Nikon announced Coolpix P310 on 1st February 2012. It is a 16-megapixel point and shoot camera and has got a 3-inch display. In this article, we will do an initial level Nikon Coolpix P310 review.

Imaging & Sensor

Maximum resolution possible in this model is 4608 x 3456. Other supported resolutions include 4608 x 2592, 4608 x 3072, 3456 x 3456, 3264 x 2448, 1920 x 1080, 1600 X 1200 and 640 x 480. It comes with a 6.17 x 4.55 mm BSI-CMOS sensor. It supports ISO up to 3200 starting from 100. 5 different white balance options are available in Coolpix P310. It supports three types of JPEGs, which are fine, normal and basic. It does not support uncompressed formats.

Optics & Focusing

The focal length range of this point and shoot camera model is 24-100 mm. Optical zoom is possible up to 4.2x. It supports 5 types of Auto focusing, which include Multi area focus, Centre focus, Contrast detect, Tracking and Face detection. 4x digital zoom is also possible in this model from Nikon. It does not support manual focusing. Normal focusing range is 30 cm whereas the macro focusing range is 2 cm.

Photography

It has got a variable aperture and the maximum aperture value varies between F1.8 to F4.9. Different modes supported by Coolpix P310 include Aperture priority, Shutter priority, Manual Exposure mode and Subject mode. It comes with a built in flash, which pops up when the flash option is turned on. External flash strobes are not supported. Different Flash modes include Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye, and Slow-sync. It supports continuous drive mode and self-timer mode. Four types of metering are possible in Nikon Coolpix P310. They are Multi, Center weighted, spot metering and spot AF metering. Exposure compensation is possible from -2EV to +2EV in steps of 1/3 EV.

 Videography

You can also capture high-resolution videos using Nikon Coolpix P310. It supports 2 video formats, MPEG-4 and H.264. It comes with a stereo microphone and a mono speaker. Different video resolutions supported by this point and shoot model include 1920 x 1080 (30fps), 1280 x 720p (30 fps) and 640 x 480 (30fps).

Display & Battery

It comes with a fixed 3.0 inch TFT LCD screen.  Anti-reflection coating is provided on the screen, which will help in getting a better visibility under sunlight. It does not have a viewfinder and supports only live view feature. It comes with a Nikon EN-EL12 Lithium-Ion battery pack.

Storage & Connectivity

It supports SD/SDHC/SDXC cards for storage. For transferring the captured images to a computer USB2.0 connectivity is provided. For connecting to a display/TV, a mini HDMI option is provided. With the help of HDMI connectivity, you can watch your photos and recorded videos on TV.

Size & Weight

The camera weighs around 194 g. It has got a dimension of 103 x 58 x 32 mm. It costs around 330$.

 Pros & Cons

  • USB charging option is there.
  • 19 different scene modes are provided.
  • Lightweight and easy to carry.
  • Only 4x optical zoom is possible.