Nikon Coolpix P520 Review

April 29, 2013 | Mark Goldstein | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star

Introduction

The Nikon Coolpix P520 is a new super-zoom compact camera with a mechanically-stabilized 42x optical zoom that offers a massive focal range of 24-1000mm. It also offers an innovative side zoom control, a 1/2.3" Back Side Illuminated CMOS sensor with 18.1 megapixels, sensitivity range of ISO 80 to 6400, and full 1080p HD video recording with stereo sound and slow-motion video at up to 120fps. The Nikon P520 appeals further to the keen photographer with a full range of manual shooting modes, burst shooting at seven frames per second, 99-point autofocus system, 3D shooting mode, built-in GPS, support for an optional Wi-Fi dongle which can instantly transfer images and movies to virtually any smart device, and a 3.2-inch 921K-dot vari-angle LCD screen. The Nikon Coolpix P520 is available in black, dark silver or red for £399.99 / $449.95 / €479.00.

Ease of Use

Measuring 125.2 x 84.1 x 101.6mm, the Nikon Coolpix P520 is slightly larger than the previous P510 model, but its design is only minimally different. Like most high-end superzooms, the Nikon P520 sports the typical bridge camera look, with a chunky hand-grip, large lens barrel, pop-up flash and an eye-level electronic viewfinder. The deep grip is moulded to fit comfortably into your right hand, and is rubberised in a textured material for added comfort.

The dominant part of the P520 is the 42x zoom lens, which goes from an ultra-wide 24mm to a frankly incredible 1000mm in 35mm terms. Considering that with an SLR, you would need at least 3-4 lenses to cover the same focal range, the single, fixed-mount lens of the Nikon P520 can be described as remarkably compact, even if it does extend quite a bit when zoomed to full telephoto. Super-zooms have always had a reputation for offering a high "fun factor", and the P520 is no different. The ability to quickly go from wide angle to ultra-telephoto is something that has to be experienced in order to be fully appreciated. It certainly gives you a kind of freedom you do not feel with any other type of camera.

For its size, the P520's lens is also respectably fast, with maximum apertures of f/3 at 24mm and f/5.9 at 1000mm. 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. Although if you only want to review what's already on the card, you can also power on the P520 by holding down the Playback button, in which case the lens won't extend.

Nikon have included their VR (Vibration Reduction) image stabilisation system to help prevent camera-shake, allowing the use of shutter speeds up to four stops slower, while the new Active mode ensures clear shots even from moving vehicles. Annoyingly there isn't a dedicated button to turn it on and off (it's somewhat buried in the Setup menu). In practice we found that the VR system makes a noticeable difference to the sharpness of the images, as shown in the examples on the Image Quality page.

Nikon Coolpix P520 Nikon Coolpix P520
Front Rear

You don't notice that the camera is actually doing anything different when anti-shake is turned on, just that you can use slower shutter speeds than normal and still take sharp photos. It didn't seem to adversely affect the battery life either, which is around a barely adequate 200 shots, so we'd advise you to turn it on and then forget about it. It's a good idea to turn VR off (via the menu) when the camera is mounted on a tripod, lest the system itself cause blurring by trying to counter camera shake that isn't there.

Zooming is done by way of a conventional zoom lever that encircles the shutter release button sitting atop the right-hand grip. It is of the dual-speed variety: rotating it all the way in either direction will adjust the focal length quickly, while rotating it partially will cause the lens elements to move more slowly, enabling you to set the desired focal length more precisely. You can alternatively zoom using the innovative side zoom control on the lens barrel, which is a vertical rocker switch activated with your left hand. It has a slower action than the main zoom lever, and is therefore ideally suited to shooting video when you require a more sedate zoom with less mechanical noise.

