#101 Mike S

Mark Goldstein, thank you for an excellent review & a great site!Some folks on here just expect too much from a bridge camera. I use both a DSLR & a bridge camera & in many of the images it’s very hard to tell the difference. The P510 shows up well in many areas but I’ll stick with my Panasonic FZ47/48 for fast focusing, ease of quick ISO/white balance change, etc until something much better in a bridge camera comes along. Keep the excellent reviews coming Mark & thanks again!

8:02 pm - Sunday, June 10, 2012

#102 Eloísa

Hace un par de días adquirí una coolpix p510, estoy felíz con la cámara pero el manual me resulta muy básico.Hay algún sitio donde pueda recurrir para encontrar mayor precisión sobre su uso?

7:07 pm - Tuesday, June 12, 2012

#103 Terry Waxham

Thanks for the suggestions on extra batteries for the P510. I really enjoy this camera and I did post several photos on the Photo Blog in the Nature area (crumpshill). I took the photo of the dove at a distance of 120 feet. Yes it is slow to focus but being patient I get beautiful photos. Thanks for the help in deciding on which camera I wanted. Your review was what i needed.  Terry

6:22 pm - Friday, June 15, 2012

#104 riki1

Saturn & Mars NIKON P510

http://hayabusa.slovakforum.net/t179-topic#1232

10:36 pm - Friday, June 15, 2012

#105 Creation mc

Firstly, i’m just an average photographer progressing from a point and shoot to something better. I was going to buy a DSLR but someone suggested the canon sx40 instead. Anyway, I’ve spent the last few weeks researching bridge cameras on the net and in shops. It’s actually quite difficult to choose as many reviews are by professionals comparing to DSLRs, cropping to 100%, discussing ISOs and there’s no real consensus overall. For me it came down to fz150, sx40, Hx200 & p510.  I want an allround camera but also smt to photograph surfers from the beach and zoom is everything.  So I went with my feeling and bought the Nikon p510. It is small and light, feels good in my hands and has simple controls. OMG it’s amazing - the picture quality is excellent from both ends of the lens and pictures are really professional. The zoom is exceptional but be warned it only just meets my needs and I’m so glad I didn’t go for fz150 or hx200 with less zoom.. And although sx40 has good zoom it looks ugly (personal opinion). Many of the reviews say the AF on the video isn’t the best on the p510 which is true but this can be compensated by using manual.
Conclusion. If zoom is everything then this is the camera - you won’t be dissappointed after all most reviews give it 4/5.

9:26 pm - Saturday, June 23, 2012

#106 riki1

JUPITER & VENUS NIKON P510

http://hayabusa.slovakforum.net/t181-topic#1254

9:04 am - Wednesday, June 27, 2012

#107 Martin

I bought this camera i while ago and took a few panorama pictures using the easy panorama mode. To my dismay they are very low in quality compared to ordinary pictures taken with the camera. Is anyone experiencing this or is a setting that I missed?

A photo taken with auto mode is average around 5mb in size, panorama is around 400kb…

6:18 pm - Wednesday, June 27, 2012

#108 high speed video camera

I read and really impressed from your topic about high speed camera . Mostly people like digital high speed video camera for photography and video .Your content is very informative and helpfull for people . I got latest information from your content ...Thanks for submitted ....

3:13 pm - Thursday, June 28, 2012

#109 sanjay chhajed

gr8 camera with excellent shots.enjoy

9:04 am - Tuesday, July 3, 2012

#110 Jeff

I have had the P510 for about a month now, and I find it to be an excellent mega-zoom point and shoot. The image quality is very good for what it is, a point and shoot camera that can obtain the long-range shots without changing lenses. Sure the image quality is not as good as my DSLRs, but that is to be expected due to the sensor size. One thing of note, you can turn on the camera with the lens cap in-place and tethered without an error, at least mine works that way.

5:51 pm - Tuesday, July 3, 2012

#111 angelique

bonjour je vient d acheter le nikon p 510 et j aimerais s avoir comment faire des photos en noir et blanc et sépia? car je ne trouve pas,. merci beaucoup.

12:49 pm - Saturday, July 7, 2012

#112 Augustin Man

Hi Angelique!

You have two choices: you can select EFFECTS on the selector mode wheel (on the top of the camera - see also manual p.55)

or

you can post-process every image with a free image editor like Irfanview (Effects, etc…).

Hope this help.

Je vous prie de m’excuser de ne vous pas repondre en francais, mais c’etait trop difficile pour moi!

6:22 pm - Saturday, July 7, 2012

#113 hamid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkGFoOLY414

as you can see the zoom is not the best. other than this its brill!

2:12 pm - Thursday, July 19, 2012

#114 Jeff

I wouldn’t knock the zoom for that issue in the video. That is a focus issue, and since cameras like this one use contrast detection autofocus, if you look at that skyline at that distance, the light has a flat grey appearance, which I would expect to affect the focusing capability of the camera in question. When the foreground (which has more contrasting objects) is in the frame, the focus was fine.

4:07 am - Friday, July 20, 2012

#115 Cheri

Hi, I was wondering if any experienced users of this camera happen to know how to go about turning the sound off for focusing as well as taking pictures? When I try to take pictures of the wildlife in my yard, the noises scare them off, any help would be greatly appreciated!

1:51 pm - Sunday, July 22, 2012

#116 Paul Edwards

when it comes to your cameras functionality - any camera - you cant beat reading the manual!!  I think an awful lot of people arnt doing this,id be surprised if theres not a menu or sub menu somewhere that allows for total silence of all alerts and warnings on your camera.

