This is a user review of the amazing Nikon P7100 not a full in-depth examination but rather my thoughts after a week with this camera.
First off, let me say I love this camera. It has really surprised me. And it's only been a week.
I have wanted a Canon G series camera since the G7. With each iteration till the current G12, I was either not looking for a compact or my budget for a compact didn't stretch for the top of the line Canons. I was always a bit sad about this. I almost bit the bullet for a LX3 but then didn't. I regretted not getting the Panasonic but longed, still, for the Canons.
So what pushed me over the edge? I was doing a private lesson with a friend's sister. She had a G9 and while helping her understand the camera and it's strengths and weaknesses I got the bug again.
So a week ago I walked into my local camera store Kameraz in Rosebank Mall. I had read about the Nikon P7000/7100 and knew I'd give it a feel but had my heart set on the Canon G12. After playing (and comparing images at 100% onscreen) with the G12, S95, Olympus XZ-1 and the P7100 I walked out quite pleased with the Nikon. I was a little surprised but the Nikon is a surprising camera.
The image quality is pretty much the same at this level of compact - far better than super-compacts but not near larger-sensor cameras. They are a happy compromise of very good image quality in good light with a compact size and very compact lens. The P7100 has a 28-200mm equivalent lens and I forget it is around my neck after 10 minutes - a welcome change from my Canon 5Dmk2 and 24-70 which, well, hurts. Never mind my 1-series film body the 1nRS which I have nicknamed Big Betty.
The 3 factors that made me choose the Nikon over the other options were the zoom memory feature, the optical viewfinder and the ergonomics.
Zoom memory
I have kind of settled on focal length being the most important factor in image making for me. If I need subject separation I'll grab my 5D and the stupid-good 100mm F2 and shoot all day wide open. Knowing what your focal length does to your final image is probably the most overlooked feature and under-taught one in modern photography in my opinion. People buy superzooms and have no idea that taking a picture of their friend across the tab at the 28mm setting is going to look horrible. The relationship between objects in your images is going to define how your photographs look and being able to control that feature is, for me, essential. For the same reason, I chose the 5D over the 7D (in many ways a superior camera) - I don't like working out whats going on with focal length multipliers and the change in effective aperture. I know how a 50mm lens 'looks' and what happens when I change from F1.4 to F2.8. The P7100 (just like the S95) can zoom to standard lens focal lengths. You do this by holding the Fn2 button on the front of the camera while hitting the zoom rocker. Easy and effective. If I want a 35mm or a 85mm focal length I can get them accurately, not close like 32mm or 92mm. In my head, the few seconds it takes to make the change is like a prime lens change.
Viewfinder
A lot of reviewers have deemed the optical viewfinders on the P7100 and the G12 and their predecessors as useless. I think they're great. Not wonderful mind you, but great. I don't like composing my images at arms length. I like to hold the camera to my face and compose. Yes I have to squint a little when looking through the admittedly peephole-like viewfinder on the Nikon but I do it almost for every shot. I am very happy with the images I have gotten. I simply allow for the extra 20% of the image around what I'm seeing. I feel more immersed in the picture-taking process, concentrate more and find myself at once more engaged and more part of the surroundings I'm shooting rather than in the process of manipulating a camera. Maybe it's just me but this little difference makes a massive positive change to my picture taking experience. This feature alone made me put down the S95 and forget it as a contender even with it's wider and faster lens, compact dimensions and far more pleasant price-tag. Ditto for the XZ-1 - I didn't want to pay extra for a EVF though it may have been easier to use. In terms of focus accuracy, I use the centre focus-point and have had 99% of my shots in focus where I want them by looking through the optical viewfinder, half-pressing on my subject to lock focus and exposure and recomposing. It works with an SLR and it works with this compact. The times I'm not holding the camera to my eye is when I'm doing Macro work and when I decide to make the aspect ratio square and shoot looking down into the articulated screen like a waist-level finder on a TLR. I feel like I have 3 or 4 cameras hanging around my neck!
Ergonomics
A friend recently asked me which entry-level DSLR she should get. I told her the most important thing is how it feels in her hands. I meant it. Most cameras you can buy today deliver superb image quality. I've printed and sold 90x70cm art prints shot with a 7 megapixel sony compact which is put to shame by the cameras I was deliberating over for this recent purchase. If you like how it feels you'll be a lot more likely to pick it up and carry it around and get the shots you want. This is especially important for a compact camera, which are there 'in case' you see something worth photographing rather than heading out to take a specific image. I found the G12 to be a little too small (despite it being quite large buy compact camera standards…) for me to hold and manipulate the controls comfortably. The P7100 on the other hand is beautifully designed. Every button falls right where it should. Everything just feels right. I t really feels like a photographic tool, designed to be used.
Those are the main reasons I took the Nikon P7100 home with me.
When I got home and put the battery on charge (which has lasted an entire week of shooting and I've taken the camera with me everywhere) I was a little amazed once I got to reading the camera manual. This little Nikon is overflowing with features. By holding done the Fn buttons, other buttons can be set to do other tasks than what they normally do. Many things are customisable. There's also an audio note function which can be embedded in files (YES!). There is a lot to get your head around with this camera and it's not easy to use for the first day or two because of this. But once you learn what's going on and how to control what you need to control, the camera is an intuitive dream. I adore shooting with it. After finishing a corporate portrait shoot with my SLRs and strobes, I grabbed the little Nikon to shoot that afternoon. I really am beginning to fall for this little thing…
Noise and Dynamic range
Noise is pretty good for a compact. Don't expect too much and use it within it's limits and you'll be very happy.
Dynamic range on the other hand is a mixed bag. At base ISO, the P7100 actually has better dynamic range than expected for a compact camera. In fact, colour and dynamic range are quite decent. I've only shot in JPEG though since the RAWs are not yet supported in Aperture. I expect slightly noisier images with more flexibility when I can access the RAW files. Here's waitin'... At anything higher than ISO 200 you are going to see a loss in colour and dynamic range. I was actually quite surprised by the difference as you amp up the ISO. See the following 2 examples:
So if you want to maximise colour and dynamic range, shoot at base ISO with a tripod if you need or grab an SLR. Don't expect miracles. Photography is all about compromises and choices.*
Shoot like you got film in the thing
Something I discovered and am kind of blown away by is the Creative Monochrome setting under the 'Effects' setting on the control dial. I usually leave my B&W processing to Nik Silver Efex (a wonderful piece of software…) in post. Almost every in-camera B&W setting I've used or seen leaves me cold. I though this to be the case with the P7100's creative monochrome since, after discovering this feature on Flickr and being a little shocked at the gorgeous images people had taken, I looked at the files on-screen at 100% and found the setting to be putting a very flat-looking and crude (at the highest setting) 'grain' over the nicely contrasty images. I was a bit saddened by this since I've longed for a in-camera B&W mode that works. The lesson is, don't look at things at 100% on-screen and take that as gospel. Printed out, the images taken using this setting are wonderful. Really wonderful. I'd say so long at you are not printing huge images with this camera (not really what it's designed for anyway) you'll be fine and probably very pleasantly surprised by this camera's B&W ability. At the very least, it's a lovely creative exercise: set the camera to 1:1 format, use it like a TLR looking down at the articled screen and shoot like you have a Hasselblad with Tri-X in it.**
So all in all, a wonderful camera and I'm glad I bought it. I'd recommend it to you if you are looking for a compact that can do a lot but are willing to spend time learning it's features and quirks.
* And art, of course.
** Purists out there, please don't kill me for saying that. I believe in the god that is film too.
© Dan Rosenthal 2011 - Do not repost without explicit consent of author.
Labels: Gear
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