Nikon Coolpix P300 Review
Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 12 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 4.5Mb.
The Nikon Coolpix P300's image quality is good for a compact camera with a small image sensor. The Nikon Coolpix P300's dealt fairly well with noise, which becomes obvious at ISO 400 along with some colour loss. The noise, colour desaturation and loss of detail gets progressively worse as you go from ISO 400 to ISO 1600 and finally the unusable 3200 setting.
The Nikon Coolpix P300 handled chromatic aberrations excellently with limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The 12.2 megapixel images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpen setting and either require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you should increase the in-camera sharpening level.
The Nikon Coolpix P300's maximum shutter speed is 8 seconds, which is fairly good news for night photography enthusiasts. Macro performance is very good, allowing you to focus as close as 3cms away from the subject. Vibration reduction is a very useful feature that works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or using the telephoto end of the zoom range. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and good overall exposure. The backlighting feature increases detail in both the shadows and highlights, although at the expense of some additional noise and loss of fine detail.
Noise
The Nikon Coolpix P300 has 6 sensitivity settings ranging from ISO 100 to ISO 3200 at full resolution.
|
ISO 160 (100% Crop) |
ISO 200 (100% Crop) |
|
|
|
ISO 400 (100% Crop) |
ISO 800 (100% Crop) |
|
|
|
ISO 1600 (100% Crop) |
ISO 3200 (100% Crop) |
|
|
Focal Range
The Nikon Coolpix P300's 4.2x zoom lens provides a focal length of 24-100mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.
|
24mm |
100mm |
|
|
Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops - the right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are slightly soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can alternatively change the in-camera sharpening level to suit your tastes.
|
Original (100% Crop) |
Sharpened (100% Crop) |
|
|
|
|
File Quality
At full resolution, there are two JPEG quality settings available - Fine and Normal.
|
Fine (4.03Mb) (100% Crop) |
Normal (2.26Mb) (100% Crop) |
|
|
Chromatic Aberrations
The Nikon Coolpix P300 shows little purple fringing, with very limited effects in areas of high contrast as shown in the example below.
|
Example 1 (100% Crop) |
|
Macro
The Nikon Coolpix P300 allows you to get as close as 3cms to your subject, in this case a Compact Flash card.
|
Macro Shot |
100% Crop |
|
|
Flash
The flash settings on the Nikon Coolpix P300 are Auto, Auto with Red-eye reduction, Fill Flash, Manual (Full, 1/2, 1/4 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 and 1/64), Slow Sync, Rear-curtain Sync and Flash Off. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m. Some vignetting and barrel distortion is apparent at the 24mm wide-angle setting, irrespective of whether you use the flash or not.
|
Flash Off - Wide Angle (24mm) |
Flash On - Wide Angle (24mm) |
|
|
|
Flash Off - Telephoto (100mm) |
Flash On - Telephoto (100mm) |
|
|
And here are a couple of portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Fill Flash or the Auto with Red-eye reduction options caused any amount of red-eye.
|
Flash On |
Flash On (100% Crop) |
|
|
|
Red Eye Reduction |
Red Eye Reduction (100% Crop) |
|
|
Night
The Nikon Coolpix P300's maximum shutter speed is 8 seconds in the Manual mode, which is good news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 8 seconds at ISO 160.
|
Night Shot |
Night Shot (100% Crop) |
|
|
Vibration Reduction
The Nikon Coolpix P300 has an vibration reduction mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the lens set to the same focal length and ISO speed. The first shot was taken with vibration reduction turned off, the second with it turned on. As you can see, with vibration reduction turned on, the images are definitely sharper than with vibration reduction turned off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether. Here is a 100% crop of the images to show the results.
| Shutter Speed / Focal Length |
Anti Shake Off (100% Crop) |
Anti Shake On (100% Crop) |
| 1/10 sec / 24mm | |
|
| 1/6 sec / 100mm | |
|
Backlighting
The P300 captures three consecutive shots at varying exposures and combines them into a single photo with a broader range of tones. Three different HDR settings are available for selection.