There are two different ways of composing images with the Nikon Coolpix P520: you can use either the eye-level electronic viewfinder (EVF) or the rear screen. Unfortunately, there are still no eye proximity sensors that would allow the camera to toggle between the two automatically, and on the P520 there's no button to toggle between the two. Instead you have to close the LCD screen completely to use the EVF, which is at very unintuitive. As the EVF is a bog standard affair with 201,000 dots and average magnification, nothing to write home about, especially in 2013, you probably won't use it very much anyway. The three-inch rear LCD screen is much nicer to look at, thanks to its high resolution of 921,000 dots. Even more importantly, it's now a vari-angle model that can be flipped-out to the side and tilted through 270 degrees, giving you a lot of flexibility in composing your shots, a big improvement on the more limited movement offered by the P510's screen.

The layout and number of external controls haven't changed very much from the P510. You still get a traditional, top-mounted mode dial with P, A, S and M shooting modes - perfect for the photographer who wants to take full control - as well as full auto, Scene Auto Selector, Night Landscape, Landscape and Backlighting modes. The Effects mode allows you to apply one of nine different special effects as you shoot with the Nikon Coolpix P520, with a live preview on the LCD screen showing exactly what the final image will look like. There is also a User (U) setting you can use to quickly retrieve a combination of your most frequently used settings. The shutter release, zoom lever and power button are essentially in the same locations as on the P520, joined by the same customisable Function button.

Nikon Coolpix P520 Nikon Coolpix P520
Pop-up Flash Top

In the Backlighting mode, the P520 captures three consecutive shots at varying exposures and combines them into a single photo with a broader range of tones. Three different HDR settings are available for selection. When the Night Landscape scene mode is selected, the P520 takes several shots at a fast shutter speed and then combines them to create a single optimized photo, allowing you to shoot after dark without having to use a tripod. The Easy Panorama scene mode allows you to take vertical or horizontal panorama photos simply by moving the camera in the direction of the on-screen guides. Multiple shots are then combined into a single panorama photo. The angle of view can be selected from 180° (normal) and 360° (wide).

The rear controls are also laid out very similarly to those of the preceding model. There is a well-positioned control wheel in the top-right corner (when viewed from the back), which makes it easy to change the aperture and shutter speed in A and S modes respectively, but there's still no second dial on the hand-grip which would have made operating Manual mode much easier. The familiar multi-selector with its centred OK button is similar to the P510, with the same individual functions that are mapped onto the Up, Down, Left and Right buttons. These include the flash and focus modes, the self-timer and exposure compensation, respectively. The multi-selector is a rotating wheel with an audible click and a textured surface to aid operation. There is still no obvious shortcut key to ISO speed, which is only accessible from the menu (as is white balance) or by assigning it to the Function button.

The P520's focus modes include AF, Macro, Infinity and Manual. AF can be centre-spot, user selectable from 99 focus points or camera selectable from 9 points. In Face Priority AF mode, the camera can detect up to 12 human faces and will focus on the one closest to the camera. We found that regardless of AF area mode, auto-focus speed was satisfactory for still subjects, but a little too slow for fast-moving ones. Manual focusing is also possible, though a bit awkward: you get a rudimentary distance scale on the right-hand side of the screen, and can adjust focus via the Up and Down buttons. The centre of the picture is enlarged to aid you with checking focus, but unfortunately this is achieved by  way of interpolation rather than real magnification. The whole process is pretty slow, but can still be a godsend when the auto-focus system starts acting up.

The flash of the Nikon P520 has to be popped up manually, using the button on the side of the mock pentaprism housing. You can set the flash mode to auto, auto with red-eye reduction, fill, slow sync and rear-curtain sync via the Up button on the multi-controller, but only when the flash is raised. As there is no hot-shoe or sync terminal on the Nikon Coolpix P520, and it does not offer wireless TTL flash control either, the only way to sync up an external flashgun with the camera is to optically slave it to the built-in unit.

