The Nikon Coolpix P4 is an eight megapixel digital camera with a 3.5x optical zoom lens. In terms of features it is a fairly typical point and shoot camera, but it does have a superior build quality to many other models. Another useful feature of the Coolpix P4 is image stabilisation. This can come in handy in lowlight situations, especially when you are using the zoom lens.
It is almost identical to another Nikon digital camera, the P3. The P3 is Wi-Fi enabled while this model is not. The lack of Wi-Fi technology helps to make this camera the cheaper one of the two.
Image Quality
It always comes as a relief to me when I test two cameras that are more or less identical and they both produce a set of test photos that are difficult to tell apart.
The main points of the images taken with the Coolpix P4 are above average levels of sharpness, no sign of red eye in the indoor portrait shot and strong colours.
The outdoor scenic shots are a good guide to focusing. I have seen sharper images, but these stand up pretty well against other similarly priced cameras. The brickwork on the building in the first outdoor photo is not quite pin sharp, but the levels of focusing are retained towards the edges of each photo. In the second outdoor photo the lens is set at its widest angle and the zoom is not used at all. This does soften the focusing especially in areas of the scene that are more distant. By way of contrast the third outdoor shot where the zoom is used to its full capacity produces a well focused shot when compared to other models.
Areas of light and dark always throw up a challenge to a camera. In the main the Coolpix P4 handled darker areas well, expect in the most pronounced areas in the second outdoor shot. This is a fairly common occurrence with this test photo. I was not so pleased with the way it handled lighter areas. Detail is lost from the boats and from the wooden slates under the roof of the building in the first test shot. In the third test shot the floats on the side of the boats tend to show as white blobs.
Blue skies are quite striking in the second and third test shots. Other colours show up well too. Looking at the dedicated test for colours I would say that the colours are also well balanced with no single colour dominating.
The indoor portrait works very well. Focusing is up there with the best for this shot and as I mentioned above there is not even a hint of red eye. This is certainly an above average result. I am not quite so sure about the outdoor portrait and feel it has a slight orange cast to it.
Even in very poor light I was impressed by the Coolpix P4. The shot of beer bottles is sharp and bright considering the lighting conditions. It is worth pointing out that the photo is taken well within the flash range of the camera. Therefore as with any digital camera you need to be realistic about the camera's capability from distance in poor light.
For close up shots the macro shot also works well. The photo produced is sharp and well lit. It does not match the very best cameras I have tested, but it is still a decent effort.
Finally the shot taken with a higher ISO setting is a disappointment. Picture quality really does fall away at ISO 400. There is a large degree of noise and the colours also start to suffer.
Shutter Lag and Recycling Times
I was able to take a single shot in 1.65 seconds and five shots in 12.92 seconds. The time taken to capture a single shot is extremely slow. The time taken to take five shots is closer to the average time.
You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.
Features
The 3.5x optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 36 - 126mm in 35mm format. The maximum aperture is f/2.7 when the zoom lens is not in use. There is also a 4x digital zoom feature. For close up shots the Coolpix P4 is able to focus from 4cm away from the subject.
There is no viewfinder available, so the 2.5" LCD screen is used for composing photos. The screen is made up of around 150,000 pixels.
The flash unit is built into the Coolpix P4 and has a maximum range of 4m. This falls to 2m when the zoom lens is in use. The flash modes available are Auto, Auto with Red-eye Reduction (In-Camera Red-Eye Fix), FlashCancel, Anytime Flash and Slow Sync.
A good selection of scene modes are available. This includes a special mode for portrait shots. Other scene modes available are Standard Portrait, Night Portrait, Landscape, Night landscape, Sunset, Dusk/Dawn, Fireworks show, Close up, Party/Indoor, Panorama assist, Beach/Snow, Back light, Museum, Copy and Sports. When you select a scene mode the camera will use what it considers to be the optimum settings for the photo. This should lead to the best possible shot.
For focusing you can select from three modes (auto, manual and centre). If you select auto you can further select single AF or continuous AF.
If you are planning to make 6 x 4" prints then the 3:2 aspect ratio is ideal. By selecting this ratio the photos will not need to be trimmed to fit on paper.
