Overview
The Nikon Coolpix P80 is a 10 megapixel camera with an 18x optical zoom lens. This is one of the longest lenses you will find on a compact digital camera.
Why Buy The Nikon Coolpix P80
The long zoom lens makes this camera a good choice for photographers who are interested in sports and wildlife photography. The manual exposure controls make this camera a good choice for anyone who sees photography as a hobby or potential hobby. The Coolpix P80 is also relatively compact for a camera with such a long zoom lens.
Main Features
Megapixels:
Zoom:
LCD Screen:
Dimensions:
Weight:
10
18x
2.7 inches
79 x 110 x 78mm
365g
Macro:
HD Movies:
Manual Controls:
Batteries:
Memory Cards:
1cm
No
Yes
Lithium-ion Rechargeable
SD/SDHC
Image Quality - See Sample Images Below
Outdoor Scenic Shots in Good Light
Looking at my first photo the most striking point is the brightness of the shot. The colours are also just right for me too. The Coolpix P80 does a fair job of capturing detail from the lightest and darkest areas in the shot. A small amount of detail is lost where the sun is shining on the boats.
Here you can see the impact of the wide angle lens. I am impressed by the sharpness of this photo. It is above average for a camera with a wide angle lens.
With the lens fully zoomed in the shot loses some of its sharpness. Purple fringing is evident when the photo is blown up to a large size, but this common problem is handled better by the Coolpix P80 than most super zoom cameras manage.
The images produced by the Coolpix P80 are sharp, but perhaps not quite as pin sharp as I had hoped for. Nikon lenses are usually of high quality and I had been expecting the Coolpix P80 to be that bit better than it is in terms of sharpness for more distant shots.
Portraits
The skin tones are a bit pink in places, but the level of detail is very impressive. The skin tones were boosted by using a while balance setting of cloudy, so you can reduce the amount of colour by leaving white balance set to automatic.
This is quite a bright photo. Noise does begin to show up in the shot despite the good lighting levels. As with the majority of consumer level digital cameras it is not easy to get noise free lower light photos without resorting to flash.
There is plenty of detail in this shot. The light from the flash unit is quite harsh though and you can see where the lighting hits the forehead and cheeks.
Macro, Colours and Noise
The specification states that the Coolpix P80 can focus from 1cm away from the subject. I found difficulty in getting a sharp focus from any distance closer than 5cm. At that distance I found the camera was capable of taking a good quality macro shot.
As mentioned above I really like the combination of colour and brightness produced by the Coolpix P80. Aside from the most basic Nikon digital cameras this is one of the strengths of the range.
At ISO 400 noise shows in darker areas of the shot. So if you are planning to use a higher ISO to freeze motion you will need plenty of light for the photo. As ISO 1600 there are very high noise levels. I also ran a test for the highest ISO setting of 6400, but I am mystified as to why anyone would want to use this setting when I look at the picture quality it provides. I ran the ISO tests again with the Noise Reduction setting turned on, but it made little difference to the final result.
Summary
The Coolpix P80 does a good job overall. The camera is capable of taking bright, colourful photos. As long as you are not looking to make massive prints of distant subjects sharpness should be fine as well.
Style
For a super zoom camera with an 18x zoom lens the Coolpix is quite compact. I like the design and the camera feels right in the hand.
Shutter Lag Times
Single Shot
Five Shots
Single Shot With Flash
Five Shots With Flash
0.56 seconds
10.13 seconds
1.95 seconds
12.72 seconds
Ease of Use
With the extra manual controls it will take time to fully get to grips with the camera. It is as straightforward as in can be apart from maybe one or two of the menu options appearing as extra buttons on the body.
Points I Like
Style - controls - length of lens
Where it Could Improve
Shutter lag times should be faster
Verdict
The Nikon Coolpix P80 does the job it sets out to do well. Despite the extra controls it comes across as an unfussy camera and is a good choice for someone looking for as much zoom as possible.
Product Shots
Front View
Back View
Top View
Sample Menus
Top Rated Cameras in this Category
Panasonic DMC FZ100 Rating 87/100
The Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ100 is an outstanding digital camera. It offers plenty of shooting options for both stills and videos and is one of the most powerful digital cameras you will find. The combination of picture quality and features is very hard to beat. The specification includes 14 megapixels and a 24x zoom lens. Recommended.
Read Review: Panasonic DMC FZ100 Review
Panasonic DMC FZ45 Rating 87/100
The Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ45 has a lot going for it. I thought picture quality compared very well against digital cameras with a similar specification. There is a wide range of features to get to grips with too. In my view this is one of the best super zoom digital cameras and offers good value for money.
Read Review: Panasonic DMC FZ45 Review
Fuji Finepix HS10 Rating 87/100
This is a high class digital camera. If you are looking for ultimate zoom power it is very hard to beat. Picture quality is up there with the best and there is a great range of features on offer. I enjoyed using the twisting lens barrel to zoom in and out.
Read Review: Fuji Finepix HS10 Review
Related Pages
Nikon Coolpix P80 Review Nikon Coolpix P80 Specification Nikon Coolpix P80 Sample Images Nikon Coolpix P80 Features
Review Date
July 2008
