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Thankfully, the SB 16 does have controls on the unit itself (power, volume, source switcher), so you’re not stuck if you do have problems with the remote. That said, we would’ve preferred a small remote to be included, if only because it would make programming a learning remote (such as a Logitech Harmony) much easier.

Setup
The SB 16 doesn’t have any speaker calibration setting requirements, but there are sound-tuning adjustments. First, there’s a “Trim” switch that sets the input sensitivity in three steps. The unit is shipped with the Trim set to “1,” which didn’t allow the SB 16 to play loud enough for us, even when the volume control was set to max. Moving the Trim switch to the “2″ setting increased the max volume enough so it was loud enough for us. The sound bar also has a “Wall-Table” EQ switch that tunes the speaker’s tonal balance for wall or table mounting.

The subwoofer has another set of controls on its rear panel: Crossover, Volume, and a Phase Switch. The first two have a big effect on the perceived sound balance of the SB 16 system. We set the volume control knob three quarters of the way up, and the Crossover at approximately 125 Hertz (it has a range from 50-150 Hz). In any case, you make these adjustments “by ear,” and try to produce the smoothest possible blend between the sub and sound bar. Harman recommends setting the Phase Switch to “0,” which worked for us. The alternative position, “180,” may produce a smoother blend in some rooms. Experiment and see for yourself which sounds better.

While Harman claims the wireless subwoofer can be placed “anywhere” in the room, we recommend placing the sub within 5 or 6 feet of the sound bar for best sound quality.

Performance
The SB 16 had a bigger and fuller tonal balance than any self-amplified (i.e., no AV receiver required) sound bar we’ve tested in quite some time. Obviously, the large subwoofer was primarily responsible for that, but we never felt the bass was overdone or that the subwoofer called attention to itself.

Putting the SB 16 through its paces with our reference “torture” discs like “Master and Commander” and “Black Hawk Down,” we were impressed with the system’s poise under pressure. The gunfire and explosions in large-scale battle scenes sounded cleaner and less distorted than what we’ve heard from most sound bars. Considering the size of the sub, the bass wasn’t particularly powerful or deep, but the quality of the bass was excellent. Dialogue was natural, even when we listened to the SB 16 with its “3D Surround” processing turned on. That’s rarely the case with stereo sound bar systems’ faux surround effects. Harman Kardon’s 3D Surround did not generate room-filling 3D surround effects, but it definitely spread the soundstage well beyond the edges of the sound bar.

The film “3:10 to Yuma” further demonstrated the level of the SB 16′s sonic sophistication. When the bullets fly and bounce off the armored stagecoach in a holdup, the metallic pings and clangs sounded realistic, as did the rifle shots echoing off the mountains.

Music auditions started with singer-songwriter John Gorka’s “The Gypsy Life” Blu-ray. The acoustic music’s realistic timbre sounded natural, and the dynamic shadings of Gorka’s vocal, piano and guitar, and the rest of the band were more nuanced than what we’ve heard from most sound bars. The SB 16′s treble detail and “air” were also above average, which also played a part in producing a broad and deep soundstage. The SB 16 was nearly on par with what we expect to hear from a bona fide 2.1 channel system.

Rock music on CD revealed the limitations of the SB 16, which started to sound strained with the music turned up loud. Even so, the SB 16 was a little better than average. The SB 16′s overall performance is excellent, and there’s nothing better in its price class.

Conclusion
The Harman Kardon SB 16 features a premium price tag and some remote control quirks, but its excellent sound quality and exterior design make it worth the extra cash. That said, it’s definitely worth checking out how your existing HDTV handles the remote issues we highlighted before you buy.

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TDK Sound Cube

TDK is working hard to break away from its history of dusty cassette tapes and make a new name for itself with a line of premium portable speaker systems. The company kicked off 2011 with its TDK 3 Speaker Boombox, which sent us into convulsive fits of retro sonic bliss. For those interested in something more affordable and portable, the TDK Sound Cube ($299) is a more manageable option than its bigger brother, while still holding its own as a great sound system.

Design and features
When we call the TDK Sound Cube a boom box, we literally mean that it is designed like a box. There are speakers on each of its sides, a comfy leather handle up on top and a compartment on the bottom with room for 12 D-cell batteries.