The P520 has a built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) that records the exact location (latitude and longitude) where a picture was taken, recording it in the image's EXIF data. You can also use it to record your route even if you don't take any taking pictures, set the camera's clock, plot points of interest and use the built-in electronic compass. The GPS does take a while to lock onto a satellite in city centres and it doesn't tend to drain the battery if left on all the time. The 3D shooting mode creates a 3D image which can be played back on any 3D-capable TVs and computers. The P520 automatically combines two images taken from different positions to create the 3D effect, with the second shot cleverly taken automatically when the camera detects that you are in the right position.

Nikon Coolpix P520 Nikon Coolpix P520
Tilting LCD Screen Side

The P520 has the ability to shoot full-resolution stills at up to 7 frames per second (fps), the same rate as its predecessor, for 7 shots rather than 5 as on the P510. There is also a slower burst mode, called Continuous L, in which the frame rate drops to 1fps, but you can capture up to 30 full-resolution photos at the Large quality setting. Note that you cannot use the flash in any of the continuous shooting modes. Disappointingly the P520 still doesn't support the RAW file format, something that all of its main competitors offer, and a prosumer feature that frankly we'd expect on this class of camera.

The P520 can shoot Full HD (1920×1080 pixel) movies at 60i/50i/30p/25p frames per second, with stereo sound and full use of the optical zoom. It also offers a 720p/25p mode, an iFrame 960x540 pixel mode at 30/25p and VGA 640x480 pixel mode at 30/25p. Nikon's smart designers put the stereo microphone on the top of the camera right behind the flash. A Wind Noise Reduction function is available in the Movie menu. Serving to minimise the noise of wind blowing on the microphone, it is recommended to be turned on in strong wind only, as it may also make other sounds difficult to hear. Sensor-shift VR is not available during movie recording, but you may opt to turn on electronic image stabilisation.

The P520 is also capable of high-speed (HS) movie recording. VGA videos can be recorded at 4x speed faster than normal speed and played back at 1/4-speed slow motion. 720p movies are recorded at 2x speed faster than normal speed and played back at 1/2-speed slow motion. 1080p movies are recorded at 0.5x speed of normal speed and played back at 2x speed fast motion. Sound is not recorded and no form of VR is available. Given the high frame rates, these videos require fast shutter speeds, which effectively means that you need very bright conditions.

Recording movie clips is very easy on the Nikon P520 via the one-touch Movie Record button on the rear of the camera. By pressing this button, you can start recording a clip no matter what shooting mode you are in. You can use the optical zoom while filming, and full-time AF is also available. In use, we found that zooming in or out sometimes caused the image to go temporarily out of focus, but the AF system usually adjusted itself very quickly in these cases. The maximum clip length is limited to 29 minutes for both normal and high-speed movies. The Creative Slider and Special Effects can also be used when shooting movies, and they can be played back on a HDTV via the built-in HDMI connector, although as usual there's no suitable cable supplied in the box. The P520 supports the CEC feature for HDMI which enables playback control using your TV's remote control.

Nikon Coolpix P520 Nikon Coolpix P520
Memory Card Slot Battery Compartment

The Nikon Coolpix P520's familiar Menu button accesses the usual Nikon menu system, which is clear and easy to navigate. Press this when in any of the shooting modes and there are three menus, Shooting, Movie, GPS and Setup, with two menus, Playback and Settings, available when you're reviewing an image. A big oversight is the almost constant need to use the menu system for setting the ISO speed, white balance, metering, and AF mode, with at least 4 button presses required to change these often-used features. The P520 is sorely missing some kind of quick menu system, accessible via an external control, to help speed up its general operation.

In playback mode, pressing the same Menu button affords access to image editing, including Nikon's exposure adjusting D-Lighting function, Skin Softening and Filter Effects, image slide shows, and the automatic Quick Retouch. A button to the right features the familiar trashcan icon for deleting images on the fly and completes the rear of the P520.