2:35 pm - Sunday, July 22, 2012

#117 Paul Edwards

here is a link for the manual for the P510 (PDF) look or download it if you dot have yours..

http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/coolpix/P510_EN.pdf

2:39 pm - Sunday, July 22, 2012

#118 Paul Edwards

Cheri:  sound settings are referred to on page 214 of the manual - I dont have this camera but i downloaded the manual just now - it did take me about 10 mins to find the section referring to sounds.

You need to press ‘MENU’ on your camera then go to SETTINGS (looks like spanner) all cameras are pretty much the same. PE

3:02 pm - Sunday, July 22, 2012

#119 Jeff

As far as focusing noise, if it’s the motors you can’t silence them, but you can use the zoom control at the base of the lens barrel; that eliminates the “slap” you hear from the ring control. And I do believe you can either turn down the sound level or even turn it off in camera settings.

4:57 pm - Sunday, July 22, 2012

#120 John

I got one this week. I think people buy this camera because of its amazing 42x zoom. Keeping it steady at full zoom isn’t hard at all. I almost decided to spend a small fortune on a real DSLR with all the required lenses, glad I didn’t.

1:30 pm - Thursday, July 26, 2012

#121 Alan

I’d like to rejoin this discussion. The P510 is certainly remarkable but it has a 380 mS shutter lag, which means that shots of birds and children can be lost.
I’m also not too thrilled about the macro facility - these superzooms may be able to get within a centimetre at the wide-angle end but for flowers and butterflies one would like to fill the frame from a foot or more away.
And of course I’d like a cable release facility.

10:42 am - Thursday, August 9, 2012

#122 Printing companies Contra Costa County

image quality is excellent , Nikon is using the fastest lens in it .

11:29 am - Thursday, August 30, 2012

#123 JillB

The Nikon coolpix P510 sounds impressive but all the talk is about the zoom. Please advise about the macro. I need a lightweight camera to take good quality closeups of flowers on field trips in remote and difficult terrain. The lighting conditions are not always ideal and there is usually some wind. The detail is rather important for later identification and a GPS and voice recorder would of course make life much easier !!!
I would appreciate any advice or recommendations. tThanks

9:37 am - Saturday, September 1, 2012

#124 kim

I am concerned the Nikon P510 will not be quick enough to take pictures of fast moving children. Are people with children happy with this camera?

4:02 am - Sunday, September 9, 2012

#125 Jeff

If you are concerned with shutter speed being fast enough to stop motion, then yes it can, as long as there is sufficient light, but this is the same with all cameras. If there is not enough light to enable a fast shutter speed, then the only thing you can do (short of adding artificial light) is to increase the ISO to achieve a faster shutter speed, but that can introduce noise into the image, which again is something that affects all cameras to one degree or another. As far as continuous shooting, Nikon claims at full resolution it can get up to 5 shots at 7fps.

5:55 am - Sunday, September 9, 2012

#126 gordo

HELP !!! can anybody tell me if there is a loupe that can be used on the LCD viewfinder of my Nikon Coolpix P510 as I can`t see it in sunlight . I believe that you have to fit a screen protector first

12:04 pm - Tuesday, September 18, 2012

#127 Bill c

I enjoy this camera a lot. I had p500 and even though I love the zoom at 36x the digital zoom part was not stable enough. This p510 improved it noticeably. I can actually tell the quality of my photos which are taken in a darker room improved tremendously.
Also wasn’t so keen on the quality of slow motion and the p510 improved it a bit. More effects is always welcome. I believe it doesn’t drain my battery as quickly too.

6:59 am - Thursday, September 20, 2012

#128 Bill c

Btw if you go bestbuy. You can do a research online and they will give you the lowest price online and deduce 10% from it. So I paid 339 plus tax. A real bargain!

7:01 am - Thursday, September 20, 2012

#129 Alan

Well I’ve had the camera for several months now and am really delighted with it. Went to a party recently; set it on “idiot”(Auto) mode, but with the flash up indoors, and the results are perfect. Pin sharp, with plenty of natural light but just enough fill-in flash where needed. Full-frame pictures of individual faces from many metres away (1000 mm 35mm equiv) with every wrinkle showing!A4 enlargements quite sharp. Have written to Nikon to ask for a cable release socket and shorter shutter lag, which is still a problem. Suggest others do likewise with their own wish-list.

10:12 am - Thursday, September 20, 2012

#130 tom anderson

my computer desk is of a wood and metal construction, this seems to be very sturdy and can hold 20 inch monitier.

3:33 pm - Friday, September 21, 2012

#131 K

Hello,

I am an amateur, and would like to buy a superzoom camera, please can you suggest which is the best camera in this category? The Nikon P510, Sony HX200V or the Canon SX40HS?

thanks

7:31 am - Sunday, September 23, 2012

#132 zebarnabe

K,

There is no best camera:
Panasonic FZ200 is very packed fast in lens (aperture at max zoom is very big) and operation, video recording quality is very high, it also allows slow motion recording in HD (720p@120/100fps). It is a tad bigger and more expensive than your average top of the line bridge camera but you get what you’re paying for.

Panasonic FZ150 is well packed, being the older model brings the price advantage, the sensor delivered quality is essentially the same, though the lens and other capabilities are quite different.

Fujifilm HS30 EXR is the most DSLR like one, it requires one to learn how to use it and should be faced as a 8MP camera. EXR modes give it one of the higher Dynamic Range in the segment. I would only recommend it if you are willing to learn more about photography.

