Useful Tips

Nikon Coolpix P7700 at a glance

What makes the camera stand out in the Coolpix P7xxx line? Externally - the lack of an optical viewfinder. Of course, in some cases (for example, in the bright sun) it is more comfortable to work with it than with a screen. And if you turn off the screen altogether, you can save a lot of battery power. But practically all optical viewfinders of modern digital cameras display only about 80% of the linear dimensions of the frame or 64% of its area. Parallax is also inherent in them - the misalignment of the axes of the viewfinder and the lens. As a result, you see through the viewfinder not exactly what will be captured, and if you are used to tightly cropping right when shooting, then subsequent cropping in the editor cannot be avoided. In short, Nikon decided that an optical viewfinder was unnecessary. And by the way, without it, the camera body has become noticeably more compact.

Good ergonomics have always been a strong feature of Nikon's older compact series. In terms of ease of use, the Coolpix P7700 camera is almost as good as professional SLR cameras. There are two control wheels (the front one for the index finger and the back one for the thumb), a mechanical head of the exposure corrector, large command buttons with a pronounced relief. All this is convenient and familiar for experienced photographers.

By means of the command dial, which is located to the left of the hot shoe, a group of parameters is configured: white balance, sensitivity, image quality, color rendition, auto fork (by exposure or white balance) and control through the user menu (5 points, the content is edited). All you need is to move the disc to the required position, press the button in the center and set the desired configuration with the front or rear wheel. Everything is clear and fast. Two command buttons are programmable. By pressing “Fn1” (located at the base of the lens) options are available. If you press the shutter button at the same time, the picture will be taken with the default setting for white balance, color rendering, ISO, or format (RAW / JPEG). The specific option is set in the menu. Rotating the front or rear control wheel changes exposure metering, flash level compensation, tempo, D-Lighting, ISO, white balance, or color tone. The procedure is the same with the multi-selector ring. A total of three parameters can be adjusted simultaneously with “Fn1”. If you press the zoom control in parallel, the focal length will change discretely - 28, 35, 50, 85, 105, 135, 200 mm (7 positions).

One of the following functions can be assigned to the "Fn2" command button on the top wall of the case: virtual horizon, histogram, framing grid, ND filter. I used a histogram. By the way, it has a useful feature: when viewing a picture on the brightness scale, you can move the pointer (9 positions in total), and the image will show the areas corresponding to this selected brightness level.

In the previous models of the Coolpix P7000 and P7100 family, the screen was deflected only vertically, in the Coolpix P7700 it rotates along two axes. With this, you can equally conveniently shoot horizontal or vertical shots, even with an extremely low or high camera position. The screen is not touch-sensitive, but with extreme viewing angles.

In the Coolpix P7700, the zoom brightened up by a stop. Accordingly, in low light conditions, you can set the sensitivity one step lower to reduce noise.

The rate of change of focal length is adjustable. With normal zoom, the entire range is equivalent. f = 28-200 mm runs in 2 seconds, with quiet - in 9. There are two options for zooming - with a variable or fixed aperture. You can also specify the starting focal length (for example, f = 50 mm), which will be automatically set when the camera is turned on.

Nikon's proprietary optical image stabilizer VR is used to reduce blur. The developer promises a fourfold increase in exposure.In my tests, when shooting handheld at focus, eq. f = 200 mm, the stabilizer showed the following results: at a shutter speed of 1/50 s, 9 out of 10 frames were sharp; 1/25 s - 8; 1/10 s - 5; 1/5 s —3; 1/2 s - none (all blurred). As you can see, the stabilizer is really effective!

The built-in flash has advanced features. In addition to the standard TTL auto modes (fill-flash, second-curtain sync, slow sync), a manual mode with fractional power from 1 to 1/64 is implemented. The built-in flash can also act as a transmitter for wireless control of the external flash system (one group, one channel).

There is no built-in GPS module, but there is an external GP-1 receiver (sold separately). It is small, fits into a slot on the side of the case and is unlikely to cause any noticeable hassle when shooting handheld. The module is compatible with other serious Nikon cameras - SLR and mirrorless.

With professional features, flexible and user-friendly control procedure, Nikon Coolpix P7700 clearly demonstrates what High-End is in photographic equipment.

** Color fidelity. ** When shooting in sRGB space at standard color reproduction, reds and yellows are shifted towards oranges, blue-greens towards blues. The overall color saturation is slightly reduced.

** Noise. ** The camera has three presets for automatic noise reduction. The noise level is low, smoothly increasing from 1% at ISO 80 to 4.6% at ISO 6400 with minimal noise reduction and from 0.5% to 1.3% with strong noise reduction.

** Pros: ** rich functionality, durable metal body, swivel screen, convenient control, RAW, effective stabilizer, customizable interface, precise operation of automatic exposure control and built-in flash.

** Disadvantages: ** there is no control of the process of photographing from the computer.

The main competitors of Nikon Coolpix P7700 are: Sony DSC-HX200, Fujifilm FinePix X10, Canon PowerShot G1X.

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