Nikon Coolpix P340 Review

April 3, 2014 | Mark Goldstein | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star Half rating star

Introduction

The Nikon Coolpix P340 is a new pocket compact camera designed to appeal to the keen enthusiast photographer. The Nikon P340 has a 1/1.7-inch back-illuminated 12-megapixel CMOS sensor, 5x optical zoom with a focal range of 24-120mm, maximum apertures of f/1.8-5.6 and lens-shift Vibration Reduction, RAW (NRW) data processing, built-in Wi-Fi connectivity. The new multifunctional lens ring offers quick access to various settings like manual focus, shutter speed and ISO. The P340 also boasts a sensitivity range of ISO 80 to 12800, built-in Neutral Density filter, creative PASM shooting modes, full 1080/60i/50i HD video recording with stereo sound and slow and fast motion movies, a burst mode of 10 frames per second, 99-point autofocus system, focus peaking, and a 3-inch 921,000-dot RGBW LCD screen. The Nikon Coolpix P340 is available in black or white for £349.99 / $379.95 / €429.00.

Ease of Use

The Nikon Coolpix P340 is virtually identical to its predecessor, the P330, in terms of its external design and look. You can easily carry the P340 around in a trouser or shirt pocket, as it measures 103.0 x 58.3 x 32.0 mm and weighs 194g with the battery and memory card fitted. The P340 is marginally bigger than the Canon PowerShot S120, quite a bit smaller than the Panasonic Lumix LX7 and the Olympus XZ-2, and a similar size to the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100, although all of these models are still eminently pocketable.

The P340 has a 5x zoom lens with a versatile focal range of 24-120mm, more than wide enough for sweeping landscapes yet still offering enough reach for head and shoulder portraits. The lens has a headline-grabbing maximum aperture of f/1.8 at the wide-angle setting, but this quickly drops off as you move through the focal range, reaching a disappointingly slow aperture of F/5.6 at 120mm, which prevents nicely blurred backgrounds from being recorded at the longer telephoto settings. The large 1/1.7-inch sensor and a seven blade iris diaphragm do help to blur the background more, though, delivering good results for a "regular" compact. The Coolpix P340 feels quite solidly constructed yet at the same time lightweight, with a magnesium alloy chassis and similarly high levels of build quality that you find on Nikon's more expensive cameras.

The front of the Nikon Coolpix P340 features the aforementioned 5x zoom lens. 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 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. 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 220 shots, so we'd advise you to turn it on and then forget about it.

Surrounding the lens is the new multifunctional control ring, one of the few major differences between the P340 and the previous model. You can turn the dial to set the aperture, by default, which greatly speeds up this key aspect. The ring can be customised to control one of several different settings - exposure compensation, ISO, white balance, manual focus, zoom, shutter speed or aperture. It's not a new feature on advanced compact cameras, but it is a welcome addition to the P340.

Nikon Coolpix P340 Nikon Coolpix P340
Front Rear

Top-left of the lens is a single bulb which doubles-up as the self timer and the AF assist lamp. Also on the front of the P340 is a small but helpful vertical rubber strip that acts as a handgrip for your right hand, with enough room for two fingers. Used in conjunction with the similarly textured thumb-grip on the rear, it allows you to get a secure grip the camera and be able to confidently use it one-handed. The Function button is a helpful addition to the front of the P340. This is a customisable button that can be set to one of seven key camera settings, although in the absence of a dedicated ISO control on the rest of the camera, we'd strongly suggest that you set it to this.

Maximum resolution JPEGS are stored by the Nikon Coolpix P340 in a couple of seconds. In continuous shooting mode it can capture 10 frames per second when shooting Fine sized JPEGs for 10 images. There's also a slower rate of to 30 full-resolution shots at 1 fps. The P340 also supports the RAW file format, something that all of its main competitors offer, and a prosumer feature that we'd expect to find on this class of camera. You can shoot 10 RAW files at 10fps, but be prepared to wait for over a minute as the camera processes each 25Mb file.

