Nikon Coolpix P80 review

The Nikon P80 being so compact, the grip is not that great, and the handle is rather ‘symbolical’. One has to choose between a compact or an easy-to-grip camera: Nikon engineers have decided for us.
 

Similarly, the P80 ergonomy - just like for most bridge cameras - was apparently designed to work using the screen and not the viewfinder, judging by the buttons are placed: they are difficult to access when one is trying to point using the viewfinder. The P80 becomes more comfortable when you hold it at arm's length while viewing via the screen. Apart from this, the buttons are placed in a logical way and allow to quickly access the main features.
 

The selection ring for the du diaphragm is very pleasant to use and really handy!

The devil is in the details: the shutter to protect the lens really looks ‘cheap’. Besides, it stays on: we tried 5 times to turn the camera on without removing the shutter, and it was ejected only twice. Similarly, the shutter of the battery trapdoor is of light manufacturing.

 

The P80 offers a good screen: even outside in the sunlight, there is still some contrast thanks to these 2.7 inches and 230 000 pixels. An electronic coverage is disappointing, however that of P80 can still be used – without being able to rival an optical coverage or a real reflex coverage.
 

Shooting at longer zoom is pleasant but less easy when zooming out. A manual ring would have been great here.

Fortunately, the P80 18x lens is stabilized – indeed, at 432mm it is best to have some assistance to ensure that pictures are crisp below 1/500 s. Nikon is an expert in optical stabilization with its VR system, included here. The P80 VR system, although it is very efficient as one can see on the sample pics, turned out to be quite noisy. Here was our short test: from  1/8 to 1/2" the pictures are crisp, then blurred from 1s and even more for at short lens.

 

Having a 18x fit in a case as compact as that of the P80 means you have to compromise on  optical quality. However, here again Nikon shows their know-how so the zoom is optically very good, and makes the most of the little 1/2,33" 10-megapixel sensor. The only inconvenience is that it gets distorted in wide angle – however less distorted than other bridge cameras such as the Sony H5. This is because distortion is corrected by the P80 software.

 

Bridge cameras with their small sensors are not very good in high sensitivity. The P80 manages quite well though, and offers a grain quality which is somehow correct up to 400 ISO, workable up to 800 and 1 600 ISO and naturally, bad at 2 000 ISO.

 

  Nikon often takes advantage of its know-how in exposure management (cf the 3D colored matrix exposure of D300s). The P80 offers a correct exposure inside but tends to overexpose bright lights, which destroys fine details in high tonalities. Of course, D-Lighting efficiently clears shadows, even though this process inexorably increases the noise on the lightened dark areas. The built-in flash has a good reach and seems set so that the automatic white balance warms the tones up.

 

To conclude this Nikon P80 review, we can confirm that Nikon’s come back to bridge cameras with the P80 is a success. Indeed, if it has the same flaws as any bridge camera (ergonomy, electronic coverage, poor quality in high ISO settings) the P80 eventually performs well thanks to a very satisfying image quality, a good exposure, a very correct screen and most of all that Nikkor 18x zoom, stabilized with Nikon’s VR system.

One will rather have to choose between a bridge camera such as the Nikon P80 and a compact 28-200mm such as the Ricoh Caplio R8 or a 28-280mm such as the  Panasonic TZ5 tested on The Digital Newsroom. If those compact cameras offer smaller optical ranges, they nonetheless cover 95% of your needs in this respect, and have a more handy case.