1

NIKON COOLPIX P510 ~ Hands-on Review

What its all about Is it a good buy? When I said I retuned to Nikonland by buying a D5100 DSLR, I forgot to mention that the first Nikon amera I bought !after the "uarter entury drought# $as a %ool&i' (500) *he glossy bro hure made me drool) It seems the amera had a +mm to 1++mm ,oom !thats --)5mm to .10mm in full frame terms / an enormous range going from e'treme $ide0angle to su&er tele&hoto#) Sensibly, the 11-)2 in h ba klit %34S sensor $as a 1-3( one $ith a 2000 ' +000 &i'el image frame) *his meant that noise $ould &robably be minimi,ed) It had a 5ery SLR0like a&&earan e, $hat $ith a mode dial dis&laying the familiar (S63 modes, 67*4, 8998%*S and S%8N8 modes: &anorama shooting: shutter s&eeds from 111;00th se onds to . se onds: full <D mo5ies at 5arying frame rates and resolutions, a range of normal, fast and high0s&eed still shooting o&tions u& to 1-0 frames &er se ond, =est Shot Sele tor !=SS# > all a5ailable at a tou h of a dedi ated shooting mode button on the to& de k, ?ust belo$ the shutter release) *here $as a built0in flash: the Lithium Ion battery $as su&&osedly good for about -20 shots: a mo5ie button ir led by a t$o0&osition rotary s$it h that ga5e one a hoi e bet$een 1-0 f&s <i0s&eed !sans sound# and normal filming: there $as in0 amera &re0 and &ost0 a&ture retou hing $ith a 5ariety of effe ts su h a sele ti5e olour and toy amera, ba ked u& by a host of menu items that offered a mouth $atering degree of ontrol o5er the ameras o&erations about &arallel to $hat a DSLR offers) No one ould blame me for forking out the full 3R( !a little o5er -2 grand# for $hat &romised to be my &ass&ort to &hotogra&hi nir5ana) So $as the (500 my a&&ointment letter to 3agnum (hotos@ Did I re ei5e a standing o5ation at the Royal (hotogra&hi So ietys 6nnual Aeneral 3eeting@ Did National Aeogra&hi bombard me $ith emails till I ?oined their team@ Were my &rints a5idly sought by Ne$ Borks 3etro&olitan 3useum of 3odern 6rt@ Im badgering you $ith these loaded "uestions be ause I feel you ha5e a sense of humour) =e ause > to &ara&hrase Cueen Di torias famous uttering > E We $ere not amused)F In short, Id been su kered) *he (500 &ro5ed to be a ma?or letdo$n) *he trouble lay $ith me: I $as oming from 25 years ba k) *he om&any that had made me do the ha&&y dan e o5er its 9-6S (hotomi , the redoubtable Nikkormat 9*- and 9*2, the fabulous Nikon 8L- and the e'"uisite Nikon 98, no longer e'isted) It $as then alled Ni&&on Gogaku G)G), and its famous logo o u&ied a &la e of honour among my &antheon of gods) It re5eled in its &roud boast !of, and in, its unforgettable tagline#H EWe take the Worlds Greatest (i tures)F 85ery time I ste&&ed out of the house, my Nikon in my bag, I felt as if I $as $alking on air) *he (500 deflated me) It $as made by a om&any that no$ alled itself Nikon %or&oration !a name that sma ked more of or&orate &rofits than ra,or shar& o&ti s#) Its ne$ tagline $as diffident, almost &leadingH E6t the <eart of the ImageF, it bleated 5a&idly) Its brand ambassador $as

2 a glossy film star $ho smiled toothily and held u& olourful little re tangles of glass and &lasti that $ere the %ool&i' range of onsumer om&a ts) No Raghu Rai, no Ste5e 3 %urry, no S) (aul > i ons to all Nikon lo5ers > masters of their raft) Id been betrayed by my loyalty to the brand) So $as I saying that the (500 $as a total bo$0$o$@ Well, not e'a tly) It took &i tures) =ut for one oming from legendary Nikon lenses like the 55mm f)2)5 mi ro0Nikkor, the 105mm 9)-)5 tele0Nikkor and the .00-00mm 9)+)5 ,oom0Nikkor, the (500s results left an aftertaste like shark0li5er oil in the mouth) It ouldnt