The P340 has a small and neat built-in flash, activated by a switch on the side of the camera, which pops-up above-right of the lens and therefore provides a little more clearance and less chance of unwanted red-eye in your photos. We found that the built-in flash unit was fine for a bit of fill-in, with respectably quick recycle times and adequate range. Also located on top of the P340 are a logo for the built-in Wi-Fi system, left and right microphones for the stereo sound, then a Shooting mode dial, similar to what you'd find on a consumer-level DSLR.

The wi-fi feature allows you to wirelessly transfer photos to a compatible smartphone, tablet or Wi-Fi-enabled device and also remotely control the camera from another device using the Nikon app. This is a big mprovement on the P300, which required the optional WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter to be fitted. It does, however, come at the cost of a built-in Global Positioning System (GPS), which the new P340 no longer supports. Instead the GPS data from your smart device can be embedded in the photos you transfer to it.

Nikon Coolpix P340 Nikon Coolpix P340
Front Rear

Ranged around the shooting mode dial are settings for the Auto, Program Auto, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority and Manual, plus the U, Effects and Scene modes. The U option stands for User Settings. This allows you to access a saved menu settings configuration, allowing you to quickly swap between the camera's current settings and a preconfigured one. The action of the dial itself is slightly stiff, meaning that you reach each chosen setting with a definite click and avoid accidentally shooting past the one that you wanted.

In the Backlighting scene mode, the P340 captures three consecutive shots at varying exposures and combines them into a single photo with a broader range of tones. Three different levels are available for selection. When the Night Landscape scene mode is selected, the P340 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 P340 has a slightly springy shutter button, with the camera taking about 1/4 second to determine focus and exposure but with no discernible shutter delay thereafter. This is surrounded by a pleasingly tactile zoom lever. The zoom is pretty quick to respond, sound-tracked by a mechanical gnat-like buzz. Just behind the shutter release button is a small but clearly marked on/off button, within which a a green LED briefly lights up to signify the power is indeed on. Give it a press and the P340 powers up very quickly in around 1/2 second, the lens barrel extending to maximum wide-angle setting and the rear LCD blinking into life.

Completing the P340's top-plate is a rather clever feature, a large, unmarked, thumb-operated dial for setting the shutter speed when the shooting mode is set to Shutter Speed Priority or Manual, or alternatively for setting the exposure compensation. We'd have welcomed the ability to customise its use, though, as with the lens control ring. Still, dual controls for setting the aperture and shutter speed is very rare on any compact, so kudos to Nikon for including both on the P340.

Nikon Coolpix P340 Nikon Coolpix P340
Front Top

The rear of the P340 has a new 3-inch RGBW LCD screen with an impressively high 921,000-dot resolution, an anti-reflective coating and adjustable brightness, providing more than enough detail for you to be able to determine whether you have a sufficiently crisp image. To the right is a tiny flash recycling lamp and underneath that a handy one-touch movie recording button.

The Nikon Coolpix P340 can record full 1920x1080 pixel HD movies at 60i/50i or 30p/25p/24p with stereo sound and full use of the optical zoom. It also offers a 720p mode at 1280x720 pixels (30 fps) and VGA mode at 640x480 pixels (30 fps). In addition there's a special High Speed mode which records at 15/60/120 fps (no sound) that can be played back in slow motion at 1/4 or 1/2 of the normal playback speed or in fast motion at twice the normal playback speed. 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 P340 supports the CEC feature for HDMI which enables playback control using your TV's remote control.

Underneath the movie button is the self-explanatory playback button. Irritatingly there's no external button for controlling the screen display, just a menu option, and there's also no live histogram either (although the OK button does call one up in playback mode). Next is the familiar four-way navigation pad, which allows you to set the flash, exposure compensation, macro and self-timer options, in addition to moving through menus and selecting options, with an 'OK' button at its centre being the means via which changes can be implemented. Surrounding this is a circular wheel, which is principally used to set the aperture, as well as performing the more mundane tasks of moving through menus and selecting options. We preferred to use the lens control ring to set the aperture, so it would have been good if the function of the circular wheel was also customisable to avoid uneccessary duplication.

Nikon Coolpix P340 Nikon Coolpix P340
Memory Card Slot Battery Compartment

The Nikon Coolpix P340'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 and Set Up, 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, AF mode and continuous shooting, with at least 4 button presses required to change these often-used features, although the Function button does partially address this problem by providing quick access to one key function.