Canon SX50 HS (notice the number) has the biggest zoom (though you might ask yourself why you need it) and ISO behaviour is probably among the best on the bridges. Lens is quite sharp for what it is.

Kodak Easyshare Max K990 is very, very good for the price, though build quality and design are a bit bland, finding it on stores is another issue.

Sony HX200V and Nikon P510 have nothing remarkable, but they are not exactly bad, HX200V is quite good with video for example (probably only FZ200 or FZ150 do a better job).

Check for samples online and reviews over their operation, if possible check the camera in stores to see if they are comfortable and easy to use.

Good luck!

10:15 am - Sunday, September 23, 2012

#133 Nicola

“Note that the lens cap has to be removed before turning on the camera - failing to do so will result in an error message being displayed, and you’ll have to turn off the camera before you can turn it on again, which is a bit annoying.”
—
Mine does not do this? o.O
The auto focus is bad.
However it does make up for this in he 42x zoom, and I hardly use auto anyway.

10:07 pm - Tuesday, October 2, 2012

#134 Fabio

I tested this camera in a recent photo show and was surprised by the low light results, I also tested the FZ200 and wasn’t really impressed, even with the 2.8 lens, with pocket cameras that can reach 500 mm, I don’t see why buy a big bridge camera that goes only to 600mm, it’s not enough for nature, airplanes or architectural details.
    I had the Sony HX100, Canon SX40 and Sony HX200, also had Fuji HS20, for me the best package is the Sony HX200, lots of usefull features, very fast in focus and general operation, everything is quickly and easily set, movies are really good and the in camera tone mapped HDR is fantastic. Also had the Nikon P500, but focus was very poor and stabilization very weird , with dancing images, made me feel I was drunk, didn’t like it.
    I’ve been using a Nikon P510 for 10 days now , what a big improvement ! VR is close to perfection , night shots are very good , and the lens are very sharp, shots at 1000mm are excellent, this camera is an excellent company for a DSLR, it can produce sharper images than my 70 3000 VR and range is much bigger, besides that i’ts smaller , lighter than that lens and is cheaper too.
    Handling it for long hours is a pleasure, it’s very light and fits very well in the hand. Here are some examples

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53212405@N08/8065284207/in/photostream/lightbox/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53212405@N08/8065250594/in/photostream/lightbox/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53212405@N08/8049302753/in/photostream/lightbox/

  For those who think that it’s impossible to shoot at long zooms handheld, the photo of the tiger was taken at 900 mm 1/50 of a second, that’s how good the VR is, that also makes possible to get wonderfull night shots of steady subjects.

  But there are still issues, focus is slow, overall operation is slow, writing times not good.  I went to shoot an air show and it was useless, couldn’t focus in time, but if you change the focus to manual and adjust to infinite then that’s another story, and it’s very easy to do that. Macro is not bad , but Fuji and Sony are better, Canon sucks,  the pocket HX20/30V is extraordinary in macro,  better than the big sister HX200.
  Focus is another issue in movies, every time you zoom in or out , focus is lost for a brief moment, even if you lock the focus in manual mode, that’s annoying.
  I still think that the Sony HX200 is a better , faster and more fun package, but since I bought a Sony HX30V wich is a pocket version of the HX200 and can reach 500 mm optical zoom I don’t carry the big one anymore, It was replaced by the Nikon P510.
  For nature shots and if you want details from far away objects, this is the camera, or should I say , the lens.
    Nikon has gone a long way from the P500 but focus is still a problem, it’s not awfull , it’s better than Canon SX40 and Fuji is not very fast too , but Panasonic and Sony are simply fast enough to get more keepers.
    There’s no perfect camera and in my pursuit of a light and competent camera bag , now I carry a Fuji X10 for the DSLR quality and excellent low light, a Sony HX30V when I need something small, discreet, fast , instant tone mapped HDR and for outstanding macros and the Nikon P510 for far away subjects.
    The new Canon SX50 reachs 1200 mm but according to the review here and the examples, chromatic aberrations are abundant, focus acoording to another review still is slow and the LCD and the EVF are still small and low resolution, but high ISO is good. Still need to be more tested in the area where the P510 excells, long zoom.

1:58 pm - Thursday, October 11, 2012

#135 Julliano Gima

I have been using Nikon for decades. I just bought the P510. I was really disappointed with focusing at high zoom, with still pic or video. Some of my videos were completely ruined because they were moving targets; the camera just could not focus on them. Some were on a boat trip in Venice, it ruined my day. A part from that, it is a very good camera.
I think a serious firmware update is very badly needed.

12:47 pm - Thursday, October 18, 2012

#136 bikash

it is a very good camera.i m using it for last 3 months.picture quality is excellent.but in large zoom u have to be steady to get a quality picture.
with the large zoom i have clicked some beautiful photo of SUN & MOON.

excellent….............

along with you can get different mode like -panorama,night prorate,and SLOW MOTION MOVIE

any prob can mail me

7:48 am - Saturday, November 3, 2012

#137 gordon brown

I have had my P510 for 6 months and I found that using the screen to shoot a video in sunlight was nearly impossible so I bought a LOUPE that fits onto the screen with a large eyepiece that can flip out , I found that as you have place it on your eye there is less vibration at full zoom . These can be bought for £40

4:07 pm - Saturday, November 3, 2012

#138 riki1

Space around with NIKON P510

http://hayabusa.slovakforum.net/t212-topic#1718

11:02 pm - Monday, November 5, 2012

#139 Chris Wiles

You can never have enough zoom, especially when on a wildlife safari, so the P510 with equivalent 1000 mm zoom is fantastic. It sure beats lugging around a big DSLR and multiple lenses. The only downside with this camera is poor battery life and the GPS. The GPS is painfully slow to locate, even if you correctly update the A-GPS file, and if the battery dies, as is common if you shoot several hundred big-game photos, you lose the GPS log file. Other than that, the P510 takes fantastic photos.

