We took it out for a spin to see just what it could do.

Photos

As you can see from our sample shots, image quality is good, but not amazing. But then what do you expect for a snapper that’s under a ton. Colours are good, and quite impressive ion low light, but overall images can lack detail and sharpness. Skin tones can appear a little unnatural too.

It’s a shame, as this camera’s fully equipped for portraits, with blink detection, smile shutter, a mode for eliminating red eye, and skin softening – all handy features we didn’t expect on a camera at this price. Though useful as they are, they can’t compensate for the overall picture quality.

Video

Despite being 720p HD, the videos are a little disappointing. While again, colour reproduction is impressive, our videos lacked sharpness, appearing fuzzy as if a swarm of flies were hovering in front of objects. Move a little while filming and edges are reduced to a blur; not great, especially considering Nikon is keen to big up its anti-blur abilities.

We do love the dedicated video button on the top right though. It’s marked with a red Record sign – one touch and you’re filming, so you can start in a flash. Great for catching that vital video opportunity. And it’s a lot more intuitive than delving into menu after menu. So kudos to Nikon for realising that users of this camera want something that’s quick to hand.

Build and layout

Despite being slim enough to fit in a pocket without creating any embarrassing bulges, the S31000 is sturdy and a well put together piece of kit. It comes in seven fetching colours, though we tested the slightly dull-looking black one. (We think of it as the goth of the group, sulking in the corner while the yellow, pink, purple, blue and silver ones play in the sunshine.)

What really impresses is the button layout though. All the main functions you’ll need are brought to the fore, and easily accessible without having to navigate fiddly menus. (If only there was a way to achieve this on mobiles.) Flash, Macro, Scene Selection and more are all there waiting, plus of course the aforementioned Video button. For casual users, this camera’s target audience, it’s a godsend.

The screen is ample, though not a patch on some of the higher end models. It’s not amazingly bright or sharp, though it does the job well enough. And at this price you can’t be too picky.

Overall

So, worth a look? It’s a fun compact that’s a doddle to pick up and start shooting with. Your results probably aren’t going to win any awards, but if you want something that’s not going to weigh you down on a night out, or you’re looking for a gift for someone intimidated by higher end models, you could certainly do a lot worse.

For the Nikon S9100, fun and easy pretty much sums it up. It is by no means lacking in punch though; with a 12.1MP sensor, 18X zoom lens, image stabilization – even at high zoom, powerful built in flash and macro mode.
In this Nikon Coolpix S9100 review, we”ll take a look at the highs and lows of this great little camera.

Photos

If you’re looking for a camera to grow your manual photography skills, the Nikon Coolpix S9100 is not the camera for you. You won’t find any easily accessible functions for changing aperture priority, f-stop, shutter speed and the like. Nor will you be able to switch lenses at the drop of a hat or plug in remote triggers and the plethora of other accessories that go along with the modern SLR.

This is not a criticism by any means; in fact it is one of the biggest strengths of the Nikon Coolpix S9100. By trimming out all the manual features that are rarely used by the demographic this camera is aimed at, you end up with one of the best compacts we’ve reviewed in a while.

Daylight photos are clear and crisp with well-defined edges and natural colours. Even in the harsh winter sunlight the Nikon Coolpix S9100 managed to represent colour and form well.

Nighttime performance varied depending on the usage scenario. Trying to take a shot of a dimly lit room in ‘nighttime landscape mode’ resulted in blurry shots and yellowed colours, however switching to the ‘nighttime portrait mode gave a very different result.

Buy the Nikon Coolpix S9100 now

We have all seen the snapshots taken in the local pub on a night out; invariably they end up one of two things – bleached by flash or dark and blurry. The Nikon Coolpix S9100 has a fantastic feature that compensates for both these factors. By staggering the flash into bursts while at the same time warming the photo, you end up with crisp and clear fairly natural looking shots.

Overall the photographic performance of this camera has us very impressed.

Video

Like pretty much every other camera you can buy at the moment, the Nikon Coolpix S9100 offers full 1080p HD video recording.

The camera shoots video at a respectable 30 frames per second as well as offering two types of ‘high speed mode’; one at 60FPS, creating a slow-mo style video, while the other is a 15FPS super speed movie (think Benny Hill). Other features include stereo microphone and image stabilization.

