P7700: what's your experience?

John

Hi,

I use a D800 as my main camera and I love it.
However, I'm currently looking for a compact camera that is easily portable and offers excellent image quality.

Why?
Well, although the D800 is a wonderful piece of technology and has given me thousands upon thousands of beautiful images already it is not exactly small and inconspicuous.
Whenever I'm out with the intent to practice my passion (photography) the D800 will be at my side.
Whenever I'm doing a studio shoot the D800 will be at my side.
Whenever I'm doing an assignment the D800 will be at my side.
...
But, when I'm out spending quality time with my significant other, carrying a big camera bag with a dozen pounds of equipment (camera, lenses, filters, tripod, flash,...) is not always an option. As a result I sometimes miss great opportunities to capture memories.
(e.g.: Imagine a stroll along the beach after a romantic diner. The sun is slowly setting, turning the clouds a deep red with a deep blue sky overhead. The light reflects on the ocean as my significant other walks barefoot trough the water. A beautiful sight and, unfortunately a memory that I can not capture to my liking because the only "camera" with my is a cellphone with a plastic lens and a sensor with a low resolution,low detail, low dynamic range and lots of noise)

So, I'm currently thinking about buying a compact camera.
Seeing how image quality as well as control is very important to me I would have preferred something like a Leica.
Unfortunately, they seem overpriced for the use I would make of them.
For those prices I'd rather buy a few more lenses for my D800.

So I'm looking for a camera :
- That is compact in size (think Leica or Fuji X20). The DX cameras are already to big.
- Offers (most of) the controls of a DSLR (aperture, shutter speed, manual; adjustable ISO; RAW; good control over the focus; light metering modes such as spot, metrix,...)
- Preferably with a zoom (something like 28-70 equivalent; more is better if the image quality remains good)
- A fairly "fast" lens so I still have some depth of field control
- Costs about 500$
- A macro mode would be useful

I'm currently looking at the Nikon P7700 and am wondering if owners could provide some feedback (and possibly example images).
I was originally looking at the Fuji X20 because I like the old camera look and the manual controls but I recently saw a few raw examples and they just look soft and noisy to me.
From what I read the P7700 looks like one of the better compact cameras out there so that's the one I'm now considering.

Thoughts? Feedback?

One final question about the P7700. Does it have a manual zoom (turn a ring in the lens like a DSLR) or an electronic zoom with buttons on the camera? (I tend to dislike those electronic zooms because the lack of precise control)

Crocodilo

I carry a P7100 at all times I'm without my DSLR. To be fair, nowadays I only carry the DSLR when going out specifically to shoot, or on travel/holyday to interesting places.

The P7100 is not perfect (it's kinda cheap, now, though). It has a learing curve steeper than I thought. It's a complex camera, with lots of settings that conflict amongst themselves. It has limitations, but it has workarounds. Very customiseable. IQ is fairly decent, particularly if you shoot RAW. The zoom range is very versatile, although the apertures are slow. Write speed is also slow, but then again I don't use it for sports. You've got to time your shoots, wait for the right moment.

It has an optical viewfinder. It sucks, but it's there, and it is usefull. The P7700 doesn't have one.

I wish it had flash commander mode built in. The P7700 has it.

Good battery life, over 350 shots, easily.

Electronic zoom, yes. However, if my pinkie presses a certain button, each touch of the zoom button cycles to the next FL: 28-35-50-85-105-105-200. If can even turn some of these steps off, or assign a default FL for each User mode on the dial. Just like having a set of primes!

Low light sensor performance? Shoot RAW, or B&W jpgs, and all is fine.

Get a sync cord and a speedlight, and nuke daylight with high shutter speeds. Try that with your DSLR.

Did I mention it's very customiseable? Lots of manual dedicated controls, too, that top left dial is an inspiration.