Nikon Coolpix P7000 Review Discussion

[Jim Keenan]

The Coolpix P7000 joined its D3100 and D7000 big brothers in reaching market in the late third quarter of calendar year 2010. Nikon describes this latest high-performance Coolpix as ".... the perfect complement to an advanced photographer's D-SLR, and it inspires the entry-level consumer to explore the boundaries of their photographic capabilities and fulfill their creative vision."

Read the full content of this Article: Nikon Coolpix P7000 Review

Related Articles:

• Nikon Coolpix P7000 First Look
• Nikon Coolpix P7000 packs 7.1x zoom, HD video

[kelsci]

I recently tried what I call an interesting experiment.

Many people post videos on you tube of the cameras that they bought. So if I want to get an idea of the video quality of a particular camera I will use AURA YOU TUBE DOWNLOADER of which I copy and paste the link to the video taken with that camera. In some cases, there can be many links from various owners of the same camera. If they download properly and the camera shot in stereo sound, the stereo track is downloaded as well and I can download that into a video file. I will rename the video file into some kind of classification group if say I have 20 videos from the same model camera. What I do not download from you tube is anybody who dubs music and the like preventing me from hearing the actual sound quality of the camera.

The next step is to burn a dvd-r of those files. In this case, I use DVD FLICK which has served me quite well and will convert FLV files that I have downloaded into a NTSC or Mpeg 2 file that will play on a dvd player of which I use an upconvert model on my 37 inch Toshiba Regza. I can use a headset to evaluate the audio quality and stereo imaging. My ultimate goal is to run the burnt disc on my 5.1 system in either Dolby Pro-Logic 2 movie and/or a two channel virtual mode to see if the camera's mics pick up other sounds that may be in back or on the side of the mic that will give back matrix surround sound..

There were videos posted on youtube from the P7000 and as such I am downloading them as I described above. Preliminary looking at their quality on you tube that I thought this camera is a capable video camera since the video quality looked quite good IMHO. I know there is stereo sound on some if not all of the downloads so like I described above I will evaluate the sound quality too.

As far as audio quality goes, so far the Fuji HS10 gives you superb fidelity and stereo sound. The stereo imaging is excellent and the sound quality has depth and breath. On one video, a little boy was playing the drums which was recorded superbly. This camera can record music with finesse. I would rate its pic. quality as good to good plus depending from what I saw. I think that this Nikon P7000 may give better video quality than the Canon G12 judging from what I saw on you tube but I have to convert and burn and examine before I can fully make that statement.

[kelsci]

I did download some video files from UTUBE on this camera. The video quality was quite good and IMHO better than the Canon G12. If you want excellent to great stereo audio on your videos it will be hard to beat this unit. The stereo separation was great and there was pinpoint stereo imaging. On top of that the sound quality seem to have great fidelity over my headset perhaps besting the Fuji HS10 samples that I heard.

[fgbrault]

Jim, thank you for your review of the Nikon P7000. Your review is excellent, in fact, the best I have read, I have one question and one suggestion.

I have found that my P7000 will go ahead and take a photo when it is reporting that it is not in focus (red square, blinking green light, no beep) if I fully press the shutter. It appears that you found that when it reports correct focus and has not yet actually achieved correct focus, that it will not take the picture until it arrives at correct focus, even if you press the shutter fully down? I hope my understanding is correct, as that would prevent out of focus photos being taken, after you think the camera has focused.

In the lead sentence in your review you say: "The Nikon P7000 is an excellent advanced compact in its own right with exceptional image quality, but it falls just a hair short of the Canon G12's performance." I would suggest that you move this comparison to the G12 to your Conclusion. I am concerned that some people considering both cameras will immediately assume they should buy the G12 and not read your review. I am also, concerned that some will mistakenly think you are referring to image quality here, when in fact your review makes clear that the image quality of the P7000 is equal to that of the G12 at lower ISOs and slightly better than the G12 at higher ISOs. When someone reads the full review then they may can take into consideration the performance and features of both cameras and then decide which is best for their needs. I chose the P7000 primarily because I wanted the extra focal length and am very happy with my decision.

Thanks again for a superb review.

[Jim Keenan]

I appreciate your kind comments.

My experience with the P7000 was that on some occasions the camera would beep indicating focus and I would go to a full push with no effect, then a split second later the shutter would fire and capture the image. It wasn't shutter lag, which was negligible in most cases, but I couldn't get it to capture until it wanted to. I didn't run into the camera taking shots that were out of focus, but since I installed the firmware update before shooting the P7000 extensively, I have no way of knowing if that had an effect on the performance I observed. I purposely don't read camera reviews of a camera I'm reviewing until I've finished so as to not be influenced one way or the other, but the effect you noted has been reported in some instances.

I agree that the P7000's longer zoom is an attractive feature and with image quality being equal to the Canon it would probably be my choice if I were in the market for a camera in this class. The caveat is the AF issue which sometimes pops up - the Canon is slower to AF but a bit more consistent than the P7000, and that's primarily the reason to rate the P7000 just a tick behind, despite image quality and noise performance that are equal.

The opening sentence is primarily a quick boilerplate evaluation of the camera overall, and in this instance involves mention of the G12 since that is arguably the benchmark in the class right now. In most cases I wouldn't make a direct comparison with another camera.

[fgbrault]

Jim, I am also using firmware 1.1. I think I have experienced the lag too. If it occurs again I will know what is happening, thanks to your review. Thanks again.

Regards,
Frank B

[marcther]

I'm fit to be locked up ...just got my 4th P7000.
The 2 first ones bugged up in less than 2 weeks
Lens blades problems and were replaced by a new
ones, the third has left for repairs a week ago for
the same problems and they don't know when they'll
get the parts. Lens Blades issue, battery compartment,
white balance going off for no reasons. I bought the
4th one because I have invested in every imaginable
accessories, lens tube, wide angle lens, batteries,
SB400 flash (My SB600 and 900 were too big)
I'm close to 1,700.CN$ invested in 2 cameras in order
to have one (if I'm lucky) working while the other is
on it's way to or from repairs.
It’s unthinkable of selling, I would need to find a looser
to buy all the stuff if I don’t want to be one myself.

[Andy Stanton]

That's a horror story. What were your lens blade issues?

[marcther]

They get stuck halfway when closing and you have to push them out of the way or they will make black lines on top and bottom of your picture. You will find more horror stories reading more of my stories in other reviews on the web