Movies come out smooth and the full-time focus does a great job of keeping everything in focus. Our only niggle would be that, because the lens and microphone are so close together, you do tend to hear any movement of the zoom or lens focus – however this is a problem that you will find on all cameras of this size.

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You are never going to shoot the next Avatar on a camera like this, but the movie functions perform amicably and will more then satisfy the occasional family videographer.

Connections

The Nikon Coolpix S9100 is fairly limited in its number of connectors, but the ones it does have are solid. On the base you have a USB 2.0 port for sync and charge functionality and on the right you have an HDMI port for streaming images and video to your HDTV.

Though limited, these two ports offer everything you really need to view and extract your photos from the camera.

Build and Layout

The Nikon Coolpix S9100 is not a svelte, slim supermodel of a camera, but nor is it a weighty lump. It sits somewhere comfortably inbetween.

It has a weight that shouts quality workmanship, but not that is going to wear a hole in your pocket. The 3 inch LCD screen is clear and gives a high quality, accurate representation of the photos and video.

The button layout is a little frustrating to start off with – on first use you may mistake the mode dial for the shutter button, as they are right next to each other, and you will probably press a few buttons on the back by mistake too.

We found this was down to user error most of the time and as we got used to the camera, erroneous button presses seemed to dissipate – however a little more spacing wouldn’t have gone amiss!

Overall

At £299 the Nikon Coolpix S9100 is at the top of the price range for cameras of this size, however in our opinion it is a brilliant little camera. It doesn’t try to hard to be something it’s not, unlike some of its competition (Sony Cyber-shots, we’re looking at you).

It is a well-built camera that can be relied upon for taking snap-shots as well as HD video and is feature packed enough to be relevant for a few years to come.

On paper the Nikon Coolpix P500 is a very tempting camera. It features a Nikkor 36X zoom lens, 12.1 megapixel sensor, Full 1080p HD video recording and a large 3-inch angled viewing screen. In this Nikon Coolpix P500 review we’ll see if it performs as well as it claims to do.

Photos

When buying a camera the most obvious element you are looking for is great quality pictures. This is an area where the Nikon Coolpix P500 has somewhat of split personality.

Daylight photographs are clear, crisp and naturally coloured, movement isn’t an issue and landscapes and portraits alike come out well.

One of the highlights from a photographic point of view is the lens. This thing is awesome; its massive 36x optical zoom is brilliant and something you would have to shell out a lot of cash for if you were buying separately. With its built in image stabilization, pictures are fairly sharp even when fully zoomed, as you can see below. This is no mean feat if you consider that sometimes you can be standing 15 meters from your target!

Where it is let down is in its low light photography. Interior shots under normal lighting conditions are often blurry, yellowed and peppered with noise. The product page on Nikon’s website claims that the camera can deliver “beautifully detailed night scenes and indoor portraits”, however in this reviewers opinion – that is just not the case. If you do a lot of low light shots, with even a little movement – you are going to struggle to get good performance from the Nikon Coolpix P500.

Overall the photographic performance of this camera is fine however it certainly isn’t the best we have reviewed, which is a shame – as Nikon have a strong track record of good products.

Video

After mediocre photographic performance we didn’t have high hopes for the video elements either. Thankfully we were wrong. The Nikon Coolpix P500 shoots in varying resolutions topping out at 1080p/30 frames per second HD video. Other features include a stereo microphone and image stabilization.

Buy the Nikon Coolpix P500 now

Movies come out smooth and the full-time focus does a great job of keeping everything in focus. Our only niggle would be that, because the lens and microphone are so close together, you do tend to hear any movement of the zoom or lens focus, however this is a problem that you will find on most cameras of this size.

Another fun but not entirely useful video feature is 240 FPS high-speed mode. Basically you record at normal speed and it plays back in super slow-mo. The effect is a bit like the Matrix movie, which makes it cool, but as it only outputs at 320×240, how this could be used in a day-to-day scenario has us boggled!

Connections

The Nikon Coolpix P500 is fairly limited in it’s number of connectors, but the one’s it does have are solid. On the left hand side you have a USB 2.0 port for sync and charge functionality as well as an HDMI port for streaming images and video to your HDTV.

