Strengths:Excellent quality photos. Very small and lightweight. Video recording capability. Easy to use.
Weaknesses:A little **too** automatic - would like to be able to adjust a few settings manually. A little slow between flash shots. Battery life is decent - not outstanding, but not bad.
Posted Jul 19, 2005 - Respectfully, the previous reviewer's rating of 1 is VERY unfair to this camera. Many of the weaknesses listed are not the fault of the camera, but more of the end user's lack of knowledge about how storage media and batteries work:
1. If you use a high speed SD card your wait between shots is decreased.
2. Battery life is VERY dependent on the quality of your batteries. I recommend Sanyo rechargable NiMH (2600 maH). Strong and well charged batteries can also decrease your wait between shots.
Those items aside, I am quite pleased with the overall quality and features. The ability to shoot video is SO handy!
Overall, colors are well reproduced. Some reviews have complained about images from this camera looking "soft." Actually, this camera does NO internal sharpening. Personally, I find this a PLUS because I'd rather sharpen myself in my photo editing software instead of having a camera apply a set (and irreversible) amount of sharpening.
The only real weaknesses are the lack of a RAW or uncompressed image format, but the JPEG quality at high setting looks quite impressive. As well, many settings are made by the camera and can't be changed by the user (such as a true manual focus), but the scene modes and range of features and settings you CAN change allow you to produce some very nice photos.
Lastly, the autofocus seems to work very well in most all situations. However, when taking flash pictures there is a delay of about 3-4 seconds between shots. However, the camera does have a continuous shot mode which works well.
For the money (can be bought online for as low as $275 now), this camera is a fantastic deal. It's so small and lightweight, but still comfortable to hold. Personally I wish it was slightly larger to make shooting videos a little more steady, but it has a built in video stabilizer that does a good job of reducing jitter.
If you want more manual control and a few more features you can step up to the Coolpix 7900.
There are too many features to list here, but in this price range this is one of the best cameras (maybe THE best) you can buy and the average user should be extremely pleased.
I'd probably rate this 4 stars overall, but I'm going to rate it 5 to help offset that undeserved rating of 1 star by the previous reviewer.
95% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?
Comments - Post a comment