10. Power Supply And Connectivity

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Like all very small cameras, the P1 is powered by a Li-Ion battery, which is supplied along with the indispensable charger. Naturally, due to the small battery size, the number of photos you can take is not enormous. Nikon claims 180 images, but as always, you'll have to adjust that value for the way you shoot. Count on acquiring a second battery if you plan on using the camera a great deal, or traveling with it; that's the rule for all miniature models.

Wired connections are limited to a single port that serves as both the USB and video/audio out connector. The battery compartment is designed to also accept an AC adapter.

Connections And Software

Obviously, the major innovation of the P1 is WiFi (IEEE 802.11 b/g). The WiFi link to your computer can be made in either ad hoc mode (direct to the PC) or infrastructure mode (via a WiFi access point or router). To use WiFi, you do have to first connect the camera to your computer via USB, to perform the necessary network configuration work using a utility supplied by Nikon. Things can get a bit complicated in infrastructure mode, due to network security issues. Like most similar equipment, the P1 supports only WEP encryption. The process should be simpler in ad hoc mode; security there is rarely a major issue since the WiFi connections are only intermittent.

In general, WiFi links are still fairly complex for the general public, especially once you get beyond the most basic services. Naturally, you can still use the P1 "traditionally", via USB or with a card reader. As we mentioned, aside from the WiFi module, the P1 has only one connector that serves both for USB and video. As for software, Nikon's Picture Project 1.5 is included, which has all the basic functions you need for managing your photos.