Anyone planning to buy the P7000?

[photo5]

<p>I have the P6000, which I like very much, except for the horrible battery life. The image quality is superb for such a small camera, I found that I like it better than the images I got from the D3000. I am interested in the P7000 but want to hear from someone who has one already before I spend the money. I suppose I could sell my P6000 for $200 or so to help finance the P7000. And don't try to compare it to the G12, I won't buy that camera for various reasons. I am a Nikon user through and through, and the SB-800 as well as SB-400 that I currently own works on the P7000, so that's a big plus.</p>

[CharlesBecker-Toronto]

<p>Dave-I bought the P7000 last Tuesday for when I don't want to carry my D90 around and I have to say that I have been very happy with it; it feels great in my hands and the results are excellent.<br /> I would have preferred 24mm equivalent at the wide end of the lens and the Function button allows Raw plus JPEG normal rather than RAW plus JPEG fine but I can't expect all the features of my dslr. I cannot comment on the battery usage so far but apparently it's good for 350 shots before recharging is necessary, cb :-)</p>

[acbeddoe]

<p>I tried one in the store and loaded the pictures on my laptop. Looking with ViewNX2 and Capture NX 2, they were a bit noisy and not very sharp, even at ISO 200, very noisy by ISO 800. However, many people are getting good images with theirs.<br>

That said, there has been a lot of discussion of this camera on other forums and I believe there may be a QA or manufacturing issue with the early batch, including focusing issues.<br>

I'm waiting for the dust to settle because I really want a good Nikon P&S.</p>

[photo5]

<p>Thanks Charles (both of you!), I'm really thinking about it, but will have to bring my P6000 with me to the camera store when I look at the P7000. If it were the exact same size it would be great, but the P7000 is larger, and I like the P6000 size as it is right now. I love it while traveling, it can fit in my pocket and be ready to shoot in a second, much faster than my iPhone and of course a huge jump up in quality. Can you post any examples you have taken so far? I'm interested to see an original JPG at ISO 100. I'm not planning to buy until around Thanksgiving, so hopefully will have all the kinks in the armor ironed out by then.</p>

[CharlesBecker-Toronto]

<p>Hi Dave-it has been overcast here in Toronto recently so I haven't shot anything at ISO 100 yet-just 200 and higher. It is supposed to clear up in the next few days and I'll take and post some examples of images taken at 100 unless someone else does in the meantime. As far as size is concerned, the P7000 certainly doesn't fit into a shirt pocket; my old Sony did (and does) but I find the buttons to be a little too small whereas the controls on the P7000 are great. cb :-)</p>

[mark_drutz]

<p>I have a P6000 and also love it. Why not get a couple of extra batteries and a charger? It'll be a lot less money than the P7000 and you still like your P6000.</p>

[eric_arnold]

<p>i'm intrigued by the p7000, but i'm also looking at the TL500 and LX5, which both have highly impressive specs. using my sb-400 would be a plus, and the ergonomics and many customizable options look great, but this camera may be one generation behind the market right now.it also competes directly with the LX5 at its price point, and is $150 more than the TL500, which has a sharp 1.8 lens. so, I may wait for the prices to settle--at $400, this camera would be much more justifiable.</p>

<p>i'm personally not worried about the base ISO performance, but i'd like to see some shots at 800 iso and beyond, also at 135-200mm. i did see some 2.8 shots and the bokeh appears to be below the Samsung and Panasonic in this regard.</p>

<p>here's a link to a fairly detailed p7000 review i found: http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/nikon_coolpix_p7000_review/</p>

[orlando_c]

<p>In my case, yes. I do plan in buying the P7000 for the sole purpose of street photography and to have with me at all times. I had an opportunity to see and feel the camera at B&H and the images taken met my expectations.</p>

<p> </p>

[acbeddoe]

<p>Eric - the P7000 is very noisy at ISO 800 and beyond.</p>

[jwallphoto]

<p>Doesn't anyone else care about the slow RAW processing? I read one review that said it takes up to four seconds between shots. I *hate* waiting between shots. In practical terms it means you get just one chance at any moving subject. Yes, that can be a fun challenge, but come on. Even if the focal point pre-sets make AF faster than other compacts, you still have the anemic RAW processing found in the rest of the herd. Digital cameras have been out an awfully long time for this still to be an issue. I thought the P7000 was going to be just the ticket, but the glacial time lag between shots is a deal-breaker.</p>

[photo5]

<p>John,<br>

Shooting RAW with these cameras is a little bit of an exercise in futility. I mean, on the one hand, shooting in RAW (NRW format) does indeed increase image quality (leaves sharpening for post and gets rid of all CA from what I've been able to tell in my tests with the P6000), but the battery life is dramatically shortened and yes, it does take a few seconds to write the file. Now, I've not shot RAW with the P7000, I think it should have faster write times than the P6000, but then again, I only shoot RAW with my P6000 when I am shooting a subject that I think I will want to do some post processing to. The vast majority of shots are taken with JPG Fine and look great to me. The only downside I see with my P6000 is that it does not have fine tuning for the white balance. It has a manual measurement, but that's worthless. It has presets, but what I'd really like would be to have a -1, -2, etc like the D300 has. Sometimes the color balance is just a little cool. My old Canon Pro1 was the same way, with no way to override it, compared to my Nikon D70, which I much preferred. I guess we can't get it all with these little cameras, but I'd sure like to give it an 81A every now and then.</p>

