NIKON COOLPIX P340

Introduction
The Nikon Coolpix P340 is a new pocket compact camera designed to appeal to the
keen enthusiast photographer. The Nikon P340 has a 1/1.7-inch back-illuminated 1
2-megapixel CMOS sensor, 5x optical zoom with a focal range of 24-120mm, maximum
apertures of f/1.8-5.6 and lens-shift Vibration Reduction, RAW (NRW) data proce
ssing, built-in Wi-Fi connectivity. The new multifunctional lens ring offers qui
ck access to various settings like manual focus, shutter speed and ISO. The P340
also boasts a sensitivity range of ISO 80 to 12800, built-in Neutral Density fi
lter, creative PASM shooting modes, full 1080/60i/50i HD video recording with st
ereo sound and slow and fast motion movies, a burst mode of 10 frames per second
, 99-point autofocus system, focus peaking, and a 3-inch 921,000-dot RGBW LCD sc
reen. The Nikon Coolpix P340 is available in black or white for 349.99 / $379.95
/ 429.00.
Ease of Use
The Nikon Coolpix P340 is virtually identical to its predecessor, the P330, in t
erms of its external design and look. You can easily carry the P340 around in a
trouser or shirt pocket, as it measures 103.0 x 58.3 x 32.0 mm and weighs 194g w
ith the battery and memory card fitted. The P340 is marginally bigger than the C
anon PowerShot S120, quite a bit smaller than the Panasonic Lumix LX7 and the Ol
ympus XZ-2, and a similar size to the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100, although all of
these models are still eminently pocketable.
The P340 has a 5x zoom lens with a versatile focal range of 24-120mm, more than
wide enough for sweeping landscapes yet still offering enough reach for head and
shoulder portraits. The lens has a headline-grabbing maximum aperture of f/1.8
at the wide-angle setting, but this quickly drops off as you move through the fo
cal range, reaching a disappointingly slow aperture of F/5.6 at 120mm, which pre
vents nicely blurred backgrounds from being recorded at the longer telephoto set
tings. The large 1/1.7-inch sensor and a seven blade iris diaphragm do help to b
lur the background more, though, delivering good results for a "regular" compact
. The Coolpix P340 feels quite solidly constructed yet at the same time lightwei
ght, with a magnesium alloy chassis and similarly high levels of build quality t
hat you find on Nikon's more expensive cameras.
The front of the Nikon Coolpix P340 features the aforementioned 5x zoom lens. Ni
kon have included their VR (Vibration Reduction) image stabilisation system to h
elp prevent camera-shake, allowing the use of shutter speeds up to four stops sl
ower, while the Active mode ensures clear shots even from moving vehicles. Annoy
ingly there isn't a dedicated button to turn it on and off (it's somewhat buried
in the Setup menu). In practice we found that the VR system makes a noticeable
difference to the sharpness of the images, as shown in the examples on the Image
Quality page. You don't notice that the camera is actually doing anything diffe
rent when anti-shake is turned on, just that you can use slower shutter speeds t
han normal and still take sharp photos. It didn't seem to adversely affect the b
attery life either, which is around a barely adequate 220 shots, so we'd advise
you to turn it on and then forget about it.
Surrounding the lens is the new multifunctional control ring, one of the few maj
or differences between the P340 and the previous model. You can turn the dial to
set the aperture, by default, which greatly speeds up this key aspect. The ring
can be customised to control one of several different settings - exposure compe
nsation, ISO, white balance, manual focus, zoom, shutter speed or aperture. It's
not a new feature on advanced compact cameras, but it is a welcome addition to
the P340.
Nikon Coolpix P340
Nikon Coolpix P340
Front Rear

Top-left of the lens is a single bulb which doubles-up as the self timer and the
AF assist lamp. Also on the front of the P340 is a small but helpful vertical r
ubber strip that acts as a handgrip for your right hand, with enough room for tw
o fingers. Used in conjunction with the similarly textured thumb-grip on the rea
r, it allows you to get a secure grip the camera and be able to confidently use
it one-handed. The Function button is a helpful addition to the front of the P34
0. This is a customisable button that can be set to one of seven key camera sett
ings, although in the absence of a dedicated ISO control on the rest of the came
ra, we'd strongly suggest that you set it to this.