For when you would like to appear in a photo there is a self timer. It has two different delay times you can choose from. These are three and ten seconds.
Among the more advanced features are best shot selector and a variety of continuous shooting modes. When you use best shot selector you can take a number of photos and the camera will decide which one it believes has the best exposure levels. It will then keep this one and discard all the others. The continuous shooting modes allow you to shoot until the memory card is full, shoot high speed images at a maximum resolution of 640 x 480, shoot continuously but only save the last five shots and take 16 mini images that the camera builds into a single image in grid formation.
TV quality movies can be recorded. You can zoom in and out while recording is in progress and sound can be captured as well. The maximum resolution is 640 x 480 and the top recording speed is 30 frames per second. Time lapse movies can be recorded as well. The delay between each shot can be set at various intervals from thirty seconds to one hour.
Other features include ISO sensitivity (auto, 50, 100, 200 and 400), bracketing and white balance bracketing, exposure compensation, metering (matrix, centre weighted, spot and spot AF area) and white balance (auto, white balance preset, sunlight, incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy, shade and flash). You can also fine tune saturation, sharpness and contrast.
Once you have taken a picture there are a number of further options available to you. I think the most useful one is call D lighting. This allows you to brighten areas of a photo that are too dark and underexposed. To help you capture the memory of a moment you can also add 20 seconds of commentary to a photo.
Nikon supplies all the necessary cables and software to connect the Coolpix P4 to a television set, computer and PictBridge compatible printer.
Ease of Use
The Coolpix P4 is easy to use. You are able to select whether you view the menu in text or icon mode. A very useful feature is the help text available for different menu options. This helps to point you in the right direction and get to know the capabilities of the camera.
Cost
You can pick up a Nikon Coolpix P4 for around £190. This compares to around £180 for a Casio Exilim EX-Z850, £180 for an Olympus MJU 810 and £155 for a Pentax Optio A10.
There is a fair amount of choice when it comes to eight megapixel digital cameras with a bit of style and a good build quality. Although the Coolpix P4 is slightly more expensive than the other models listed here it offers fair value for money.
Style
On the whole I like the design of the Coolpix P3. It has a straightforward unfussy style. It is a typically rectangular, silver box, but it manages to give the impression of a bit of extra quality.
One moan I did have is that the buttons on the back of the camera do not leave a lot of room to place your thumb when you are taking a photo. This can make it harder to keep the camera rock steady when you are taking a shot.
It weighs 170g and has dimensions of 92 x 61 x 31mm.
Batteries and Memory Card
A rechargeable lithium battery (EN-EL5) is used to power the Coolpix P4. Nikon estimates you should be able to take around 200 photos before the battery needs to be recharged.
The camera is compatible with SD cards. There are 23mb of memory built into the camera. Therefore a memory card is not supplied as standard. I was able to take 15 shots before the memory was full. A high capacity memory card will be needed before you can start using the camera seriously.
Click here to save money on SD cards..
Points I like:
Colours
No red eye in test shot
Where it is not so hot:
Shutter lag
Summary
The Nikon Coolpix P4 is a middle of the road point and shoot digital camera. It offers plenty of megapixels and takes a decent photo in most situations. The lack of red eye in the indoor shots is likely to appeal to many people.
Nikon Coolpix P4 Front View
Nikon Coolpix P4 Back View
Nikon Coolpix P4 Top View
Sample Menus
| Nikon Coolpix P4 Summary |
| Description: | 8 megapixels with a 3.5x optical zoom lens |
| Ease of Use: | 9 |
| Features: | 8 |
| Colour: | 9 |
| Macro: | 8 |
| Indoors: | 9 |
| Value for Money: | 7 |
| Style: | 7 |
| Movie Mode: | 8 |
| Image Quality: | 8 |
| Build Quality: | 8 |
| Total: | 81 |
| Verdict: | "The Nikon Coolpix P4 is a solid offering without really setting off any fireworks. It has plenty of megapixels, takes a good photo and is well built. In my tests it also does well in lowlight and minimises red eye." |
| Review Date: | October 2006 |
| Click for: | Specification Sample Images |
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