Overview
The Nikon Coolpix P300 offers a bit of extra class and quality, but with a very reasonable price tag. It has plenty of advanced features in a compact body. Nikon have equipped the Coolpix P300 with a set of manual exposure controls and it can also record High Definition movies.
Why Buy The Nikon Coolpix P300
In addition to the advanced features the Coolpix P300 takes high quality photos. If you are looking for a digital camera that offers that bit more than a typical point and shoot this camera is well worth a close look.
Main Features
Megapixels:
Zoom:
LCD Screen:
Dimensions:
Weight:
12
4.2x
3 inches
58.3 x 103 x 32mm
189g
Macro:
HD Movies:
Manual Controls:
Batteries:
Memory Cards:
3cm
Yes
Yes
Lithium ion
SD/SDHC/SDXC
Features
Megapixels and Zoom
The Coolpix P300 has 12 megapixels and a 4.2x optical zoom lens. The lens has a focal length equivalent to 24 - 100mm in 35mm format. Image stabilisation or vibration reduction as Nikon refer to it has been built into the lens. To help you with lowlight photography the lens has a maximum aperture of f/1.8.
Memory Cards
Images are stored on SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards. A small amount of built in memory is available for emergencies.
Batteries
Power is provided by a lithium ion battery. A battery and charger is supplied with the Coolpix P300 by Nikon. Nikon estimates you should be able to take around 240 shots in between battery charges.
Movie Mode
The Coolpix P300 is capable of recording Full High Definition movies with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Stereo sound can be recorded.
LCD Screen
The LCD screen is 3 inches in size and is made up of around 921,000 dots.
Shooting Modes
The pre programmed shooting modes available to you are: Back Light, Beach, Black and White Copy, Close Up, Dusk/Dawn, Fireworks Show, Food, Landscape, Museum, Night Landscape, Night Portrait, Panorama, Party/Indoor, Pet Portrait, Portrait, Scene Auto Selector, Snow, Special Effects, Sports and Sunset. When you select one of these modes, the camera recognises the type of picture you are about to take and changes the settings accordingly. This should lead to better pictures.
Macro Mode
For close up work the Coolpix P300 is able to focus from 3cm away from your subject. This is inline with other advanced compact digital cameras.
Advanced Features
The advanced features on offer to you include fully manual exposure, aperture priority and shutter priority, metering, bracketing, white balance, ISO and exposure compensation. There is a burst mode that can fire off up to 7 shots at up to 8 frames per second.
Comparing this camera to ones form brands such as Canon and Panasonic the Coolpix P300 appears to have fewer options for fine tuning your photos. For example there is no spot metering. White balance and colour options are also lacking some of the options available to you with other cameras. In addition there is no RAW mode. This could be a big drawback to you if you like working with your photos using software such as Adobe Photoshop.
Handling
General Handling
Being that bit larger than an ultra compact digital camera the Coolpix P300 has more room for you to take a firm hold. On the back of the camera is a rubberised area offering plenty of room for you to place your thumb.
Flash Positioning
The flash unit pops up on the top of the camera. There is a switch on the side of the camera you use to make the flash pop up when you need it.
LCD Screen Quality
The quality of the LCD screen is excellent. It has a higher resolution than most cameras have. This gives you a brighter, clearer screen that you should still be able to view on bright days.
Turn on Time and Shutter Delay
Turn on and flash times are o.k., but it would have been a bonus to have seen faster times to match some of the features available.
Design, Build Quality and Finish
The design is fairly plain, but at the same time the camera has a look of quality. It is relatively lightweight in the hand without feeling flimsy or fragile. It has a matt black finish.
Camera Controls
The Coolpix P300 has more buttons and dials than most digital cameras. On the top is the main control dial, the on off button, the shutter button and a further dial. The main control dial allows you to set the shooting mode. The shutter button sites inside a ring that controls zoom. The final control dial is used to change settings such as shutter speeds.
Four buttons on the back of the camera control shooting movies, reviewing images, accessing the menu system and deleting unwanted photos.
There is also a main control section. This gives you access to setting the flash mode, exposure compensation, placing the camera in macro mode and activating the self timer. In the centre is a further button for confirming a selection. Also in this section is a jog dial or selection wheel. This is used to choose menu options and to change the aperture.