Without the batteries inside, the Sound Cube weighs as much as a 12-pack of beer. With the batteries installed, you’re in for a workout. Still, it’s a much more portable system than its big brother, which was a bit of a shin-smacker.

The audio source, station preset, playback control, and other functions are accessed using illuminated capacitive touch controls located above the front speaker. To the left and right of these buttons are two gloriously oversize aluminum knobs that control volume, radio tuning, and other functions. As on the 3 Speaker Boombox, the volume knob goes to 11.

In spite of our enthusiasm, there are some design disappointments in the TDK Sound Cube. Instead of offering a proper dock or enclosure for your connected iPhone or iPod, the speaker system just has a nonslip padded surface on the top. In fairness, TDK’s design decision makes it easier to use with a broad range of audio devices (heck, you could place an old Walkman up there), and makes it more future-proof. Still, a secure space for docking your precious iPhone would be nice.

On the back, the TDK Sound Cube offers an iPhone/iPod connection (via USB), USB stick media playback (MP3, AAC, WMA), and a slew of auxiliary input options, including RCA, minijack, and a quarter-inch instrument input that can be blended with the other audio for instant karaoke and block party high jinks.

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Nevertheless, each party member–not to mention the game’s other major and minor players–is exquisitely voiced and expertly written. When Fenric growls his displeasure, he’s menacing enough to make you squirm. When a normally staid Aveline asks for romantic advice, the hesitation in her voice illuminates her discomfort. Their expressiveness is enhanced by improved facial animations, which aren’t on the level of Mass Effect 2, but still adequately communicate kindness, aggressiveness, and grief. If you wish to further explore relationships with your fellow adventurers, you can offer them gifts, though this is one of several areas where Dragon Age II strips away some of the original’s complexity with mixed results. Rather than freely giving gift items to your comrades based on what you understand of their personalities (as was done in DA:O), finding a pertinent item unlocks a quest in which you present the item to the only possible recipient. You can also inch closer to love by selecting dialogue options marked with a heart icon, which makes the whole process of romance less mysterious–and more game-ish–than in the original Dragon Age. The upside is that you are more likely to establish a romance in Dragon Age II, and thus experience how that romance might affect dialogue choices and quest resolutions.

6302335The Dalish are a peaceful folk, but that doesn’t mean they don’t get attitudes.None

Gift-giving isn’t the only area in which Dragon Age II has simplified the original’s mechanics. As in most RPGs, you purchase items and equipment from merchants and loot them off fallen foes. You manage the inventory of your entire party–but only to a point. Hawke is the only character you wield full inventory control over, swapping out ever-more-effective weapons, armor, and accessories. Other characters have restrictions that slightly squash the joys of equipping your party. None of your other party members can equip different armor. Instead, you acquire upgrades for them and slot in runes that you can purchase after you’ve found or bought recipes for them. Varric’s only weapon is the crossbow he calls Bianca, and there are no specialty arrows (ice, fire) for him to equip. It’s disappointing to browse a vendor’s wares or sort through your loot, only to see that Hawke is the only character allowed to use so many of the items. Of course, there is joy to be had in managing your party’s equipment. You can still equip your warriors with different swords and shields, and give your mages new wands and rings. But unless you count the diminished amount of time you may spend shuffling your inventory, this simplification doesn’t come with any noticeable benefit.

The same could be said about the streamlining of the game’s various talent trees, though there is still a great deal of flexibility in how you develop your party. A mage might focus on healing, elemental attacks, or mind control; a rogue can go for the stealthy approach, attack with a bow from afar, or slice up rampaging Qunari with dual blades. You can use your warriors to take the heat off your mages in a tank role, or develop them as pure damage dealers. It’s in the non-combat skills where Dragon Age II takes a step back. Herbalism, trap-making, poison-making, and other skills have been removed or restructured. There are still poisons and potions, for example, but to buy them, you must discover recipes for them and come across resource nodes as you explore. Then, you can order them from a merchant or at your home. Stealing, survival, coercion–these aspects are gone, as are those introduced in Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, though runecrafting was restructured in much the same way poisons and potions were.

Combat isn’t as challenging as before, but it’s still fun.

