Nikon COOLPIX P510 Compact Digital Camera - Black (16.1MP, 42x Optical Zoom) 3 inch LCD

As a FINAL addendum to this review I have added this 'postscript' on 23 February 2013. During the past 9 months I have now taken over 10,000 frames on my P510 completely trouble free. The camera has done everything asked of it and I am as enthusiastic as ever about the camera, which can now be acquired from about £240. This must be the bargain of the century! In typical modern marketing mode Nikon have now produced a 'P520' but other than cramming another 2 megapixels out of the chip and adding one fifth of one inch to the viewing screen there is very little in the new specification worthy of note and of course you will pay circa £400 for the privilege. To summarise, yes battery life could be a little better and focussing on moving objects a little quicker (a problem removed by pre-focussing and keeping the shutter button part depressed) but the very long list of 'plus' points FAR outweigh any shortcomings. This a remarkable machine and I have been so impressed I have completed on-line half a dozen books on both Photobox and Blurb systems, including one commercial ISBN production. Go for it!

I am not allowed a second review but as a follow-up to my review of three months ago I can say that this sensational camera has completely re-vitalised my photography. It is easy to run out of adjectives but one moment I am photographing a pin point sharp bee on a flower, the next moment a wonderful landscape and the next an express train passing the local station. I cannot stop taking pictures. I am like a 16 year old with a new toy rather than a 70 year old pensioner. I am absolutely thrilled by the product, I now know how to 'drive' it and all I can do is repeat, on 5 september 2012, my early June 'highly recommended' opinion. It is a great all-in-one package. Go for it!

I have been taking photographs for 60 years, 50 of them with quality cameras. These range from old British Kershaw roll film cameras and a twin lens Reflex Rolleiflex to a SLR Pracktica with Pentax lenses, M3 Leica, 6x7 Pentaxes and various 35mm Nikon SLRs with prime Nikkor lenses. In digital terms I confess to only having, until now, a Sony point and shoot with a 5x zoom lens.

I can say categorically without brand favour that this is the most remarkable piece of camera equipment I have ever owned. It takes much to impress me but in modern 'lingo' terms I have been "knocked out" by it staggering performance. After years of black cameras I chose the maroon version and very attractive it is too. The build quality is excellent with the single exception of the plastic cable port cover. Everybody raves about the single integral lens with total justification. It is hard to believe that the range (in 35mm film terms) is 24mm to 1000mm. You can barely see some objects which become full frame with the lens extended. The lens is great fun, very intrusive (if you choose), reasonably fast (f5.9 at 1000mm) but it is the range that impresses - and although not a gadget man, why be second best with only 800mm available! It focuses down to something like a centimeter and I have a lovely sharp picture of a snail. For bird life it is unsurpassed as an 'all in one' unit. By contrast I have taken express trains at a fast shutter priority setting and, except for the tiniest shutter lag (much less than the point and shoot cameras but a nano-second longer than an SLR), the result was excellent and was published the following day in an on-line magazine!

The operation is smooth, the shape and camera grip perfect, the menus are clear even to a 'film' man, there are two zoom controls and more settings than you can possibly imagine. A minor gripe is that the main instructions are on CD with a limited handbook. The GPS does not interest me but it has it, and I can never imaginge taking a movie but it does this in full 1080HD. The viewing screen is ultra high quality and very bright but purchase quality screen protectors. The screen is also adjustable. By contrast the eye level viewfinder works but is of poor quality with a 'grainy' feel. But quite remarkably it has a dioptre adjuster for those with less that 20/20 vision, most useful. The flash is well hidden and of the 'pop-up' type and works very well at all distance, except beyond ultimate range.

The focussing is spot on but as others have said it takes a moment to 'hunt' before settling at long focal lengths but then they all do. This is quickly cured by just a touch on the shutter button. The focussing areas shown on the screen are a great help and I do not think too many pixels have been crammed onto their new censor/chip, which has a new specification, because the definition looks to my trained eye to be excellent. This is not a DSLR - BUT - I have 6 lenses on my film cameras to extend from 28mm to 300mm and you would probably need three good zooms with a DSLR to cover the range, at huge cost and weight. The P510 is also light without feeling flimsy. The camera is good looking and you feel like you have just joined the press corps. Battery life is probably not the best but it is not just the number of shots it takes on one charge, it is how much you play with the zoom and by golly do you play with this one! Buy a spare battery and charger - less than £20 if you shop right.

Overall, an absolutely remarkable if not sensational camera that I highly recommend and you do not need a second mortgage to buy it. I just feel so sad for all those camera bodies and lenses that have now entrered their semi-retirement without a pension plan!!

I have moved from using DSLR cameras all the time largely because of their weight and the need to frequently carry extra lenses to cope with both long and macro work. To loose the "Raw" facility with this camera was I thought going to be a major negative but the picture qualiity, power of the zoom and overall standard of the camera are outstanding.

My main interests are wildlife and macro photography. So small birds, their darting movements and indifferent light are my daily lot and the camera has proved equal to the task.

The zoom - well other reviwers have commented on its ability which is simply outstanding and the image stabilisation is equal to the task.

I have to admit to not yet mastering the capturing of movement yet but it is a still early days.

This is the first review I have written on Amazon inspite of being a regular customer for a number of years but I simply have to let other potential customers know what a great product Nikon have produced. If I can master the process I will try to add a few pictures I have taken.

Hi, I've had this camera a couple of days now and am really starting to love it. In brief, this little beauty takes very good pictures at all zoom positions. The autofocus is not as snappy as say the Canon 1000D et al but it's honestly very good - certainly not what I'd rate as a weakness by any measure. The image stabilization is in my opinion outstanding - yes you really can take crisp pictures at 1000mm (and up to 2000mm with digital-zoom) with this camera. This camera has a multitude of features, some of which effect your pictures at the instant of taking the picture, some are post-processing functions ala PSE. I've tried a few of them and they seem to work well, as advertised it must be said.

Now for the dropped star in my rating.....

If you are considering this camera with the intention of using the video capabilities for anything other than shooting either stationary or very slowly-moving subjects not further than about half the zoom-range away - think again. When using in video mode the autofocus seems to suffer a nervous breakdown; to reiterate what others have already said, the video AF simply dozes in and out of focus and can take an age to achieve focus at all - it is in all honesty quite useless. I tried it with the camera mounted on a monopod and got diabolical results, goodness knows what it's like hand-held! Finally, when zooming (and indeed focusing) during video you are able to hear every whir, buzz and what sounds like tiny men inside the camera working pulleys - rendering any sound recorded unusable.

This AF problem is ONLY WITH VIDEO, in my somewhat limited experience; when using (as I intended when purchasing this camera)for still photography this camera is fantastic and you will very quickly grow to love it!

In summary - for stills - easily 5 stars - excellent performance, for video - definately 2 stars at most - it will make you weep if you want this camera to shoot video......