- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 5 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Excellent all rounder"
Pros: Wide-angle, lots of functionality and manual control, good value
Cons: Slow focus, slow cont.shot, noisier than I like in low-light
Summary: Have had the P50 for a couple of weeks now, and taken a couple hundred shots in a variety of conditions. These comments are updated from my original posting on amazon.co.uk:
1) The photos.
The camera uses the smallest chip around 1:1/2.5 - don't know what that means, just that it's Very small. With 8m pixels crammed on this sensor, low light non-flash shots are quite noisy. My other cam is a fuji F31 though, which is just about the best p&s for low light, so maybe I've been spoilt. Flash shots are near enough perfect (and flash intensity can be fine tuned too), distance and close up outdoor shots also give good detail. Handles highlights quite well and brings out detail in shadows. Managed to keep the balance in bright outdoor shots without blowing out the blue sky or plunging the shaded foreground into gloom. All photos do benefit with a bit of sharpening in photoshop (app the P5100 also has shots that are a bit soft out of camera, so it looks like its a Nikon thing), but still perfectly usable straight out the unit. I've now also just upped the in-camera sharpening level to see if it might make a difference. Exposure hard to fool, but white balance you need to keep an eye on (especially in custom, which if combined with flash gets you a blue hued photo).
2) The design.
Easy to hold, looks good finished in all-black. Slightly slimmer and feels better put together than the Canon A570IS (4x zoom but no wide-angle). Uses AA batteries - sucks them dry quite quickly so recommend getting decent rechargeables as soon as you can. Looks a bit like it's elder siblings P5000/P5100 from the front, round the screen back it has a more conventional layout - most functions easily accessed through a combination of the rotating dial at the top of the camera (different modes) and the menu key on the back, which depending on the mode you're using gives you access to a wide range of set-up options.
Menu system not totally intuitive, but makes a good stab at it. One thing about the body, if you hold the camera with both hands whilst using the flash, need to be careful not to let a finger stand proud even slightly over the top of the body above the flash - it'll result in a shaded area at the top of your photo. Never had this before on any other camera, but it's just a design thing you have to adapt to.
Viewfinder for emergency use only.
3) Functionality.
Full manual on cd-rom - I still do hanker after the A5 or A6 sized manuals of old. Bought this camera because of it's combination of wide-angle lens, some manual flexibility, things like face detection and (electronic) image stabilisation all at c.GBP150 or so (looks like US consumers have it even better). Had tried and returned a Olympus FE-290 the week before because it was the same price, with wide-angle, but didn't have any of the additional functions mentioned above.
The electronic image stabilisation (e-VR) works ok with NO shaky shots so far but it hasn't been tried in extremis, and the screen tells you when it's been employed in a shot. You need to get to the P5000 level before they bring in the superior, optical/mechanical image stabilisation - which is a bit cheap of Nikon, since Canon uses a mechanical system on their cameras in this price range.
In manual mode you can adjust shutter speed (8secs to 1/1000) and aperture (only two options -F2.8 OR F5.6). Image size can be adjusted too (in all modes), including 16:9 mode that's a decent 3200x1800 resolution. For some modes you can select image colour (softer, vivid etc) which I've kept mostly on vivid, for more dramatic photos. White balance includes manual adjustment which I find most useful for lower light flash free shots - noisy but usable, and keeps the yellow cast away. WB also has flash option, which works at keeping colours non-washed out in a flash photo.
Metering has four options including Spot AF, and continuous shot has five options - in the latter case continuous, Nikon's Best Shot Selector, multi-shot are unavailable if Noise Reduction is switched on. Noise reduction helps mop up noise in low shutter speed shots, but sacrifices detail - still fine for 5x7 prints though, or (taking it on a photo by photo basis) even larger. Auto focus has 4 options including face priority and manual, the latter which allows you to frame the shot whilst moving the focal point onto the primary focal spot. Flash exposure can also be adjusted.
And finally.
Overall a wide range of manual functions and Nikon functionality (BSS, D-Lighting etc) that encourages you to explore the commendable limits of this camera. Wide angle coupled with functions coupled with price make this a winner. Slow focusing and post-shot processing (even w an SDHC card) limits your moving-subject type shots. No battery indicator until you're just about out of juice - frankly you need more warning.
I think this cam deserves to be shortlisted on anybody's list who wants a wide-angle, some manual control, some 'gee-whiz' functions, whilst keeping an eye on the $$.
Where to buy
Nikon Coolpix P50:
$189.21
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$189.21 | Yes |
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