In playback mode, pressing the same Menu button affords access to image editing options 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 P340.

On the right flank of the camera - still viewing it from the rear - there's a recessed eyelet for attaching the supplied strap and a plastic cover protecting the HDMI and AV Out ports. On the left hand flank is the release button for the pop-up flash. There's a centrally positioned, metal tripod mount on the bottom of the camera. The P340 is powered by a 1050 mAh lithium ion battery, good for around 220 shots, that slots into the base alongside the SD / SDHC / SDXC card slot.

That concludes our look at the Nikon Coolpix P340'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 12.2 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 4.5Mb.

The Nikon Coolpix P340's image quality is very good for a compact camera thanks to its larger than usual image sensor. The Nikon Coolpix P340's dealt well with noise, which becomes obvious at ISO 800. The noise and loss of detail gets progressively worse as you go from ISO 800 to ISO 3200 and finally the unusable 6400 and 12800 settings.

The Nikon Coolpix P340 handled chromatic aberrations very well with limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The 12 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 P340's maximum shutter speed is 60 seconds, which is great news for night photography enthusiasts. Macro performance is very good, allowing you to focus as close as 2cms away from the subject. Vibration reduction is a very useful feature that works well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or using the telephoto end of the 5x 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 P340 has 9 sensitivity settings ranging from ISO 80 to ISO 12800 at full resolution.

JPEG RAW

ISO 80 (100% Crop)

ISO 80 (100% Crop)

iso80.jpg iso80raw.jpg
   

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

iso100.jpg iso100raw.jpg
   

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

iso200.jpg iso200raw.jpg
   

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

iso400.jpg iso400raw.jpg
   

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

iso800.jpg iso800raw.jpg
   

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

iso1600.jpg iso1600raw.jpg
   

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

iso3200.jpg iso3200raw.jpg
   

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

iso6400.jpg iso6400raw.jpg
   

ISO 12800 (100% Crop)

ISO 12800 (100% Crop)

iso12800.jpg iso12800raw.jpg

Focal Range

The Nikon Coolpix P340's 5x zoom lens provides a focal length of 24-120mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

24mm

120mm

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 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 available - Fine and Normal.

Fine (4.55Mb) (100% Crop)

Normal (2.54Mb) (100% Crop)

quality_fine.jpg quality_normal.jpg
   

RAW (25.7Mb) (100% Crop)

 
quality_raw.jpg  

Chromatic Aberrations

The Nikon Coolpix P340 shows some 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 P340 allows you to get as close as 2cms 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 P340 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 (120mm)

Flash On - Telephoto (120mm)

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 P340's maximum shutter speed is 60 seconds in the Manual mode, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 30 seconds at ISO 80.

Night

Night (100% Crop)

night1.jpg night1a.jpg

Vibration Reduction

The Nikon Coolpix P340 has an vibration reduction mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, we 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.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length

Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)

Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/8th sec / 24mm antishake1.jpg antishake1a.jpg
     
1/5th sec / 120mm 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

In the Backlighting scene mode the Nikon Coolpix P340 captures three consecutive shots at varying exposures and combines them into a single photo with a broader range of tones. Three different levels are available for selection.

Off

Level 1
backlighting1.jpg backlighting2.jpg
   

Level 2

Level 3

backlighting3.jpg backlighting4.jpg

Picture Controls

The Nikon Coolpix P340 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 P340, 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 Colour

special_effects_05.jpg special_effects_06.jpg
   

High ISO Monochrome

Painting

special_effects_07.jpg special_effects_08.jpg
   

Cross Process

 

special_effects_09.jpg  

Filter Effects

You can apply nine different filter effects in-camera to photos that you have already taken with the Nikon Coolpix P340.

Soft Portrait

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

Photo Illustration

filter_effects_07.jpg filter_effects_08.jpg
   

Portrait (color + B&W)

 
filter_effects_09.jpg  

Easy Panorama

Easy Panorama 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 P340 camera, which were all taken using the 12 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Nikon Coolpix P340 enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some Nikon RAW (NRW) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movie & 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 42.5Mb in size.