Perhaps this streamlining is meant to be consistent with the direction combat has taken. In battle, Dragon Age II feels much more like an action RPG than its predecessor–a change that works to great effect on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in particular. The core combat hasn’t changed: you press the attack button to strike, and use up your mana or stamina reserves to perform more powerful talents and spells. And as before, you can directly control whichever party member you like and assign AI routines to the others to determine their battle behavior. This isn’t an action game; pressing a button doesn’t mean you then swing your sword at that exact moment. But cooldown times have been shortened and animations have been sped up, giving more immediacy to your actions. Your rogue tumbles around as he or she attacks, mages gesticulate wildly as they fling fire and lightning about, and warriors leap onto their foes from several feet away. It looks great, and when you’re wielding a controller, it feels great.

PC players unfortunately lose an important aspect of the series that tied it to BioWare RPGs of yore: the tactical camera. You do get a certain amount of camera control, but no longer can you zoom far out and view the battlefield from above. Yet, you still must hover the attack cursor over the enemy you want to attack, which can be somewhat awkward from a third-person view. (If PC players had to be stuck without a tactical view, the console versions’ auto-targeting would have been a better solution than the strange “in-between” approach taken.) The camera view isn’t the only facet that’s less tactical. On consoles, the difficulty level is more or less the same as in the original game; on the PC, the game demands far less of you on normal difficulty than did Dragon Age: Origins. Series veterans will want to pump up the difficulty level straight away. Yet while these changes to the PC version weren’t for the better, the combat is entertaining in its own right. Not having to pause frequently to issue orders keeps you focused on the action, which has a clicky, action RPG appeal–and staying close to the action means you more readily appreciate the vibrant spell effects.

Enjoy the peace; it won’t last long.

Those effects are a step above what Dragon Age: Origins delivered, though Dragon Age II is still not quite up to modern standards, visually speaking. Many textures are shockingly low-resolution, and the art design is as lacking in vivid color as its precursor. Yet details on clothing and furniture have more clarity, and improved lighting and draw distances give outdoor areas more pizzazz. At times, combat looks positively dazzling, with colorful spells lighting up the screen and giant ogres lumbering about. That’s especially true on the PC, where running the game in DirectX 11 mode makes things look particularly crisp. Xbox 360 owners will also appreciate the enhancements, given the first game’s mediocre visuals on that platform. They may not, however, appreciate the long loading times that so frequently intrude–given how often you must transition from one area to the next–or the occasional frame rate and sound stutters. These flaws can be noticeably diminished by installing the game to the hard drive, so provided you have the space, it should be the first step you take. The PlayStation 3 suffers from some stutters and long load times as well, in spite of the mandatory install. No matter which version you play, you will find the swooning orchestral soundtrack a treat. While the original’s score never reached beyond “generic fantasy,” pounding drums and brooding cellos add flavor at important intervals in the sequel. Darker chords are more common and greatly contribute to the atmosphere.

In certain key ways, Dragon Age 2 is a step back. Regardless of how you may feel about the changes to the formula, however, it’s still a great RPG that draws you in, thanks to the power of choice. Here is a game in which decisions have consequences that ripple outward, producing effects you may not have seen coming. What makes them more effective is that there is not always a clearly bad or good path to take–not in this world in which greed and anger course through the veins of so many, regardless of their affiliation. Personal connections in your family and adventuring party further complicate matters, ensuring there isn’t one obvious way to continue. It’s a shame that these intricacies were tempered by unnecessary simplification and unfocused storytelling. Nevertheless, Dragon Age II makes a strong impression, pulling you through with the promise of another fun quest, another character to meet, and another beast to slay.

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Nevertheless, each party member–not to mention the game’s other major and minor players–is exquisitely voiced and expertly written. When Fenric growls his displeasure, he’s menacing enough to make you squirm. When a normally staid Aveline asks for romantic advice, the hesitation in her voice illuminates her discomfort. Their expressiveness is enhanced by improved facial animations, which aren’t on the level of Mass Effect 2, but still adequately communicate kindness, aggressiveness, and grief. If you wish to further explore relationships with your fellow adventurers, you can offer them gifts, though this is one of several areas where Dragon Age II strips away some of the original’s complexity with mixed results. Rather than freely giving gift items to your comrades based on what you understand of their personalities (as was done in DA:O), finding a pertinent item unlocks a quest in which you present the item to the only possible recipient. You can also inch closer to love by selecting dialogue options marked with a heart icon, which makes the whole process of romance less mysterious–and more game-ish–than in the original Dragon Age. The upside is that you are more likely to establish a romance in Dragon Age II, and thus experience how that romance might affect dialogue choices and quest resolutions.

