Nikon P510 Offers Highest Zoom Ratio Ever Seen in a Compact Camera

PETAPIXEL ^ | Feb 03, 2012 | swampsniper

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Nikon has unveiled a new superzoom compact camera called the P510 that offers a ridiculous 42x optical zoom — the highest zoom ratio ever seen in such a camera. In 35mm terms, the lens goes from a 24mm on the wide-angle side to a 1000mm on the telephoto end. The 16.1MP camera also boasts a 3-inch LCD screen, 1080p video recording, GPS, 5fps continuous shooting, and ISO 3200. It’ll hit store shelves later this month with a price tag of $430.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

This will be interesting. It will have the limits imposed by small sensor size but if Nikon can get halfway decent pics out of it there will be a place for it. I searched, can't find any comprehensive reviews yet.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

pinglist

[Jonty30]

Even if that 42x can turn out 20x of awesomeness, it’ll still be worth the buy.

[Theoria]

etc.

Looks like a lens out of a GlobalHawk. lol

[abigailsmybaby]

This will be great if the photos are good. I’d love to have one for our spring trip.

[razorback-bert]

Oh, another toy I have to have. One more Nikon for my collection.

[max americana]

Before I left for Canada last Christmas, bought this Olympus that Best Buy was selling where they threw in the tripod, 4 Gb sd card and camera bag for 99. It’s becoming custom nowadays to have the 720P to 1080P Hd recording feature but the 42x zoom beats out the 5x zoom. Ridiculous zoom ratio that 42..

[sagar]

Knife to a gunfight

[Bellflower]

It will have the limits imposed by small sensor size

Isn't the sensor size crucial for great pics, especially with a high amount of pixels?

[Revolting cat!]

Mit out a tripod, you ain’t going nowhere, boy!

[Jonty30]

I’m not a big picture taker myself.

I like the idea of taking awesome pictures, I’m just not willing to keep a camera on hand, nor do I have the patience to look for hours for that one perfect picture.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

If you can put filters and a lens hood on it without a lot of extra hardware it may do well. A cpl filter and a lens hood are vital for field work.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

A smaller sensor will be limited. Really you get a different type of image but it can be pretty good. You can’t mess around with DOF effects and there will be more noise.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

I shoot 450mm equivalent handheld all the time.

[beaversmom]

Thanks for posting. Looking to upgrade from my Lumix. This might be the one I’m looking for.

[Jonty30]

Still.

The cheap digital cameras of today still outperform professional digital cameras from just a few years back.

[NoCmpromiz]

but if Nikon can get halfway decent pics out of it there will be a place for it.

With that kind of zoom, it better have a superduper optical image stabilizer...

[NoCmpromiz]

Actually, Nikon has this info up.

[Leroy S. Mort]

Quite an improvement over the Olympus D-200L, the first digital camera I bought in 1996 : 0.3 megapixels, optical viewfinder only, 2 MB internal storage and cost about $500 as I recall.

Hard to imagine that was only 16 years ago.

[Mariner]

16MP and 42X zoom could be the finest camera for the price in history. Wow.