This is plenty for most people, but as this is supposed to be a bridge camera – it would have been nice to see some extra ports such as for a GPS adapter or remote trigger.

Build and Layout

Sadly this is where the camera really falls down. There are high points to be sure – the adjustable screen is high quality and you are never concerned that it may snap off when extended, the flash pops up with a satisfying clunk and the lens itself is solid and obviously decently made.

Now, for the lows – the body is made of a very cheap feeling plastic, as are the buttons. There is nothing wrong with the layout of the buttons, they are all in a natural place but they just feel cheap and unresponsive.

For some unknown reason, Nikon have decided to stick a tiny, low quality LCD screen in the viewfinder. The point of a viewfinder over a rear screen is to give you a more accurate representation of what the camera is seeing. This would have traditionally been done by the use of mirrors so adding in a cheap LCD is a totally pointless exercise.

Overall

As you can probably read, we weren’t wowed by the Nikon Coolpix P500. It has some fun features – the high-speed video mode being one of them, but it also has some dismal lows.

To be fair to Nikon, they traditionally make awesome cameras. This reviewer uses Nikon’s regularly and even owns one himself, so to see such poor quality from them is a shame.

Our advice is to either spend a little more and get yourself an entry level DSLR, such as the brilliant Nikon D90, or save yourself £100 and get the fantastic Nikon Coolpix S9100.

Build quality

The Olympus E-PL2 is a Micro Four Thirds camera with access to a wide range of lenses made by Olympus and Panasonic. Our review sample came supplied with a 14-42mm kit zoom, and while it looks the same as that bundled with previous PENs, it’s actually a brand new design that feels more solid less plasticky – twist the zoom or focus ring and it’s much smoother.

In fact, the entire build quality of the Olympus E-PL2 feels a good notch or two above its predecessor the E-PL1. There’s more metal and less plastic in the construction, and the screen is noticeably sharper.

One thing we would have liked to see is a touchscreen – a Panasonic GF2-style ability to “touch to focus” would have been very useful indeed – but maybe Olympus will add that in the next PEN…

Usability and performance

Performance is much improved too. The general control layout is largely the same, but autofocus speed is far zippier, locking onto a subject without the sluggish hunting we’ve had to put up with on previous PENs. The Sony NEX-5 and Panasonic GF2 are faster, but the Olympus E-PL2 isn’t too far behind: something that could mean the difference between capturing a great shot and missing your opportunity.

The menu system will be familiar to users of past PENs, and there’s a Live Guide function aimed at newbies. This lets you change settings like aperture, white balance, shutter speed and exposure compensation by displaying an adjustable slider and explaining what effect moving it up and down will have on your image. Experiences shutter nutters won’t touch it – they’ll just use the aperture or shutter priority modes, or dip into the quick menu to tweak other settings – but it’s nice to see Olympus making an effort to be inclusive.

Photo and video quality

Images from the Olympus E-PL2 are gorgeous: its large sensor and high quality kit lens (we reckon it’s better on the optical front as well as the build quality front) producing punchy, vivid colours and stiletto sharp detail at low ISO settings. Keep the ISO towards the 200 minimum and you’ll have no complaints about noise and detail, and you can push it up to ISO 800 without too many ill effects. It will go all the way up to 6400 (double that of the E-PL1) if you do need to shoot flash-less in murky conditions, but the noise is predictably horrendous up there.

As with all the PENs so far, the Olympus E-PL2 comes with a selection of Art Filter modes, which let you quickly set it up for Lomo-style vignetting, tilt shift-esque miniature shots and grainy black and white photos. It’s a nice, handy feature that can produce some great atmospheric results if you don’t just want “normal” realistic shots.

Video isn’t really a highlight feature here: the format is Motion JPEG rather than the more popular AVCHD offered by the rival Panasonic and Sony cameras, and the built-in microphone can only capture sound in mono (you’ll need to buy Olympus’s external mic if you want stereo). That said, the 720p video quality is generally superb in terms of detail and smoothness, and far above anything you’d get from a standard point-and-shoot camera or a consumer camcorder.

Verdict

While we don’t think the Olympus E-PL2 is quite up to the all-round standards of the Sony NEX-5 or Panasonic GF2, it’s definitely our favourite PEN camera so far, and a great premium snapper in its own right. If Olympus continues on this path, its next PEN could well find itself one of the leading compact system cameras on the market.

