Nikon Coolpix P80 Review
Review Date: June 9th 2008
Author: Mark Goldstein
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Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 10 megapixel JPEG
setting, which gives an average image size of around 3Mb.
Noise
There are 9 ISO settings available
on the Nikon Coolpix P80. Note that the image
resolution is reduced to 3 megapixels for ISO 3200 and 6400. There
is no discernible noise at the slowest settings of ISO 64
and 100, as
you
would expect,
but
at ISO 200 noise is already appearing. By ISO 400 it is very
obvious, together with coloured artifacts and blurring
of detail. ISO 800 is for emergency use only, whilst ISO
1600 and 2000 are virtually unusable. 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 a little bit 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 using the Optimize Image setting if you don't like the default results.
File Quality
The Nikon Coolpix P80 has 3 different image
quality settings available, with Fine being the highest
quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality
of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.
Chromatic Aberrations
The Nikon Coolpix P80 handled chromatic aberrations fairly well during the review. Some purple fringing was present around the edges of objects in high-contrast
situations, as shown in the examples below.
Macro
The Nikon Coolpix P80 offers a Macro
setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is just 1cm
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
P80 are Auto, Auto + Red-Eye reduction, Off, Fill Flash, Slow sync and Rear-curtain sync.
These shots of a white
coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.
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Auto
Flash - Telephoto (486mm) |
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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 failed to remove.
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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 P80's maximum
shutter speed is 8 seconds, 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, aperture of f/4.5 at ISO 100. 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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Anti Shake
The Nikon Coolpix P80 has an
anti-shake 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
same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake
turned off, the second with it turned on. Here is a 100%
crop of the image to show the results. As you can see, with
anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with
anti shake turned
off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and
could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing
the opportunity altogether.
Overall Image Quality
The Nikon Coolpix P80's image quality is
above average. The Nikon Coolpix P80's main drawback in terms
of image quality is noise, with the relatively slow speed
of ISO 200 showing some noise, particularly in shadow areas.
The
noise
gets
progressively
worse as you go from ISO 200 to ISO 400 and finally the virtually
unusable ISO 800, 1600 and 2000 settings. The Nikon Coolpix P80 dealt with chromatic aberrations a little better, with
purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations.
The 10 megapixel images were a little soft straight out of the camera, but you can change
the in-camera sharpening level if you wish. The night photograph
was fine, with the maximum shutter speed of 8 seconds allowing
you to capture just enough light for most situations. The built-in flash worked
well indoors, with a little red-eye and good overall exposure. Macro performance is excellent, allowing you
to focus as close as just 1cm away from the subject at the wide-angle
lens setting. Anti-shake is an essential feature on a camera like this and one that
works well when hand-holding the camera
in low-light conditions or using the telephoto end of
the zoom range.
 PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the Nikon Coolpix P80 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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