6:01 am - Wednesday, November 7, 2012

#140 shiba prasad barman

it is a very stylish camera with good image quality and also some low price compaired to others.

9:47 pm - Thursday, November 8, 2012

#141 Charlotte

I am a visual artist and have two distinct camera needs.  I travel and photograph sites for potential landscapes so need a good zoom capability with true color representation and a sharp image—but don’t want a huge/heavy camera.  I currently have been using an Olympus VR-320.  I don’t need real sharp details at the greatest zoom because I do my own thing anyway in the end. However, I need a really good capture of my paintings for potential print reproductions.  My research recommends an SLR camera with the ability to zoom to at least 50-55mm lens—but 200-300 is better as the image stays flat vs ending up with a fish eye effect—-very bad for reproducing in a print. I’m not excited about $1,500+ price just to capture my images so I’ve researched and am considering either a Nikon Coolpix P510 or a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS20.  It would be great to have one camera that is easy to travel with, capture great subject matter, and also provide all the needs for having prints made.  Am I asking too much?  Which one of these would you recommend?

11:35 pm - Thursday, November 15, 2012

#142 Chris Wiles

Hi Charlotte - it doesn’t appear that you need an ultra-zoom Nikon P510 for your needs. I would recommend a Nikon S9100 or something similar to the Lumix and yet cheaper. The P510 is brilliant for wildlife safaris where you need as much stabilized zoom as you can get without having to lug around a big DSLR and big lenses.

3:27 am - Friday, November 16, 2012

#143 Charlotte

Thanks! I’ll look into the Nikon S9100! Appreciate your quick response, too.

1:52 pm - Friday, November 16, 2012

#144 Fabio

Hi Charlotte
I agree with with Chris, maybe a bridge is not the best, the ZS20 is a great choice, cheap and excellent, except in low light, the Nikon S9100 is not a good camera, too many problems.  I had it and didn’t like, I do have the P510 and also had the ZS20, wich I replaced with the Sony HX30
  The Sony HX20 or HX30 have a special watercollor mode that transforms the image into a paiting with adjustable levels and impressive results, maybe this is interesting for you , to be able to take a photo and see how that image will look as a painting , take a look at the results and decide if it’s worth for you, ckeck these images that I took with the Sony HX200 , wich is the same camera as the pocketable HX30
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53212405@N08/6980302446/in/photostream/lightbox/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53212405@N08/7126404411/in/photostream/lightbox/

  Another thing is to reproduce your paintings, how big they will be ?  small sensors allow big zooms and small cameras and they are great for general photography , but a bigger sensor may be necessary for what you need. A used DSLR with a cheap 50 mm 1.8 lens may be ideal for you. I would buy a good compact like the ZS20 or HX30 and make a test if they can reproduce your work with enough quality, they will work for your field work needs, if they are not enough for reproducing yor final work then go to that used DSLR with a 50 mm 1.8 for all the resolution and quality you may need.

1:54 pm - Friday, November 16, 2012

#145 Oswill Shopping

Thanks for the review. Need to ask whether it requires a professional hand or any one can easily use it. I like the quality of images and i am thinking of going for it. Just needed to know is it for the use of just professional photographers?

12:13 pm - Wednesday, November 21, 2012

#146 Ansley Dcosta

I just got this camera from http://www.oswillshopping.com.au/nikon-coolpix-digital-compact-camera-en-2.html
online shopping site at a reasonable price.
Check out it is good to use and the best picture quality and clarity.

2:16 pm - Friday, November 23, 2012

#147 Madhan

Just bought this camera in black friday sale @ Target.Got it for 299$ + 16 GB Lexar SD card. So total inclusive of tax came around 325$ which is worth of money. For point and shoot with image quality equal to DSLR and zooming option is a well worth of money spent.

6:05 pm - Saturday, November 24, 2012

#148 Mary

I love cameras/collect them. Shoot w/ Canon 40D and still rely on my xti. Have a point and shoot Leica and a Lumix LX3/outstanding for outdoor landscape shooting. This being said, the P510 is a fun camera. Yes, it is plastic. BUT, the set up and ease of use in this regard is the best I have ever used….really! The zoom is fun, and a gerat asset when I do not want to lug my larger lenses. I would not pay for the Canon with the 50X or the new Lumix with extended zoom, as the three cameras are essentially point and shoot. The value at around $300 for the Nikon enables one to purchase a great little camera w/ lots of features. No, it is not a high end Nikon or Canon or one of the emerging retro models, but it is a fun camera and I have taken som great photos.

7:35 pm - Saturday, November 24, 2012

#149 Chris Wiles

To the person who asked if you need to be a professional to use the Nikon P510, let me just say this: The camera can be very easy to use as a basic point-and-shoot camera in Auto mode. There is even a Scene Mode to help with settings for 16 different scenes such as portraits, sunsets, beach, snow, parties, etc. However, if you want more control of aperture and shutter speed, you have the full option of P, S, A and M modes.

The super-zoom 16 megapixel P510 is not a pocket camera, but is smaller than a full DSLR. The big advantage of this camera is that it has an equivalent range from 24 to 1000 mm all in one lens. It can take very good images at full zoom due to excellent vibration reduction. Some people say you would never need a 1000 mm zoom lens, but as a wildlife photographer, you can never get enough. And it can record full 1080p HD movies. Amazing!