Photo and video quality

Panasonic is well regarded for the performance of its Micro Four Thirds cameras and the Panasonic GF2 isn’t going to change that. Its 12.1MP sensor is physically only a little smaller than a DSLR sensor, and image quality rivals entry-level DSLRs in terms of colour reproduction and detail.

Dig deep into your photos, and you'll find there's more noise than you might reasonably expect

Blowing up our test snaps to 100 percent size in Aperture, however, we noticed a fair bit of noise, even at the least sensitive ISO 100 setting. By ISO 400 things get pretty speckly, and by ISO 800 the Panasonic GMC-DF2’s shots are really suffering from a lack of sharpness due to the noise.

Buy the Panasonic GF2 now

We’d say the Panasonic GF2 lags a way behind an equivalently priced DSLR when it comes to noise; while many users may never blow their photos up large enough to notice, it’s worth noting if you plan on lots of low light shooting. There is a built-in flash, of course, plus the option to bolt an external flash onto the accessory port.

Our test model came with just the tiny 14mm F2.5 pancake lens, which performs well but restricts shooting to wide angle only. We’d consider supplementing it with a 14-42mm zoom, especially if you plan on shooting lots of video.

Speaking of which, the Panasonic GF2’s video comes in two flavours – AVCHD and Motion JPEG – and maxes out at 1080i and 60fps. A built-in mic records stereo sound. The AVCHD quality is very impressive, but manual controls are limited – so video is best viewed as a bonus feature rather than a reason to buy the camera. You can check out the results in the clip above.

Ease of use

The touchscreen isn't necessarily a better or worse control system: it just gives you another option

The touchscreen means that the Panasonic GF2 feels very different to handle than the GF1. There’s no mode dial and you need to select your favoured shooting mode on the screen, which we don’t like. What we do like is the way you can select a focus point by tapping an area on the screen. So it’s swings and roundabouts really, and for many of the functions you have a choice between using the touchscreen or the buttons to its right. The menu system is simple, with either the four-way cursor or Q.Menu buttons bringing up the main settings (ISO, metering, flash etc.) for easy tweaking.

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The Panasonic GF2 autofocuses swiftly and efficiently, at least with the 14mm lens. It’s perhaps not quite as fast at locking on as the Sony NEX-5, but it’s definitely in the same ballpark.

Build

The metal body is reasssuringly solid for an entry level interchangeable

Like the GF1 before it, the Panasonic GF2 is an extremely well made camera: compact, lightweight, reassuringly solid (the body is metal) and designed to sit nicely in your right hand. But be aware that, despite being the smallest swappable lens camera on the market, it’s a little too bulky for the average pocket – only clowns and MC Hammer will be able to slip it into their trousers without causing severe discomfort.

Verdict

We don’t think many pros or truly serious amateurs will be picking up a Panasonic GF2. Despite the camera’s many charms, the touchscreen-centric interface and noise levels make it much more suitable for the entry-level snapper looking to move to a better model. As a first interchangeable lens camera, you could do a heck of a lot worse than this.

Is it a bargain at its RRP? Tricky one, that. The Panasonic GF2 is undoubtedly one of the best Micro Four Thirds models around, but its near £600 starting price (for a package with the 14-42mm kit lens) is fairly steep. Keep an eye out for a good deal on it – we feel it’s worth more like £450 and prices should be heading that way very soon.

Photos

Daylight shots captured on the D7000 look absolutely gorgeous

Nikon has a strong heritage in delivering outstanding image quality whilst maintaining fast shutter speeds and good colour representation, and in this respect the Nikon D7000 doesn’t disappoint. Images taken in daylight are crisp, clear and detailed when magnified. Using Nikon’s image stabilisation feature built into the lens itself, low light images come out well too. They’re a little grainy in auto mode but this is a trait in most digital cameras at this price point and below.

The built in flash is passable, but images tended to be harsh with washed out colour. It’s not a deal breaker but if you intend to do a lot of photography in low light, we recommend investing in a good quality tripod or external flash.

You can expect decent performance in low light too

If you’re the type of photographer who wants the flexibility and ease of use of a point and shoot but the option to go fully manual when you’re ready, the Nikon D7000 however is a brilliant choice. The bundled 18-105mm lens caters for the vast majority of shots and the camera has built in features such as red eye reduction, face priority and movement tracking to ensure your shots will be as good as possible every time.