On the right flank of the camera - still viewing it from the rear - there's a metal eyelet for attaching the supplied shoulder strap and a plastic cover protecting the HDMI port and A/V out / USB port. On the left hand flank is another eyelet. There's a centrally positioned, metal tripod mount on the bottom of the camera. The P520 is powered by a 1100 mAh lithium ion battery, good for around 200 shots, that slots into the base alongside the SD / SDHC / SDXC card slot. There is a small internal memory too, but it will only hold a few photos at full resolution, so you'll definitely need a memory card. Note that recharging the P520 is a somewhat convoluted affair, with the battery remaining in camera and requiring the battery cover to be closed.

The performance of the Nikon P520 is mostly satisfactory. It starts up in under two seconds and zooms pretty quickly yet accurately for a power zoom. As noted earlier, its autofocus speed is not the greatest despite the inclusion of a subject tracking mode, but you'll only notice that when trying to capture fast action. We found the high-speed continuous shooting mode brilliant but sadly limited by the rather small buffer. The only truly frustrating design flaw is the lack of direct access to ISO speed and white balance. We'd really like to see dedicated buttons for these functions, although the Function button goes some way to rectifying this.

That concludes our look at the Nikon Coolpix P520's ease-of-use, now let's move on to its image quality...

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 18 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6Mb.

The Nikon Coolpix P520's image quality is very good for a compact camera with a small image sensor. The Nikon Coolpix P520's dealt well with noise, which becomes obvious at ISO 800 along with some colour loss. The noise, colour desaturation and loss of detail gets progressively worse as you go from ISO 800 to ISO 3200 and finally the unusable 6400 setting. The Nikon Coolpix P520 handled chromatic aberrations excellently with limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The 18 megapixel images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpen setting and either require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you should increase the in-camera sharpening level.

The Nikon Coolpix P520's maximum shutter speed is 8 seconds, which is fairly good news for night photography enthusiasts. Macro performance is excellent, allowing you to focus as close as 1cm away from the subject. Vibration reduction is a compulsory feature on a camera like this and one that that works very well when hand-holding the P520 in low-light conditions or using the telephoto end of the amazing zoom range. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and good overall exposure. The backlighting feature increases detail in both the shadows and highlights, although at the expense of some additional noise and loss of fine detail, while the Picture Controls, Special Effects during shooting and Filter Effects during playback offer a lot of creative control over your images.

Noise

The Nikon Coolpix P520 has 8 sensitivity settings ranging from ISO 80 to ISO 6400 at full resolution.

ISO 80 (100% Crop)

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

iso80.jpg iso100.jpg
   

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

iso200.jpg iso400.jpg
   

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

iso800.jpg iso1600.jpg
   

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

iso3200.jpg iso6400.jpg

Focal Range

The Nikon Coolpix P520's 42x zoom lens provides an astonishing focal range of 24-1000mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

24mm

1000mm

focal_range1.jpg focal_range2.jpg

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops - the right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images from the Nikon Coolpix P520 are slightly soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can alternatively change the in-camera sharpening level to suit your tastes.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

sharpen1.jpg sharpen1a.jpg
   
sharpen2.jpg sharpen2a.jpg

File Quality

At full resolution, there are two JPEG quality settings availableon the Nikon Coolpix P520 - Fine and Normal.

Fine (6.42Mb) (100% Crop)

Normal (3.91Mb) (100% Crop)

quality_fine.jpg quality_normal.jpg

Chromatic Aberrations

Given the range of the zoom lens, the Nikon Coolpix P520 shows remarkably little purple fringing, with limited effects in areas of high contrast as shown in the examples below.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations 2 (100% Crop)

chromatic1.jpg chromatic2.jpg

Macro

The Nikon Coolpix P520 allows you to get as close as 1cm to your subject, in this case a Compact Flash card.