7:23 am - Tuesday, November 27, 2012

#150 Bcde

I owned the p500 and now have the p510. There are definitely improvements. For example, zoom has better quality when i use the digital zoom. Having The camera cap doesnt stop the camera from functioning which p500 had the issue when forgot to uncap.
More functions and effects, gps, and higher resolution are great features. The only one thing i am not satisfy with is taking pix at night or in a dark room. Although many cameras have the same problem, except Sony’s cameras.

9:26 am - Wednesday, December 12, 2012

#151 NNNN

I got the Nikon P 510 for Christmas and I would like to know how it is with action shots. I will be using it mostly for my kids catching there sports activities. They are always in action and that is what I need it for. How is the action shots and which would be the best setting for this. I am not a photographer but a busy mom.

6:23 pm - Saturday, December 29, 2012

#152 Alan

I can’t find the latest query from the lady who wants to take action shots with the Nikon P510, but I fear she may be disappointed. I’m generally delighted with the camera but it does suffer from a serious shutter lag, so that when I photograph my grandson laughing, he ends up scowling. I never had this problem with film cameras. Is it because it’s busy doing all kinds of calculations? Would it help to put it on shutter priority and about 1/500 sec and a fairly high ISO?

12:01 pm - Sunday, December 30, 2012

#153 Fabio

This is a great camera, but focus is a problem, it’s very esay to see in the videos above, it looses focus while zooming and when the subject moves, that’s Nikon problem. If you want to shoot video this camera is a poor choice, Sony is so much better in that area, because focus is fast and precise.
    But this camera has the better image quality in bridge today, even in low light when compared to the Panasonic FZ200 whith that 2.8 lens.
    Videos are excellent if you dont zoom and the object stands still.
    Action shots are not what this camera is good for, taken pictures of children is a nightmare, but it has a feature called pre shooting cache, it’s in shhoting mode, where continuous is in the menu, it takes several pictures while you are half pressing the shutter button, this way when your child smiles or jumps and you fully press the shutter button, the camera has already recorded images before that, and shutter and human reflection won’t let you miss the shot .

2:24 pm - Sunday, December 30, 2012

#154 Bill Ross

I would not recommend the P510 for video work.  The camera’s auto focus is VERY slow and struggles to find proper focus and stay there.  Any panning or subject movement sends the camera into a searching frenzy.  Any of the videos I took using the P510 are unusable. I have since purchased a Fuji Film HS 30.  While this camera does not have as long of a telephoto, it does not exhibit the problems of the Nikon P510.  It also has manual zoom control and is much more SLR-like with many more controls and features including a real hot shoe. It’s also about $100 less than the Nikon.  FYI: I don’t work for Fuji and only state these recommendations for the benefit of people wanting honest info about nicer point-and-shoot cameras.

9:08 pm - Sunday, December 30, 2012

#155 Joe Prete

It was a good year for this camera, if Fabio says it’s good, you can be sure that it’s a good camera. Lets hope their next Super Zoom is just as good. From Photographyblog.com to all of it’s readers, we just wanted to wish you all a very, very Happy New Year!!!
... Joe Prete

7:51 pm - Monday, December 31, 2012

#156 Jonathan

Thanks so much man for this review. It’s the best I read, and I bought this camera. Super happy, lot of fun. A lot of peeps using this camera forget to heighten the in camera sharpness level, but your review pictures with this cam look great with the settings u used. Thanks again, you’re the best.

11:32 pm - Friday, January 4, 2013

#157 Martin

Am I still the only one thinking the quality of panorama pictures are bad? I mean, a panorama ends up being around 600 K in size, way to small to print on a large canvas for example.

12:12 pm - Saturday, January 5, 2013

#158 Chris Wiles

Hi Martin
I don’t know what you’re doing, but I make fantastic panoramas. First, my camera is set to record fine images (4608 x 3456 pixels or about 5.5 MB each). A recent panorama across Lake Manyara in Tanzania used 7 images taken using Panorama assist (Page 51). Then I used Panorama Maker 6 software which came with the camera. The output cropped panorama image was 17,485 x 2832 pixels or about 32 MB and of excellent quality.
I hope this helps. Best regards, Chris

7:14 am - Sunday, January 6, 2013

#159 Martin

Thanks Chris, I would have needed to read the manual more closely. I’ve used the panorama mode (don’t remember the name of it right now) where you “record” from left to right instead of taking separate overlapping pictures and putting them together in the computer. It now works fine!

11:35 pm - Tuesday, January 8, 2013

#160 jaga

i am now deciding to buy nikon coolpix p510 .

please some one told me is it batter for best image and video shooting .

please suggest best camera with the price range like nikon p510..

6:00 pm - Monday, January 21, 2013

#161 Fabio

To Jaga
  The P510 is an excellent camera and has the best image quality of all bridges I tested , including the famous Panasonic FZ200, but focus is not good and that is a big problem. Videos are great if you don’t use zoom or your subject stands still , the problem is focus.
  If you have enough time to focus , images are really good, very sharp even at 1000mm, stabilization is superb and even
Low light is quite good.
  Fuji HS30 is a very good camera but he manual zoom is not good for videos and it’s not an easy camera for begginers.
  Panny FZ200 is quite expensive, reaches “only” 600 mm and image quality is no better than other briges , it’s the camera of choice for fast moving subjects in low light.
  Canon SX50 reachs 1200 mm with good stabilization but CA is a problem in high contrast areas , LCD and EVf are small and panoramas are stitched.
  The best package is the Sony HX200, it’s fast , focus is fast and precise and videos are very good, focus is never a problem and auto modes are excellent, image quality is quite good even in low light, images are very acceptable and only if you compare with the P510 you will see a difference, it’s also the most fun camera with tons of usefull and interesting effects and modes.
  Both Nikon and Sony don’t have hotshoes but a slave flash can be used if you want to be creative or bounce the light .