Once you’re ready to get a little more serious about your photography, the Nikon D7000 allows you to control white balance, shutter speed, aperture, film speed, light metering and much more. The interface is easy to understand and control and while you won’t get the “guide mode” featured in entry level Nikon shooters, the camera is still perfectly easy to configure.

For examples of how the camera performed, take a look at the shots above, with a few more in the gallery at the top.

Read our Nikon D7000 review roundup now

Video

When we reviewed one of Nikon’s alternate consumer cameras, the Nikon D3100 back in October last year, we found its video capabilities lacking in a couple of key areas. Does the swankier Nikon D7000 allay our fears? In a word, no.

One of the biggest gripes with modern video capable DSLRs is that when recording a movie, the predominant sound heard is the clicking of the lens refocusing constantly. Luckily the Nikon D7000 has improved where the D3100 let us down; though the sound from the built in mic is still poor, the inclusion of an external jack allows for custom audio recording accessories to be attached.

The Nikon D7000 shoots video in the popular MPEG-4/H.264 format, but similarly to the D3100, still makes you drop down from 1080P to 720P to gain the ability to record at 30 frames per second. On a camera of this specification and price, we would like to see 30-50 FPS as a default when recording in full HD.

Don’t misunderstand us; the movie function on this camera is great for its intended use. For short snappy movies of the kids on holiday it will be more than capable; just don’t expect to become the next great film producer using this hardware.

Connections

There are plenty of ports to be had on the Nikon D7000

The Nikon D7000 is connected like a Washington DC lobbyist. On the left hand side you have the audio/video out connection, mini USB socket as well as HDMI. Below that are connector ports for an external microphone and even a GPS unit, which will allow your camera to attach a location to the EXIF data of your snaps.

One the other side is the dual SD card slot. The D7000 is the first camera this reviewer has tested that has the ability to have two cards. Why would I need two cards, we hear you cry? Well, firstly with image sizes going up and up (a full resolution image in JPEG only format is near 9 megabytes), the more storage the better; but more than that, having two cards can give you much more flexibility when shooting. As an example if you wanted to shoot in both RAW format as well as JPEG, you can tell the camera to put the JPEGs on one card and the RAW files on the other.

Buy the Nikon D7000 now

Build & Layout

The Nikon D7000 is sturdily built, but almost too much so

If you’ve ever owned a Nikon DSLR in the past, you’ll instantly know how to use the Nikon D7000. The button layout is almost identical to the Nikon D90 and feels very intuitive, with everything neatly where you expect it to be. Our only issue with the design of the D7000 is the weight. This thing is heavy! If you’re a weedy hipster looking to enhance your image with an SLR slung around your neck then look elsewhere.

This camera needs a good grip and a strong arm to hold it. Because of its weight some of the buttons become difficult to use. In normal operation it’s fine as the weight is spread nicely across your hand, however switching to video mode requires the use of a button on the back of the device, which throws the weight distribution right off.

Other than that fairly minor gripe the build quality is incredible. The camera feels lovingly crafted rather than thrown together in a factory. All the buttons are responsive and the body itself is sturdy and not at all creaky. Nikon have always made great cameras and the Nikon D7000 is no exception.

Overall

If you’ve owned an entry level DSLR before and are looking to upgrade your camera, you will have to go a long way to find a better camera than the Nikon D7000. At £1099.99 it isn’t cheap, but the features are impressive and the quality is superb. Movie recording on DSLRs is still in its relative infancy, Canon still leads the field, and as we mentioned, this camera isn’t perfect for video. But if still photographs are your focus (no pun intended), then the Nikon D7000 gets the thumbs up from us.

The key selling points of this camera are its size and weight, and the number of frames per second it can push. The Sony A33 can push 7fps, for which it has a dedicated setting on the main dial. Flick through to this setting, hold down the shutter button, and it’ll just fire off shot after shot after shot. The more you shoot, the slower the processing will be when you lift your finger from the shutter, but this shouldn’t cause problems in all but the most extreme circumstances. It probably is worth investing in an SD card with plenty of space though if you’re planning on using this function.

