Nikon Coolpix P50 Review
Review Date: December 17th 2007
Author: Gavin Stoker
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Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 8 megapixel JPEG
setting, which gives an average image size of around 2.5Mb.
Noise
There are 6 ISO settings available
on the Nikon Coolpix P50 which you can select at any time
if the camera is in the normal shooting mode. Noise
is visible from ISO 400 upwards, and images shot
at ISO 1600 or 2000 look appallingly noisy when viewed on
the camera's rear LCD. Download them to the desktop and the
results aren't half as bad – grain is visible yes, but results
at both settings would be usable at a push. Here are some 100%
crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:
Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have
been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand
image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the
camera images are soft at the default sharpening
setting, and benefit from some further sharpening in a program
like Adobe Photoshop. You can also change the in-camera sharpening
levels if you don't like the default results.
Chromatic Aberrations
The Nikon Coolpix P50 handled chromatic
aberrations very well, with limited purple fringing evident
only in areas of high contrast, especially at the edges
of the frame,
as
shown in the examples below.
Macro
The Nikon Coolpix P50 offers a Macro
setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 5cms
away from the camera. The first image shows how close you
can get to the subject in Macro mode (in this case a compact
flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.
Flash
The flash settings on the Nikon Coolpix
P50 are Auto, Red-Eye reduction, Off, On, and Slow sync.
These shots of a white
coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.
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Auto
Flash - Telephoto (102mm) |
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And here are some portrait shots.
The Auto setting caused a tiny amount of red-eye, which the
Red-eye reduction mode almost completely removed.
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Auto
(100% Crop) |
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Red-eye
reduction (100% Crop) |
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Night Shot
The Nikon Coolpix P50's maximum
shutter speed is 4 seconds in the Night scene mode, which
is fairly disappointing if you're seriously interested in
night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter
speed
of 0.3 seconds, aperture of f/2.9 at ISO 800. I've included
a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.
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Night
Shot (100% Crop) |
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Overall Image Quality
With the Nikon Coolpix P50 not excelling in one particular area of image quality
– but rather being, under most conditions, a reliable performer
– the
camera comes across as a jack of all trades. With multi segment
metering selected, even exposures are the order of the day,
with a pleasing amount of foreground and background detail
maintained. Colour is also well handled, with reds, greens
and blues appearing especially vivid when left to the camera's
default settings. With good
enough light conditions there's also plenty of detail on
offer, so the Nikon Coolpix P50 is already looking like a very fairly priced
option for a general purpose snapshot. Low light conditions
without the aid of flash prove more testing of course. Though
images shot
at ISO1600 or 2000 look appallingly noisy when viewed on
the camera's rear LCD, download them to the desktop and the
results aren't half as bad – grain is visible yes, but results
at both settings would be usable at a push. Pixel fringing is noticeable only
under close inspection, meaning that it's reasonably well
disguised. As the camera is so light we expected
the odd instance of camera shake when shooting in low light
conditions – or even on overcast days – at extreme telephoto,
and so it proved. Electronic VR appeared only to introduce
noise under such circumstances – so we ended up with both
blurred and noisy images – not ideal. Stick to shooting with
plenty of light around and you won't be disappointed.
 PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the Nikon Coolpix P50 have been submitted to DIWA
for comparison with test results for different samples of
the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
member sites.
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