Nikon P100 now out

Nikon Coolpix P100 Find the best price

The battle of the bridges is about to heat up! It may be the third super-zoom camera with a back-illuminated CMOS sensor to have been presented this year, but the Nikon Coolpix P100 has hit the shops before its main rival, the Fuji HS10, which is currently only available to pre-order. And there’s still no sign of the Casio FH25, the first such model announced.

So what’s the difference between BSI (Back Side Illumination), backlit and inverted sensors? Well, pretty much nothing, as all of these technical terms basically mean the same thing: the supporting structure of the CMOS sensor is located under the photodiodes rather than on top of them, allowing the sensor to capture light more effectively. Whatever it’s called, you'll notice this type of sensor becoming increasingly popular in both compact and bridge cameras.

The Nikon P100 features one of these BSI sensors, although its spec is perhaps a little less ambitious than that of Fuji’s competing model. The P100, for example, has a zoom of just 26x (26-678 mm) with electronic controls. The swivel screen, on the other hand, has a much sharper resolution and the Nikon has a more compact design too.

The P100 is priced slightly more competitively than the Fuji HS10, although it’s a tad more expensive than the FZ38 as BSI technology is typically more pricey than CCD.

The P100 also has a Full HD video mode and a high-speed burst mode, functions which are directly linked to the faster speeds of the CMOS sensor.

The 26x lens did worry us somewhat, however, as its spec looked frighteningly similar to last year’s Olympus SP-590 UZ and all its related clones. I’ve now seen a P100 for myself (although it’s too soon to say when I’ll get chance to test it) and when inspected from all possible angles, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the lens did look different. For a start, the internal rings are visibly different in shape. So will the P100 have a better lens than the disappointing models of 2009? I certainly hope so, but you’ll have to wait until we test it to find out for sure.

> Product Survey: Bridge Digital Cameras


> Buyer's Guides: Our Pick of The Best Products