A Very Long Reach - The Nikon COOLPIX P80
Reviewed on 20 May 2008

Nikon has remained fairly quiet in the compact digital camera arena. Oh sure, there were several Nikon compact cameras that tried to tickle our fancy, but none of them were exciting enough to linger in people's consciousness for very long. But that is about to change as a new addition to the COOLPIX family comes along that actually managed to turn our heads.

The Nikon COOLPIX P80's claim to fame is the enviable 18x optical zoom in a tiny body. The P80 squeezes in a 35mm equivalent 27-486mm Nikkor lens, a 10.1 megapixels CCD sensor and a wide 2.7-inch LCD and still manages to miniaturize the whole deal. At first glance it may not look that small, but wait till you get it in your hand. In the small but powerful peeping arena, the P80 trumps the Fujifilm S1000FD which only managed a 12x optical zoom and it only weighs 40g more.

If you've been wishing for a nice lightweight camera for those bird-watching outings, you shouldn't wait around any longer. 18x zoom will get you close to your feathery friends and true to point and shoot philosophy, the P80 makes it a cinch to take photos with an auto mode that will make all those pesky decisions for you and face detection that can track up to 12 faces in the frame. However if you've been meaning to wean yourself off of the auto modes, there's the manual, program, aperture and shutter priority mode with all the flexibility that goes with it.

The P80 takes pretty good photos, even if image quality isn't in the top rung of the ladder. The P80 has a tendency to overexpose some shots in aperture and shutter priority mode, but it also means shots in the dark won't be a nightmare. It doesn't offer RAW image capture, which might turn some people off, but it does come with a sports continuous capture mode that can take a nice 13fps for up to 30 consecutive shots. The P80 is for those of you who like a little action.

Nikon has thrown in optical image stabilisation in the form of their trademark VR in the lenses so even when you've maxed out the zoom or you're taking pictures in dim lighting the blur factor will be minimal. Add to this mix is in camera red eye correction, D-lighting and distortion control. Say goodbye to devil eyes in dark warped photos.

A feather light body and control dial means the P80 is easy to use. You can choose between 15 scene and movie modes so you aren't limited to just taking shots of birds. It might not be a svelte camera that you can slide into a back pocket, but you'll hardly notice it in a coat pocket, well except for a slightly bulky bulge.

The ISO can go up to 3200 and even 6400, but only at 3 megapixels which may not be all that useful, but in terms of noise control, up to ISO 2000, the grit level in the images are pretty good. The ISO at 64 and 100 is completely fuzz free and only begins to intrude in the image at about 400 though it really was hardly noticeable. The P80 like the rest of the Nikon family is really good at keeping the grain level low.

The Nikon COOLPIX P80 was designed for the active amateur photographer who wants a little more zoom power. Its lightweight body means you can carry it just about anywhere and that 10.1 megapixels CCD is above and beyond what you need for everyday photographs. Add to that the impressive 18x optical zoom and you can pretty much pluck the birds right out of the sky with very little effort. Easy to use with these exciting specs, Nikon has finally churned out a worthy compact digital camera.