Product Images

Nikon Coolpix P340

Front of the Nikon Coolpix P340

 
Nikon Coolpix P340

Front of the Nikon Coolpix P340 / Flash Raised

 
Nikon Coolpix P340

Front of the Nikon Coolpix P340 / Turned On

 
Nikon Coolpix P340

Side of the Nikon Coolpix P340

 
Nikon Coolpix P340

Side of the Nikon Coolpix P340

 
Nikon Coolpix P340

Side of the Nikon Coolpix P340

 
Nikon Coolpix P340

Side of the Nikon Coolpix P340

 
Nikon Coolpix P340

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix P340

 
Nikon Coolpix P340

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix P340 / Image Displayed

 

Nikon Coolpix P340

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix P340 / Turned On

 
Nikon Coolpix P340

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix P340 / Shooting Menu

 
Nikon Coolpix P340

Top of the Nikon Coolpix P340

 
Nikon Coolpix P340

Bottom of the Nikon Coolpix P340

 
Nikon Coolpix P340

Side of the Nikon Coolpix P340

 
Nikon Coolpix P340

Side of the Nikon Coolpix P340

 
Nikon Coolpix P340

Front of the Nikon Coolpix P340

 
Nikon Coolpix P340

Front of the Nikon Coolpix P340

 
Nikon Coolpix P340

Memory Card Slot

 
Nikon Coolpix P340

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The new Nikon Coolpix P340 is a rather modest upgrade of last year's P330 model, principally adding built-in wi-fi connectivity, faster auto-focusing, a lens control ring, and longer shutter speeds for night photography. It still suffers from poor battery life, lack of quick access to the camera's key settings and slow processing times for a burst of RAW files, and with the P330 currently available for less than £200 in the UK, we'd advise choosing that model at the moment if you can still find one.

The lens control ring is a welcome addition to the P340 that makes it easy to set the aperture and/or the shutter speed when shooting in one of the creative modes, in conjunction with the rear command dial and the navigation wheel. The Function button on the front of the Coolpix P340 makes it easier to access one of the camera's most frequently used features, but at least 4 button presses are still required just to change the ISO if you don't assign that function to the button or to the lens control ring, something that will once again annoy the P340's core audience. Battery life is marginally better than on the previous model, with the P340 managing just 220 shots, and the requirement to charge the battery in-camera rather than with a separate charger makes carrying a spare even more essential. The built-in wi-fi functionality is much better than last year's implementation which required the use of an optional accessory, but we did miss the P330's integrated GPS system.

The P340's large 12 megapixel /1.7-inch back-illuminated image sensor produces noise-free images at ISO 100-400, with noise first apparent at ISO 800. It gets progressively worse as you go up the range, but the fast f/1.8 lens allows you to use a lower ISO speed while hand-holding the camera , albeit only at the wide-angle focal lengths. The maximum aperture quickly becomes slower until you hit a disappointing f/5.6 at full 120mm telephoto, but the 4-stop vibration reduction system is also a big help in enabling you to avoid using a tripod and still get decent results.

In summary, the Nikon Coolpix P340 continues the slow evolution towards being a great pocket camera for the enthusiast. It may not offer too many advances compared to the previous P330, but it remains a sophisticated compact for anyone looking to take control over the picture-making process.

4.5 stars

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

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Nikon Coolpix P340.

Canon PowerShot S120

The Canon PowerShot S120 is a new compact camera for enthusiasts. Featuring a 5x zoom lens with a fast maximum aperture of f/1.8, ISO range of 80-12,800, 12.1fps burst shooting, RAW support, full manual controls, built-in wi-fi connectivity, touchscreen interface and 1080p video at 60fps, the Canon S120 is a slim and stylish camera that you can easily fit in a trouser pocket. Read our in-depth Canon PowerShot S120 review now to find out if it's the best premium compact camera...

Fujifilm XQ1

The Fujifilm XQ1 is a premium compact camera available at a price that won't break the bank. Offering a large 12 megapixel 2/3-type sensor, fast 4x optical zoom lens, high-res 3-inch screen, 12fps burst shooting, wi-fi and 1080p movie recording at 60fps, the new XQ1 seemingly has all the bases covered. Read our Fujifilm XQ1 review now to find out if it can beat the Sony Cyber-shot RX100, complete with full-size sample JPEG and raw images, videos and more...

