Nikon Coolpix P2 Digital Camera Review

Nikon Coolpix P2 Digital Camera Review:

As far as wireless concerned, Nikon did not skimp on features. The camera integrates an 802.11 b/g compliant radio. In the case of 802.11g you can connect at rates up to 54 Mbps (though actual throughput will always be lower). From a security standpoint, the user can select from None, WEP, and TKIP (WPA). WEP is the original security added to the 802.11 standard. The key is static and can be easily broken. TKIP takes things a step further by changing the key dynamically with each packet of data that is sent making eavesdropping and packet insertions very difficult.

The camera also supports multiple wireless profiles. The profiles allow the user to specify SSID, encryption type, and so on. So, you can have one profile for home, another for work, and third from neighborhood Starbucks. Unfortunately, these profiles must be created on a PC and transferred to the camera. This poses a bit of a challenge if you come across a Wi-Fi that you want to use and hadn't planned on using.

Once the wireless profiles were set up on the camera (by using the Wireless Setup Utility and connecting the camera via USB to the computer), things moved along quite nicely. To use the wireless, you must first move the dial to the blue wireless icon and then choose your profile. If it's a non-printing profile, you can choose from several modes. A useful Easy Transfer mode compares images on the camera to images that have already been transferred to the computer and only transfers the images that are new. I used the Shoot & Transfer mode which immediately transfers an image, after capture, to the computer, and displays it within the Nikon Picture Project software. (This would make a great party mode). Also, you can choose to transfer all images or only marked images with other transfer modes. The wireless was effective, but I was kind of disappointed that I can't use the wireless to "shoot & transfer" if I want to use other shooting modes. Once you change the mode dial, the wireless radio is disabled. I assume that Nikon did this to preserve battery power. For example, if you want to use "P" mode, you just have to settle to use a transfer mode after you're done shooting several images.