|
Off |
HDR 1 |
|
|
|
HDR 2 |
HDR 3 |
|
|
Special Effects
You can apply six different special effects as you shoot, with a live preview on the LCD screen showing exactly what the final image will look like.
|
Off |
Soft |
|
|
|
Nostalgic Sepia |
High-contrast Monochrome |
|
|
|
High Key |
Low Key |
|
|
Filter Effects
You can apply four different filter effects in-camera to photos that you have already taken.
|
Cross Screen |
Fisheye |
|
|
|
Miniature Effect |
Painting |
|
|
Easy Panorama
Easy Panorama allows you to take vertical or horizontal panorama photos simply by moving the camera in the direction of the on-screen guides. Multiple shots are then combined into a single panorama photo. The angle of view can be selected from 180° (normal) and 360° (wide).
| Easy Panorama - 180° |
|
| Full-size Image |
| Easy Panorama - 360° |
|
| Full-size Image |
Sample Images
This is a selection of sample images from the Nikon Coolpix P300 camera, which were all taken using the 12 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.
Sample Movie & Video
This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 1280x720 pixels at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 18 second movie is 42.9Mb in size.
As of February 2025, we are no longer providing full size sample images or videos for download.
Please contact us if you have any feedback on our new policy.
Product Images
|
|
Front of the Camera |
|
|
Front of the Camera / Turned On |
|
|
Isometric View |
|
|
Isometric View |
|
|
Isometric View |
|
|
Rear of the Camera |
|
|
Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed |
|
|
Rear of the Camera / Turned On |
|
|
Rear of the Camera / Shooting Menu |
|
|
|
|
Top of the Camera |
|
|
Bottom of the Camera |
|
|
Side of the Camera |
|
|
Side of the Camera |
|
|
Front of the Camera |
|
|
Front of the Camera |
|
|
Memory Card Slot |
|
|
Battery Compartment |
Conclusion
On paper the Nikon Coolpix P300 beats its main rivals in most key areas - more megapixels, bigger LCD screen, faster continuous shooting, higher quality video - but the lack of RAW mode, physically smaller sensor and some questionable design decisions ultimately make it slightly less appealing than the competition.
Just like its big brother, the P7000, the new Nikon Coolpix P300 is something of a flawed gem. While we love the extensive feature list, high-res LCD screen, and the ability to shoot full HD video with stereo sound, use of the optical zoom and creative filter effects, we can't help but be disappointed by the inexplicable inability to shoot in RAW format, one of the must-have features for this class of camera and something that all of the P300's rivals offer.
More serious is the physically smaller sensor, which produces noise-free images at ISO 160-200 but starts to fall apart at ISO 400, getting progressively worse as you go up the range. The fast F/1.8 lens will partly make up for this, allowing you to use a lower ISO speed, but only at the wide-angle focal lengths, with the maximum aperture quickly becoming slower until you hit a disappointing F/4.9 at 100mm telephoto. The P300's overall image quality is pleasing, but simply not as good as its rivals.
Despite offering a well-thought-out control system for operating the creative shooting modes, the lack of quick and easy access to many of the camera's most frequently used features, such as ISO speed and white balance, slows down its operation, with at least 4 button presses required just to change the ISO. On a camera predominantly aimed at prosumers, these kind of oversights limit its appeal, and although the Scene Auto Selector, Backlighting and Easy Panorama modes will help the P300 appeal to a less experienced audience, we can't help but feel that Nikon have missed the main target because of a few bad design decisions.
The Nikon Coolpix P300 certainly isn't a bad camera, particularly if you value full HD movies above RAW support, higher-resolution images over out-and-out quality, and you trust the camera to make the right settings for you. We can't think of too many photographers who subscribe to that viewpoint, though, making the P300 better suited to life as an affordable semi-advanced compact, rather than a serious snapper's pocketable DSLR backup.
| Ratings (out of 5) | |
|---|---|
| Design | 4 |
| Features | 4.5 |
| Ease-of-use | 4 |
| Image quality | 3.5 |
| Value for money | 4.5 |
Review Roundup
Reviews of the Nikon Coolpix P300 from around the web.
neocamera.com »
The Nikon Coopix P300 is a small compact digital camera with an all-new design from Nikon. The camera is built around a 12 megapixels high-speed CMOS sensor and a very bright F/1.8 ultra-wide angle lens, equivalent to 24-100mm. This model is aimed at advanced users seeking efficient manual controls and is among the smallest digital cameras to feature dual control-dials. There is also an actual mode dial with positions for P, S, A M exposure modes.