8:40 pm - Monday, January 21, 2013

#162 Bill Ross

I agree with Fabio’s post regarding the P510 having serious focus problems, especially with movies.  To the point of not having any value as a movie camera in anything but ideal situations. It’s beyond frustrating try to watch a movie on the P510 as it hunts in and out of focus the entire time it’s running.  I have since purchased a Fuji HS30 and have found it to be much better than the P510. Manual zoom (like a full SLR), great optics, a hot shoe, raw mode as well as other features only found on much more expensive cameras. It was $100 less than the Nikon, does better in low light conditions, processes in a fraction of the time of the P510, has a much better case and is not as complicated as Fabio suggested. The only downside is that it does not zoom as far as the P510. The Fuji goes to an equivelant of 800mm, which is beyond anything I would shoot without a tripod (to Nikon’s 1200mm) and I do not miss having “zoom overkill”.  The Fuji is an amazing value if you do have to have the Nikon name. Before recommending the Nikon to anyone, check out the Fuji.

10:06 pm - Monday, January 21, 2013

#163 Alan

I’ve used this camera for nearly a year now and it’s brilliant in many respects, especially the lens zooming range, sharpness and stabilisation. However I’m after birds,and the shutter delay is much too long. Also I would give anything for an old-fashioned manual focus option on the lens barrel. We had waxwings in the garden today, and I had to take dozens of shots to get a few good ones. Just as well it’s not using film! It’s time the manufacturers realised that we want a bridge camera with more of the features of an SLR.

11:45 am - Tuesday, January 22, 2013

#164 Jes

I agree with all of you, the focus is really annoying at times, however when locked it is very sharp especially on the video side full hd, Manual focus still does not fix the problem comletely, Does anyone knows if there is any software upgrade on the 510 yet?.

8:20 pm - Tuesday, January 22, 2013

#165 jaga

To-fabio, Bill Ross

i like ur comment and valuable conclusion.

i am conclude that from above 4 cameras i select sony dsc200v is very goods for me to shoot photo and videos looks natural .

The image is not so good . As compare to nikon p510. The Contrast is low and the object focus is less, the image is not crises and sharp , if u have any sample url/image/vedio please mail on .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) 

But, i’m little confuse on:

1- Its actual battery life in both video and image shoot.

2- what is ISO . And its Use../..?

3- What is the Expandable Memory size in Sony.

4:25 am - Wednesday, January 23, 2013

#166 jaga

To- Fabio,bill

I like your suggestion and conclude that from above 4 cameras the Sony DSC200V is very good in shooting video .

But, i saw some of the sample of sony that image shooting edges are not so cries and shape , the contrast is low and the object focus is less as compare to nikon-p510(in Nikon only brightness is more) .

can u send me some of the sample/Url of your (except PB )image and that i am sure the image quality is best in sony.

I am also little bit confuse on sony dsc200v:

> actual battery life(both image and video) ?

> Expandable upto ? on memory card. ?

> What is ISO . And what is its use…?

Plz send me replay…..?

4:39 am - Wednesday, January 23, 2013

#167 Fabio

Hi Jaga
  If you browse my Flickr you will find some examples of HX200 and the Nikon P510
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53212405@N08/
    You will find much more pictures from the Sony HX30 and that camera has the same sensor and software of the Sony HX200, it’s the pocket version of the HX200, but reachs only 500 mm and focuses closer for macro.
    Since I got the HX30 I don’t use the HX200 anymore, all the special HDR effects that you will see in my pictures are the same in both cameras, the best thing in Sony is the focus, the worst thing in Nikon is the focus, but focus is not perfect in other bridges too, the FZ200 hunts focus in low light, but the Sony is perfect.
    if you shoot a movie in low light and change subjects and use the zoom you may forget the Nikon, it’s uselless for movies , Sony never loses focus.
    The Fuji HS30 is also not suited for movies because of manual zoom,  but that is very good for photos, Sony has both, a manual ring and zoom lever, but I prefer the Fuji mechanical zoom for photos, focus is not as fast as Sony’s too and for a beginner it is very complicated, a good knowledge of photography is required to use it, it’s much easier to learn photography with a cheap DSLR , but the EVF is excellent and EXR modes are great. Just to mention, my favorite camera is a Fuji (x10).
  Sony has 2 auto modes and that makes things much easier for a beginner, yes you will get better quality with the Nikon but you will miss much more photos with the Nikon because of focus and delay and the difference in quality isn’t great.
  That said I carry with me always a Nikon P510 and a Sony HX30, if subject stands still I use the Nikon, if it’s movies or moving subjects , macro , special effects I get the Sony,
  Battery life is better in Sony, memory is the same, any SD card will work, ISO increases the sensibility of the sensor for light, that allows higher shutter speeds that freeze the images in lower light conditions, avoiding blurred images, but high ISOs decrease the image quality. both Nikon and Sony have special modes that deal very well with low light situations.