ha5e been the o&ti s) *he om&any that on e su&&lied lenses to e5en its greatest ri5al, %anon, had to be really negligent to make a bad lens !that is a &ossibility today, I admit > see the medio re &erforman e of the .5mm 9)2)5 mi ro0Nikkor#) We all kno$ that today, amera manufa turers like Nikon are in a tearing hurry to rush ne$ models from design and &rodu tion to retail ounters, and $ho an blame themH theres fier e om&etition from ri5als, baying like hounds at the heels of an aging, tiring stag) %or&orate &rofits are sliding as onsumers re&la e &o ket om&a ts $ith i(hones, 6(S0% DSLRs $ith full frame models) *hen there are intermediate ameras su h as the mirrorless mi ro four0thirds ameras, all bringing out su&erbly a&able instruments like the 4lym&us 43D 835 that an &rodu e results losely akin to those from a DSLR !and often sur&assing them in &erforman e#, $ith 4lym&us and (anasoni !the latter $ith its lut h of Lei a lenses# leading the &a k) 8le troni s giants like (anasoni , Samsung, Ri oh, %asio and Sony ha5e $idened their net by 5enturing into ameras, le5eraging their e'&ertise in ele troni s and often tying u& $ith legendary Aerman o&ti al firms like 8) Leit, and %arl Ieiss, digging freely into their 5ast finan ial reser5es to bridge the te hnologi al ga&H a feat that $ould ha5e been unthinkable as re ently as a de ade ago) *he (500 &re i&itated my loss of &hotogra&hi inno en e) No longer ould one rely on a brand name alone) 9or the first time in 25 years, Nikon had sold me a lemon) Its not that the (500 did not deli5er at all) It took &i tures) =ut they $ere of the ho0hum 5ariety, la king the hara teristi bite of Nikon glass) No buyer in his right mind $ould shell out a thi k $ad of greenba ks for Nikons to&0of0the0line bridge amera $ithout e'&e ting near0DLSR &i ture "uality) =ut in almost all the key fun tional &arameters, the other$ise handsome (500 $as a huge disa&&ointment) It $as &rom&tly banished to the de&ths of my daughters u&board, there to s&end the rest of its days in solitary onfinement) So $hy am I shooting the bree,e about the (500, $hen Im su&&osed to be re5ie$ing its su essor @ =e ause had the (500 not ha&&ened, the (510 may ne5er ha5e seen the light of day) Aargantuan, &hlegmati , &onderous it may be, but a or&orate entity as large as Nikon has a sort of life of its o$n) Im sure that the deba le of the (500 gal5anised Nikon into a tion) Stung to the "ui k by s athingly riti al re5ie$s, nettled by kno$ing smirks from ri5al manufa turers, its hard $on re&utation ut to ribbons on readers forums, its &rofitability dented by falling sales and &iles of unsold sto k, slo$0footed Nikon at last s$ung into a tion) Seeing that it is a Ja&anese om&any, and ha5ing had 9ar 8astern

+ <istory as a sub?e t in my 3)6), I kne$ $ell that it $as a hara-kiri situation) Lots of or&orate heads must ha5e rolled at Nikon %or&oration) %ri ket um&iring belie5es in the notion that the benefit of doubt must go to the batsman) I de ided to gi5e Nikon another han e) *his time, Id learned to bargainH the (510 set me ba k -- grand as against its then 3R( of o5er -+G) *he moment I &i ked it u&, it felt right in my hands) I sele ted the ne$ grey oloured 5ersion, re koning it $ould be e5en less ons&i uous than the bla k one !I $as right#) 6fter inserting the battery, I strode out of the sho&, shooting as I $ent) Id shot .; frames by the time I rea hed home) *he Nikon %ool&i' (510 is a bridge amera / a amera that a ts as a transition 5ehi le from a sim&le om&a t &oint0and0shoot, to a full0fledged DSLR) =ut it is a superzoom bridge amera) Its +-K ,oom meant its +)2mm $ide end $ent to 1.0mm at the tele end) *hats -+mm to 1,000mm in full frame terms L I made full use of it, gi5ing it a real ba&tism of fire) It $as -Mth 6ugust -01-, and a late afternoon sun ga5e me enough light to sti k to base IS4 > 100, in its ase) *he fli&0u& and fli&0do$n !.