Nikon Coolpix P7100 Summary

The Nikon Coolpix P7100 is an impressive camera with an unmatched feature set. Already its stabilized 7X wide-angle optical zoom lens is unique among premium compacts, making it the only one in its class with telephoto reach. It is also the only one with three control-dials and the only one other than its predecessor to feature a digital level, a mini-jack for an external stereo sound source. Add to that a rare hot-shoe, an optical viewfinder and a tilting display and it becomes easy to understand the unprecedented versatility of this digital camera.

Performance wise, the P7100 is an all-around winner. All aspects of image quality are great, particularly control over image noise at medium sensitivities. Speed of operation is top-notch for a fixed-lens camera, including the all-important shutter-lag and autofocus speed. There is just a little too much black out and time between shots to be comfortable for action photography, but it can keep up well under more typical situations.

PROS	CONS
Excellent control over image noise	Autofocus gives up more than average
Above average metering accuracy	Not Exposure-Priority LCD preview
Great lens sharpness	Poor LCD coverage
Good image colors possible	Extremely poor viewfinder coverage
Good white-balance system	Live-Histogram not often accurate
Impressive stabilization	Slow shot-to-shot speed
Fast autofocus system	Slow Quick-Menu
Short shutter-lag	Video cuts too early
Good ergonomics
Solid build-quality
Excellent video recording capabilities
Excellent Excellent