My thoughts on the Nikon Coolpix P300

[Relayer]

I wanted a P&S for when the DSLR was just to much trouble and looked at three..... the P300, the LX5 and the S95.

The P300 is without doubt considered the underdog, however I wanted to stay with Nikon if at all possible. What a great little camera it is and considerable lower cost than the others (£224 inc Nikon case a 4GB card from WEX).

Picture quality is terrific and what is seen by many as it's biggest disadvantage...no RAW... is it's greatest advantage for me. My main concern over buying a P&S was that it would take over from the DSLR more than it should. No RAW means it can't. I suspect thats why Nikon never added it.

Size. It's small, possible too small intially but aftera few days it's great..LX5 was way to big.

What I've learned from this is don't believe all the technobabble from the magazines and websites. I went with my gut instinct and was right.

 

[Gazamonk]

Glad you love your camera John and that's whats important at the end of the day, however you say

don't believe all the technobabble from the magazines and websites. I went with my gut instinct and was right.

which is a little misguided. They used and tested all 3 cameras you only used one and you are more than happy with it so you are right in that respect but to suggest that the other two were possibly rated higher because of technobabble may be simplifying it a little bit. Just an observation not a point of debate (I have used none of them)

Anyway as long as your happy surely that's all that matters.
Like you I love my p&s when the DSLR is just too much (old Canon G7) and like your Nikon no RAW shooting either. Its almost liberating not having to do any (or little) PP on your shots instead of putting all your DSLR shots through the RAW editor.

 

[Relayer]

I probably should have added that I played with all three for about an hour each prior to purchase. My mistake. Non an entirely conclusive test obviously, but enough to get the general feel of things.

 

[Gazamonk]

Good decision too, its not always about spec and sometimes how it feels in the hand and ease of use is much more important. For example I absolutely would love a Canon 7D but I have opted for the 60D, Why? the 7D is much better on paper but I have fairly small hands and the 7D when I tried it just felt too big and cumbersome and the rear controls were a stretch at times. (Also the reason I have kept my 500D and still love using it because its so light and easy to use)
So I agree totally its not always about the technobabble ! No point having all the toys if you don't like playing with half of them (poor analogy but you get my meaning )