Nikon Coolpix P7700

The Nikon Coolpix P7700 has a lot to offer for those looking for a compact camera.

The P7700's bright lens F2 to f4 and zoom 28 to 200mm equivalent range is quite nice. Next, there's control and customisation, two factors that score highly among enthusiast photographers looking for a compact backup to occassionally substitute for a DSLR. The P7700 has both. And its ergonomics work, allowing you to make the most of the physical controls, a feature that will appeal to improvers as well as enthusiasts. There are so many ways of customising the camera to your own way of working that make the P7700 a photographer's dream from a handling point of view.

Really good image quality, good stabilisation, SLR-style auto bracketing options and an articulated 3 inch LCD screen further enhance a very capable compact. Add to that a standard hotshoe, external mic socket, 1080p movies with stereo sound plus, a neutral density filter, zoom step feature, virtual horizon and GPS support via an optional accessory. It's not all good news though: the decision to drop the P7100's viewfinder, rather than improve it is something of a disappointment. The P7700 is larger and heavier than other cameras in its class, has shallow continuous shooting performance and is slow to write RAW files to the memory card.