<p>Mark, I have an extra battery and a charger for my P6000 already, but I've never felt that even two batteries would be enough to suit me on a trip where I'm out shooting hundreds of photos in a day.</p>

[jwallphoto]

<p>Hi, Dave. Good points. I never shoot JPEGs with my DSLR, so I hadn't considered that as an option even with a compact camera. I wonder what the technological hurdle is to getting an acceptable write speed in these little cameras. Frankly, if a JPEG is the only file they can write without a noticeable lag, that's a shame, and for me it's still a deal-breaker.</p>

[photo5]

<p>Yes, I think these cameras are certainly marketed for people who just want a grab-and-go kind of compact camera. I think they put RAW processing on there as a kind of carrot to make the camera seem more professional, for whatever that is worth. But if they made the camera process RAW files more quickly they might find it sells better! I've never encountered a compact camera that processes a RAW capture faster than at least a few seconds. I use the Sandisk Ultra II cards but I think they are faster than the camera, so no point in trying out a faster card.</p>

[eric_arnold]

<p>i'm not sure that i should care about RAW that much in a P&S. i mean, it's there if you need it (cough-landscape-cough) but for vacation pics or even light PJ work, a 28-200 VR lens in a small package is a bigger boon, i think. there are compact DSLRS (cough-DP1s-cough) which dont shoot JPEGS very well, and dont shoot RAWs very fast. so as long as the p7000 is capable of spot-on jpegs, with its ability to tweak various image parameters, it will be the best Coolpix in years.</p>

<p>i'm a bit more concerned about noise at high ISOs, especially since the lens is slower than the TL500/LX5/G12, but you can work around that if you're willing to use external flash--and there are manual flash controls. with the sb-400, you can power down the flash to 1/64, use rear curtain sync, and bounce while still keeping a reasonably small form factor. in comparison, the LX5 seems to have the best high-ISO, but possibly worse AF and WB in low-light.</p>

<p>there seem to be some QC issues with the first batch out the gate, so i might wait a bit and get a TL500 in the meantime. that f/1.8 lens looks super sharp.</p>

<p> </p>

[photo5]

<p>Eric, I wouldn't expect good quality from the P7000 at anything higher than ISO 800. My current P6000 is OK at ISO 400, but I try very hard not to shoot higher than that if I can help it. I went to my LCS today to pick the P7000 up in my hand, and I brought along my P6000 that I had been shooting around the city with in the morning. The P7000 is really nice, it has a good feel to it, not too large or heavy, but a little more substantial than the P6000. I love the zoom range!! Having 28-200mm is super, I had that range on my Canon Powershot Pro1 back in 2004, which I sold in 2006 after buying the Nikon D70s. I'm very tempted to take the plunge for the P7000, but overall I am satisfied with my P6000 and will wait six months or so to make a decision. But I think the P7000 beats the Canon G12, and I am very happy for Nikon that they are back in the race!<br>

As for Panasonic or Canon, I own a Panasonic right now (FX35 ultra compact) and have had Canon cameras in the past. I like the Panasonic for its stealthy size and wide angle lens, but the color from that camera, and the overall image quality, don't come close to the Nikon P6000, so the Panasonic is now my wife's camera. I prefer Nikon over Canon overall (I like their designs and the ability to use Capture NX2 with RAW captures). The P6000 pleases me in most every way, except for battery life, which is horrible. I am hoping the P7000 fixed that. My old Canon Pro1 had the same battery as the Canon SLR cameras at that time, so it had terrific battery life! But it was much larger and bulkier than my P6000, and I think the image quality from the P6000 is much better than the Pro1 anyway, so I don't miss it.<br>

I have the Nikon SB-400 as well as the SB-800, and that is another reason I'm sticking with Nikon. I guess I'm a Nikon shooter through and through!<br>

A fast lens doesn't mean much to me anymore since there is VR. I feel f2.8 is enough for my photography, at least for a small camera. I love my Nikon 35mm f1.8 when I need the speed, but most of the time I do not.</p>

[marcel_theriault]

<p>I bought a Nikon P7000 november 20th and should be receiving my 3rd one tomorrow. First one the lens cover blades stopped fully closing and opening after less than 500 shots, second one on setup the camera<br />started vibrating when trying to focus. After trying every possible combinations in the menus I still have that problem a few times a day.<br />This is my 50th year in photography and it was my retirement gift…<br />a performing p&s that would use my other DSLR flashes and other accessories. Had to do some arm twisting with Nikon Canada and my local store for replacements.<br />This camera should be good but was not tested by professionals before hitting the market. Is look’s like Nikon was trying to catch up with Canon but forgot about reliability if not quality. It’s not because a camera is heavy and sturdy that it is good, I have a nice S710 that was replaced after 3 weeks and even new one is in a Ziplock sitting on a shelve, the CCD is full of dust after a few months of use.<br>

Just got a call from the store that my new and 3rd camera has been tested...I cross my fingers...<br>

I will buy the SB400 and another remote to go with it.<br /><br />Read more: <a href="http://www.digital-photography-school.com/nikon-coolpix-p7000-review#ixzz18nKtiCHN">http://www.digital-photography-school.com/nikon-coolpix-p7000-review#ixzz18nKtiCHN</a>. I just got a call that my 3rd P7000 has been tested at the store...cross my fingers...will buy a SB400 to go with it.<br /><br />Read more: <a href="http://www.digital-photography-school.com/nikon-coolpix-p7000-review#ixzz18nHS2vsM">http://www.digital-photography-school.com/nikon-coolpix-p7000-review#ixzz18nHS2vsM</a></p>