Maximum resolution JPEGS are stored by the Nikon Coolpix P340 in a couple of sec
onds. In continuous shooting mode it can capture 10 frames per second when shoot
ing Fine sized JPEGs for 10 images. There's also a slower rate of to 30 full-res
olution shots at 1 fps. The P340 also supports the RAW file format, something th
at all of its main competitors offer, and a prosumer feature that we'd expect to
find on this class of camera. You can shoot 10 RAW files at 10fps, but be prepa
red to wait for over a minute as the camera processes each 25Mb file.
The P340 has a small and neat built-in flash, activated by a switch on the side
of the camera, which pops-up above-right of the lens and therefore provides a li
ttle more clearance and less chance of unwanted red-eye in your photos. We found
that the built-in flash unit was fine for a bit of fill-in, with respectably qu
ick recycle times and adequate range. Also located on top of the P340 are a logo
for the built-in Wi-Fi system, left and right microphones for the stereo sound,
then a Shooting mode dial, similar to what you'd find on a consumer-level DSLR.
The wi-fi feature allows you to wirelessly transfer photos to a compatible smart
phone, tablet or Wi-Fi-enabled device and also remotely control the camera from
another device using the Nikon app. This is a big mprovement on the P300, which
required the optional WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter to be fitted. It does, howev
er, come at the cost of a built-in Global Positioning System (GPS), which the ne
w P340 no longer supports. Instead the GPS data from your smart device can be em
bedded in the photos you transfer to it.
Nikon Coolpix P340
Nikon Coolpix P340
Front Rear
Ranged around the shooting mode dial are settings for the Auto, Program Auto, Sh
utter Priority, Aperture Priority and Manual, plus the U, Effects and Scene mode
s. The U option stands for User Settings. This allows you to access a saved menu
settings configuration, allowing you to quickly swap between the camera's curre
nt settings and a preconfigured one. The action of the dial itself is slightly s
tiff, meaning that you reach each chosen setting with a definite click and avoid
accidentally shooting past the one that you wanted.
In the Backlighting scene mode, the P340 captures three consecutive shots at var
ying exposures and combines them into a single photo with a broader range of ton
es. Three different levels are available for selection. When the Night Landscape
scene mode is selected, the P340 takes several shots at a fast shutter speed an
d then combines them to create a single optimized photo, allowing you to shoot a
fter dark without having to use a tripod. The Easy Panorama scene mode allows yo
u to take vertical or horizontal panorama photos simply by moving the camera in
the direction of the on-screen guides. Multiple shots are then combined into a s
ingle panorama photo. The angle of view can be selected from 180 (normal) and 360
(wide).
The P340 has a slightly springy shutter button, with the camera taking about 1/4
second to determine focus and exposure but with no discernible shutter delay th
ereafter. This is surrounded by a pleasingly tactile zoom lever. The zoom is pre
tty quick to respond, sound-tracked by a mechanical gnat-like buzz. Just behind

the shutter release button is a small but clearly marked on/off button, within w
hich a a green LED briefly lights up to signify the power is indeed on. Give it
a press and the P340 powers up very quickly in around 1/2 second, the lens barre
l extending to maximum wide-angle setting and the rear LCD blinking into life.
Completing the P340's top-plate is a rather clever feature, a large, unmarked, t
humb-operated dial for setting the shutter speed when the shooting mode is set t
o Shutter Speed Priority or Manual, or alternatively for setting the exposure co
mpensation. We'd have welcomed the ability to customise its use, though, as with
the lens control ring. Still, dual controls for setting the aperture and shutte
r speed is very rare on any compact, so kudos to Nikon for including both on the
P340.
