Nikon Coolpix P80 review

Nikon hasn't launched a new ultra-zoom camera with manual exposure controls for nearly four years.

In that time Canon, Fujifilm, Kodak, Olympus, Panasonic and Sony have developed models with up to 20x zooms, blistering performance and fantastic image quality in increasingly smaller, more affordable packages. It's disappointing, then, that Nikon's return to the fray is so similar to the current crop, both in specification and design. We're particularly sorry to see a 10-megapixel, 1/2.33in CCD. In our experience, that's simply too many pixels for such a small sensor, and the inevitable result is excessive image noise. Competing ultra-zoom cameras from all the above manufacturers use similar sensors, with only Fujifilm's pricy S100FS bucking the trend.

The P80 may be conventional, but it looks smart and is very comfortable to hold. A command dial lets you adjust exposure settings quickly, but there are few other dedicated controls. ISO speed, white balance and drive mode are available only through the menu. Switch to manual exposure and you get an exposure value (EV) display while adjusting settings. However, this isn't shown when you half-press the shutter release, and the exposure isn't reflected in the preview brightness or a histogram display. Manual focus could be better, too. A momentary 2x digital zoom on the 2.7in screen helps with adjustments but it would need to be a 6x digital zoom for pixel-accurate feedback.

Sadly, performance lags behind the competition. It took four seconds to switch on and capture a photo and 2 seconds between shots. A slow autofocus is partly to blame, taking at least a second to lock on to subjects. The lens can focus on subjects just 1cm away to produce amazing close-ups, but the autofocus can be temperamental in macro mode. Continuous shooting ran at 1.2fps but slowed to 0.6fps after 13 shots, even when using fast SDHC media.

Our test images were often excellent. Exposures were expertly judged and colours pleasing, with Nikon's familiar warm hue flattering skin tones. Most shots had plenty of detail, but focus trailed off significantly at the telephoto end of the zoom. The lens also suffered from pincushion distortion at telephoto settings and barrel distortion at wide angles. A Distortion Control largely eliminated these, but slowed the camera further and introduced chromatic aberrations. As usual for this type of sensor, noise caused serious problems in low light, swamping shadows at ISO 400 and the entire picture at ISO 800.

Panasonic's aging FZ18 matches the P80 for image quality and surpasses it at telephoto settings while offering faster performance and more accessible controls plus a RAW mode and processing software. It's the better buy.