Design

Nikon Coolpix P7000 review – Design

While the basic design principles of the P7000 remain much the same as previous versions, the button layout has changed almost in its entirety.

The camera’s top-plate sees the introduction of three new controls: On the far left sits a dial offering quick and simple access to a range of adjustments including picture quality, ISO setting, white balance and bracketing. The far right also sees alterations – where previously a large command dial had sat, there is now one offering quick exposure compensation adjustment, along with a small LED to indicate its activation.

The rear of the camera also features a re-working of button layout. The ample 3in LCD screen now fills more of the rear of the camera and sits almost flush to the bottom and the left of the body. As a result, menu and playback buttons that had previously sat to the left of the LCD screen have been relocated to the main control point on the right. The delete buttons, display button, AE-L / AF-L buttons and a small command dial are also housed to the right side of the LCD. Another alteration to the rear of the camera is a redesign of the main mode dial – out with the standard d-pad design, replaced by a multi-functional dial that combines a rotating outer ring with the same four-way directional d-pad.

The overall design has changed quite fundamentally from the P6000. The model now looks much more like a direct sibling, rather than distant cousin, to Canon’s G11 and G12.