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Nikon Coolpix P510 review: Nikon Coolpix P510

Nikon Coolpix P510

Headshot of Joshua Goldman
Headshot of Joshua Goldman
Joshua Goldman Managing Editor / Advice
Managing Editor Josh Goldman is a laptop expert and has been writing about and reviewing them since built-in Wi-Fi was an optional feature. He also covers almost anything connected to a PC, including keyboards, mice, USB-C docks and PC gaming accessories. In addition, he writes about cameras, including action cams and drones. And while he doesn't consider himself a gamer, he spends entirely too much time playing them.
Expertise Laptops, desktops and computer and PC gaming accessories including keyboards, mice and controllers, cameras, action cameras and drones Credentials
  • More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.
Joshua Goldman
8 min read

For those after the absolute longest lens on a compact camera, meet the Nikon Coolpix P510. At roughly the same size as Nikon's last full-size megazoom, the 36x 22.5-810mm P500, the P510 packs an "oh wow"-inducing 42x 24-1,000mm lens.

7.8

Nikon Coolpix P510

The Good

The <b>Nikon Coolpix P510</b> is a fun camera to shoot with, overflowing with photo and movie features, and backed by very fast shooting performance and excellent low-ISO photo quality.

The Bad

The P510 has trouble focusing at the telephoto end and its low-light/high-ISO photo quality has room for improvement. Also, the camera feels cheaply constructed.

The Bottom Line

The Nikon Coolpix P510 is easy to recommend for its features, photos, and performance, but the usefulness of a 42x zoom lens is debatable.

The thing is, there are not a lot of things you can do with a lens that long on what's essentially a point-and-shoot camera. With the lens fully extended, it's very difficult to hold the P510 still and keep your subject framed, and the autofocus is very slow, so fast-moving targets are a challenge to shoot. Plus, while the image stabilization is very good, you're still going to want it on a tripod to avoid blur and using its higher ISO settings.

That said, the zoom range does give you a lot of shooting flexibility and the P510 has plenty of other positive attributes that make it worth recommending.

7.8

Nikon Coolpix P510

Score Breakdown

Design 8Features 8Performance 8Image quality 7