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Product Summary
Very good
The good: Optically stabilized, wide-angle lens with long zoom; comfortable shooting design; voice annotation; time-lapse mode. 7.1
out of 10View score
The bad: Poor noise handling above ISO 200; no RAW support; relatively slow performance.
The bottom line: One of the better 18x megazooms, nevertheless you should consider the Nikon Coolpix P80's sluggish performance before you commit to it.
Read full review of the Nikon Coolpix P80 »
Average User Rating
from 3 users
Spectacular
8.7
out of 10CNET Asia Review
Frequent travelers will know the importance of needing a camera with both wide-angle lenses and telephoto optics. While a dSLR may come to your mind now, there is a class of shooters in-between point-and-shoots and its interchangeable lens siblings: Megazoom cameras. Typically, these snappers were seen as bulky devices, but Nikon's Coolpix P80 is touted to be the world's smallest 18x zoom shooter, and it has a good set of features to satisfy enthusiasts. However, its less-than-satisfactory image quality may not go down well with fussy shutterbugs.
The navigation switch is large, with a clear, tactile delineation between the inner OK button and the outer navigation controls. The body, though made of textured black plastic, doesn't feel particularly cheap or fragile.
Our one pet peeve, which we've mentioned with regard to other cameras, was having to access the setup menu from the dial. We found ourselves hitting the menu button to make it go away, ineffectively, of course. If you only had to go into the menu once during the initial setup, it wouldn't be so annoying. However, that's where the Format function resides, and you have to perform this operation regularly to maintain your memory card.
Like its competitors, you call up most of the frequently used shooting controls via a dedicated button, including exposure compensation, focus modes (macro, infinity, and manual), self-timer, and flash (including red-eye reduction, fill, slow sync, and rear curtain sync). You can also navigate via the back dial, which also controls your shutter, aperture, and exposure-compensation adjustments in various shooting modes. The display and LCD/EVF toggle buttons felt oddly small given the size of the camera, though.
Tags: Dial, Camera, compensation, Nikon Corp., adjustment
Editors' note:
This review is based on tests done by our sister site CNET.com. As such, please note that there may be slight differences in the testing procedure and ratings system. For more information on the actual tests conducted on the product, please inquire directly at the site where the article was originally published. References made to some other products in this review may not be available or applicable in Asia.Design
For megazoom shooters, the Nikon Coolpix P80's 18x zoom, 27-486mm F2.8-4.5 lens likely sits at the top of the list of the P80's attractions. The range provides a good combination of wide-angle and telephoto views at relatively wide maximum aperture values. Nikon supports the lens with an agreeable and functional design. Weighing 365g, the P80 is no feather, but that is common for megazoom shooters. The P80 is relatively compact, with a comfortable rubberized grip and thumbrest.The navigation switch is large, with a clear, tactile delineation between the inner OK button and the outer navigation controls. The body, though made of textured black plastic, doesn't feel particularly cheap or fragile.
Like its competitors, you call up most of the frequently used shooting controls via a dedicated button, including exposure compensation, focus modes (macro, infinity, and manual), self-timer, and flash (including red-eye reduction, fill, slow sync, and rear curtain sync). You can also navigate via the back dial, which also controls your shutter, aperture, and exposure-compensation adjustments in various shooting modes. The display and LCD/EVF toggle buttons felt oddly small given the size of the camera, though.
Tags: Dial, Camera, compensation, Nikon Corp., adjustment
Rate It Now
User Reviews
Cool Piece of technology
Sep 6, 2009Rating: 10 out of 10 (Perfect)
Pros: huge zoom, high iso, easy apporaching buttons
Cons: flash does not popups automatically
Opinion:
Cool camera, its bridge between point and shoot and dslr. You will be happy after seeing its stunning results.
Reliable point and shoot camera, but not excellent
Dec 24, 2008Rating: 6 out of 10 (Good)
Pros: User-friendly
Cons: Image quality on low light and high ISO sucks big time
Opinion:
It's almost retarded that user reviewers will indicate not a single comment on why this camera is good or bad, yet shouts "trust me you won't regret" or something like that. Well, this is indeed a decent P&S camera. It has all the bells and whistles in this category. Trying it out at the Nikon booth in a recent camera roadshow, it does produce decent photos at macro and at long-range PROVIDED there is adequate light. Push the ISO range to 400 and noise starts becoming visible, which is not good for a camera at this niche.
And considering cameras get used a lot indoors for parties and related events where lighting conditions are on the dim side, I won't recommend this camera. I agree with CNET's review, image quality is not good at all when you exit the "safe" ISO 100-200 range.
BEST!!
Oct 21, 2008Rating: 10 out of 10 (Perfect)
Pros: -
Cons: -
Opinion:
TRUST ME U WONT REGRET BUYING THIS CAMERA
User Discussion
momodreamer:
Oh , i'm using P80 for 2 month .
Seriously , the pictures is great and sharpen .
Even when i ...
gohleonard:
Well, the P80 is quite a decent camera with a good zoom range. Also, the optical image stabilization will ...
vk4cws:
Hello, can anybody honestly give me an opinion on Nikon Coolpix P80? Are the images sharp - blur free, ...