6301828Isabella’s two greatest assets are her dual blades. No, really.None

Gift-giving isn’t the only area in which Dragon Age II has simplified the original’s mechanics. As in most RPGs, you purchase items and equipment from merchants and loot them off fallen foes. You manage the inventory of your entire party–but only to a point. Hawke is the only character you wield full inventory control over, swapping out ever-more-effective weapons, armor, and accessories. Other characters have restrictions that slightly squash the joys of equipping your party. None of your other party members can equip different armor. Instead, you acquire upgrades for them and slot in runes that you can purchase after you’ve found or bought recipes for them. Varric’s only weapon is the crossbow he calls Bianca, and there are no specialty arrows (ice, fire) for him to equip. It’s disappointing to browse a vendor’s wares or sort through your loot, only to see that Hawke is the only character allowed to use so many of the items. Of course, there is joy to be had in managing your party’s equipment. You can still equip your warriors with different swords and shields, and give your mages new wands and rings. But unless you count the diminished amount of time you may spend shuffling your inventory, this simplification doesn’t come with any noticeable benefit.

The same could be said about the streamlining of the game’s various talent trees, though there is still a great deal of flexibility in how you develop your party. A mage might focus on healing, elemental attacks, or mind control; a rogue can go for the stealthy approach, attack with a bow from afar, or slice up rampaging Qunari with dual blades. You can use your warriors to take the heat off your mages in a tank role, or develop them as pure damage dealers. It’s in the non-combat skills where Dragon Age II takes a step back. Herbalism, trap-making, poison-making, and other skills have been removed or restructured. There are still poisons and potions, for example, but to buy them, you must discover recipes for them and come across resource nodes as you explore. Then, you can order them from a merchant or at your home. Stealing, survival, coercion–these aspects are gone, as are those introduced in Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, though runecrafting was restructured in much the same way poisons and potions were.

Mages never truly escape the influence of The Fade.

Perhaps this streamlining is meant to be consistent with the direction combat has taken. In battle, Dragon Age II feels much more like an action RPG than its predecessor–a change that works to great effect on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in particular. The core combat hasn’t changed: you press the attack button to strike, and use up your mana or stamina reserves to perform more powerful talents and spells. And as before, you can directly control whichever party member you like and assign AI routines to the others to determine their battle behavior. This isn’t an action game; pressing a button doesn’t mean you then swing your sword at that exact moment. But cooldown times have been shortened and animations have been sped up, giving more immediacy to your actions. Your rogue tumbles around as he or she attacks, mages gesticulate wildly as they fling fire and lightning about, and warriors leap onto their foes from several feet away. It looks great, and when you’re wielding a controller, it feels great.

PC players unfortunately lose an important aspect of the series that tied it to BioWare RPGs of yore: the tactical camera. You do get a certain amount of camera control, but no longer can you zoom far out and view the battlefield from above. Yet, you still must hover the attack cursor over the enemy you want to attack, which can be somewhat awkward from a third-person view. (If PC players had to be stuck without a tactical view, the console versions’ auto-targeting would have been a better solution than the strange “in-between” approach taken.) The camera view isn’t the only facet that’s less tactical. On consoles, the difficulty level is more or less the same as in the original game; on the PC, the game demands far less of you on normal difficulty than did Dragon Age: Origins. Series veterans will want to pump up the difficulty level straight away. Yet while these changes to the PC version weren’t for the better, the combat is entertaining in its own right. Not having to pause frequently to issue orders keeps you focused on the action, which has a clicky, action RPG appeal–and staying close to the action means you more readily appreciate the vibrant spell effects.

Do those ominous skies foreshadow trouble to come?

Those effects are a step above what Dragon Age: Origins delivered, though Dragon Age II is still not quite up to modern standards, visually speaking. Many textures are shockingly low-resolution, and the art design is as lacking in vivid color as its precursor. Yet details on clothing and furniture have more clarity, and improved lighting and draw distances give outdoor areas more pizzazz. At times, combat looks positively dazzling, with colorful spells lighting up the screen and giant ogres lumbering about. That’s especially true on the PC, where running the game in DirectX 11 mode makes things look particularly crisp. Xbox 360 owners will also appreciate the enhancements, given the first game’s mediocre visuals on that platform. They may not, however, appreciate the long loading times that so frequently intrude–given how often you must transition from one area to the next–or the occasional frame rate and sound stutters. These flaws can be noticeably diminished by installing the game to the hard drive, so provided you have the space, it should be the first step you take. The PlayStation 3 suffers from some stutters and long load times as well, in spite of the mandatory install. No matter which version you play, you will find the swooning orchestral soundtrack a treat. While the original’s score never reached beyond “generic fantasy,” pounding drums and brooding cellos add flavor at important intervals in the sequel. Darker chords are more common and greatly contribute to the atmosphere.