Macro

Macro (100% Crop)

macro1.jpg macro1a.jpg

Flash

The flash settings on the Nikon Coolpix P520 are Auto, Auto with Red-eye reduction, Fill Flash, Manual (Full, 1/2, 1/4 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 and 1/64), Slow Sync, Rear-curtain Sync and Flash Off. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m. Some vignetting and barrel distortion is apparent at the 24mm wide-angle setting, irrespective of whether you use the flash or not.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (24mm)

Flash On - Wide Angle (24mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64
   

Flash Off - Telephoto (1000mm)

Flash On - Telephoto (1000mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64

And here are a couple of portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Fill Flash or the Auto with Red-eye reduction options caused any amount of red-eye.

Flash On

Flash On (100% Crop)
flash_on.jpg flash_on1.jpg
   

Red Eye Reduction

Red Eye Reduction (100% Crop)

flash_redeye.jpg flash_redeye1.jpg

Night

The Nikon Coolpix P520's maximum shutter speed is 8 seconds in the Manual mode, which is fairly good news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 8 seconds at ISO 80.

Night

Night (100% Crop)

night1.jpg night1a.jpg

Vibration Reduction

The Nikon Coolpix P520 has a vibration reduction mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the lens set to the same focal length and ISO speed. The first shot was taken with vibration reduction turned off, the second with it turned on. As you can see, with vibration reduction turned on, the images are definitely sharper than with vibration reduction turned off. Here is a 100% crop of the images to show the results.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length

Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)

Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/10th sec / 24mm antishake1.jpg antishake1a.jpg
     
1/4th sec / 1000mm antishake2.jpg antishake2a.jpg

Active D-Lighting

D-lighting is Nikon's dynamic range optimisation tool that attempts to squeeze the full dynamic range of the sensor into JPEGs. The available settings are Off, Low, Medium, and High. The following examples demonstrate the differences between the various settings.

Off

Low
dlighting_01.jpg dlighting_02.jpg
   

Normal

High

dlighting_03.jpg dlighting_04.jpg

Backlighting

The Nikon Coolpix P520's Backlighting mode captures three consecutive shots at varying exposures and combines them into a single photo with a broader range of tones. Three different HDR settings are available for selection.

Off

HDR 1
backlighting_01.jpg backlighting_02.jpg
   

HDR 2

HDR 3

backlighting_03.jpg backlighting_04.jpg

Picture Controls

The Nikon Coolpix P520 has four different Picture Controls, which can be individually tweaked (sharpening, contrast and saturation) to suit your taste.

Standard

Neutral
picture_controls_01.jpg picture_controls_02.jpg
   

Vivid

Monochrome

picture_controls_03.jpg picture_controls_04.jpg

Special Effects

You can apply nine different special effects as you shoot with the Nikon Coolpix P520, with a live preview on the LCD screen showing exactly what the final image will look like.

Soft

Nostalgic Sepia
special_effects_01.jpg special_effects_02.jpg
   

High-contrast Monochrome

High Key

special_effects_03.jpg special_effects_04.jpg
   

Low Key

Selective Color

special_effects_05.jpg special_effects_06.jpg
   

High ISO Monochrome

Silhouette

special_effects_07.jpg special_effects_08.jpg
   

Cross Process

 

special_effects_09.jpg  

Filter Effects

You can apply seven different filter effects in-camera to photos that you have already taken with the Nikon Coolpix P520.

Soft

Selective Color
filter_effects_01.jpg filter_effects_02.jpg
   

Cross Screen

Fisheye

filter_effects_03.jpg filter_effects_04.jpg
   

Miniature Effect

Painting
filter_effects_05.jpg filter_effects_06.jpg
   

Vignette

 
filter_effects_07.jpg  

Easy Panorama

The Nikon Coolpix P520's Easy Panorama mode allows you to take vertical or horizontal panorama photos simply by moving the camera in the direction of the on-screen guides. Multiple shots are then combined into a single panorama photo. The angle of view can be selected from 180° (normal) and 360° (wide).

