Pixiq

How is the startup time, shutter lag and shot-to-shot time? Nikon's website says "ultrafast startup and autofocus" on this one. Too many point & shoot cameras seem to offer superfluous gee-gaws but don't work fast enough to get snapshots of active kids.

This looks pretty sweet. I'm skeptical of the smaller sensor, but in this age, I think 720p is kind of required for a pocket camera, which the S90 sadly lacks.

I think the 24mm wide is enough for me, as an outdoorsman, to go for this camera. A 24mm lens might trump better lowlight performance. I love my S90 but a 24mm would be great for the outdoors!!

Would love to see some of the snaps you've been getting with this!

Bob, Sounds interesting. I have been carrying the Oly XZ-1 for about a month and find it surprizingly capable. It does shoot RAM, but a tad larger and heavier than the Nikon. The lens does not fully retract, but it is fast, so requres a larger pocket. Confess I am so old fashion that I have not tried the video.

Bob:

Thanks for the post. I was recently researching the compact segment and settled on the Samsung TL500 (EX1 outside of America). It has a wide zoom that starts at 24 1.8 and ends at 72 2.4. Not as long as the P300, but the wide aperture is great. It also shoots RAW and has some nice in-camera effects that can be applied to RAW and jpeg files after capture(although not as snazzy as Olympus' art filters). It has among the best AWB that I have used in a compact camera and takes great black and white photos (you can also convert color pics after the fact as well). It also does HDR but only by blending two jpegs together; this function does not work in RAW. It is designed to compete more against the Panasonic LX5 so it is not as compact as the P300 or S95.

A big negative for many is that Samsung, inexplicably, did not provide a minimum 720p video option; it is only standard 640x480 video. This is not important to me as I do my HD video on another small camera, but this will be a deal-breaker for others.

All in all, this is a great little camera for pictures. Not so great for video.

Excellent low-light pictures and HD video!

Note: this review is for the layman--who wants to eventually learn to use manual features--but ends up using only auto-mod, so all you pros please don't make too much fun of me.

I'm a father of a 2-year-old and I take lots of indoor shots and tons of video clips. My almost 3-year-old camera was a Canon SD790IS: 10 MP, 640p video (Yes, very low resolution but it never lost focus!), mono microphone.

Question: Is it too much to ask for a camera with great low-light abilities, Full HD video, a stereo microphone, and no removable lens cover? Apparently the answer was YES!

I bought a Canon SD4000IS but returned it because it couldn't hold a focus in HD video mode. Not even on stationary objects using a tripod! Ridiculous!

My online search continued with finding cameras that had good video but too many megapixels (above 12 MP is bad) for a point-and-shoot, which made the pictures worse!

I eagerly awaited the reviews for the Canon SX230 but was devastated when I noticed blurring in some posted videos by infosyncworld.

I was even ready to shell out the big bucks for the Panasonic LX5 but it has a removable lens cover! Are you kidding me? I don't have time to remove the cover before powering up.

So finally, this Nikon P300 comes along and it does everything I wanted! Finally! My 2-year search has ended!

The HD video is amazing! The focus stays sharp throughout. I don't think I'll be using the 1080p mode too often (I have a Canon VIXIA camcorder that records 1080p that I use for birthdays), 720p has made me very happy. Even the slow-motion mode can record in HD! Check out YouTube for cool slow-motion videos. A lot of new Canon models recently released can record in slow-motion but only very low quality, less than 640p.

Video mode records in 30-minute chunks, that's enough for me. When recording in 720p, the camera's LCD displays a countdown from 30 minutes going down instead of a counter going up. I find this useful, you'll know how much time you have left. I need to read up more on this though, maybe different SD cards can record for longer.

Many professional reviewers scoffed that this camera did not have RAW Tiff capabilities. I don't care that it doesn't have RAW tiff. If I want RAW tiff, I'll buy a DSLR in the future.

I like how the flash only pops up when you physically pop it up with a switch on the side. So far I don't need it. The flash design is great, it allows you to place your left index finger right behind it when it's raised. I didn't like how some new Canons have a flash that automatically pops up each time you power it up. For shots where you don't want a flash, you'd have to always fold the flash back down. Try imagine telling that a hundred times to friends: "yeah, turn it on, but push the flash back down, yeah, no, like this..." Annoying. Also, too many moving parts just seem more cumbersome and more likely to break.

Some minor complaints:
1. When importing pictures onto my Mac, I have to manually rotate the portrait shots. Canon did this automatically.
2. I have to charge the battery in the camera. I can purchase an external charger but that's another $30. Plus I hear the charger has a long cord instead of a flip-out 2-prong design like the Canon chargers.

I love the design, the dials are sturdy, the record video button is very helpful. Buy it! you'll love it!

All I bought at the price $250 dollars from website amazon.

Or you may access information from this link.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004M8SVGG/tipfla-20

I think Nikon COOLPIX P300 Camera where everyone must have. I believe you will get a very good experience like me.