Nikon P7000: The Return of the Expert Compact

Things seem to be heating up again in the expert compact market, a segment Nikon (like many others) had abandoned with the discreet discontinuation of the P6000. Nikon is now back on the scene with the new Coolpix P7000, a decidedly more expert camera that's no longer quite so compact. It does, however, look more promising than its predecessor.

The P6000 wasn't exactly Nikon's most successful model. This expert compact was a little too compact, had too many gimmicks (GPS, Ethernet port etc.) and had a pretty rubbish battery life. As a result, it just couldn't stand up to the Canon G series. So after a year on the market, the P6000 was discreetly removed from Nikon's product range with no successor announced.

In 2010, the expert compact which, it's true, is really quite important for a manufacturer's image, is back with a vengeance in the digital camera market. Samsung has released the EX1, Panasonic is back with the LX5 and Canon will almost certainly be poised to announce a G12 (a new G model has been announced each autumn since the G7 in 2006). Now Nikon is hoping to rival them all with the Coolpix P7000.

A good lens is essential for any expert compact. While Panasonic and Samsung have gone for speed and Canon has prioritised the zoom, Nikon has followed suit with a 28-200 mm zoom lens with a fairly limited aperture in telephoto mode (f/5.6) and a standard aperture in wide-angle (f/2.8). It can also focus on objects at distances as close as 2 cm. The zoom can be fixed to a pre-defined focal length (28, 35, 50, 85, 105, 135 and 200 mm) and you can save your preferred focal length in three custom modes. Plus, a 3 EV neutral filter is built directly into the lens, which is handy for taking long-exposure shots in conditions that would otherwise be too bright.

Video mode plus an external microphone socket!

Newly announced today: Nikon S80 and P7000 side by side.

The P7000 has a 10-Megapixel CCD that can film 720p HD videos (codec H.264) at 24 fps. The zoom can be used while filming and sound is recorded in stereo. The P7000 even has a stereo socket for hooking up an external microphone. This is very rare indeed, and is possibly even unique on a compact camera. In fact, none of the other journalists we hobnobbed with at the launch event could think of any other model with this feature.

Aside from video, there's a Raw format for photos and the playback mode features a function for taking three different Jpeg photos from just one Raw shot.

The new image processor should make this camera more responsive, especially since the P6000 was pretty slow. Start-up is announced at under a second and focusing at 3/10ths, but we'll obviously be keen to check these figures for ourselves.

Design: new and improved

The screen is a pleasant 3-inch LCD with 920,000 dots. Contrast is announced at 800:1 (rare on a camera screen) and it covers the entire sRGB colour space. The P7000 has an optical viewfinder with a limited coverage (approx. 80 %), but the focusing frame looked to be well centred on the prototype we handled.

Big changes have been made in the design and handling of the P7000. Settings are accessed via a thumb wheel and a click-round wheel, and all buttons have been moved to the right of the screen.

It's not the back of the camera that's surprising though, as it basically looks like one of the latest Canon models but without a swivel screen. On top of the camera, however, there are two new control dials (as well as the one for adjusting exposure).The right-hand dial looks like a carbon copy from the Canon G10 and is used for controlling exposure compensation.

The other, on the left, allows you to select the function that can be accessed when you press the button in the middle of the dial. For example, if you set the dial to ISO then press the button, it'll bring up the sensitivity settings. This function looks to have come straight from Minolta, as we've already seen it in the Dimage A1 and A2 (pictured right)! It's surprising to see Nikon digging up this dead and buried feature, however (this system was dropped by Sony, last seen on the Alpha 100 in 2006), especially since very few users really preferred this system to the now-standard 'quick menus'.

The price to pay for all this new technology is that in spite of getting rid of all the gizmos from the P6000 (GPS etc.), the P7000 is actually quite bulky. Measuring 114 x 77 x 45 mm and weighing 35 g, it's longer, wider and thicker than a Canon G11. Bigger it may be, but we'll have to wait until we get our hands on one to decide whether or not it's better.

The Nikon Coolpix P7000 is due for UK release on 23 September and will be priced at £480.

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