Easy Panorama - 180°
panorama1.jpg
 
Easy Panorama - 360°
panorama2.jpg

 

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Nikon Coolpix P520 camera, which were all taken using the 18.1 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movies & Video

This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 1920x1080 pixels at 25 frames per second. Please note that this 20 second movie is 39.4Mb in size.

This is a slow-motion sample movie at the quality setting of 1920x1080 pixels at 12.5 frames per second. Please note that this 8 second movie is 16.8Mb in size.

This is a high-speed sample movie at the quality setting of 1080x720 pixels at 50 frames per second. Please note that this 32 second movie is 27Mb in size.

This is a high-speed sample movie at the quality setting of 640x480 pixels at 100 frames per second. Please note that this 81 second movie is 21.6Mb in size.

Product Images

Nikon Coolpix P520

Front of the Nikon Coolpix P520

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Front of the Nikon Coolpix P520 / Turned On

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Front of the Nikon Coolpix P520 / Pop-up Flash

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Side of the Nikon Coolpix P520

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Side of the Nikon Coolpix P520

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Side of the Nikon Coolpix P520

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Side of the Nikon Coolpix P520

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix P520

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix P520

 

Nikon Coolpix P520

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix P520 / Image Displayed

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix P520 / Turned On

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix P520 / Shooting Menu

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix P520 / Function Menu

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix P520 / Tilting LCD Screen

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Front of the Nikon Coolpix P520 / Tilting LCD Screen

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Top of the Nikon Coolpix P520

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Bottom of the Nikon Coolpix P520

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Side of the Nikon Coolpix P520

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Side of the Nikon Coolpix P520

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Front of the Nikon Coolpix P520

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Front of the Nikon Coolpix P520

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Memory Card Slot

 
Nikon Coolpix P520

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Nikon Coolpix P520 is a very modest update of last year's P510 model, principally adding a more flexible LCD screen and slightly more megapixels, thankfully with no deterioation in image quality. This doesn't really feel like enough of a step forward though, especially as most of our criticisms of the P510 haven't been addressed, namely a lack of direct access to the ISO speed and other key settings, a missing second control wheel, no RAW format support, a low-resolution electronic viewfinder and the inability to attach an external flashgun, all features that several rivals offer or improve on.

The Nikon Coolpix P520 offers the same incredible telephoto zoom setting of 1000mm as its predecessor. Remarkably it's still possible to hand-hold the camera in good light and achieve sharp pictures thanks to the excellent vibration reduction system, although you really need to use a tripod or other support for consistent results. This is especially important given the poor quality of the EVF and the rather inexplicable requirement to close the LCD screen before you can actually use it. The move to an 18 megapixel sensor hasn't spoiled the image quality, on the contrary, it's slightly better than on the P510, but the P520 still struggles to keep up with fast-moving subjects and lacks support for the RAW file format.

While the P520 continues to offer a very well rounded package, with SLR-like handling, manual exposure and focus, an eye-level viewfinder, a flexible and high-resolution LCD screen, built-in GPS and optional wi-fi, full HD movies with stereo sound, full-time AF and optical zoom, we can't help but feel a strong sense of deja vu. The new Nikon Coolpix P520 doesn't offer enough improvements and new features to tempt would-be upgraders from the previous generation or to compete with the best super-zooms on the market, so while it remains a solid choice, there are better cameras competing for your attention and money.

4 stars

Ratings (out of 5)
Design 4
Features 4.5
Ease-of-use 4
Image quality 4
Value for money 4

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Nikon Coolpix P520 from around the web.

whatdigitalcamera.com »

The Nikon Coolpix P520 boasts the most powerful lens in Coolpix camera yet, incorporating a 42x optical zoom lens which provides an effective focal range of 24-1000mm. How does the rest of the camera weigh up? Find out in our full Nikon Coolpix P520 review
Read the full review »

ephotozine.com »

The Nikon Coolpix P520 was announced in January 2013 and is a bridge camera with a 42x optical zoom lens, 18 megapixel backlit COMS sensor and a 3.2 inch vari-angle LCD screen. It is the update to the P510 and is available in silver, red and black for around £330.
Read the full review »

Specifications

¹ Based on CIPA Standards for measuring life of batteries.

