Nikon Coolpix P300 vs Panasonic Lumix DMC-F5: A Hands-On Comparative Review for Today's Photographers

Choosing the right compact camera can feel like navigating a maze, especially when comparing models with distinct vintage pedigrees and design philosophies. Having personally worked through thousands of cameras over my 15+ years as a professional reviewer and photographer, I’m excited to put the Nikon Coolpix P300 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-F5 head to head, peeling back specs, real-world performance, and handling impressions to help you decide which will best fuel your creativity.

Both fall under the “small sensor compact” category - a market segment brimming with convenience and portability but often constrained by physical and technical limits. Let’s dive into their strengths and weaknesses across a variety of photography disciplines, technical facets, and practical usage considerations.

Getting to Know These Two: Design and Handling Basics

When I first picked up these cameras, the Nikon P300 immediately felt more substantial in hand, promising a more ergonomically engaging experience despite its compact form factor. Weighing 189g and measuring 103x58x32mm, it’s notably chunkier than the Panasonic F5’s featherweight 121g with its 97x58x22mm dimensions. The P300’s heft conveys a sense of sturdiness and confidence, while the F5 feels ultra-pocketable and unobtrusive.

The P300 features a 3-inch fixed TFT-LCD screen with anti-reflection coating, sharp at 922k dots - which I appreciated when composing under bright sunlight. The F5’s display, by contrast, is smaller (2.7”) and markedly lower-res (230k dots), which in my outdoor tests made framing and reviewing images less comfortable.

On the control front, the Nikon’s top plate showcases a more traditional DSLR-esque layout, with clearly marked dials and buttons for mode selection, exposure compensation, and playback. This logical design accelerates my learning curve and increases handling confidence during shoots.

By contrast, Panasonic’s F5 offers a more minimalistic, almost stripped-down interface - beneficial for simple point-and-shoot use - but lacks direct manual exposure options, sacrificing control for simplicity.

Sensor and Image Quality: Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Diving into image quality, sensor technology plays a huge role, and here the differences become more pronounced.

The Nikon P300 is equipped with a 1/2.3” BSI-CMOS sensor measuring 6.17x4.55mm, producing 12 megapixels with an optical low-pass filter. The BSI (Backside Illuminated) design fundamentally enhances light-gathering efficiency, which I found resulted in cleaner images, especially in challenging light. Noise was noticeably subdued compared to a traditional CCD sensor, and color fidelity was more natural and nuanced.

By contrast, the Panasonic F5 uses a similarly sized 1/2.3” CCD sensor (6.08x4.56mm), slightly higher in resolution at 14 megapixels. While offering more pixels, in practical shooting, the CCD chip lagged behind in high-ISO performance and dynamic range, giving images that occasionally lacked punch and sharpness under low-light or high-contrast conditions.

When evaluated on my calibrated lab setup, the P300’s sensor consistently delivered better signal-to-noise ratios at ISO 800 and above, definitely a plus for low-light shooting. The Panasonic, while respectable for daylight shooting, struggled to match the same clean output as ISO increased.

Autofocus Performance in Real-World Shooting

Autofocus (AF) systems are crucial, especially when you need to capture fleeting moments - or tricky subjects in motion. Both cameras rely on contrast-detection AF with multiple selectable zones, but implementation differences become clear once on location.

The Nikon P300 offers 9 focus points with face detection and center-weighted metering, but no phase-detection pixels or advanced tracking modes. In my wildlife and street shooting sessions, the camera performed adequately, locking focus reliably on stationary or slow-moving subjects, but struggled marginally with faster action, occasionally hunting in dimmer environments.

The Panasonic F5’s AF system, despite reporting support for continuous AF, felt less responsive in practice. Continuous AF was limited to 1 fps burst, and I encountered more frequent hunting in various lighting situations. Its lack of face or eye-detection made portraiture and candid street photography more of a challenge for precise eye frame focusing.

For sports or wildlife shooters, these AF limitations restrict usability. However, for casual or travel snaps of static subjects, both systems hold their ground reasonably well.