11:57 am - Wednesday, January 23, 2013

#168 Bill Ross

Fabio,
To reply to your questions, the battery life on the Nikon is very limited and Nikon does not provide an external charger like it does for other nicer cameras.  Therefore, the practical solution would be to purchase additional batteries.  Unfortunately, they would need to be charged in the camera. 

The ISO setting is more or less much like ASA of film cameras of yesteryear. The higher the ISO setting, the more sensitive the camera will be in low light environments.  The trade-off is, the higher the ISO, the more noise and harshness can be seen in your photos.  Different cameras deal differently with ISO and the results photos also differ because of this.

Again, I like the Fuji much better than the Nikon because it permits you to anchor the ISO settings to a low number and adjust upward automatically from there.  This assures that you are able to use as low ISO setting as possible for your conditions (lowest noise and grainyness).  I also like the Fuji because the battery life far surpasses the Nikon.  Fuji claims you can get as many as 2000 shots on one charge! My experience mimics Fuji’s claims.

Processing time on the Nikon P510 is very problematic for video AND regular still photography.  It just does not keep up with changing situations.  I expected the P510 to be much faster than my D60 SLR, when if fact it reacts slower.  Not to sound like a broken record, the Fuji HS30 locks in at a fraction of the time my P510 takes.  In addition to it’s own version of VR, the EXR mode quickly takes multiple exposure of an image and combines them to the best image.  Nikon doesn’t do this and the VR in the P510 does not match their pro cameras (it’s limited).

Lastly, I strongly believe that manual zoom is better for most people in most situations.  The power zoom on the Nikon P510 reacts too quickly and easily bypasses where you want and need to be. There is very little control of their power zoom control from slow to fast (when you press harder on it).  Manual zoom provides much more accurate control.  It’s amazing that Fuji is able to provide this capability in a point and shoot, with a P&S price with capabilities of a full SLR.

10:23 pm - Wednesday, January 23, 2013

#169 William Ross

Jaga,  To answer your question, ISO is more or less the digital equivalent to ASA film speeds. The higher you set ISO on your camera, the more sensitive it is to light. But also, higher ISO setting increase “noise” and graininess of photos.  Here again, I like the way Fuji approaches ISO setting, tethering them to a set low number (ISO 400) and allowing them to be automatically set only when necessary.

I continue to stand by my statement that manual zoom is far more desirable on a camera than power zoom, especially the power zoom on the Nikon p510. The power zoom has two modes. Very slow, or very fast.  Most of the time, you will blow right past the zoom setting you want.  Manual zoom also allows you to better control zoom while you are panning etc.

I agree that the processor on the Nikon P510 is very slow.  The Fuji HS30 is much faster.  Also, VR in the P510 is nothing like it is in Nikon’s SLR’s. The Fuji’s VR is works better and the EXR mode quickly clicks off several photos at once, and then merges the best of them making the best possible image. 

Lastly, the battery life on the Nikon is inferior. Also, Nikon does not provide and external charger.  Therefore, you must charge the battery in the camera.  You need more than one battery for a decent photo shoot with the P510 and you will have to charge them in the camera (a pain).  The Fuji has an external charger and the battery provides 2000+ shots on one charge.

I am sorry that I purchased the Nikon P510. While others on this blog tout it’s virtues, there are far too many major drawbacks to consider it for pro or semi pro work, especially for videos.  I am selling my P510 on eBay if anyone is interested…

12:40 am - Thursday, January 24, 2013

#170 Fabio

To Bill Ross / Willian Ross

    I don’t care if you hate the P510 but some facts must be explained.
    A wall charger costs US$5,00 for the Nikon, Sony also charges in the camera, it is annoying but some cell phone chargers match those of the cameras, so it may be interesting for some people to use just one charger, but a wall charger is easilliy available as well as batteries that are very cheap too
    Don’t know where you found the information that the HS30 take 2000 shots with one charge, it’s rated for 600 shots, Nikon has a smaller battery but the camera is much smaller and lighter than other bridge cameras, very confortable to carry for long periods.
  The P510 has multiple exposures combination and it works quite well, the night landscape mode does that and it can be used for any situation, and it’s already in the mode dial, no need to find it inside the menu, HDR also combines multiples exposures. Panoramas can be stitched or automatic, that may be very interesting for some people, stitched are hard to get but can be made from just 2 pictures with much higher quality and sometimes that’s all you need.
  ISO control on the P510 has Auto fixed ranges and is easily controlable, ISO performance is very good for a bridge, it’s better than Sony HX200 and the famous FZ200.
  VR is not on par with DSLRs, it’s better, I took pictures handheld at 1000mm and 1/25 sec and they are very good, image quality is better than my 70-300 VR and my 45-200 m4/3 and the digital zoom is excellent.
  You expected a bridge camera to be much faster than a D60, a DSLR ? No way, not even the HS30, I tested it and focus is not as fast as Sony’ HX200 , it’s hard for bridge cameras to perform well in action photos.
  As I said above manual zoom is better for photos, of course, but it sucks for videos and the Nikon P510 can be used easily with just one hand.
    The P510 is an excellent camera with a major problem that makes it unusable for action shooting and videos of moving subjects, even using zoom on fixed subjects cause a brief lost of focus. For photos , sometimes it locks fast , most of the time not . Manual focus works very well and if the subject is far away it can be locked to infinity and the problem is solved.
    But let’s face it , focus is slow if you compare, but that won’t make the camera unusable for general shooting, action shots are challenging even for some DSLR’s.
  The HS30 is very good and has many qualities, all bridge cameras have strong points and weak points.
    I carry at least 3 cameras with me and that includes a Fuji X10, I have the Sony HX200 and the Nikon P510, I can live with the not fast focus because the P510 lens and VR is superb and easily gives me better photos than my Nikon D90 and my Panasonic G3, both with big zoom lenses .

