The Sniper
Nikon’s Performance ( P) series consists of super-zoom compact cameras with priority modes and manual controls. The Coolpix P520 replaces the P510, and features a 24-1000mm lens, which is the highlight of the camera. The device also features a fully articulate LCD along with GPS.
Design and Build Quality
The Nikon Coolpix P520 is built similar to the P510. The obvious difference is the fully articulated (swivel and rotate) LCD on the 520 instead of the tilt-only screen of the 510. The camera has an engineering plastic exterior with a deep rubberised grip. The lens has a two-barrel construction with a single protruding barrel. It protrudes
quite a bit while zooming, but not during focussing. The camera has an auxiliary zoom lever on the lens housing. The device incorporates a metal tripod receptacle.
Key Features
The 18.1-megapixel Nikon Coolpix P520 uses a 1/2.3-inch Type (6.16 x 4.62mm) CMOS sensor. The camera features a Nikkor 24-1000mm equivalent f/3-5.9 lens. The lens is constructed with 14 elements in 10 groups, including four ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements. The lens features Optical Image Stabilisation. The camera uses Contrast-detect method for autofocus. In normal mode, the lens focusses from approximately 50cm to infinity at the wide-angle end, and from 2.0m to infinity at the telephoto end; in Macro mode, it focusses as close as 1cm at the wide-angle end. Focus area options are Face priority, auto (9-area automatic selection), centre (wide, normal), manual with 99 focus areas, subject tracking, and target finding AF. The P520 features the usual three metering modes — Matrix, Centre-weighted, and Spot. Exposure can be compensated up to +/-2 EV in 1/3-EV steps. The camera uses a combination of mechanical and CMOS electronic shutters, which provides a shutter speed of 8 to 1/4000 sec. ISO sensitivity ranges from
ISO 80 to 3200, with additional settings of Hi 1 (equivalent to ISO 6400) and Hi 2 (equivalent to ISO 12800) available. The P520 uses an electronically-controlled 6-blade diaphragm. The aperture ranges from f/3 to 8.3 at the wide-angle end and f/5.9 to 8.3 at the telephoto end. Self-timer can be set for 2 or 10 seconds. Shooting modes available are Auto, Scene, Night landscape, Landscape, Backlighting, Special effects, User settings, P (Program with flexi program mode), S (Shutter priority), A (Aperture priority), and M (Manual exposure). The Scene modes include Scene auto selector, Portrait, Sports, Night portrait, Party/indoor, Beach, Snow, Sunset, Dusk/dawn, Close-up, Food, Museum, Fireworks show, Black and white copy, Panorama, Pet portrait, and 3D photography. The camera can shoot continuously up to 7 full resolution images at about 7 frames per second. The built-in flash has a range of approximately 0.5 to 8.0 m at the wide-angle end and 1.5 to 4.5m at the telephoto end when ISO is set to Auto. Flash control is through TTL auto flash with monitor pre-flashes. Flash exposure can be compensated up to +/-2 EV in 1/3-EV steps. The camera has an integrated GPS receiver, which is useful in geotagging. The P520 has an internal memory of 15 MB and accepts an SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card for external storage. Still images are recorded in JPG format, while 3D images are recorded in MPO format. Nikon has chosen WAV format for sound recording and MOV for movies. Maximum size of still images is 4896 x 3672 pixels whereas movies can be recorded at the best quality of 1080p (1920 x 1080 at approximately 30 frames per second). The camera uses a 3.2-inch, approximately 921,000-dot, wide viewing angle Vari-angle TFT LCD with anti-reflection coating. It also has a 0.2-inch, approximately 201,000-dot LCD as an electronic viewfinder. The device is powered by a rechargeable Li-ion battery EN-EL5 (included). The P520 has dimensions of 125.2 x 84.1 x 101.6 mm, and weighs approximately 550g (including battery and SD card).
Ergonomics
The Nikon P520 provides a secure feel with the deep rubberised grip and ergonomic design. Images on the LCD appeared crisp and lively. The lens protrusion allows you to grip the camera firmly, which is very important for a superzoom model. All controls were in easily operable positions and the auxiliary zoom lever was quite handy with its positioning. The Electronic Viewfinder suffers from tunnel vision and is of low quality compared to the main LCD. Nevertheless, using this will increase stability of the camera since the device will be touching
your body. The swivel-and-rotate LCD can be folded and rotated inside to protect the screen from scratch and dirt.
Performance
The Nikon Coolpix P520 provided mixed results in our tests. Images were sharp outof-the-box. All metering modes worked well. The lens produced barrel distortion till about 70mm equivalent. Under low light, autofocus was sluggish and the system struggled to lock on to subjects. Darkening was observed at the corners at wide-open aperture at the wide-angle end. The camera also produced prominent flare with purple fringing at the wide-angle end with the lens wide open. Auto and pre-set White Balance performed very well under natural light, but the camera produced red and cyan casts under artificial light sources. These could be easily corrected in post-processing. However, the images appeared less vibrant on the computer screen than when played back on the camera’s monitor. The images have a native size of 12.24 x 16.32 at 300 ppi. At 25 percent view, Hi1 (equivalent to ISO 6400) was noisy. Slight noise was observed even at ISO3200. At 50 percent enlargement, images appeared noise-free up to ISO 200. ISO 400 showed slight noise, noticeable only if you look for it. But the images were usable up to ISO 1600. Observed at 100 percent, we observed noise throughout the ISO range, but it was tolerable up to ISO 200.
Value for Money
The Coolpix P520 retails at an MRP of Rs.23,950. At this price, the camera is good value for money for a camera that offers 42x zoom.