Nikon Coolpix P340
Nikon Coolpix P340
Front Top
The rear of the P340 has a new 3-inch RGBW LCD screen with an impressively high
921,000-dot resolution, an anti-reflective coating and adjustable brightness, pr
oviding more than enough detail for you to be able to determine whether you have
a sufficiently crisp image. To the right is a tiny flash recycling lamp and und
erneath that a handy one-touch movie recording button.
The Nikon Coolpix P340 can record full 1920x1080 pixel HD movies at 60i/50i or 3
0p/25p/24p with stereo sound and full use of the optical zoom. It also offers a
720p mode at 1280x720 pixels (30 fps) and VGA mode at 640x480 pixels (30 fps). I
n addition there's a special High Speed mode which records at 15/60/120 fps (no
sound) that can be played back in slow motion at 1/4 or 1/2 of the normal playba
ck speed or in fast motion at twice the normal playback speed. The Creative Slid
er and Special Effects can also be used when shooting movies, and they can be pl
ayed back on a HDTV via the built-in HDMI connector, although as usual there's n
o suitable cable supplied in the box. The P340 supports the CEC feature for HDMI
which enables playback control using your TV's remote control.
Underneath the movie button is the self-explanatory playback button. Irritatingl
y there's no external button for controlling the screen display, just a menu opt
ion, and there's also no live histogram either (although the OK button does call
one up in playback mode). Next is the familiar four-way navigation pad, which a
llows you to set the flash, exposure compensation, macro and self-timer options,
in addition to moving through menus and selecting options, with an 'OK' button
at its centre being the means via which changes can be implemented. Surrounding
this is a circular wheel, which is principally used to set the aperture, as well
as performing the more mundane tasks of moving through menus and selecting opti
ons. We preferred to use the lens control ring to set the aperture, so it would
have been good if the function of the circular wheel was also customisable to av
oid uneccessary duplication.
Nikon Coolpix P340
Nikon Coolpix P340
Memory Card Slot
Battery Compartment
The Nikon Coolpix P340's familiar Menu button accesses the usual Nikon menu syst
em, which is clear and easy to navigate. Press this when in any of the shooting
modes and there are three menus, Shooting, Movie and Set Up, with two menus, Pla
yback and Settings, available when you're reviewing an image. A big oversight is
the almost constant need to use the menu system for setting the ISO speed, whit
e balance, metering, AF mode and continuous shooting, with at least 4 button pre
sses required to change these often-used features, although the Function button
does partially address this problem by providing quick access to one key functio
n.
In playback mode, pressing the same Menu button affords access to image editing
options including Nikon's exposure adjusting D-Lighting function, Skin Softening
and Filter Effects, image slide shows, and the automatic Quick Retouch. A butto

n to the right features the familiar trashcan icon for deleting images on the fl
y and completes the rear of the P340.
On the right flank of the camera - still viewing it from the rear - there's a re
cessed eyelet for attaching the supplied strap and a plastic cover protecting th
e HDMI and AV Out ports. On the left hand flank is the release button for the po
p-up flash. There's a centrally positioned, metal tripod mount on the bottom of
the camera. The P340 is powered by a 1050 mAh lithium ion battery, good for arou
nd 220 shots, that slots into the base alongside the SD / SDHC / SDXC card slot.
That concludes our look at the Nikon Coolpix P340's ease-of-use, now let's move
on to its image quality...
For those who want maximum performance in a minimalist package, we present the o
ustanding Wi-Fi connected COOLPIX P340. Small enough to fit comfortably in a poc
ket but powerful enough to inspire the most demanding shooters, it truly shines
in low-light and fast-action moments. Its ultra-fast f/1.8 lens is paired with a
large CMOS image sensor for exciting low-light capabilities, blazing fast shoot
ing speeds up to 10 frames per second and beautifully blurred backgrounds. Shoot
without a flash indoors, at evening concerts, at weddings even when the lighting
is dim then marvel as your photos instantly appear on your compatible smartphone o
r tablet for easy sharing. Discover the beauty of low-light photography.