2:23 pm - Thursday, January 24, 2013

#171 Fabio

I have a Raynox 250 macro lens that isn’t easy to use because of shallow DOF, tried it with some bridges but didn’t like it, in larger sensor cameras the problem is much worst, but today I used it with the P510 and it’s a perfect match, it adapts easily in front of the lens and the results are amazing, the camera must be set in manual focus and the focusing is made by aproaching the camera to the subject, not hard to do after some time, check my Flickr to see the results

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53212405@N08/
 
    Highly recomended for macros with the Raynox, the lightweight of the P510 helps a lot and the sensor , lens and VR are excellent

8:08 am - Monday, January 28, 2013

#172 Terry Waxham

I have now owned my Nikon P510 eight months and have taken hundreds of pictures and am still very satisfied with it. I am not a professional, just an animal and bird hobbiest. I do not use my camera for fast action shots but mainly for distance shots. I am patient with the focus and if I get a bad shot, i take more as it resets very fast. I bought several extra batteries and wall charger from the discount vendor mentioned earlier in comments so that is no problem. I have never had any problem with it and have posted a few examples of photos in the Gallery. Once more, I am a very satisfied customer.  Terry

3:40 am - Wednesday, February 6, 2013

#173 Nelson George

Its a nice Camera for a beginner.42X zooming is astonishing and the capturing moving object is perfect…...overall its worth…

11:07 am - Friday, February 8, 2013

#174 Tarek

which camera is better for shoting natural scences and natural colours shots?

7:54 pm - Sunday, February 10, 2013

#175 Tarek

which camera is better for shoting natural scences and natural colours shots?
Im confused between Nikon D3100 ,Nikon Coolpix P510 and Canon PowerShot SX50 HS plz help meguyz with giving resons for your choices

7:56 pm - Sunday, February 10, 2013

#176 D3C4FF

Why on earth are all the sample images so horribly overexposed??

7:48 am - Monday, April 8, 2013

#177 Svebor

After one year using, and after more than 11000 (yes - elevem thousand clicks) I can say: Thanks Nikon for P510 !

4:20 pm - Thursday, May 2, 2013

#178 Abhishikta

@#177 Svebor, hi! i am planning to buy this nikon p510 and as you are experienced with this cam i want to know did you have any difficulties clicking moving objects? how is the picture quality and colour? kindly reply.

7:30 am - Friday, May 24, 2013

#179 nicola

Nikon P510 is something simplifier than P520.
This is not DSLR, but (for me who have experience with more digital cameras many years) I can say:
for this (no much) money - Nikon P510 is the best.
Look specifications , look YouTube presentations , .. etc.)

8:54 am - Friday, May 24, 2013

#180 Susan

Abhishikta: I have been using this camera for over a year now and love it for all the different things it can do.  This cam does the action shots very well. I don’t experience blur at all.  Experiment with your different settings for shots and have fun with it.  P.S. I am not a pro by any definition, but have already done 3 weddings, a formal dance and four graduation folios. My friends love their pics.

4:16 pm - Friday, May 24, 2013

#181 Abhishikta

Susan: Thank you so much for this info! your opinion solved my confusion :D you dont have to be a pro to click some good pics! i just love to frame nature and i think this cam will be more than enough for me!in fact i can use some tips too from you guys as i’m just a beginner. thanks again Susan.. keep clicking :)

6:48 am - Saturday, May 25, 2013

#182 Eric

You guy are talking about a discontinued model that is plagued with issues. You should ask for Joe or Fabio, as they know quite a bit more than the average user. As far as warranty issues, you would want the current edition of any camera, never a discontinued model unless there was something essential that was eliminated on the newer model. These units come with a one year warrantee.
The current edition is the P520

8:13 am - Saturday, May 25, 2013

#183 jes

This camera needs some tune up, and hopefully with some kind of software update, however it is still an excellent all rounder camera as there is still great video and photo package in one small camera
here is one small video I put up recently all with the p510 mostly in manual focus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTsXEl7Mc70

11:28 am - Saturday, May 25, 2013

#184 Fabio

  Well done Jes, excellent work !
  I had the P510 and now I have the P520 and I would never recomend them as a video camera because of focus issues but you proved that in manual focus it’s very good, and manual focus is easy to use.
  Focus in the new P520 is better , but still a little slow and I also use manual focus in my macros taken with a Raynox 250 with very satisfying results, the bigger LCD helps a lot in manual focusing.
  One very interesting thing for a video maker is that now you can pause the video and continue in the same file, like a camcorder, I don’t remember the P510 doing the same thing. Interesting because that saves editing time, the only problem is that while on pause you can’t use the camera for photos only while shooting the movie, but that makes great videos , instead of zooming in , just pause the video,  zoom in where you want and continue the shooting, looks much more professional and avoid loosing focus, using zoom every time in movies gives an amateur look and the sound of the focus and zoom motors can be recorded in silent places.
      There’s also AF and AE lock in video, I’m starting to look at this camera as a competent video camera, of course it demands some knowledge to make the best use of it, for the average person that buys it as a do it all camera maybe a Sony would be a better choice, I carry a HX30 v for movies, but you gave me a new perspective with the Nikon.
    What a pleasure to watch your video, and what a wonderfull place, I wish I was there with my Nikon and the Raynox.

12:51 pm - Saturday, May 25, 2013