-N do$n$ard, a&&ro') O0N u&$ard#, 2F, O-1G L%D s reen $ith its antirefle ti5e oating &resented no &roblems in the o&en air, not that I didnt use the -01G ele troni 5ie$finder) It $as the same one as on the (500, and I $as "uite ha&&y $ith it, grateful that at least I had an 8D9 to ba k u& the L%D, both offering 100P o5erage and outshining the O5P of the D2100, D2-00 and D510015-00 DSLRs L *he dee&ly knurled dio&tre ad?ustment !0+ to Q+ m0 1# $heel on the left of the flash housing is a lu'ury I a5ailed myself of as soon as I &ut amera to eye) 6s the images mar hed a ross the s reen, I realised my hun h had been right) *his $as a (500 on steroids) 6nyone $ho buys a to&0of0the0line su&er,oom doesnt need any handholdingH hes &robably "uite familiar $ith the lay of the land, all the more so if hes used to dealing $ith Nikons menus, as I $as) 6 Auide 3ode $ould be redundant on the (510) 9ortunately, it doesnt ha5e this feature) Looking at the (510 from the front, one ant &ossibly miss the im&ressi5e0looking +-K ultra0,oom lens $hi h, des&ite its 5ast range, is fairly om&a t) It omes $ith a s"uee,e0 fit Nikon lens a& that an be atta hed to the stra& $ith the su&&lied tethering ordH Id ad5ise you to use it, e5en if it dangles annoyingly $hile you are shooting) Nikons lens a&s are notoriously e'&ensi5e e5en on the off han e that you an lo ate a s&are) 6gain,

alas, there is no filter thread on the lens) Like many others, I am &aranoid about a identally damaging my lenss front element, but Nikon refuses to oblige) *he on0off s$it h on the to& de k needs a longish &ress before it turns green and the amera omes on) *he barrel e'tends e5en $ith the a& on, unlike the (500, $here the lens a&, $hi h lam&ed on to the lens barrel, &re5ented e'tension and aused a $arning to a&&ear on the fli&0u&, fli&0do$n L%D s reen) Do remember to remo5e the a& before shooting !though a glan e at the L%D $ill $arn you of it#) *he rest of the to& de k is &retty mu h on5entional) Stereo mikes on either side of the flash hum&, a A(S homing de5i e built into the rear of the housing !$orks ineffe ti5ely, best a5oided#, the mode dial $ith the usual (S63, 8998%*S, S ene modes et ), 9n button !usually dedi ated to IS4, I set mine on shooting frame sele tion, i)e), single, ontinuous <, ontinuous L, 1-0 f&s <igh) ;0 f&s Lo$: &re0shooting a he o&tion, =SS, et )# and, of ourse the ,oom toggle on entri to the smooth, shiny, sil5er shutter release button) =ut $ait L *his amera has some ni e tri ks u& its slee5e) Well ome to those a bit later) *he ba k of the amera has lots of buttons, yet doesnt gi5e the im&ression of being luttered) 4n the left of the 8D9 is the button that enables toggling bet$een 8D9 and L%D: there is no sensor to do that automati ally) Id ha5e &referred it to the A(S: ho$e5er, $ith A(S being a selling &oint, and the (510 being a great tra5el amera, &erha&s its e'isten e is ?ustifiedRin marketing terms) I kee& it s$it hed off, sin e it drains the battery) 6t -+0 shots &er harge,