Olympus XZ-10

The new Olympus XZ-10 is a serious compact camera designed to fit in your pocket. A 12 megapixel BSI CMOS sensor, fast f/1.8 maximum aperture, high-res 3-inch touch-screen LCD, 1080p movies, RAW format support and a full range of manual shooting modes should be enough to grab your attention. Read our expert Olympus XZ-10 review, complete with full-size JPEG, RAW and movie samples.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LF1

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LF1 is a brand new premium compact camera with a unique twist - it has an electronic viewfinder. The Panasonic LF1 also offers a 12 megapixel sensor, 7x zoom lens with fast f/2 aperture, 10fps burst shooting and RAW support. Read our in-depth Panasonic Lumix DMC-LF1 review with sample JPEG, RAW and video files now...

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 is the latest premium compact camera hoping to find a place in a professional photographer's pocket. With the fastest lens of any compact to date, the LX7 also offers an improved 10 megapixel sensor, full 1080p HD movies and an even better control system than the previous LX5 model. Read our in-depth Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 review with sample JPEG, RAW and video files now.

Pentax MX-1

The Pentax MX-1 joins the growing list of premium compact cameras aimed at advanced users. Offering a large 1/1.7" 12 megapixel sensor, fast f/1.8 4x zoom lens, tilting 3-inch LCD screen and an appealingly retro design, does the Pentax MX1 offer enough to compete in this increasingly competitive market? Read our detailed Pentax MX-1 review to find out...

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 is an exciting new premium compact camera. A large "1.0-type" 20.2 megapixel CMOS sensor, 3.6x 28-100mm lens with a fast maximum aperture of F1.8, full 1080p high-definition video with stereo sound, high-resolution 3-inch screen, manual shooting modes, 10fps continuous shooting, ISO range of 100-12800, Raw support and fast auto-focusing are all present and correct. Read our in-depth Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 review to find out if it's the best pocket camera ever...

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Nikon Coolpix P340 from around the web.

ephotozine.com »

he Nikon Coolpix P340 is Nikon's compact, but serious camera, with a bright f/1.8 5x optical zoom lens, manual controls and is an updated Wi-Fi version of the Nikon Coolpix P330. The Nikon Coolpix P340 adds an 'Effects' position on the mode dial, as well as promising quicker operation.
Read the full review »

pocket-lint.com »

When it comes to high-end compact cameras there are lots of options out there. Most of those, however, happen to cost a pretty penny. Although the Nikon Coolpix P340 couldn't be called "budget" it does undercut many of its competitors on the price front and yet still offers a solid feature set to lure in keen photographers.
Read the full review »

