Camera Direct

The Coolpix P7000 is the Nikon’s shot to enter the competition in the ‘high-end’ compact camera market. The Coolpix P series is a flagship range of Nikon’s compact cameras and with the launch of this camera, Nikon has tried to take on with its biggest competitors in this segment; Canon’s Powershot G12 and Panasonic’s Lumix LX5.

But on the whole, the camera is a slight disappointment when compared to its rivals.

Review

The latest entrant in the Nikon Coolpix family is the P7000, a luxury compact camera. After the let down of two models – the P5100 and P6000, Nikon has tried to bring back some of its lost honor in the high end compact camera market, through the P7000. The design of the camera is pretty good, but it resembles a lot to the Canon G11 (or G12). Like the G11, the P7000 has got lots of buttons and dials at the back and top that allows direct access to the regularly used functions. The black body also gives the camera a professional look. The optical viewfinder is a good inclusion. We also appreciate the function (Fn) button, below the lens, which can be used for mapping ISO and white balance options. The whole menu interface is designed like a DSLR. There is a range of controls on the top and back of the camera, making it easier to exploit.

Feature wise, the camera is at par with its competitors and at some points, even better. Like, the P7000 has got a longer zoom, extending up to 7.1x. The 3 inch LCD screen is good and resolute, giving an excellent monitor. For accurate vertical and horizontal alignment, a dual-axis electronic level is provided which comes out to be very useful. A 60 second shutter, white balance customization, extensive ISO range, digital level meter, built-in Natural Density filter, advanced D-lighting are some of the good features the camera provides.

But as good as these good features are, the real test for camera (and where it actually fails) is during the actual shooting. The biggest hitch of the P7000 is the time taken to process RAW images. The 4 seconds wait is quite a long pause and is pretty irritating for the photographer. Another major drawback of the camera is that it does not offer a long shutter when shooting at higher ISO. This comes out to be a big restriction while shooting. Also at ISO 3200 or higher, the images produced showed blue noise in them.

So although the camera provides good quality images, easy to access controls, better zoom range than its competitors, and some other nice features, the main drawback for this camera is its overall performance. But it is still a good effort by Nikon in high end compact camera category.

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