Nikon Coolpix P7700

Preview based on a pre-production Coolpix P7700

Another August rolls around, and with it another new high-end Coolpix from Nikon. After years of relative stagnation, Nikon's high-end compact camera lineup was relaunched with the release of the P7000 in 2010. Externally a near-clone of the Canon PowerShot G12, the P7000 offered the sort of manual control and 'hands-on' ergonomics that we've come to expect from high-end compacts, and delivered excellent image quality from its 10MP CCD sensor, but was badly let down by a glitchy UI and glacially slow performance.

The only feature that really helped the P7000 stand-out, in a very competitive class, was its lens. Until that point the G12 had offered the largest lens range in the class - 28-140mm equivalent, while the rest of its rivals made-do with shorter, brighter lenses. The P7000 offered an impressive 28-200mm range, making it the most flexible in its class, but a maximum aperture range of F2.8-5.6 handed the advantage back to its rivals when the light levels started to fall.

The P7700 addresses this weakness - letting it compete much more directly with its peers. It retains the 28-200mm range but features a lens that's a stop brighter, throughout its range. An F2.0-4.0 lens means the P7700 comes closer to competing with the likes of Panasonic's LX7 and Samsung's EX2F in low light, while offering significantly longer zoom range. A built-in ND filter is good news, too, and means that it should be possible to shoot at long shutter speeds without reaching for diffraction-inducing apertures.

The P7700 also builds on the improvements made by the P7100, which, thanks to a front-mounted control dial and vastly improved, sped-up operation, was a big step forwards over the P7000. The P7100, in other words, felt somewhat like a PowerShot G12 competitor, whereas the P7000 just looked like one. The P7700 steps even further out of the Canon's shadow.

: Key Specifications 12.2MP BSI-CMOS sensor Raw Mode (.NRW) 28-200mm (equivalent) F2-4 zoom lens with 'Second Generation' VR ISO 80-1600 Fully articulating, 3in 921k-dot rear LCD screen Full HD, 1080p movie recording with stereo sound 330 shot battery life (CIPA)

The P7700 shares a lot of its DNA with the P7100, as we'd expect, but it's a very different camera in some ways. At the heart of the new model is a 12MP BSI CMOS sensor, for one thing (almost certainly this one) which brings with it the now-expected speed increase (the P7700 can shoot at 8fps, as opposed to 1.2fps from the P7100) and the ability to record full HD video.

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