; the 8N08L5 doesnt engender onfiden e for a $hole day in the field, and the battery has to be harged in the amera 5ia the 7S= able and a &lug0in ada&ter, $hi h is $hy I forked out -G for a s&are, along $ith the o&tional 3<0;1 battery harger) *he &ea e of mind that a om&anied these items $as $ell $orth the e'tra in5estment) 4n the right of the housing is the DIS( button for a ess to &lain s reen, basi data s reen and full info s reen) *he great thing is that you an ha5e grid lines !to aid better om&osition 1 a5oid tilted hori,ons# as $ell as a histogram on the s reen as $ell as the 8D9) *hese are features that many &o&ular DSLRs la k L I lo5e them L *heres more su h deli ious goodies inside, e'&osure bra keting, ba klit shooting and an inter5alometer o&tion being ?ust three) Just belo$ the mode dial is the red0dot mo5ie button, enabling a $hole range of re ording o&tions from 1O-0 ' 10.0 20f&s 9ull <D 5ideo, mo5ing do$n to lighter formats) I am a stills shooter, but I hear the 5ideo is &retty good) If youre thinking of taking 5ideos $ith it, youd better get at least an . A= SD<% ard $ith a %lass 10 rating) *o the far right of the shoulder of the amera is the lone ommand dial, $hi h is used to shift the Sfle'ible &rogram settings, i)e), auto e'&osure data e'&ressed in terms of a &arti ular ombination of a&erture and shutter s&eed: this ombination an be altered by t$irling the ommand dial $ith the thumb, $hen a T a&&ears ne't to the a&ital ( !in (rogram shooting mode# on the left u&&er orner of the L%D) 8'&osure itself remains the same, but the a&erture > shutter s&eed ombination an be brought loser to the re"uirements of the shot you intend taking !if it still doesnt mat h your needs, try hanging the IS4, too#) *o s$it h off the T, turn the mode dial or s$it h off the amera itself) I normally set the e'&osure om&ensation to 00)2, a$are that highlights an easily li& in a small sensor amera) *he shado$ detail an be &ulled u& in &ost &ro essing, but li&&ed highlights are gone fore5er) In shutter &riority auto, turning the ommand dial enables shutter s&eed hanges !a&erture shift is automati #) In a&erture &riority auto, the knurled multi0fun tion dial hanges the a&erture $hile the shutter s&eed re i&ro ates a ordingly) 6t the right hand orner of the L%D s reen is a small o5al flash ready lam& that glo$s orange $hen the flash is fully harged) I $ish it $as $ithin the 8D9 frame, so that I

M ould see it e5en $hen using the 8D9) 6t the orner is a ram&ed, rubberised thumb &ad, offering good su&&ort for the shooting hand) =elo$ that is the &layba k button, enabling image re5ie$ e5en $ith the amera s$it hed off) 4n the front of the amera, sited snugly bet$een the lu'uriously moulded, ross0hat hed rubberised handgri& and the lens housing, is the autofo us illumination lam&0 um0self timer $arning light) It asts a bright orange light) 4n the left side of the (510 !looking at it from the front# is a rubberised fla& that on eals the 6D out and 7S= so kets) 6t the bottom of the gri&, is a small o5er &rote ting the ?a k for the !o&tional# 6% 6da&ter 8<0;-6, a dire t mains &o$er sour e) *his o&tion im&lies that the (510 an be safely used for e'tended &eriods, also im&lying that it is more rugged than it a&&ears to be and an tolerate the rise in tem&eratures that are the ine5itable orollary to su h lengthy shooting sessions) *here is a lone s&eaker lo ated ?ust under the stra& lug on the right side of the amera) 6nd ?ust belo$ the flash is the flash &o&0u& button $ith the lightning bolt symbol, for raising the flash manually !it &o&s u& automati ally in 67*4 mode, if the amera feels it is needed#) *he flash itself is "uite &o$erful and red0eye is not a &roblem, thanks to the **L ability, $ith &re0flashes) No$ $e ome to the multi0sele tor dial) Nikon did here $hat I5e been dying for them to do in DSLRs > make this dial truly multi0fun tional) *his one rotates around its a'is, to s&eed u& hoi e of sub0menu items, and this rotational a tion an also be used for s rolling though images !a&art from the usual left 1 right &resses#) 6t the ardinal &oints of the om&ass, you ha5e > reading from left > the self timer ontrol: the flash o&tions ontrol: the e'&osure om&ensation ontrol !U -#: and lastly, the one for fo us setting ontrol !though only the ma ro symbol is seen# $hi h in ludes those for lands a&e and ma ro) 6fter a sele tion has been made, &ressing the 4G button at the entre onfirms it, i)e), lo ks it in) If only it had an o&tion for IS4Rbut its far better than the Nikon D5100s ontrol dial L =elo$ the multi0sele tor is the familiar trash an symbol for deleting images in &layba k) *o the left of that is the all0im&ortant menu button, enabling a ess to the fairly e'tensi5e shooting, set u&, mo5ie, and re&lay menus 1 sub0menus, all indi ated $ithin by familiar symbols running do$n the left margin) Aet into a &arti ular menu, and mo5e u& or do$n by rotating the multi0sele tor s roll $heel, or the u& > do$n > left > right key &oints) (ress right to enter o&tions $ithin ea h sub0menu, sele t one and &ress 4G) 6nyone $ho kno$s ho$ to o&erate a ellular &hone an handle the (510s menu $ith ease) *here are no arro$s, you ha5e to imagine them) Suits me fine L 6 little e'&loration and &ra ti e $ill make it seem e5en more intuiti5e) FIELD EXPERIENCE:

. *he first thing you noti e is the om&rehensi5e information &ro5ided by the L%D) Shooting mode, a&erture, shutter s&eed, mo5ie setting, &i ture ontrol, 6 ti5e D0 Lighting, IS4 !yes, you heard right > IS4 L#, W=, om&osing grid, DR, battery harge, histogram, motion dete tion, fo us area, number of shots remaining > you name it) 6nd in redibly, all this data is also seen in the 5ie$finder, in luding momentary as $ell as intentional image &layba k L =y the $ay, the 5ie$ in the 8D9 is great L Who said it $as grainy and ram&ed looking@ If I did, I take it ba k) I ould ha&&ily $ork $ith the -01G 8D9 all day) 3aybe I should use it more, sin e it onsumes 5ery little battery &o$er, thus &rolonging battery life) I $ish my DSLRs ga5e me all this) *hat in redible ,oom an be ontrolled either by the toggle around the shutter release, or the ,oom ontrol on the left side of the lens housing) =e areful not to a identally nudge this $hile shooting, $ith the left hand su&&orting the amera from underneath) I found the lens ,ooming out una ountably, the first time this ha&&ened) *he ontrol an also be onfigured !$ithin the menu# for manual fo us duties) Sin e it ,ooms in and out at a more sedate &a e than the one on the handgri&, it ought to be ideal for ,ooming during mo5ies) Ai5en a reasonable amount of light, setting the IS4 at 100 or -00 is usually enough to ensure shar& shots at medium shutter s&eeds) *he fabulous -+mm $ide end is &erfe t for s eni s, &anoramas, ro$d shots or sho& fronts, and $ith the ,oom going all the $ay to 1000mm, and -000mm $ith the -K digital -K ,oom enabled, I ould &ull in things I ould barely see) I got shar& shots handheld, too) I ould a5ail of the night !handheld# lands a&e mode to take shar& shots in &oor light) *he amera takes a flurry of under0e'&osed shots, then merges them into one &erfe tly e'&osed image) *alk about te hnology) *heres e5en an <DR mode $ithin 8ffe ts that an mat h or sur&ass the D5100 > and thats saying a lot) 6nd $ould you belie5e 2D images@ No$ Ss the time to buy yourself that 2D 1 <D *D L Shift into ma ro mode and the amera $ill autofo us as lose as 1 entimeter from the front element, at the $idest ,oom setting L 6 little bug landed on my bed in $hat a&&eared to be an emergen y landing) I shot itL It $as half the si,e of a mat h head L 7nbelie5able ma ro L If you intend using the (510 on a tri&od, remember that DR !Nikonese for image stabili,ation# has to be turned off $ithin the menu, other$ise the (510 $ill des&erately try to stabili,e an already stable amera, destabili,ing itself in the &ro essL *his is true for all Nikon DSLRs as $ell, so no big deal here)