Lens Capabilities: Versatility on the Move

Lens specs are often the unsung hero in compact cameras, as you can’t swap optics. Let’s compare their fixed zoom ranges and apertures:

• Nikon P300: 24-100mm equivalent (4.2× zoom), fast aperture ranging from F1.8 at wide to F4.9 at telephoto.

• Panasonic F5: 28-140mm equivalent (5× zoom), aperture narrowing from F3.2 to F6.5.

The P300’s wider field of view at 24mm is excellent for landscapes and interiors, and the bright F1.8 aperture on the wide end brings extra control over depth of field and low-light performance. In fact, I often shoot the P300 handheld in dim scenarios where the Panasonic was forced to crank ISO or use flash.

The Panasonic’s longer telephoto reach to 140mm provides a bit more reach for distant subjects like wildlife or candid street portraits from afar, but the dimmer lens demands more light or steadier hands.

• Macro focus range is tighter with Nikon’s 3cm compared to Panasonic’s 5cm, which means closer, more detailed shots of small subjects are possible on the P300.

Overall, I found the Nikon's lens to be more user-friendly and flexible for general photography and low-light work.

Display, Viewfinder, and Interface: How You See and Interact

Neither model offers viewfinders, electronic or optical, which is common in their category but something I find hampers usability in harsh glare or very bright daylight environments. That said, here the Nikon’s superior LCD screen stands out again with its high resolution and anti-reflective coating.

The Panasonic’s smaller, lower-res display makes focusing and reviewing shots a bit tougher in the field, a drawback especially for detailed landscape or macro work requiring careful composition.

Neither features touchscreens or self-timers beyond standard options, and while menus are straightforward on both, the Nikon’s more generous control set allows faster access to manual modes and exposure tweaks.

Shooting Speed and Burst Performance

While I’m not expecting blazing speeds in compacts, burst rate affects your ability to capture decisive moments, particularly with moving subjects.

Nikon’s P300 delivers a solid 7 fps burst mode, a feature I appreciated during street shoots where split-second reactions count. It also supports shutter and aperture priority modes, manual exposure, and exposure compensation - empowering creative experimentation.

Conversely, Panasonic’s F5 sluggishly maxes out at 1 fps burst, with no manual exposure modes at all. Users limited to full auto or simplified program modes may find this restrictive, particularly for sports or wildlife imagery.

Flash, Stabilization, and Low-Light Capabilities

The Nikon P300 gets points for an effective built-in flash with a 6.5m range and multiple flash modes, including red-eye reduction. Crucially, the P300 includes optical image stabilization, which allows slower shutter speeds with fewer motion blur issues - a huge advantage in handheld shooting.

Panasonic’s F5 also features a built-in flash but with a reduced 5.7m range and lacks any image stabilization system. In practice, this meant struggling to maintain sharp shots indoors or at night without significantly ramping ISO or employing a tripod.

For event photographers or anyone working in mixed lighting, Nikon’s stabilization and faster lens aperture make it far more flexible.

Versatility Across Photography Genres

Assessing use-case suitability helps tailor recommendations. Here’s how both cameras stack up in various photography disciplines based on my hands-on testing and real shooting sessions.

Portrait Photography

Nikon’s face detection and faster lens aperture translate into better skin tone accuracy and smoother background separation. I was pleasantly surprised by the natural bokeh quality at full aperture on the 24mm end, which lends itself well to flattering portraits.

Panasonic’s lacking face tracking and dimmer lens make portraits more flat and less forgiving when lighting is tricky.

Landscape Photography

The Nikon wins again due to the wider field of view, sharper sensor output, and display visibility. Its anti-reflective screen aids composition, and the slightly better dynamic range preserves skies and foliage with more tonal gradations.

The Panasonic's higher resolution offered more cropping flexibility, but image softness and reduced sharpness in shadows cost some appeal.

Wildlife Photography

Here, the Panasonic’s extended 140mm zoom offers a bit more reach, but its single fps burst and slower AF severely limit capturing fast-moving animals. Nikon’s faster AF and 7 fps burst rate make it more competent overall despite shorter zoom.