In certain key ways, Dragon Age 2 is a step back. Regardless of how you may feel about the changes to the formula, however, it’s still a great RPG that draws you in, thanks to the power of choice. Here is a game in which decisions have consequences that ripple outward, producing effects you may not have seen coming. What makes them more effective is that there is not always a clearly bad or good path to take–not in this world in which greed and anger course through the veins of so many, regardless of their affiliation. Personal connections in your family and adventuring party further complicate matters, ensuring there isn’t one obvious way to continue. It’s a shame that these intricacies were tempered by unnecessary simplification and unfocused storytelling. Nevertheless, Dragon Age II makes a strong impression, pulling you through with the promise of another fun quest, another character to meet, and another beast to slay.

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Photo gallery:
2011 Nissan Juke SV

Nissan designers don’t shy away from controversy. Both the Cube and the Leaf use designs that appeal to the quirky more than the conventional. And so it goes with the 2011 Nissan Juke, a new breed of compact SUV that inspires very mixed reactions.

But judging from concept cars shown at auto shows, compact SUVs will be the newest trend in automotive design. Nissan has just gotten out ahead of everyone else. As a compact SUV, the Juke has the dimensions of an economy car like the Versa, yet sits on 17-inch wheels and a raised suspension, making access easy. It also incorporates one of the most modern gasoline engines available today.

What will throw people off is the bug-eyed front end, fitted with a set of round headlights and another light casing on top of the front fender. From front to rear, the fenders are unduly prominent, making the cab look squashed between them. Even the hatchback has extra curvy elements.

Jumping Juke
In many ways, Juke designers seem to have taken inspiration from the Mini Cooper S. Although the Juke lacks the Mini’s heritage, it is a similarly remarkable design. And it uses a very similar power train, a direct-injection, 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, good for 188 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque. That’s 16 more horsepower than the Mini, with the same torque figure.

The result is an aggressive engine ready to spin up and make the Juke jump. In fast launches, the front wheels hop or spin until they can get a grip and shoot the little car forward. The shifter could have a shorter throw, but it offers a good mechanical feel when running through the gears. Heading toward top gear, the shifter always wants to pop into fourth.

But here’s where it gets a little unsatisfying. The Juke can be had with front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, and with a six-speed manual or continuously variable transmission (CVT). Nissan only mates the manual with front-wheel drive, and the CVT with all-wheel drive. So dreams of turning your Juke into a World Rally Car competitor can be laid to rest.

The Juke takes its power-train tech a lot further than most by giving the driver Sport, Normal, and Eco drive modes, features not seen in cars of its price range. Each mode affects engine, steering, and climate control. For example, The Sport mode makes the engine and steering more responsive, but leaves climate control alone. Eco mode detunes engine response and dials down climate control, leaving the steering in normal mode.

Pressing a button labeled D-Mode, above a small LCD at the bottom of the stack, makes the different drive modes available. In Normal drive, the LCD shows a torque graph, in Sport it shows the amount of turbo boost, and in Eco it brings up a bar graph displaying how economically the car is being driven. Another button labeled Drive Info brings up a G-meter on the LCD.

Nissan created different engine programs to achieve the three modes, and also took advantage of the electric power-steering unit, giving it two distinct programs for normal and sport driving. This programming gives the Juke customizable performance that is completely new for cars in the $20,000 range.

But using Sport mode in the Juke drives home a little bit of conventional wisdom, namely that cars handle better when they are lower to the ground. The high ride height of the Juke keeps it from being a track competitor. But it is still fun to drive.

Taking a turn at speed, the Juke feels drift-happy, the high center of gravity wanting to pull all four wheels across the pavement. Too much speed, and it can feel tippy, but Nissan did a good job of screwing down the suspension, eliminating excessive travel. The ride tends more toward rigid than soft.

