Nikon Coolpix P3

Manual Control Options
The P3/P4 surprisingly includes an Aperture Priority mode, which allows the user to directly control the aperture and therefore depth of field, or background blur. Users can control the aperture in 1/3 EV steps. Meanwhile, the camera automatically selects shutter speeds to optimize exposure.

There are some other basic adjustments for ISO, flash and exposure, but on the whole manual control on the P3/P4 would hardly compete with more advanced point-and-shoot models.

Focus
Auto Focus
The P3/P4 has an 11-point auto focus system, which is an upgrade from the earlier 9-point system on the old P1 and P2. Tracking with the focus on the P3/P4 seemed decent for a point-and-shoot model but certainly not as quick or as sharp as a DSLR camera or even a medium-sized chunky prosumer model.

In Face-Priority AF, a technology so far unique to Nikon cameras, a yellow smiley face will appear on the menu screen and then lock-in to a yellow box when it recognizes a face. Because the software is designed to detect the presence of two eyes, it will only lock in on a face head-on, not in profile.

Blur warning on the camera will alert the user when a shot may be in danger of being blurry because of inadequate lighting or a slow shutter speed.

Manual Focus
There is no manual focus on the P3/P4.

Exposure
Exposure can be adjusted from -2 to +2 in 1/3 intervals, which is the standard range for compacts and point-and-shoots alike. Using the Aperture Priority mode, exposure is adjusted automatically by the camera after the user selects the aperture size they want.

Metering
Metering can be adjusted on the P3/P4 to Matrix, Center-Weighted, Spot or Spot AF metering, which again are fairly standard options for compacts and point-and-shoots.

White Balance
White balance is either automatic or selected from a short list of three presets by the user: Direct Sunlight, Incandescent and Florescent. Not only is such a short list disappointing, but these cameras lack a manual white balance option. This is possibly the most important manual control a camera can have. It seems odd that the P3 and P4 would have an Aperture Priority mode, but no manual white balance.

ISO
The P3/P4 has a fairly typical ISO range for a point-and-shoot model of 50 to 400. Considering the move by some of Nikon’s competitors, including Canon and Fuji, to offer ISO settings of up to 800, 1600, or even 3200 on point-and-shoot models, it would have been nice to see Nikon explore this feature as well.

Aperture
Aperture on the P3/P4 ranges from f/2.7 to f/5.2 and is adjustable via the Aperture Priority Auto Mode for users who seek either blurred backgrounds (larger apertures) or greater depth of field (smaller apertures).

Shutter Speed
Shutter Speed is not manually controllable on the P3 or P4. In the auto mode, shutter speed can range from 8 seconds to 1/2000th of a second.