Nikon P330 – Image Quality

There’s a lot to like about photos taken with the P330.

The Auto White Balance system is reliable, although there is a slight tendency towards a greener cast on some images. This is, however, easily remedied with a slight adjustment to either the model’s white balance or ‘Picture Control’ colour settings.

Click the photo above to see the full gallery of test shots

It’s the same story with the metering system – there’s very little to fault here, with the camera judging most scenes correctly and delivering the right exposure. If there are any issues, it is to do with highlight clipping and this can be somewhat rectified with the Active D-Lighting setting.

On the subject of dynamic range, the P330 delivers results in line with what you would expect from a compact camera, with a good balance struck between shadows and highlights.

Click the photo above to see all ISO test shots at full resolution

Thanks to the larger sensor and lower resolution than the P310, the P330 delivers good results at higher ISO settings. At the higher settings some texture from noise reduction becomes apparent; although this is true of many a more expensive camera.

Should I buy the Nikon Coolpix P330?

The Nikon Coolpix P330 takes very good photos and at current prices is around £50 cheaper than direct rivals like the Panasonic Lumix LF1 and Panasonic Lumix LX7.

The main concern is with Raw processing times. Of course, if you’re going to be shooting just JPEGs, then the Raw performance isn’t going to concern you, but the sluggish start-up time and general operation is still a concern.

It’s still worthy of consideration, and has the potential to the best in class, but Nikon needs to fix the performance issues first and the LF1’s longer zoom range and built-in viewfinder edge it ahead.

Verdict

The P330 is an attractive enthusiast compact packed full of features, but it’s let down by poor Raw write and operational speeds.

Trusted Score