This should give you some idea of how close shots are together shooting at 7fps

The A33 and its sister camera, the A55, are the first Sony cameras to use Sony translucent mirror technology, which simplifies the mechanical movement of the mirror being shifted out of the way so the light gets to the sensor, which is what happens in a standard DSLR. Because this lifting of the mirror is simplified to not need such chunky mechanics, the body of the Sony A33 can be much smaller. Technically, this means it isn’t so much a DSLR, as a DSLT. Despite being compact though, there’s still a satisfying mechanical clunk when the shutter is activated.

The downside of the translucent mirror means that the sensor on the Sony A33 receives 30 per cent less light, but Sony has accounted for this, and the sensor increases the ISO by one third to account for the difference. It doesn’t show either, and in low light it performs very well, and comes out with very little noise, even in the gloomiest yellow lighting.

The A33 holds up well, even in the murkiest of conditions

The Sony A33 has an inbuilt flash, but also a hot shoe if you want to step it up. The viewfinder is covered in rubber, and it has a sensor just below the viewfinder, which detects when you put your face up to the viewfinder, and automatically flicks the image from the screen into the viewfinder. Even niftier, in the viewfinder you’ll see a flight-simulator type balance indicator, which acts like a photography spirit level – when you’re level, it’ll lock in to green. If you’re wonky, the sights will be in the red.

If portability is key, then a bridge might end up a better option, because although the Sony A33 is compact, and is one of the neatest of its kind, you’ll still end up lugging around a kitbag full of heavy lenses if you’re shooting lots of different scenarios. However, if you’re looking for something a step up from a bridge, and want more versatility with settings like aperture, and especially if you’re looking to shoot moving objects then the Sony is ideal. Its auto settings are bright and even-toned, and it’s easy to fiddle around with settings like shutter speed and exposure.

Scene settings - or the lack thereof - is one of the camera's weakpoints, and beginners will notice this most

The one thing it lacks slightly is scene settings. The ones included cover a rather limited set of scenarios. We’ve also seen reports that the cameras can overheat when shooting video, but we didn’t have any problems, and didn’t notice any extra heat.

The HD video will shoot in AVCHD or MP4 on the Sony A33. It has a dedicated button to the right of the viewfinder, and will shoot for a maximum of 29 minutes. If you want to get out of video and shoot frames though, you have to skip out using the mode dial.

The Sony Alpha A33 video is sharp, and will continually autofocus as you move around, and can track objects moving as fast as 50km/h. The one problem we found though, which you can hear in the video below, is that if you’re filming a quiet scene, the mic picks up the sound of the autofocus. Watch the short demo video below, and listen to the whirr of the autofocus kick in as we make some tea in 1080p…

The functions on the Sony A33 can be pushed hard, into display settings and shooting settings, which can for example, be manipulated to control the 15 point autofocus points your subject is in, and the image info display will show colour charts and all settings used for a snap. The best part is, you don’t have to. You can point and shoot without thinking, or work your magic making the camera do exactly what you want.

An impressive effort from Sony

Overall, the Sony A33 is a neat, compact entry-level DSLR, that performs above and beyond what you’d expect of an entry level in some crucial areas – speed, autofocus, video and low light, and sometimes all of these at once. What it really excels at is shooting moving targets. The HD video continually refocuses on your subject, to leave the video bright and sharp, and being able to push 7fps means you’re unlikely to miss what you’re trying to capture.

So what’s the problem, we hear you cry? Well, the Nikon D3100’s video potential is held back by a couple of pretty major flaws. First, there are no manual video controls (save focus), so you can’t adjust the aperture before taking a clip. Second, the sound is limited to mono, recorded via a built-in microphone – there’s no place to connect an external stereo mic.

The D3100 autofocuses on the fly when shooting video

Video buffs may also point their finger at the fact that 1080p video is limited to 24fps. There’s nothing wrong with this frame rate – it’s what proper filmmakers use, after all – but the option to capture 1920 x 1080 at something a little quicker, say 60fps, would be handy. As it stands, you have to kick the quality down to 720p just to achieve 30fps.

