Nikon Coolpix P80

May 8, 2008 02:44

4.0/5
I own a Nikon d40x, and D300 and this is an amazing back up camera. It takes as great shots as my d40x does, sometimes haha. I would recommend this to anyone just starting out, if you it's your first camera or as a backup, you will not be disappointed at all. It takes amazingly clear shots and at 10MP you can blow up your shots poster size...it has a great video function, manual modes for up to 8" long exposures. The LCD is bright, clear and accurate. The long lens range and 18x zoom along with macro function lets you get some great shots you would not be able to with any other coolpix or canon SD series camera. This is an excellent camera, the only thing I wish it had was RAW, I love shooting in RAW, but that's just me. This would be a 10\10 if it had RAW and if you could expose for more than 8 seconds, but hey for 400$ its practically as nice as an 800$ d40x!!!! Buy this camera, you will not be let down.

- resvelvet

June 15, 2008 07:56

4.0/5
I think the expert review on this web site is actually fairly accurate and well-balanced, and frankly better than most of the other expert reviews on this camera. A lot of people coming from digital SLR's have posted reviews on the Web that criticize this camera because of its relative lack of speed and somewhat noisy images, but it is a little bit ridiculous to compare any of the so-called ultra zooms to any digital SLR on those points. Admittedly, the camera could be faster, and I have disabled ISO above 200 because it is frankly virtually unusable. It bugs me that they don't allow you the in-camera editing features on full-size images, which seems to defeat the whole purpose of being able to do red-eye correction, image cropping and other editing tools within the camera itself.

On the other hand, the cameras feature set is so intuitive that I was able to access virtually every feature without consulting the manual. People need to remember that ultra zooms as a class are always going to have some fairly significant intrinsic trade-offs between absolute image quality and flexibility of being able to go from wide-angle and fairly extreme zoom ranges without having the inconvenience of switching lenses and without the enormous bulk of a digital SLR and two (very expensive!) large lens kits. I do think Nikon probably should have done a better job making the camera a bit more responsive, as it just takes too long sometimes to get a shot off. And I'm completely baffled as to why they included editing features that you can't use most of the time. however I have to say that the images that I have gotten so far have been consistently good to excellent including some very fine macro images, an area where Nikon has always excelled. If you keep some of these trade-offs in mind, and you're not looking for digital SLR levels of performance and low noise at higher ISO speeds, this camera will not to be a disappointment (snooty reviews on the Web to the contrary). It packs a lot in a very small container, and frankly gives you a lot for your money.

- dfwatt

June 9, 2008 04:46

4.0/5
Got the first one at Best Buy and after 2 weeks it started displaying white streaks on the vu-finder. Returned it and got a replacement from Best Buy, no questions asked. The replacement has worked great with no problems. They must have been working out the bugs in the first batch. The zoom is super fast. The sports action mode has some problems in bright light in that it makes over exposed streaks on the pictures, but in dim light it works well. Was able to take pictures of pitches crossing the plate in a local baseball game and actually see the ball in successive shots as it moved closer to the plate! I've had the Nikon 5700 and 8700 in the past, and like the features of the P80 better. Just wish they would have kept CF memory and the same battery as the 5700 and 8700 so I didn't need to buy new batteries, chargers and memory cards, sigh... I ended up getting extra batteries, chargers and memory on e-bay and PriceGrabber for good prices. Overall, an excellent camera, the sports action setting needs a little improvement in bright light situations.

- Kenneth Zoellner

May 28, 2008 11:29

4.5/5
I finally upgraded my Olympus 4 mega pixel 10X zoom camera. I really like Olympus cameras and have purchased several lately for gifts (compact 6-7 mega pixels). So when it came time to upgrade my 10X zoom, I expected to get another Olympus. But after reading reviews and checking out the pros and cons, I opted for this Nikon P80 and am VERY satisfied. The "zoom factor" for a camera in this price range is far more than expected and the quality has been excellent. I haven't tried all the features yet, but so far, so great. I would highly recommend this camera.

- elynngreen

May 1, 2008 08:04

4.5/5
I have had this camera for 2 days now, and I could be happier. It beats the Canon S3 IS and S5 IS, the Olympus SP 560 and 570, and the Panasonic FZ18. I have done extensive research on all of these models, and tried them all at a store. I took a gamble and went with this new nikon model and i love the speed, picture quality, and the super fast zoom lens. The VR is extremely effective when i am taking pictures of my kids in their sports leagues. I can't put this camera down!!

- kiddrule

September 7, 2008 10:18

5.0/5
Nikon P80 cost about $400.00 there is no better camera in the world for this price!
AND please all other Reviewers! When you right about camera please mention what lenses are you using! Thanks!

- Herc_power

June 21, 2008 11:37

4.0/5
I wanted a compact camera with super-telephoto and SLR features that I could always have with me. My D70 with all its lenses and accessories isnt always practical. I wanted the ability to shoot video too. On the first day of use I shot a couple of portraits of two of my grandchildren that were just amazing. I have had the camera for about 2 weeks now and am fairly familiar with it. There are still a few features that I need some more practice with, but my favorite feature is the preprogrammed scene modes. If you are looking for a camera that will do most everything well, check this one out. I would highly recommend that you get an extra battery if you plan to do lots of shooting especially with the speedlight (flash.) It wont replace my D70, but since I will always have a quality camera with me I wont miss that shot either.

- stoutdog

July 25, 2008 09:40
Good
1.5/5
This is a very slow camera, slow to turn on, slow to take pictures, and the internal software won't take more than ~ 10 shots in a row w/o freezing up.

Further, despite all the software updates I am now unable to upload pics from my camera to my mac. Both Nikon and Mac have been no help.

I am returning this **** camera for a full refund. What a waste of my money and time.

- najeebkhan--2008

June 11, 2008 05:32
Excellent
2.0/5
The review of the Nikon P80 notes the digital noise, the slow processing, (even on the fastest read/write memory chip I have, I still found it to be slow,) etc.
The most disappointing aspect of the camera is the washed out pictures--not only highlights, but entire well lit areas. I have fiddled with the menu to try to get better renditions, to some inprovement.
It is ironic, I got the camera because of its manual, shutter and apperture priority features, but the best pics I have gotten were obtained using its point-and-shoot option.
Truly disappointig!!

- e-llustrator

June 3, 2008 09:44
Excellent
2.0/5
One of the main reasons I bought this was the sports mode. But I have to return after using two days. Whenever I dial to the sporst mode, I felt the continual shaking & dull sounds. It was not worth to keep over $399.

- wowbillythekids