Color (6.01)
Imagine your dismay when you discover that your prints of a gorgeous golden-red sunrise have colors with all the vibrancy of old silly-putty. We bet you want to avoid such a scenario, so to see if the Nikon Coolpix P1 can truly capture the magic, we tested its color reproduction by taking several pictures of the GretagMacbeth chart. This chart has 24 tiles of different colors and is used by the imaging industry to standardize what colors should look like. We uploaded the P1’s images of this chart into Imatest Imaging Software to compare the chart’s ideal colors with those produced by the camera. Below is a modified GretagMacbeth chart showing the original ideal color in the vertical rectangle of each tile. The outer square shows the color produced by the Nikon Coolpix P1 and the inner square shows a computer-corrected version of the ideal, adjusted for luminance.

The colors in the 24 tiles on the chart are further displayed as circles and squares in the graph below. The line connecting the shapes shows just how erroneous that particular color is when reproduced by the camera. The squares represent the ideal colors and the circles represent what is actually produced by the Nikon P1.

The Nikon Coolpix P1 received a 6.01 overall color score, which is quite dull even for a compact digital camera. The mean color error was a lousy 10.1, which is evidenced from the lengthy lines in the above chart. Overall, colors were over-saturated by 4.8 percent, which is normal for a compact digital camera. Despite the inaccurate colors, the white balance was more accurate than that on most compact digital cameras. So while the Nikon Coolpix P1 may not capture that perfect sunrise with perfect colors, at least it can snag some good shots of that snowy field.

Resolution / Sharpness (2.97)
The Nikon Coolpix P1 flaunts more resolution than any other consumer wireless digital camera. With 8 megapixels on a 1/1.8-inch CCD, the P1 should be able to capture sharp images and provide plenty of room for cropping for most consumers. We tested the P1’s resolution by taking several pictures of an industry standard resolution chart at different focal lengths and apertures. We uploaded the images into Imatest and determined which settings returned the best sharpest results and how effective the massive amount of resolution really is.

Click on the res chart above to view the full size image

The best results were garnered from images taken with an aperture of f/4.8 when shooting at a focal length of 23 mm. Imatest reported results in terms of line widths per picture height (LW/PH). Theoretically, if the camera were taking a picture with black and white alternating lines in the frame, this LW/PH measurement would be the maximum number that the camera could read before it started blurring them together. The higher the resolution, the larger the maximum number should be. Traditional resolution tests are expressed as line pairs per picture height (LP/PH), but in order to standardize various sensor sizes from various digital cameras we use the LW/PH unit.

To provide some background for this model, here are some figures from other 8 megapixel models. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 can read 1448 LW/PH horizontally and 1377 LW/PH vertically. The Olympus Stylus 800 can read 1742 LW/PH horizontally and 1715 LW/PH vertically. Now contrast those figures to the Nikon Coolpix P1’s results: 1328 horizontally and 1012 vertically. This is the worst reading from an 8 megapixel model we have gained so far. The P1 over-sharpened by 10.1 percent horizontally and 23.3 percent in the vertical direction. This Nikon undoubtedly has substandard resolution, but does far better than most in terms of noise suppression. We’d speculate that some of the noise reduction technology at work (with NR on and off) is impacting the degree of detail attainable in the images. With 8 megapixels though, this may be a reasonable tradeoff.

Still Life Scene
Below is a shot of our familiar still life scene, captured with the Nikon Coolpix P1.

Click on the image above to view a full resolution version (CAUTION: the linked file is very large)

Noise - Auto ISO (9.98)
The Nikon Coolpix P1 gave us a pleasant surprise when the automatic ISO setting was used. The automatic ISO range is truncated to a short 50-200, but keeps noise levels very low nonetheless. The P1 received an automatic ISO noise score of 9.98, which is easily one of the best scores we’ve ever seen for a compact digital camera. This score can be attributed to a strong metering system and impressively low amount of noise in the lower ISO settings. The colors may be a little off and the resolution sub-par, but the P1 will produce clear noise-free pictures even when the camera chooses the ISO rating itself.

Noise - Manual ISO (8.37)
We tested the perceivable noise in the Nikon P1 with the noise reduction mode both on and off, but the variance in the results was so slim that it’s not even worth fussing about. Below is a chart showing the Nikon P1’s 50, 100, 200, and 400 manual ISO ratings on the horizontal axis and the correlating noise on the vertical axis.

Once again, the P1 showed its remarkable ability to keep noise out of the picture. The overall manual ISO noise score was 8.37 – still very impressive. Its lowest ISO rating is one of the cleanest we’ve seen with noise comparable to some DSLRs. The P1’s ISO 50 and ISO 100 settings were as low as any compact or point and shoot model we have tested. Based on what we saw with the camera’s sub-par resolution and low noise levels, we can deduce that the P1 does a lot of in-camera noise reduction automatically, which may work for most users. Those looking to edit images post-capture may wish for less aggressive reduction in the camera, but the results are strong. Snapshooters will be delighted with the clean images produced by the P1.

Low Light Performance (5.0)
If night landscapes of the city skyline are a favorite, knowing the light limit of the P1’s image sensor is helpful. To find that limit, we tested the P1 at decreasing light levels and analyzed the colors and illumination. We tested at 60 lux, which is the equivalent to two soft lamps in a living room after dark. We tested at 30 lux, which is the light emitted from a 40-watt bulb. And we tested at 15 and 5 lux, which are both uncommonly dark but help us see how sensitive the Nikon Coolpix P1’s image sensor is and how it responds to exposures that are a few seconds long.

Low Light Tests
60 Lux	30 Lux
15 Lux	5 Lux

As the light levels decrease, so does the saturation of the colors. The Nikon Coolpix P1 used a half-second exposure at 60 lux and a much longer 3.93-second exposure at 5 lux. Below is a chart showing the exposure times in seconds on the horizontal axis of the chart – 0.5 seconds in 60 lux, 0.714 seconds at 30 lux, 1.61 seconds at 15 lux, and 3.93 seconds at 5 lux. On the vertical axis of the chart is the noise level.

The biggest jump in noise happened from a half-second to one-and-a-half seconds, then the noise plateaus to the slowest 4-second shutter speed.

Speed / Timing
Start-up to First Shot (5.58)
The Nikon Coolpix P1 hit the snooze button a few times before getting up. It took 4.42 seconds to start up and take its first shot.

Shot to Shot (9.56)
There are several burst modes on the P1, the fastest of which shoots a bit over 2 frames a second. The Continuous H mode is the fastest with a 0.486-second average for five consecutive shots. The Continuous L mode is a little slower, but shoots for a lot longer. It took 39 shots at an average of one every 0.56 seconds. The Multi-Burst mode took 16 pictures at a pedestrian 0.62 seconds and stitched them into a single image file. The Ultra HS mode took 100 pictures in 3.34 seconds, but that’s not as impossible as it sounds: this fast rate is due to the low resolution of the shots at 640 x 480 pixels. There is also a five-shot buffer that takes a picture every 0.948 seconds for as long as the shutter release button is depressed, but only saves the last five. The P1 as a whole isn’t exceptionally speedy, but its average response times coupled with the many burst modes is certainly fine.

Shutter to Shot (8.06)
The Nikon P1’s auto focus system is a bit slow, so it took almost half of a second to capture the shot—0.47 seconds, to be exact.

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Nikon Coolpix P1 Digital Camera Review Navigation
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