Read the full review »
ephotozine.com »
The Nikon Coopix P300 is Nikon's latest entry into the serious compact compartment, complimenting the Nikon Coolpix P7000, the P300 is a much more compact camera, featuring a smaller zoom range, and a bright f/2.0 lens. It's most direct competitor is the Canon Powershot S95, however the P300 features a 24mm wider angle 4.2x optical zoom lens, vs the S95's 28mm 3.8x optical zoom lens.
Read the full review »
cnet.com.au »
This is Nikon's answer to the fast-lens club, made up of cameras that have a wide maximum aperture and are still compact enough to fit in a pocket. Ideal for photographers who want something good to carry around with them when their digital SLR is off-duty, does the P300 have what it takes to compete with the Canon PowerShot S95 and the Panasonic Lumix LX5?
Read the full review »
Specifications
|
*1 Based on CIPA industry standard for measuring life of camera batteries. Measured at 23°C; zoom adjusted with each shot, |
|
| Effective pixels | 12.2 million pixels |
| Image sensor | Type: 1/2.3-in. type CMOS with active cell array; Color filter array: RGB filter; Total pixels:Approx. 12.75 million pixels; Recording pixels: Approx. 12.00 million pixels (4000 x 3000) |
| Lens | NIKKOR lens with 4.2x optical zoom; Focal length: 4.3-17.9 mm; Aperture: f/1.8-4.9; Lens construction: 7 elements in 6 groups |
| Focus range (from lens) | Normal shooting: approx. 30 cm (1 ft.) to infinity (at wide angle setting), approx. 60 cm (2 ft.) to infinity (at telephoto setting); Macro close-up mode: approx. 3 cm (1.2 in.) to infinity (at wide-angle setting), approx. 30 cm (1 ft.) to infinity (at telephoto setting) |
| Monitor | Size: 7.5 cm (3-in.); Number of dots: Approx. 921k-dot; Type: TFT LCD monitor; (Acrylic) cover: Anti-reflection coating, antifouling and water-repellent coating |
| Storage media | Internal memory (approx. 90 MB), SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card*2 (exFAT compatible, UHS not compatible) *2 |
| Vibration Reduction (VR) | Lens shift vibration reduction (still image and movies) |
| ISO sensitivity | ISO 160, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 (4000 x 3000), Auto (ISO 160 to 1600), Fixed range auto (ISO 160 to 400, 160 to 800) |
| Interface | Hi-Speed USB/PictBridge |
| Power Sources | Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL12 (1050 mAh), AC Adapter EH-62F (option) |
| Battery life *1 | Approx. 240 shots with EN-EL12 battery |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | Approx. 103.0 x 58.3 x 32.0 mm/4.0 x 2.3 x 1.3 in. (excluding projections) *4 |
| Weight | Approx. 190 g/6.7 oz. (including battery and SD memory card) *4 |
| Movie | HD 1080p: 1920 x 1080 (30 fps), HD 720p: 1280 x 720 (30 fps), VGA: 640 x 480 (30 fps); HS movie 15/60/120 fps, no sound) |
| Supplied accessories | Camera Strap AN-CP19, Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL12, Charging AC Adapter EH-69P [NEW], USB Cable UC-E6, Audio Video Cable EG-CP16 and ViewNX 2 CD-ROM |
| Optional accessories | Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL12, Charging AC Adapter EH-69P [NEW], USB Cable UC-E6, AC Adaptor EH-62F, Battery Charger MH-65 and Audio Video Cable EG-CP16 |
Loading comments…