The Nikon Coolpix P3’s excellent image quality impresses us far more than its wireless abilities. With optical vibration reduction (VR), the P3 is a great snapshooter that should please discriminating users.
The P3’s performance is disappointing, with some infuriating delays between shots. The camera takes slightly more than 4 seconds to turn on and shoot, and performance goes downhill from there. Shutter lag in bright light was an irritating 0.9 second, with dim light bumping that time up to 1.4 seconds. After taking a shot, it was a full 3 seconds before we could snap off another one. Burst mode was acceptable, with a rate of 1.5fps in five-shot bursts. The screen refreshes quickly but has a narrow viewing angle. Unfortunately, users are stuck with the LCD; the P3 lacks an optical viewfinder.