Nikon 16.1 Megapixels P310 f/1.8 Camera Review by TR With Rating 7/10

On January 31 2012, Nikon announced two new P-series Coolpix cameras, including the world's longest SuperZoom. The P510 has the biggest zoom range of any fixed-lens camera with its massive 42x, f/3.0-5.9 Zoom-NIKKOR ED lens from 24mm to 1000mm equivalent. It features a 16.1 Megapixels Backside Illuminated (BSI) CMOS sensor with high-speed continuous shooting performance (at 5fps full resolution), fast autofocus (AF), 1080p HD video mode, 3-inch 921,000-dots LCD, an electronic viewfinder, full manual control and built-in GPS capabilities. Optical Vibration Reduction stabilization is included as well, though it'll need to be pretty strong to steady such a long zoom lens. 

The Coolpix P310 comes with a 16.1 Megapixel BSI CMOS sensor and a fast f/1.8 maximum aperture, NIKKOR glass lens at 24-100mm zoom range. Other features include a 3-inch 921,000-pixel LCD, zoom memory, manual control, and creative filters and effects. The P310 achieves superior image quality in low-light settings with a wide ISO range up to 3200 (Hi1 6400 equivalent) and a fast f/1.8 lens. The COOLPIX P310 incorporates optical VR image stabilization with several scene modes including Advanced Night Portrait mode, Night Landscape mode and Backlight/High Dynamic Range (HDR) mode. The Advanced Night Portrait mode combines consecutive images of the background while the subject is captured using the flash, while the Night Landscape mode combines a series of consecutive shots taken at a fast shutter speed into a single image with reduced noise. The Backlight HDR mode merges images of the same scene at different exposures to achieve a single image with a broad range of tonal detail. The COOLPIX P310 is listed for $329.95 in black only. Here's the summary of review by TrustedReviews, giving the camera a rating of 7 out of 10:

"Image quality, while generally good, does suffer from a slight lack of reliability regarding the model's metering and white balance. The P310 displays a tendency to both underexpose and overexpose on occasions, though not regularly, in equal amounts and measure. White balance, meanwhile, is also unreliable at times, with images varying from warm to cold in shooting situations. That being said, these two issues are not ever-present, and generally it performs quite well. Outside of the slight lack of reliability regarding metering and white balance, image quality is generally good. As is often the case with Nikon compacts, colours display a pleasing natural palette, as opposed to being too vibrant, which not only provides good result out of the camera but also offers room to manoeuvre in the image editing stage. The general tonal range of images is also pleasing, with a good balance struck between shadow and highlight detail (when metering decides to behave). Noise at high-ISO settings is also well controlled, with a good amount of the P310's ISO settings proving eminently useable. Noise at setting up to ISO 400 is barley visible, with what noise there is well controlled. At higher settings noise does become a bit of an issue, but once again the in-camera noise reduction technology performs more than adequately. It's a shame that there isn't an option to shoot Raw, and thus apply your own noise reduction in post production, as you can't help but feel that results could be even better if this was the case. 

The Nikon P310 is a 16.1MP advanced compact with a 4.2x optical zoom. Given that it costs close to £300 you would be entitled to expect something above the ordinary. Whether it's a headline-grabbing zoom, bombproof construction or a generally high specification, compacts costing this much really need to offer something extra to justify the added expenditure. The P310 just about manages this with its bright f/1.8 maximum aperture, full manual control and 921k-dot LCD screen. However, the lack of Raw capture is disappointing and there are also a few reliability issues with metering and white balance. Overall then, while it's certainly competent the P310 doesn't quite do enough to earn itself a TrustedReviews recommendation."