Nikon Coolpix P3 Concise Review,
Simon Joinson, June 2006

Review based on a production Coolpix P3. Firmware Version 1.1

Announced just before PMA in February 2006, the 8 megapixel Coolpix P3 replaces the P2 at the top of Nikon's compact Coolpix range, adding a few features (the headline change being the introduction of optical image stabilization) and sleeker, simpler styling. Like the P2 the P3 is one of the small, but growing, band of cameras with built-in wireless (802.11 b/g) Wi-Fi capabilities, and like most of Nikon's higher-end Coolpix models it is stuffed to the gills with features, options and controls. Nikon also announced a sister model (the Coolpix P4) that offers exactly the same specification without the Wi-Fi for around $40 less. It is safe to assume that the image quality and handling aspects of this review are equally applicable to the P4.

Headline features

• 8.1 million effective pixels
• 3.5x optical zoom (36-126mm equiv.)
• 2.5" TFT screen
• Two-mode VR (Vibration Reduction) system (lens-shift)
• Built-in Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) capability
• BSS (Best Shot Selector) identifies and saves the sharpest image automatically from ten sequential shots
• Continuous shooting at up to 1.8fps
• Aperture priority mode
• Face-priority AF
• Histogram
• In-camera red-eye removal
• 16 Scene modes
• 23MB internal memory + SD card storage

Key specifications

* Supplied accessories may differ in each country or area

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of the terms used).

Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions. Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (typically VGA) image in a new window. To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top. DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C.

This article is Copyright 2006 and may NOT in part or in whole be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author.