Wednesday, 20 October 2010

Nikon P7000 - First Thoughts

I have had the new Nikon P7000 now for three weeks (a big thank-you to Harrison Photo-Video in Sheffield who got me one the day after it was released) and I thought a little report back might be a good idea. It is quite a chunky beast, substantially bigger and heavier than my old Leica DLux 3, but is small enough to be carried on the hip and used with one hand.
The lens is a cracker, at 28-200 it covers a substantial range and at 2.8-5.6 is quite fast too.The two shots above show the full range of the zoom - impressive enough.
It has a decent sized sensor, reasonable low light performance, a rapid shooting mode (not sure how many fps - but a few). A 90 minute battery charge lasts for more than a week of shooting. It has a high quality video mode (720 fps) in which the full range of the zoom works AND a view-finder. Link HERE to a short video. It also has a neat 'stitch-assist' for overlapping panoramas which is very effective. Rapid start up and negligible shutter lag; all in all, a great package.

Cons: the manual only comes as a PDF, the battery symbol only shows when it needs a recharge rather than a diminishing scale (still get a days shooting out of it when the light comes on), and it will fire when it can't focus (shows a red square to warn you mind). I would have preferred the lcd screen to be recessed rather then flush with the back of the camera, will need to take care.

3 comments:

Rob P aka Veteye on UKC said...

Have wondered about this camera as my D90 has been a disappointment, and is currently at the mend again, along with the equivalent lens of the P7000, i.e 28-200, and also a more manageable lens, 28-135.So I currently am using my old D70 and a pre-digital 70-300 lens which is far too much of a zoom, and has of course no wide angle possibility.
I probably will get the camera mended,but may also buy the high end compact.
How much did yours cost?

Chris Craggs said...

List price was £485, I got it for £450 and that included a £20 Lowe-Pro hip case.

CC

Chris Craggs said...

I think you can get them for c£350 now. Software Version 1.1 has sharpened up the focusing and the write times.

Cruising up the Coast

Some easy climbing close to the house   We bailed from the Ariege and drove north and east, with a windy stop at Saint Victoire to a very ni...