Specifications

Number of effective pixels 12.2 million
Image sensor 1/1.7-in. type CMOS; approx. 12.76 million total pixels
Lens NIKKOR lens with 5x optical zoom
Focal length 5.1-25.5 mm (angle of view equivalent to that of 24-120 mm lens in 35mm [135] format)
f/-number f/1.8-5.6
Lens construction 7 elements in 6 groups
Digital zoom magnification Up to 4x (angle of view equivalent to that of approx. 480 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. 30 cm (1 ft) to infinity, [T]: Approx. 50 cm (1 ft 8 in.) to infinity. Macro close-up mode: Approx. 2 cm (0.8 in.) (at a wide-angle zoom position) to infinity. (All distances measured from center of front surface of lens)
Focus-area selection Target finding AF, face priority, manual (spot), manual (normal), manual (wide), subject tracking
Monitor 7.5 cm (3-in.), approx. 921k-dot (RGBW), wide viewing angle TFT LCD with anti-reflection coating and 6-level brightness adjustment
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)
Media Internal memory (approx. 56 MB), SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card
File system DCF, Exif 2.3 and DPOF compliant
File formats Still pictures: JPEG, RAW (NRW) (Nikon's own format). Sound files (voice memo): WAV. Movies: MOV (Video: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, Audio: LPCM stereo)
Image size (pixels) 12M [4000 x 3000]. 8M [3264 x 2448]. 4M [2272 x 1704]. 2M [1600 x 1200]. VGA [640 x 480]. 16:9 9M [3968 x 2232]. 16:9 2M [1920 x 1080]. 3:2 [3984 x 2656]. 1:1 [3000 x 3000]
Shooting Modes Auto, Scene (Scene auto selector, Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night portrait, Party/indoor, Beach, Snow, Sunset, Dusk/dawn, Night landscape, Close-up, Food, Museum , Fireworks show, Black and white copy, Backlighting, Easy panorama, Pet portrait), Special Effects, P, S, A, M, User settings
Continuous Shooting Single (default setting), Continuous H (the frame rate for continuous shooting is about 10 fps and the maximum number of continuous shots is about 10), Continuous L (the frame rate for continuous shooting is about 1 fps and the maximum number of continuous shots is about 200), Pre-shooting cache (the frame rate for continuous shooting is about 15 fps and the maximum number of continuous shots is 20, including a maximum of 5 frames captured in the pre-shooting cache), Continuous H:120 fps (the frame rate for continuous shooting is about 120 fps and the maximum number of continuous shots is 60), Continuous H:60 fps (the frame rate for continuous shooting is about 60 fps and the maximum number of continuous shots is 60), BSS (Best Shot Selector), Multi-shot 16, Intvl timer shooting
Movie 1080/30p (default setting): 1920 x 1080/16:9, 1080/25p (default setting): 1920 x 1080/16:9, 1080/60i: 1920 x 1080/16:9, 1080/50i: 1920 x 1080/16:9, 720/30p: 1280 x 720/16:9, 720/25p: 1280 x 720/16:9, iFrame 720/30p: 1280 x 720/16:9, iFrame 720/25p: 1280 x 720/16:9, 480/30p: 640 x 480/4:3, 480/25p: 640 x 480/4:3, 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 80-3200. ISO 6400, Hi 1 (equivalent to ISO 12800) (available when using P, S, A or M mode). Hi 2 (equivalent to ISO 25600) (available when using High ISO monochrome in special effects mode)
Exposure metering mode Matrix, center-weighted, or spot
Exposure control Programmed auto exposure with flexible program, shutter-priority auto, aperture-priority auto, manual, exposure bracketing enabled, exposure compensation (-2.0 EV - +2.0 EV in steps of 1/3 EV) enabled
Shutter Mechanical and CMOS electronic shutter
Shutter speed 1/2000-1 s. 1/2000-60 s (when ISO sensitivity is set to 80-400 in M mode). 1/4000 s (maximum speed during high-speed continuous shooting)
Aperture Electronically-controlled 7-blade iris diaphragm
Aperture range 14 steps of 1/3 EV (W) (A, M mode)
Self-timer Can be selected from 10 s and 2 s
Flash range (approx.) (ISO sensitivity: Auto) [W]: 0.5-6.5 m (1 ft 8 in.-21 ft). [T]: 0.5-2.5 m (1 ft 8 in.-8 ft 2 in.)
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 equivalent
Data Transfer Protocol MTP, PTP
HDMI output Can be selected from Auto, 480p, 720p, and 1080i
I/O terminal Micro-USB connector. HDMI micro connector (Type D) (HDMI output)
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) standards IEEE 802.11b/g (standard wireless LAN protocol). ARIB STD-T66 (standard for low power data communication systems)
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) communications protocols IEEE 802.11b: DBPSK/DQPSK/CCK. IEEE 802.11g: OFDM
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) range (line of sight) Approx. 10 m (11 yd)
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) operating frequency 2412-2462 MHz (1-11 channels)
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) security OPEN/WPA2
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) access protocols CSMA/CA
Supported languages Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, 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, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese
Power sources One Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL12 (included). AC Adapter EH-62F (available separately)
Charging time Approx. 1 h 50 min (when using Charging AC Adapter EH-71P and when no charge remains)
Battery life¹ Approx. 220 shots when using EN-EL12
Movie recording (actual battery life for recording)² Approx. 50 min when using EN-EL12
Tripod socket 1/4 in. (ISO 1222)
Dimensions (W x H x D) Approx. 103.0 x 58.3 x 32.0 mm (4.1 x 2.3 x 1.3 in.) (excluding projections)
Weight Approx. 194 g (6.9 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, Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL12, Charging AC Adapter EH-71P, USB Cable UC-E21, ViewNX 2 CD

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