Image Quality - See Sample Images Below
Picture Quality Summary
Picture quality is inline with expectations for this type of camera. The definition and detail showing in the shots is excellent and demonstrates one of the main differences you can expect to see when you pay more for your camera.
Outdoor Scenic Shot 1
Looking at the first test shot you can immediately see the overall quality when it comes to sharpness. The clarity and level of detail showing in the more shady areas is impressive. There could have been extra detail showing in the lightest areas of the shot. This is the only part of all the tests where the Coolpix P300 finds any difficulty when it comes to definition.
Outdoor Scenic Shot 2
The sky is certainly a deep shade of blue. In fact it is a surprisingly deep as the sky did not appear to have such deep colour when the picture was taken. Aside from that point sharpness is a clear step up on more basic digital cameras. Despite the wide angle lens sharpness is retained well as you move out towards the edges of the photo.
Outdoor Scenic Shot 3
When compared to other compact cameras this shot is right up there with the best of them. This is another example of how the Coolpix P300 is able to produce sharply focused shots. That sharpness is still there at the edge of the picture too.
Outdoor Building
This shot perhaps more than any other emphasises that when you step up to digital cameras at this level picture quality goes to another level. This is down to a combination of factors such as the level of detail showing, the brightness of the shot and the way sharpness is maintained up to the edges of the photo.
Outdoor Portrait
The Coolpix P300 has no focusing issues working closer in. The one concern covering all three portrait test shots is that the skin tones look over done with too much pink.
Indoor Portrait With Flash
With flash turned on the Coolpix P300 produces a shot that is well lit. One of the big differences between cameras when it comes to using flash is the harshness of the light. In many cases the light is harsh causing a loss of natural colour in the photo. If you take a look at this test shot you will see that hair colour has a much more natural look than many cameras manage. The lighting is also spread across the shot whereas some cameras create a more concentrated burst that can wash out colour from the face while leaving other areas of the portrait too dark.
Indoor Portrait Without Flash
The Coolpix P300 performs well when lighting isn't perfect. This is partly down to the large lens aperture. The indoor portrait without flash compares well against other cameras. The low noise levels and sharpness are impressive. This test result also suggests the Coolpix P300 is capable of producing low noise shots in fading light outside too.
Macro
If you are looking for confirmation as to the quality of the lens it can be worth checking out shots taken using the macro mode. In this case the macro shot offers the same high quality focusing that other shots have produced. You can focus from 3cm away from your subject so you have plenty of scope for close up photography.
Colours
There is a lot of strength to the colours produced by the Coolpix P300. How you like colours to look is a matter of personal taste, but in some of the tests the colours have bordered on being over powering.
Noise
Noise is not really an issue with the Coolpix P300. This level of camera handles noise levels and other general quality problems well. This allows you to take advantage of the megapixels available and go for large size prints.
Shutter Lag Times
Single Shot
Five Shots
Single Shot With Flash
Five Shots With Flash
Turn on Time
0.45 seconds
7.52 seconds
0.93 seconds
10.83 seconds
1.97 seconds
Ease of Use
To get the most out of this camera requires some extra time and effort. Although it can be used as a simple point and shoot it offers a lot more than that and gaining a better understanding of how to access and use the features is well worth the effort.
Points I Like
Picture quality, features, compact size, value for money
Where it Could Improve
No RAW mode
Verdict
As mentioned in the features section the Nikon Coolpix P300 does not offer quite the same range of features that some advanced compacts offer. When you compare prices though against say the Panasonic Lumix DMC LX5 and the Canon Powershot S95 you will see the Coolpix P300 is a fair bit cheaper. Therefore if you are looking for a digital camera with a range of advanced features and excellent picture quality, but you don't need every bell and whistle then this camera may well be just right for you.
Test Shots
Product Shots
Front View
Back View
Top View
Sample Menus
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Related Pages
Nikon Coolpix P300 Review Nikon Coolpix P300 Specification Nikon Coolpix P300 Sample Images
Where to Buy - Nikon Coolpix P300
Review Date
November 2011
