Product Reviews

The latest compact camera from Nikon, the Coolpix P3, boasts a host of natty features intended to impress the mass market at which it's aimed. Clever image stabilisation and Wi-Fi technologies rub shoulders with great build and picture quality.

The 8-megapixel Coolpix P3 is clearly competing with Canon's Digital Ixus range. It lacks their precision engineering and looks but it is well made and feels sturdy.

The 2.5in screen has a relatively low 150,000-pixel resolution, but is surprisingly detailed nonetheless. Navigating the menu is pretty straightforward and you can choose between icons or text.

Most of the controls fall easily to hand, although they're not up to the rest of the camera's build. A cheap-looking shooting dial is ideally placed for quick selection of most modes. As well as the usual auto exposure and glut of user-friendly scene-based presets, there are handy shortcuts to sensitivity (up to 400 ISO) and the white balance overrides. Sadly the dial is easily knocked

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out of position.

The P3's stand-out feature is the Wi-Fi option, which you select via the dial. However, wireless networking features are limited. You can't simply join a wireless network without first installing the supplied utility on each computer to which you intend to connect. So for now you're still unable to upload images to Flickr from an obliging coffee shop. Configuration is simple enough, though, either to connect directly to an AirPort-enabled Mac or via a base station. If the P3 is in range, images are transferred to Nikon's PictureProject browser and basic editing utility either from the camera's memory or as shot. During our tests, it worked well but we still saw it as gimmicky.

Picture quality was impressive although some shots with flash were too dark. Even so, Nikon's D-Lighting in-camera post-correction does balances underexposed shots well. Colours are slightly muted, even outdoors, but the P3 can easily be adjusted. Our concern was the lens is prone to fringing.

Aided by the excellent image stabilisation, prints were pin sharp even under low lighting. Given the small 8-megapixel sensor and its propensity for noise, a maximum sensitivity of 400 ISO seems sensible.

Although not perfect, the Nikon Coolpix P3 is one of the most desirable compacts we've seen. It is feature-packed, simple to use and capable of top-quality prints. If you don't need the Wi-Fi feature, buying the identically specified (except for Wi-Fi features) P4 will save you about £20, but in either case, there's little more you could want from a compact camera.