Product name P520
Type Compact digital camera
Number of effective pixels 18.1 million
Image sensor 1/2.3-in. type CMOS; approx. 18.91 million total pixels
Lens NIKKOR lens with 42x optical zoom
Focal length 4.3-180 mm (angle of view equivalent to that of 24-1000 mm lens in 35mm [135] format)
f/-number f/3-5.9
Lens construction 14 elements in 10 groups (4 ED lens elements)
Digital zoom magnification Up to 2x (angle of view equivalent to that of approx. 2000 mm lens in 35mm [135] format)
Vibration reduction Lens shift
Motion blur reduction Motion detection (still pictures)
Autofocus (AF) Contrast-detect AF
Focus range [W]: Approx. 50 cm (1 ft 8 in.) to infinity, [T]: Approx. 1.5 m (5 ft) to infinity; Macro close-up mode: Approx. 1 cm (0.4 in.) (at a wide-angle zoom position) to infinity (All distances measured from center of front surface of lens)
Focus-area selection Face priority, auto (9-area automatic selection), center (wide, normal), manual with 99 focus areas, subject tracking, target finding AF
Viewfinder Electronic viewfinder, 0.5 cm (0.2-in.) approx. 201k-dot equivalent LCD with the diopter adjustment function (-4 to +4 m-1)
Frame coverage (shooting mode) Approx. 100% horizontal and 100% vertical (compared to actual picture)
Frame coverage (playback mode) Approx. 100% horizontal and 100% vertical (compared to actual picture)
Monitor 8 cm (3.2-in.), approx. 921k-dot, wide viewing angle TFT LCD with anti-reflection coating and 5-level brightness adjustment, Vari-angle TFT LCD
Frame coverage (shooting mode) Approx. 100% horizontal and 100% vertical (compared to actual picture)
Frame coverage (playback mode) Approx. 100% horizontal and 100% vertical (compared to actual picture)
Storage media Internal memory (approx. 15 MB); SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card
File system DCF, Exif 2.3, DPOF, and MPF compliant
File formats Still pictures: JPEG; 3D images: MPO; Sound files (voice memo): WAV; Movies: MOV (Video: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, Audio: AAC stereo)
Image size (pixels) 18M [4896 x 3672]; 8M [3264 x 2448]; 4M [2272 x 1704]; 2M [1600 x 1200]; VGA [640 x 480]; 16:9 13M [4864 x 2736]; 16:9 2M [1920 x 1080]; 3:2 [4896 x 3264]; 1:1 [3672 x 3672]
Shooting Modes Auto, Scene (Scene auto selector, Portrait, Sports, Night portrait, Party/indoor, Beach, Snow, Sunset, Dusk/dawn, Close-up, Food, Museum, Fireworks show, Black and white copy, Panorama, Pet portrait, 3D photography), Night landscape, Landscape, Backlighting, Special effects, User settings, P, S, A, M
Continuous Shooting Single (default setting), Continuous H (Up to 7 pictures are continuously shot at a rate of about 7 fps), Continuous L (Up to 30 pictures are continuously shot at a rate of about 1 fps), Pre-shooting cache (frame rate: up to 15 fps / number of frames: up to 20 frames), Continuous H:120 fps (60 frames are captured at a speed of about 1/125 seconds or faster), Continuous H:60 fps (60 frames are captured at a speed of about 1/60 seconds or faster), BSS (Best Shot Selector), Multi-shot 16, Intvl timer shooting
