Nikon P7700 Performance

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Nikon Coolpix P7700 Performance

Timing and Performance

Slow to average speed for most operations, but fast burst mode.

Startup/Shutdown
Power on to first shot	1.8 seconds	Time it takes for LCD to turn on and lens to deploy and capture a picture.
Shutdown	1.9 seconds	How long it takes to retract lens.
Buffer clearing time	4 seconds after 6 L/F JPEG frames* 10 seconds after 6 RAW frames* 14 seconds after 6 RAW+ L/F JPEG frames*	Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't retract their lenses and shut down until the buffer is cleared.
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/sec UHS-I SDHC memory card. Slower cards may produce correspondingly slower clearing times.

Good startup and average shutdown times. Longish buffer clearing given the shallow buffers.

Mode Switching
Play to Record, first shot	~2.1 seconds	Time until first shot is captured.
Record to Play	~3.1 seconds	Time to display a large/fine JPEG file immediately after capture.
Display recorded image	~1.8 seconds	Time to display a large/fine JPEG file already on the memory card.

Mode switching is sluggish, and Play to Record requires two shutter presses (one to get out of play mode, another to take the shot).

Shutter Response (Lag Time)
Full Autofocus Wide	0.421 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide-angle position.
Full Autofocus Tele	0.532 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at telephoto position.
Full Autofocus Flash enabled	0.490 second	Time to capture while forcing flash to fire, zoom lens at wide-angle position.
Continuous AF	0.414 second	This mode usually shows no speed increase with our static subject; we have no way to measure performance with moving subjects.
Manual Focus	0.341 second	For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused".
Prefocused	0.139 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

Full autofocus shutter response is slightly better than average at both wide angle and telephoto, at 0.42s and 0.53s respectively, but noticeably slower than the P7100 which tested at 0.27-0.28s. Enabling the flash increased shutter lag to an average of 0.49 second as a result of flash metering preflashes, this time faster than the P7100's 0.59s. Continuous AF lag is 0.41s, and manual focus lag is 0.34s. "Prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure results in a lag time of 0.139 second which is quite a bit slower than the P7100's 0.019s, but still reasonably quick.

Cycle Time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode Large Fine JPEG	1.51 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Single Shot mode RAW	3.25 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Single Shot mode RAW + L/F JPEG	3.56 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Early shutter penalty?	No	Some cameras don't snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.
Continuous mode Large Fine JPEG	0.11 second (8.93 frames per second); 6 frames total; 4 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 6 frames.
Continuous mode RAW	0.11 second (8.77 frames per second); 6 frames total; 10 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 6 frames.
Continuous mode RAW + L/F JPEG	0.11 second (8.93 frames per second); 6 frames total; 14 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 6 frames.
Flash recycling	3.4 seconds	Flash at maximum output.
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/sec UHS-I SDHC memory card. Slower cards may produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity also affects cycle times and burst mode performance, with higher ISOs generally increasing cycle times and reducing burst performance.

Single-shot cycle times are fair for large/fine JPEGs at 1.5 seconds, but slow at 3.3 for RAW and 3.6 for RAW + L/F JPEG files, though the camera does seem to capture frames continuously at this rate. (That is, given a fast enough memory card, it doesn't have to pause every few frames to wait for the card to catch up.)

The Coolpix P7700's continuous mode is however quite fast for its class, capturing large/fine JPEGs at 8.9 frames per second, RAW files at 8.8 fps, and RAW+L/F JPEGs at 8.9 fps, though buffer depth is limited to 6 frames in all three cases. This is slightly faster than Nikon's spec of 8 fps and much faster than the P7100's 1.2-1.5 frame rate.

The Nikon P7700's flash takes 3.4 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is pretty good.

Download Speed
Windows Computer, USB 2.0	7,485 KBytes/sec	Typical Values: Less than 600=USB 1.1; 600-769=USB 2.0 Low; Above 770=USB 2.0 High

Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, download speeds are pretty good.

Bottom line, the Nikon Coolpix P7700's performance is mixed. Mode switching is slow, autofocus is slightly better than average, and burst mode is fast, though buffer depth is shallow.

Battery Life

Battery
Average battery life for a lithium-ion design.

Operating Mode	Number of Shots
Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery, LCD Monitor (CIPA standard)	330

The Nikon Coolpix P7700 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Battery life is about average for its class, but we still recommend you pick up a spare battery and keep it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings especially since there's no optical viewfinder to save battery life when you're running low.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))