Nikon COOLPIX P100 review

The bridge with incredible reach

The Nikon COOLPIX P100 has a spec-sheet to die for. Awash with scene modes, shooting modes and style settings galore, it’s easy to see at first glimpse why this camera has a rather hefty price tag hanging around its neck.

On first impressions, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is just like any other bridge camera, closing the gap between the compact and DSLR world. But view it side on and you’ll see this camera offers a massive 26x optical zoom, with built-in Optical VR – Nikon’s answer to in-camera sensor-shift image stabilisation. On top of this winning accolade, it also boasts a full 1080p high-definition Movie mode and a 10.3-megapixel CMOS sensor.

Built on the success of the Nikon COOLPIX P90, the P100 emulates the neat and tidy body and basic features, but packs a punch with a range of extra tantalising features. It’s dropped the P90’s 12-megapixel CCD sensor in favour of a 10-megapixel CMOS sensor, which means more speed, less noise and a whole lot more fancy features.

We tallied up no less than nine white balance settings, 13 different recording modes, five focus modes, four metering modes, eight colour effects and four options when it comes to high-speed shooting. On top of all that, the P100 even comes with two different movie modes of Regular and High-speed.

The fact that Nikon manages to pack all this creative goodness into such a compact and lightweight body is amazing. It’s steady and balanced in the hand (even when the lens is at full telephoto) and an exaggerated handgrip gives you a fantastic hold for steady shooting. Obviously with a zoom this big it’s always advisable to shoot using a tripod, but for the occasions when only handheld will do, Nikon offers a double whammy of features to keep things blur-free – the Optical VR function, plus the rather impressive Best Shot Selector mode, which shoots up to ten shots and picks the sharpest.

A 26x optical zoom is a fantastic feature to have on board, giving you great flexibility when composing your shots. The optical reach is so great, you can pick out details in the distance that you can barely see with your own eye. The payoff, of course, is reduced saturation and a slightly hazy image, but you’ll probably be so impressed with the zoom power, you won’t care too much.

The camera comes with some nice extras, such as an electronic viewfinder and moveable LCD screen. This tilts up and down but unfortunately has no horizontal axis. The camera also incorporates a DSLR-style jog wheel, to enable you to scroll through Aperture and Shutter Priority settings. A top mode dial is your port of call for all the main shooting functions, including a full Manual mode for those who want to spread their photographic wings.

The Movie mode has a designated button, with a surrounding, flickable switch. This lets you choose between Regular and High-speed movie modes. Movie quality is pretty decent, although watch out for slow focusing and noise over your footage when using the zoom. Other noises such as wind, however, are minimised via a wind filter, which is a nice touch.

With so much listed in the specifications, it’s hard not to expect more from the image quality of this camera. Granted, the images it produces are good, but they do not offer the clarity or noise control you associate with a camera of this price or feature set. Images tend to have a slightly overprocessed feel to them in terms of colour. In some instances this looks punchy and in other cases, just too much. The minimum ISO setting is 160, which copes well with noise, but rise to about ISO 400 and grain creeps into shot. For the general photographer these things may go unnoticed, but enthusiasts may not be so impressed with the finer details.

We’d have liked to have seen an option for shooting RAW, plus a hotshoe for flash accessories on a camera of this price, but as it stands the P100 is a feature-filled camera with outstanding zoom and not so outstanding picture quality.