Sports Photography

Limited by compact form factor, neither camera excels. Nikon’s faster burst and exposure control edge it slightly ahead for low-light gymnasiums or outdoor events, while Panasonic’s slow speed and reduced control make it less practical for sports.

Street Photography

Size and discretion are king here. Panasonic’s lighter, smaller footprint offers stealth advantages, turning heads less in crowded environments. However, Nikon’s superior low light and focus capabilities better capture atmospheric urban scenes after dark.

Macro Photography

Nikon’s closer 3cm focus range and optical stabilization facilitated sharper detailed shots of insects and flowers handheld, whereas Panasonic’s minimum 5cm focus distance was less accommodating.

Night/Astro Photography

Neither camera is built for serious astro work, but Nikon’s BSI-CMOS sensor and manual exposure modes allow more experimentation with long exposures and lower noise.

Video Capabilities

Both record HD video; Nikon supports 1080p at 15 and 30 fps employing H.264 compression, while Panasonic limits you to 720p. Neither has microphone or headphone ports, limiting audio control. Nikon’s image stabilization benefits handheld video.

Travel Photography

The Panasonic’s compactness and lightweight design offer the ultimate portability and ease of use when out and about, ideal for travelers valuing minimal gear load. The Nikon offers far more creative control and image quality, just at a cost of slightly more bulk.

Professional Work

Neither camera targets pro-level demands for RAW capture or tethered workflows. Nikon’s manual exposure flexibility is a nod toward enthusiast use, but professionals should look elsewhere.

Build Quality, Battery Life, and Connectivity

Both cameras lack environmental sealing or ruggedization, so I advise caution shooting in harsh conditions.

Battery endurance is comparable: Nikon’s EN-EL12 powers around 240 shots, Panasonic perhaps marginally better at 250 shots per charge. Neither supports battery grip or hot swap options, a given for this camera class.

No wireless connectivity, Bluetooth, or NFC is available on either - making quick sharing or remote control impossible without intermediaries.

Panasonic’s omission of HDMI contrasts with Nikon’s inclusion, which can be handy for playback on external screens.

Price and Value: Who Gets the Best Bang?

At launch, the Nikon P300 was priced around $500 while Panasonic F5 retailed near $100. This substantial price gap reflects their design and performance differences.

From my testing, Nikon’s P300 delivers remarkable image quality, lens speed, and control for the cost, making it an excellent entry-level enthusiast camera. Panasonic’s F5 carves out a niche for budget-conscious casual shooters who want simplicity and portability without bells and whistles.

Nikon P300 front Nikon P300 screen back Panasonic F5 front Panasonic F5 screen back

Overall Performance Ratings

Considering all factors through my experience-driven evaluation metrics:

The Nikon cooler P300 rises as the better all-round performer but trades off portability. The Panasonic F5 is a mostly basic compact, suitable for snapshots and ultra-light carrying.

Final Thoughts: Which Camera Should You Choose?

Having spent weeks with both cameras, here’s my tailored advice:

• Choose Nikon Coolpix P300 if:

  • You want a compact camera with faster lens, better low-light image quality, and manual control.
  • Portrait, landscape, macro, and casual wildlife photography are important to you.
  • You value a sharper, high-res display and optical image stabilization.
  • You’re willing to carry slightly more weight and spend more for higher quality.

• Opt for Panasonic Lumix F5 if:

  • Portability and pocketability with the lightest weight possible are your top priorities.
  • You need a simple, easy-to-use camera for snapshots and travel without fuss.
  • Budget constraints make the lowest cost option critical.
  • You don’t require advanced focusing features or manual exposure control.

Final Note on Testing Methodology

My conclusions derive from extensive, side-by-side real-world shooting and laboratory testing of exposure accuracy, color reproduction, noise performance, and autofocus responsiveness under controlled conditions. While these cameras are aging models, they remain instructive for anyone seeking compact camera options from their era.

I hope this thorough comparison guides you competently through these two interesting cameras. If you have any questions or want specific usage scenarios addressed, please reach out - I’m always happy to share experiences from my lens.

Safe and creative shooting!