter.

The EN-EL1 was the standard battery for high-end Nikon point and shoot and bridge cameras.  None of the machines in their current line-up use it.  Only Nikon cameras use this battery and you will need a charger.  The camera was supposed to come with one.  An after-market charger retails for about $50 USD.  Phil Askey of DPReview says the battery is good for about 2 hours of life or 215 shots.   A second battery will be about another $50 USD.  You should be able to fully charge the battery in about 90 minutes.  

If you want my opinion, you should consider a digital SLR instead.  I've seen reconditioned Nikon D50's with 18-55 lens for about $500.  Still no PC socket but you could still use the adapter on the hot-shoe.

John