Movie 1080(fine)/30p (default setting): 1920 x 1080/16:9/approx. 30 fps, 1080(fine)/25p (default setting): 1920 x 1080/16:9/approx. 25 fps, 1080/30p: 1920 x 1080/16:9/approx. 30 fps, 1080/25p: 1920 x 1080/16:9/approx. 25 fps, 1080/60i: 1920 x 1080/16:9/approx. 60 fps, 1080/50i: 1920 x 1080/16:9/approx. 50 fps, 720/30p: 1280 x 720/16:9/approx. 30 fps, 720/25p: 1280 x 720/16:9/approx. 25 fps, iFrame 540/30p: 960 x 540/16:9/approx. 30 fps, iFrame 540/25p: 960 x 540/16:9/approx. 25 fps, 480/30p: 640 x 480/4:3/approx. 30 fps, 480/25p: 640 x 480/4:3/approx. 25 fps, HS 480/4x: 640 x 480/4:3, HS 720/2x: 1280 x 720/16:9, HS 1080/0.5x: 1920 x 1080/16:9
ISO sensitivity (Standard output sensitivity) ISO 80 - 1600; ISO 3200, Hi 1 (equivalent to ISO 6400) (available when using P, S, A or M mode); ISO Hi 2 (equivalent to ISO 12800) (available when using High ISO monochrome in special effects mode)
Exposure metering mode Matrix, center-weighted, or spot
Exposure control Programmed auto (with flexible program), shutter priority auto, aperture-priority auto, manual, exposure bracketing, exposure compensation (-2.0 EV - +2.0 EV in steps of 1/3 EV)
Shutter Mechanical and CMOS electronic shutter
Shutter speed 1/4000 * - 1 s; 1/4000 * - 8 s (when ISO sensitivity is fixed at 80 or 100 in P, S, A or M mode) * When the aperture value is set between f/6.6 and f/8.3 at the wide-angle end.
Aperture Electronically-controlled 6-blade iris diaphragm
Aperture range 10 steps of 1/3 EV (W) (A, M mode)
Self-timer Durations of 2 or 10 seconds can be selected
Flash range (approx.) (ISO sensitivity: Auto) [W]: 0.5 - 8.0 m (1 ft 8 in. - 26 ft); [T]: 1.5 - 4.5 m (5 - 14 ft)
Flash control TTL auto flash with monitor preflashes
Flash exposure compensation In steps of 1/3 EV in the range between -2 and +2 EV
Interface Hi-Speed USB
Data Transfer Protocol MTP, PTP
Video output Can be selected from NTSC and PAL
HDMI output Can be selected from Auto, 480p, 720p, and 1080i
I/O terminal Audio/video output; digital I/O (USB); HDMI mini connector (Type C) (HDMI output)
GPS Receiver frequency 1575.42 MHz (C/A code), geodetic system WGS 84
Supported languages Arabic, Bengali, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Marathi, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (European and Brazilian), Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese
Power sources One Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL5 (included); AC Adapter EH-62A (available separately)
Charging time Approx. 4 h and 30 min (when using Charging AC Adapter EH-69P and when no charge remains)
Battery life ¹ Still pictures: Approx. 200 shots when using EN-EL5
Tripod socket 1/4 (ISO 1222)
Dimensions (W x H x D) Approx. 125.2 x 84.1 x 101.6 mm (5.0 x 3.4 x 4.0 in.) (excluding projections)
Weight Approx. 550 g (1 lb 3.5 oz) (including battery and SD memory card)
Temperature 0°C - 40°C (32°F - 104°F)
Humidity 85% or less (no condensation)
Supplied accessories Camera Strap, Lens Cap LC-CP24 (with cord), Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL5 (with terminal cover), Charging AC Adapter EH-69P, USB Cable UC-E6, Audio Video Cable EG-CP16, ViewNX 2 CD
Optional accessories Battery Charger MH-61, AC Adapter EH-62A, Hand Strap AH-CP1, Wireless Mobile Adapter WU-1a

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