Steering response is good, and even better in sport mode. With the front-wheel drive and manual transmission, you can slip the shifter into low gear while braking, pull the wheel and feel the tires scramble for grip, then put on the power for a satisfying turn exit.

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Gyration is back with its latest effort, the Air Mouse Elite. After several iterations to refine its design, the Air Mouse Elite takes on a new shape, button layout, and full compatibility with Mac and Windows operating systems. The $80 pointing device sacrifices build quality for its low price, however, and the plastic housing feels less robust than previous models. We appreciate its ease of use and cool factor, but with companies like Logitech releasing touch-sensitive models like the MX Air designed for a home theater environment, the Gyration lineup feels outgunned. If you’re the kind of person whose technology must be state of the art, the $149 Logitech is an excellent, albeit pricey, option, but the $80 Gyration Go Air Optical does just fine without as much flair.

Gyration gives you the option of using the Air Mouse Elite either on a flat tabletop or in the air with motion control. With its wireless 2.4GHz RF technology, the mouse comes with a separate USB receiver that plugs into any available USB port on your computer, although unlike previous models, the manufacturer adds no extra space on the dongle to use it as a storage key.

Despite a lack of paper instructions in the box, the mouse is easy to install with the MotionTools software compatible with both Mac and Windows operating systems. Simply plug the USB dock into another open port for the initial charge, plug in the RF receiver, and press the connect buttons on both pieces. With the magic of plug-and-play technology, the two devices will automatically sync and you’ll be ready to mouse in less than 5 minutes. As with any mousing peripheral, you can adjust the tracking sensitivity in the Control Panel settings.

The Air Mouse Elite measures 1.5 inches tall by 2.3 inches wide by 4.5 inches deep. It fits comfortably in your hand with your thumb placed on top of the scroll wheel and your pointer finger touching the trigger on the bottom, but the build quality lacks the heft of previous models, making us question its durability. Regardless, the mouse is easy to hold ambidextrously and glides smoothly across a flat surface, should you decide to use it on a table as a traditional pointer.

The top of the mouse has two buttons on either side of a notched scroll wheel just like you’d see on any other mouse, but just underneath the wheel is a convex gesture button with three shallow media buttons wrapped around it.

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Nikon Coolpix P7000

Nikon allowed two years to lapse between the Coolpix P6000 and its successor, the Coolpix P7000, and, to its credit, the P7000 was a complete reworking of the P6000 rather than just an update. The most notable step is a welcome return to a lower-resolution sensor. Consumers will eat up those marketing-driven resolution boosts but the hobbyists always push back, and in this case Nikon gave the P7000 the same 10 megapixels as the rest of its class. Another redacted feature is the GPS, though I’d've thought Nikon would have replaced it with integrated Eye-Fi support–especially since Nikon incorporates such support into a lot of its other cameras. Other changes include a new sloping-top design with a completely new control layout eerily similar to the Canon G series, a longer zoom lens, a larger LCD, and HD movie capture. The camera also has a built-in neutral density filter, of which I’m a big fan.

As with the P6000, the P7000 uses “standard” OS-compatible NRW raw files rather than its proprietary NEF format, and the camera has some basic raw processing to create secondary JPEGs. It also ups the exposure bracketing to 5 shots and adds white balance and, more interestingly, ISO bracketing.

Nikon Coolpix P7000 photo samples

Typically for its class, the P7000′s JPEG noise profile looks okay at ISO 200 and below, but at ISO 400 you start to see color noise creep in, and by ISO 800 details simply look mushy. While the color noise and suppression artifacts are noticeable at ISO 800, depending upon the scene content the JPEGs can still be fairly usable. Processing the P7000′s files as raw doesn’t seem to buy you any exposure latitude, but does give you better control over contrast and the ability to pick your artifact tradeoffs.

Like a lot of competitors, the P7000 tends to produce somewhat crunchy-looking details in places that aren’t around the main focus area, especially at wide apertures. I also found the automatic white balance exceptionally cool, even taking into account the generally cool nature of February light. And it seems to clip highlights a little more frequently than comparable cameras.

