Nikon P100: Back-illuminated sensor, high speed super-zoom

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Repeat after me: 'back-illuminated sensor'.  You better get used to that phrase, as it could well be the biggest trend in digital photography this year: the use of 'backwards' CMOS sensors continues to rise, with Nikon's Coolpix P100 joining cameras from Fujifilm and Sony.

Nikon's press release for the Nikon P100 claims that it's 'made for those who demand the most from their … camera,' but at first sight, it seems to be a simple upgrade of the P90.  The body is almost exactly the same, but then again, that's not the part that has to convince us.

Still, the outside has a stereo mic behind the flash, dedicated controls for shooting video, and the screen, which still rotates, has been upgraded to a resolution of 460 000 pixels.  All of these are welcome improvements.

It's on the inside that things have really changed though.  First of all, the lens: the zoom has been extended to 26x, with 26-676 mm as a 35 mm equivalent, opening from f/2.8-5.  Does that remind you of something?  If so, then it might be because those are the exact same specs as the Olympus SP-590 UZ, whose 26x zoom seemed designed to wipe out the competition's 24x zooms.  We hope that some progress has been made on the lens, which wasn't the best we've ever seen.

The sensor has also seen a dramatic evolution.  Out goes the 12 Megapixel CCD sensor, replaced by a 10 Megapixel CMOS, which is back-illuminated like Sony's Exmor R sensors.  However, Nikon and Casio have chosen the size of 1/2.3'' instead of 1/2.4'' for Sony.  We obviously lose some pixels by going from 12 to 10 Megapixels, but that's not necessarily a problem, as camera lenses sometimes struggle to produce photos that are accurate and detailed enough for such dense sensors.  And sensitivity and sharpness should both improve markedly with this new technology.

Nikon has decided to take advantage of the high speed CMOS technology to add some of the features found on the Sony HX1 and the Casio FH20.

Let's look at video first: the P100 films in 1080p Full HD at 30 fps, with stereo sound and the optical zoom available.  The H.264 codec, which, despite being a little demanding works very well, is used.  A high speed 240 fps mode will also be available, but with a lower resolution.

Next comes HDR: the P100 can take a burst of two shots with different exposures and automatically combine them to produce photos with a wider dynamic range.  Another feature allows the P100 to simulate a longer shot by taking a burst of eight under-exposed shots and combing them all to make up for the limits of the stabilisation system.

The burst mode proper takes ten shots a second at 10 Megapixels (but we're not sure long it can go for) and 120 shots--at 1 Megapixel each.  That will be useful for catching every last detail of a something moving fast, but don't expect to be able to print very nice photos with it.

On paper, then, the Coolpix P100 has got what it takes to knock the Panasonic FZ38 off its pedestal, even though we'd like to see whether the Fuji HS10 has any pleasant surprises in store.  Whatever the result, we can't wait to get our hands on one to see what's it really like.  They go in sale in March.

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