O 6lso, sin e the battery om&artment door is lose enough to the tri&od mounting so ket, you ant hange your battery 1 ard $ithout first dismounting the amera) *hough the (510 has no &ro5ision for shooting in Ra$, the ?&egs are su&erb, and the su&&lied Die$NKsoft$are is enough for all basi image enhan ement re"uirements) *here is also no s o&e for remote o&eration $ith any kind of de5i e, remote ontrol or able release) I su&&ose the -0se ond self timer setting $ill ha5e to suffi e) 3etering is --+0segment matri', enter0$eighted, or s&ot) *here is no hot shoe either, so you ant use an e'ternal flash gun $ith it unless you ha5e a sla5ed unit !a Nikon S= M00, Nissin ;11 or Bongnuo 5;58K $ill be fine# and fire it $ith the (510s built0in flash, using ?udgment 1 manual &o$er ad?ustments on the sla5ed unit, and flash om&ensation suitably set on the amera) =ut look on the bright sideH theres hea&s of room for fun and reati5ity, if youre $illing to ste& a$ay from the humdrum and the mundane) *ake it from me, this is one $ell thought out, $ell designed amera) If some features are missing here and there, you an rest assured that Nikon designers intentionally dro&&ed them in order to kee& $eight and osts do$n) I tried taking a tight &ortrait in &oor room lighting, in (rogram mode) *he amera !$ithout informing me# again made a flurry of shots !I fro,e $ith my finger &ressing do$n on the release button at the instant I realised $hat $as ha&&ening# and, after a&&lying skin softening, handed me a &erfe t &ortrait) *his one really shook me u&) It had dug into its menu and had ombined a number of features to gi5e me $hat I needed > all unbidden) It $as un anny) I $as flabbergasted) VERDICT *his time Nikon has nailed it but good) *errifi o&ti al !lens based# image stabili,ation makes that giant ,oom an easy tool to use) <andheld) *he tiny 11 -)2 in h, 1;)13(, =SI %34S sensor ombines $ell $ith the ne$ 8'&eed %- &ro essor) 85erything omes together &erfe tly to &rodu e better results than one ould reasonably e'&e t) In one fell s$oo&, Nikon had $on ba k my trust) Images $ere shar&, olours $ere realisti , and e5erything $as t$eakable $ithin the menu or 5ia surfa e ontrols to gi5e me ?ust the results I $as hankering for) I began to feel 5ery &rote ti5e to$ards my (510) Writing this re5ie$ ga5e me a grand o&&ortunity to bond again $ith my (510) I regret not ha5ing shot $ith it mu h, of late) I hate $inters) %ome s&ring, I aim to make good that defi ien y in full measure)

10 *his is a amera that hits all the high notes at a 5ery reasonable &ri e !$hi h is steadily sinking, as al$ays ha&&ens a fe$ months after a ne$ model has been laun hed#) I ha5e no hesitation in re ommending this amera to anyone/in luding Robinson %rusoe, if he an someho$ manage to re harge the battery and do$nload 1 &ro ess images des&ite being marooned on a deserted island) Des&ite the %anon SK50<S and its 50K ,oom, or the s&ate of mat hing 9u?ifilm 9ine&i' su&er,ooms, the (510 has ar5ed out a &la e for itself in &eo&les hearts, thanks to its lo$ &ri e, rugged build, large 2F O-1G L%D s reen !$ith ad?ustable brightness#, good 8D9, . 0 11-000 shutter s&eed, su&erb DR, IS4 1000;+00, -+01000mm f2)0 V 5)O Nikkor ,oom lens, om&a t dimensions !1-0 ' .2 ' 10-mm#, light $eight !555 gms#, sim&li ity of o&eration, elegant so&histi ation and, yes, its beauty) If e5er there $as a amera for all reasons and seasons, the Nikon %ool&i' (510 is it)