Digital Camera Review

Digital Camera Review

Nov 11, 2005 - By Emily Raymond
The Nikon Coolpix P1 looks like all of its other compact Coolpix cousins with its 3.6 x 2.4 x 1.5-inch body, but it comes with a little something extra—wireless technology. The P1 and its sibling, the P2, were announced in September 2005 and hit the market a month later for a $549 retail price. Nikon claims the P1 to be the world’s first wireless digital camera, though Kodak also makes that claim of the EasyShare-one. We can say for sure however that the 8 megapixel P1 offers the most megapixels and most manual control of any consumer wireless digital camera currently out. This Nikon Coolpix has 16 scene modes, an auto mode, a program mode, and an aperture priority mode. This model also has the Nikon technology suite that includes Face Priority Auto Focus, in-camera red-eye fix, and D-Lighting compensation. The compact P1 has a 2.5-inch LCD screen with 110,000 pixels, a 3.5x optical zoom lens, and 32MB of internal memory. Its most distinguishing feature is its built-in wireless port, which can transfer pictures and movie clips to a wireless enabled computer or printer within a 100-foot range. The P1 comes out just as the consumer wireless market is heating up.
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Likes
- Wireless shoot & transfer
- Impressively low noise in images (particularly at low ISOs)
- Ergonomic handling
- Wide f/2.7 aperture with manual adjustment
- Intuitive interface
- Expansive list of scene modes for snapshooters        
Dislikes
- Loss of detail in images due to noise reduction
- Limited flash range 
- Low resolution LCD solarizes easily
- Wireless setup is complicated
- Only connects to profiled computers and printers
- No zoom in movie mode 
      

Conclusion
Nikon started with a basic set of features – 8 megapixels, 3.5x optical zoom lens, 2.5-inch LCD screen – and crammed them in a compact body with a built-in wireless port. The consumer wireless market is quite new and the P1 is one of the first three models in this new segment. The P1 has stiff competition and answers with more megapixels and a bit more manual functionality. However, the Nikon Coolpix P1 also skimps in some very important areas. The 2.5-inch LCD screen has only 110,000 pixels, making the view not as smooth as the view from other models. Also, the wireless port is built-in but the setup itself isn’t wireless. It requires users to connect the camera with the USB cable to save the computer and printer profiles on the P1. Pictures and movies on the P1 can only be transferred to PictureProject software and PictBridge printers with the optional wireless printer adapter. Pictures cannot be emailed directly from the camera or showcased on online albums, so the P1 doesn’t realize the full potential of WiFi.

That said, the wireless transfer of images to the computer was quick and easy – once past the initial hair-pulling setup. This point-and-shoot has 16 scene modes that include some unique effects. There are also lots of features like histograms, bracketing, blur warnings, and face-priority auto focus to ensure that users of the P1 take great shots regardless of conditions. The Nikon Coolpix P1 sells for a retail price of $549, which seems overpriced when its features are considered and compared with its competition. The P1’s little sibling, the 5 megapixel P2, has many of the same cool features and the wireless capability and sells for a more reasonable $399. The extra three megapixels on the P1 seem a bit unnecessary unless users plan to wirelessly print window-sized pictures. The $150 cost of those three megapixels makes me think the P2 will be a more popular choice for point-and-shooters.

Overall Impressions Page 11 of 12 Specs / Ratings
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