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An early review after using this camera for a couple of hours. This jacket-pocketable camera makes good images, gives you control over crafting your photos, and is ergonomically comfortable to use. Despite the fact that I generally stay away from gimicky scene modes, I was surprised to find a couple of them appealing, including the different options for for panoramas and the color-selective filters. So far, so good.
Let's get my biases out. I have Nikon gear (a couple of SLRs) and I would prefer to have my camera work well with existing remotes, flashes, and my old P7000 batteries. I also like that the camera menus are familiar for a Nikon user and I have a good sense how the Active-D lighting, TTL flash exposure, and general focusing modes work. For me, quick comprehension and intuitive use of these controls greatly increases the cameras performance. I also prefer diopter-adjustable viewfinders due to superior performance in bright light and the fact that with bifocals, focusing on the camera screen can literally be a pain in the neck.
I am very pleased with the electronic viewfinder as it shows in the viewfinder the setting changes as you go, just like on the back screen. I found myself rapidly adjusting settings without looking, being confident that I was getting it right. The colors in the viewfinder aren't perfect, but it provides more than enough resolution to thoughtfully compose images. I found the manual focus very easy to use compared to other compact-ish cameras I've tried, especially since it can all be done through the viewfinder.
I like that the P7800 has a real lens cap, real camera heft, and real controls. Image quality is good in typical indoor lighting scenes without a flash and great outside in good light. My guess is that there those pixel peepers who will take issue with some of the performance in marginal light conditions, and if that is what you care about, you can study the reference photos of toy soldiers, books, coins, feathers, and color charts at other sites.
I'm still learning the benefits of the articulating screen, but one that I see immediately is that it can be stowed away when not in use, protecting it from sometimes rough treatment and the smudges from my nose when using the viewfinder.
It's not the snappiest camera recording images, but once on, its responsive to the shutter release (the area of performance I value). It just takes a while to write. It is faster than my P7000 (though heftier), but nowhere near as fast as my D90. It allows me to get the shots I need when I need them, except for the most demanding conditions (really low light where you need high ISO's, rapidfire sports shooting, serious macro shooting--although the macro focus functions work pretty well).
I got this camera to have at all times in my work bag as a daily-use camera so that I won't miss images when traveling for work, commuting, or running errands without the bulk of my SLR. With its viewfinder, good image quality, jacket-pocketable size, ease and familiarity in its use, it is the camera I need.
Would I like to have the larger sensor and better ISO performance in it? yes. Would I like it to be smaller? yes. Would I like it to be cheaper? Sure (I could have gotten the P7700 if I didn't prefer viewfinders). But in the overall compromise of wants for a relatively compact camera, the P7800 is what I need.
Update:
After having the camera a few weeks, I'm very happy with it. I was getting frustrated if you have it on one of the "continuous" modes or "Best Shot Selection" and raw photos, as it will take ~10 seconds to digest the photos, but single shots with raw are recorded pretty quickly. The viewfinder and the camera heft and overall design and handling makes for working well in marginal conditions, macro shooting, or generally for just carrying around. I find I'm using the button that replaced the dial on top of the P7000 for adjustments more than I used the dial, especially doing it through the viewfinder. Battery life is good when I primarily shoot with the viewfinder, not having to change the battery over the course of a long weekend and 200 shots even with the flash. Like other Nikons, the TTL flash exposure works great, and I used it to drive a SB-600 and -700 flash for a few photos of a family dinner, which came out super. Low light performance is better than I hoped, with ISO 800 working pretty well. Some examples are at my Google+ site, pretty much straight from the camera. https://plus.google.com/photos/111101223391433520330/albums/5944372096627226369?authkey=CIu-iZmb1-nuswE . I found the viewfinder nice at the concert, as it is less obtrusive to snap a shot without having to have a screen lit up.
I'm very happy to get the performance I get from a jacket pocketable camera.
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