Nikon Coolpix P7700 Review Summary

The Nikon Coolpix P7700 is an impressive camera with an unmatched feature set. Already its stabilized 7X wide-angle optical zoom lens is unique among premium compacts, making it the only one in its class with telephoto reach. It is also the only one with three control-dials other than its predecessor. Add to that a digital level, a mini-jack for an external stereo sound source and a rare hot-shoe, and it becomes easy to understand the unprecedented versatility of this digital camera. The P7700 introduces a redesigned lens with a bright F/2 maximum aperture which only stops down to F/4 at the long end.

This digital camera delivers a solid performance for its class. Image noise is low and delivers usable results at ISO 1600 without much trouble. Colors, white-balance and exposure are also very good. Particularly impressive is the lens which is consistently sharp across the frame and impervious to chromatic aberrations or vignetting.

PROS	CONS
Great lens sharpness	Slow AF near telephoto
Low image noise	Slow shot-to-shot speed
Excellent retention of image details	Self-timer resets entering Playback
Reliable metering	Not Exposure-Priority
Nicely saturated but natural colors	Live-Histogram not often accurate
Impressive image stabilization	Blank LCD during continuous drive
Fast AF in good light	Weak LCD hinge
Short shutter-lag	Not Focus-Priority
Good ergonomics	Very slow video zoom
Generally sturdy	1s video record delay
Unique bright 7X optical zoom lens
Excellent Excellent