|
 | 
 enlarge
| Brand: Nikon
Category: Photography
Buy New: Too low to display
New (69)
Avg. Customer Rating:  91 reviews
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Includes Software: Yes
Optical Zoom: 18
Digital Zoom: 5
Connectivity: AV
Display Size: 2.7
Maximum Focal Length: 84.2
Minimum Focal Length: 4.7
Maximum Resolution: 10
Has Red Eye Reduction: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 4.3 x 3.1 x 3.1
MPN: 26114
Model: 26114
UPC: 018208261147
EAN: 0018208261147
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Feeling Better! May 12, 2008
41 out of 43 found this review helpful
I'm a Nikon fan, and saw this as a economical way of getting DSLR-like features. In particular the "super-zoom" functionality and sports shot setting -- seemingly perfect for the games my children play -- motivated me to pull the trigger on this purchase.
I'll leave the in-depth analysis of the camera to others who are more knowledgeable but what has me disappointed are the streaks of light that showed up on several hundred photographs I took, using the high speed continuous setting in the sports mode, late in the afternoon (between 4:15PM-6:00PM) on Saturday, May 10th.
After consulting the manual I found the following on page 47: "If bright objects such as the sun or electric lights are captured during high-speed continuous shooting, vertical streaks of light may appear in the recorded images. We recommend that you avoid capturing bright objects during high-speed continuous shooting."
Precisely my problem.
There are multiple settings in the sports mode (as well as the manual setting) to try, so I will be doing that before delivering the box to UPS for return, however it is troubling to discover that the fastest programmable shutter speed (1/4000) is best suited for . . . shooting in the dark?
If I fall in love with this camera (and end up keeping it) I'll be sure to update this review.
UPDATE: Went out recently and tried other settings/features -- images are crisp without any hint of the problem encountered in the sports setting. As a result I'm bumping my rating up to three stars (though it doesn't appear that Amazon will allow for such a revision?).
Will continue to update as developments warrant :)
FINAL UPDATE: I emailed Nikon support about the light streaks that appear in photographs when using the sports mode (what they called "bands of overexposure"). They were very honest in their assessment -- there's no way to eliminate the problem entirely. Their recommendation was to utilize the exposure compensation setting (-0.3 or -.07) to ameliorate the effect. Though disappointed, the quality of the images overall (especially macro) is so good that I have decided to keep the camera. The overall rating of Amazon reviewers (3.5 as I write this) seems absolutely correct!
FINAL, FINAL UPDATE: Purchased a filter adapter from NEXTPhoto.net and a circular polarizing lens. This has all but eliminated the bands of overexposure that showed up in the high speed continuous, sports shooting mode. I have also discovered that, with an infrared filter (R72) the P80 is capable of some nice infrared photography (as long as I keep the ISO setting at a maximum of 200 -- 400 and above is very noisy)!
 It's a tradeoff: zoom power vs. image quality May 13, 2008
37 out of 44 found this review helpful
I was very optimistic about this camera, but like several other reviewers, I'm returning it soon after receiving it. I made a direct comparison between this camera and the one I've had for 4 years (Olympus C-750UZ, 10x, 4MP). The P80 certainly had better zoom range on both ends, was very user-friendly, and faster than my other camera. Noise in low light was a bit better on the P80, which also had faster shutter speed to help prevent blurring. However, my Olympus outperformed this camera in a very important area: image quality. All of the images from the P80 appear "soft" (except very close-up in macro mode, which turned out quite nicely). Despite its age and lower MPs, my old camera clearly outperforms the P80 in this regard. Online research indicates that other 18-20x cameras have a similar problem with image quality. Maybe the technology just hasn't advanced far enough (yet) to produce quality output in such a compact package that includes a telephoto lens.
Other than the image quality (which may be just fine for someone who's not making a direct comparison with something they're already very happy with), this is clearly a quality camera. Aside from the image quality I would certainly give it 5 stars (but unfortunately that is my priority, worth two stars to me). If you have your heart set on getting a super-ultra-zoom, this could still be the camera for you. Personally, if I do decide to upgrade in the near future, I will probably go with something less ambitious in terms of zoom power. I love to take full-frame pictures of birds and other wildlife (which you usually need a decent zoom for!) but I'd rather have a great image with some extra margin than a merely fairly good full-frame image... which is what you get with the P80.
 Impressive little camera May 8, 2008
31 out of 38 found this review helpful
Nikon doesn't seem to advertise this, but the P80 actually has a manual focus mode. This was a pleasant surprise.
Image quality is extremely good for a compact super-zoom lens like the one Nikon included in this camera.
Great Camera! Ignore the negative reviews. May 13, 2008
31 out of 34 found this review helpful
Ignore the negative reviews. This is a good starter camera for beginners who is just starting to get into the professional photography field.
First of all, the negative reviews about this camera are from people who have probably been in the business of taking photograph's for a long time and probably could not afford to buy an expensive professional camera and end up getting a Nikon P80. BIG MISTAKE!! You hear there complaints about the Nikon P80 and comparing it from other similar cameras they've owned or used in the past and want to up-grade. If they want to up-grade to a better camera, WHY GET A SIMILAR CAMERA LIKE THE NIKON P80? Get a PROFESSIONAL NIKON CAMERA FOR HEVEN'S SAKE!!
This is an awesome camera! I've been taking lots of photographs since I purchased this camera a week ago and I've been having lots of fun with it. I love the 18x Optical Wide-Angle Zoom-Nikkor Lens and the New Sports Continuous Scene Mode that can shooting up to 13fps plus the Bright 2.7-inch LCD and electronic viewfinder.
NOTE: I purchase the NIKON P80 at Costco's for $[...]. When I purchase the NIKON P80 at Costco's, it came with a Carrying Case & a 1GB Memory Card Package. This is a good starter kit.
Ignore the negative reviews. THIS IS A FUN CAMERA TO HAVW AND I LOVE IT!! I GIVE THIS CAMERA 4 1/2 STARS!!
Not such a great camera May 9, 2008
25 out of 32 found this review helpful
Well, after reading about it in the NYTimes I was excited at the idea of having a camera with a zoom 18x and for that price range. I currently own a Lumix FX100. Let me tell you that I returned the Nikon yesterday after 2 days of trying to get a decent picture out of it. First off when zooming all the way to 18x you would see shadows on the corner of the picture. The noise was pretty bad and most pictures even in low ISO looked grainy. I could barely get a focused picture out of it and often would have a blurry subject with a focused background (and no I wasn't focusing on the background since my subject was in the center). Finally the video mode although of good quality would not work on my mac. The files are saved in .AVI format and I tried every player I have including Quicktime which usually plays AVI files, but nothing, every single time it crashed. I researched a bit and found out that Panasonic had a similar camera but with 8.1 megapixels for less than $300. Ratings are amazing and the camera is sold out in most stores so that must be a good sign. I have ordered it and will hope it performs better than this one.
|
|
|
2005-2007 Zone1electronics All rights reserved.
| |