The P7000′s lens can be very sharp, and displays surprisingly little fringing in general. Without distortion control enabled, the P7000′s lens isn’t bad; it looks about the same as most 28mm-equivalent competitors. With distortion control it’s pretty good. Interestingly, you don’t have image stabilization options–such as choosing between full time or prefocus–other than on or off. According to the documentation, it will automatically sense panning, whether vertical or horizontal, and behave appropriately.

This model also updates its movie-capture options, though the quality is just okay. With some smeary edge detail but decent exposure and little moiré, it’s fine for the occasional clip. It also can zoom during capture, and the lens is quieter than I expected, though not silent.

For the most part, the P7000′s shooting performance matches that of the Canon PowerShot G12, though in some ways it feels a little slower. Neither keeps up with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5, however. It takes about 2 seconds for the Nikon to power on, focus, and shoot, and it has decent single-shot focusing speed: 0.4 second in good light and 0.6 second in dim. But while its JPEG shot-to-shot time is a decent 1.9 seconds, that jumps almost a full second (to 2.8 seconds) for raw; shooting raw+JPEG feels very slow. In fact, shooting raw is slower than shooting with flash, which runs about 2 seconds from shot to shot. And if you shoot with review enabled, it seems to take a longer-than-usual amount of time to clear the display with a shutter half press, making it feel even slower. Burst speed is about 1.4 frames per second, but most of the burst modes on these cameras are too sluggish to use, anyway.

Slightly bigger and heavier than the G12, the P7000 has the same fundamental design as that model, albeit with a longer lens. It has a comfortable, rubberized grip and thumb rest that allow you to shoot one-handed.

The top mode dial offers the usual manual, semimanual, and automatic shooting modes, as well as three user-setting modes. I especially like the way you configure them, completely through the menus. So, for instance, in order to customize a setting based on shutter-priority mode, you can simply select that mode; you don’t have to be on it on the dial in advance as you do on most cameras. This makes it especially easy to update existing settings.

There’s also a programmable function button on the front next to the lens, to which you can assign direct access to raw/JPEG toggle, ISO sensitivity, white balance, picture control, Active D-Lighting, or metering. In conjunction with the Zoom Memory setting, which allows you to preset stops at a variety of focal lengths, you can create a custom stepped zoom. I have to admit, though, I always forget the button is there; it’s a bit too unobtrusive and awkward to reach.

A thumb-operated exposure compensation dial–three stops in either direction–sits just behind a button to toggle dial behavior between adjusting shutter and aperture. On the left, a Quick Menu dial selects among white balance, ISO sensitivity, image quality, bracketing, vertical histogram display, and a six-slot customizable MyMenu; the button in the middle lets you change the settings for the selected option. I really like the concept as well as the execution. However, when the flash is raised, that button is the only place to grip with your left hand if you hold the camera like a point-and-shoot rather than a dSLR.

And, speaking of the flash, it allows you to quickly dial in flash compensation in fractions of power–1/2 through 1/64 by halves–rather than in stops. Some people may find this a faster, more intuitive system.

I like the operation of the P7000′s back selector dial better than the G12′s; it’s far less prone to accidental selections. I also like the location of the adjustment dial better here than on the G12. It falls close enough to your thumb that it feels natural to operate.

Though shaped differently from the G12′s, the viewfinder on the P7000 is about the same size and quality. It’s especially useful on this camera, since its display doesn’t swivel or tilt, so you can’t get better visibility on it in direct sunlight.

If you’re a time-lapse fan, you actually lose some capabilities relative to the P6000. First, there’s no time-lapse movie feature anymore. And still-photo intervals have been cut back to 30 seconds and 1-, 5-, and 10-minute options. Further, while you used to be able to shoot up to 1,800 frames, now it’s capped at 300 minutes, such as 300 frames at a 1-minute interval or 30 frames at a 10-minute interval. (For a complete accounting of the P7000′s features and operation, you can download a PDF of the manual.)

For the most part, I think shooters in this class would prefer wider-angle, faster-aperture lenses like that of the LX5, and probably the more compact design as well. Nikon offers a 0.75x wide-angle adapter, but you usually lose some light with adapters. But the Coolpix P7000 is a fine camera that lots of enthusiasts will appreciate for its smart shooting design, interesting feature set, and worthy photo quality.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Time to first shot  

Raw shot-to-shot time  

Typical shot-to-shot time  

Shutter lag (dim)  

Shutter lag (typical)  

Typical continuous-shooting speed (in fps)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Typical continuous-shooting speed  

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