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None of this is to say the Nikon D3100’s video quality is poor. In fact, it’s actually packed with detail and crisp, natural-looking colour, even using just the included kit lens. Whack on some premium telephoto or high aperture glass and you can expect an even narrower depth of field, but it’s unlikely any budding Scorsese wannabe will be putting this camera high on his or her Christmas list – and certainly not above the stereo compatible, manual control-equipped likes of the Canon 550D and Sony A33.

But video is merely one part of a DSLR – many would say an insignificant part – and we shouldn’t overlook the Nikon D3100’s many talents. On the design front, for instance, it’s one of the most compact and lightweight DSLRs we’ve ever held – and yet doesn’t exude a cheapo vibe at all. It’s definitely not a ruggedised tough-cam like the magnesium alloy bodied Nikon D300, but it’s sturdy in all the vital places.

Settings are comprehensive, but a Guide mode eases beginners in

The D3100 is definitely pitched towards entry level shutterbugs, being the first Nikon DSLR to sport Guide mode. Flick the dial onto this and the camera will take you step-by-step through the taking of each shot – settings are optimised for the sort of photo you’re taking, and you’re told why the setting is suitable for that particular shot type. Seasoned snappers will never use Guide mode, of course, but it’s none the worse for that.

The Nikon D3100’s 14.2MP CMOS sensor, working in tandem with an EXPEED 2 processor, serves up some fantastic results (photographer dependant, of course). You can nudge the ISO well towards its 12800 upper limit before noise becomes a real issue, colours pop and detail is sharp.

The D3100 autofocuses swiftly and precisely when you’re using the viewfinder, and tracks moving subjects well. It doesn’t impress so much in live view, where it follows most DSLRs in being extremely sluggish to lock on.

All things considered, we’re not quite sure who the Nikon D3100 will appeal to. It’s a great camera for beginners, sure, but it lacks that knockout feature to truly set it apart from the many rivals in its price range. Its video performance is good, but could be made much better with the ability to record stereo and adjust settings manually.

If you’re already a dedicated follower of the Coolpix brand then you’ll remember that the predecessor of the Nikon Coolpix P7000 was released about a year ago, and it only takes seconds to realise how many changes have been made since the P6000.

There's some heft to the Nikon Coolpix P7000, but it feels very reassuring

Even the basic shape of the Nikon Coolpix P7000 has altered dramatically from its forebear – it’s much chunkier and heavier (360g including battery and SD card) and feels reassuringly solid in the hand, despite the front grip having reduced in size. The LCD monitor has noticeably expanded from 2.7″ to 3.00″ and boasts much more detailed images care of the 921,000 dots and a wide viewing angle.

The megapixel count on the Nikon Coolpix P7000 has been reduced, however, from 13.5 to a more modest 10.1 but it still makes use of the same large scale 1/1.7-inch image sensor as the P6000. No restraints with the optical zoom, on the other hand, which has increased to a wide-angle 7.1x (the 35mm format equivalent to 28-200mm) and glides smoothly (albeit with a low growl) in operation.

Manual settings aplenty on the P7000

The other major transformation in the Nikon Coolpix P7000 is the sheer volume of manual controls which bristle along the top and back like quills on a porcupine. Alongside the usual mode dial (which contains three custom settings and a new Low Noise Night Mode), tiny power button and shutter-with-zoom-ring, the camera now sports an added dedicated manual control dial for fast launching the likes of white balance, ISO and picture quality, plus a large supplementary dial for EV compensation. Somehow Nikon have also managed to squeeze on to the same level a programmable Av/Tv button which perches dangerously close to the edge and is fiddly to locate but is still extremely useful.

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One of the new features that can be preset via the Av/Tv button on the Nikon Coolpix P7000 is an electronic Virtual Horizon that’s a Godsend when trying to keep your landscapes in perspective. While the new-improved LCD is an undoubted asset when framing up, the option of using the supplied viewfinder in very bright conditions remains – the down side is that because this is an optical rather than electronic system, only 80% of the frame is viewable – maybe this could be addressed next time.

The other raw issue with the Nikon Coolpix P7000 is the, er, RAW issue. The P6000 offered RAW images using Nikon’s own NRW file types which could then be converted only with their own ViewNX software (which wasn’t Mac friendly). The new machine now carries ViewNX 2 which is Mac friendly for the upgraded NRW+ RAW files – three cheers, except each Fine RAW image takes seven seconds to complete so you’re unlikely to do much continuous shooting in this mode.

