The Coolpix 5000 was first announced back in September this year. Its design with a compact metal body, extending lens and flip-out and twist LCD surprised quite a few Coolpix aficionados. Clearly the Coolpix 5000 doesn't follow the previous line of prosumer Coolpix cameras, all of which had a longer split swivel design with an 'internal focusing' lens. It enters the all new 5 megapixel market as only the fourth such camera announced. Competition is made up of the Minolta DiMAGE 7, Sony DSC-F707 and Olympus E-20.

The Coolpix 5000 is aimed at the prosumer market, carrying a slew of manual features, a large amount of image processing controls as well as details such as the AE / AF lock button, command dial and flash hotshoe. One curiosity could be targeted at its lens, with an effective focal length range of 28 - 85 mm it provides a good wide angle 'bottom end' but a relatively limited telephoto ability.