The good news is that the Nikon Coolpix P7000 has dispensed with the lame GPS tagging system of its predecessor, reduced the unnecessarily high ISO 6400 setting to 3200 and installed 720p HD movie-making, complete with an external microphone input for stereo recording. Both still and movie picture quality is exceptionally good, even in the high ISO settings using the in-built noise reduction. The top end PowerShot G shooters now have a serious rival.

Your eyes do not deceive: the Canon PowerShot SX30 IS really does have a whopping 35x optical zoom. Add on the digital zoom too, and you can get to ridiculous lengths, which push up to a 140x equivalent. Unlike other digital zooms, the Canon PowerShot SX30 IS digital zoom leaves the image impressively crisp and steady, and while there’s some pixelation, it’s shockingly little considering. Take a look at the images below, the first is with no zoom, the second is the same shot pushed to full digital zoom:

Where we were standing

And what you can take - it's that telescopic

But let’s get back to basics. The Canon PowerShot SX30 IS has a 14.1MP CCD sensor, which is more than you’ll ever need unless you’re shooting professionally or for enormous prints. It has an inbuilt flash that flips up from where the hot shoe would be, and also a flip-out manoeuvrable 2.7” LCD display, as well as an electronic viewfinder. It shoots movies in 720p HD with stereo sound, for which it has a dedicated red dot record button, and HDMI output. Check out a few sample clips below – we came away pretty impressed with how smooth and sharp it was.

The Canon PowerShot SX30 IS battery stood up remarkably well, and after a full day’s shooting only showed that it was down by a third. We weren’t snapping with the PowerShot SX30 IS every second, but were giving it a good run for its money, putting the zoom, creative features and low light through its paces.

One of the hardest things to find is a bridge camera that shoots well in low light. The Canon PowerShot SX30 IS has a dedicated low light setting. This performed well in some cases we tried, but was a little noisy in others. In true gloom, in the back corner of a church, it got a bit noisy.

You're not going to get the high ISO performance of a DSLR, but for an all in one bridge it's not bad

Creative features (of which there are 28) are not flashy or silly, but are useful, and help to replicate what you usually need a sack full of heavy lenses for with a DSLR. We especially liked the miniature effect, which blurs the upper and lower parts of the shot proportionately to replicate the effect of a tilt-shift lens, which, in turn, has the effect of miniaturising whatever you’re shooting. It works best when shooting people from above; a beach scene from being stood on a pier, for example. The vivid shooting setting was also a nice addition, cranking up the hues of the image so it popped without being garish.

The miniature effect in action

Other creative settings include colour selections (to swap out one colour for another, or shoot in monochrome except for one colour), fish eye, and the ones you’d expect, like sports shooting, snow, beach and interestingly, a foliage setting, for shooting plants and the like. The one criticism of the Canon PowerShot SX30 IS we have is that while the auto settings are good, the images can occasionally come out slightly greyish, wanting a bit of brightness in the colour. However, this doesn’t happen often, and is easy to rectify, either by fiddling about with exposure and aperture, or by clicking straight through to one of the creative settings.

The Canon PowerShot SX30 IS is light and compact, meaning it’s very portable, but it’s also got a flip out screen, which means it’s versatile too. Shooting video, or from awkward angles, is a lot easier than it otherwise could be. The Canon PowerShot SX30 IS is sturdily built, with a rubber protector around the viewfinder, and everything that folds away, which is the LCD, the flash and the zoom, folds away securely into a neat, solid, package.

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The Canon PowerShot SX30 IS is what a bridge camera should be like. It’s easy to use, with good point and shoot responses, but it’s also crammed full of mini explanations in the interface for those wanting to learn as they’re shooting, meaning that you can pick up and build upon what you know, moving from the auto settings of a compact into the realms of shutter and aperture manipulation.

If you’re a seasoned pro and know what you’re doing, the Canon PowerShot SX30 IS could be a great day camera. If you’re an enthusiastic amateur who’s looking for an easy was to push your snapping skills forward, then the Canon PowerShot SX30 IS is the best bridge camera to learn on. £449 (discounted to under £400 online) for the Canon PowerShot SX30 IS puts it at the higher end of the bridge market, but it’s worth it for the incredible zoom.