Nikon Coolpix 8800 Review

At about 700$ the Nikon Coolpix 8800 might not be for the person who just want`s to go out once and a while on a weekend and take some pictures, come home load them in the computer and call it a day, this camera has a lot of features and if you use the camera only once and a while you might forget somethings, but that's OK, the full auto works well, don't let the built in lens fool you, it is a Nikkor Auto focus Macro lens witch you can focus down to 1.2 in. with Extra-low Dispersion (ED) glass elements and 10x optical zoom (35-350mm), VR (Vibration Reduction) cuts the image blur down quite nicely, and the 8 megapixel effective CCD produces a great sharp picture, a built in pop up Speedlight with Red-Eye Reduction flash takes care of low light scenes, the EVF (electronic viewfinder) has a resolution of 235,000 pixels, if you dont want to look through the lens there is a 1.8" vari-angle color TFT LCD monitor in back witch is a bit small for me, i would like to see at least a halve inch more for the screen, the body is made of lightweight magnesium alloy, nice and strong.

The Coolpix 8800 has 15 pre-programmed Scene modes, so if you want to take fireworks set to fireworks preset, night scenes,beach, snow, most of the presets will take care of what you want to do.

The EN-EL7 Lithium ion rechargeable battery will give you about 230-250 pics in JPEG,TIFF,NEF/RAW,Basic,Normal,Fine file formats on a charge, but we all get an extra battery, don`t we.

The software that comes with the camera has picture and video editing programs in it, yes the Nikon Coolpix 8800 is also a camcorder somewhat, it records video in QuickTime format at resolutions up to 640 x 480, but this is for short video clips under 1min., the video dose look pretty good for a digital camera trying to be a camcorder, everything is saved to a Compact Flash card.

But at last the Nikon Coolpix 8800 is a great mid scale digital camera with lot`s of megapixels for anyone who want`s a full auto camera that they can take full manual control of and get great pictures, remember you don't have to buy a 400$ or 500$ lens, a fine one is already there, telephoto and wide angle attachments are available if you want more flexibility, I give this an 8 out of 10, if the noise was a little less at ASA 400 it would have a 9.

Thank you for reading my Nikon Coolpix 8800 Review.


Features

8.0 Effective Megapixels: With its impressive 8 megapixels of clarity
the COOLPIX 8800 can capture incredible detail to produce sharp,
beautiful prints as large as 20 x 30 inches.

Telephoto Zoom: 10x Telephoto Optical Zoom-Nikkor ED lens
(35mm equivalent of 35-350mm) lets you capture a full range of
sharp, wide-angle to telephoto shots plus macro. Vibration Reduction
(VR) System: The COOLPIX 8800's class-leading lens combines ED
optics and VR technology, which helps you take sharper handheld
shots in low light and other conditions.

Scene Modes, Auto and Manual Setting: For the ultimate
in creative control, choose between Automatic, Aperture
Priority, Shutter Priority and Full Manual Settings. Or choose
one of 15 Scene Modes that automatically adjust controls for
great pictures instantly. With a choice of 15 Scene Modes, you
can quickly select the most appropriate mode for the "scene"
you are capturing. Macro: allows shooting as close as
approximately 1.2 inches from your subject. Movie Mode:
Capture live action with sound. Clips are saved as a
QuickTime(TM) movie, which can easily be emailed to
family and friends.

Metering: Choose your preferred light metering system.
Select Nikon's exclusive 256-Segment Matrix metering,
Center-Weighted, Spot or Autofocus Spot metering options.
(Use Matrix metering for general shooting, center-weighted
for a central subject, spot for emphasis on a particular area
and AF spot to lock metering and focus on a particular area.
Nikon In-Camera Red-Eye Fix(TM): corrects most typical
instances of red-eye during the picture-taking process. By the time
you're ready for your next shot, the camera has already fixed and
saved the image, without the red eyes.

Autofocus: Contrast-Detect TTL-AF; Center, Auto 5-area multi
AF, manual 9-area multi AF selectable. AF Assist Illuminator
makes sharp focus possible when the subject is not well lit.

Flash: A hot shoe lets you connect an additional Nikon Speedlight
(flash) to the top of the camera. 6-mode built-in flash: Auto, Red-Eye
Reduction (by pre-flash), Anytime Flash, Flash Cancel, Slow Sync
and Rear-Curtain Sync. Features One-Touch(R) Upload(TM) for
easy image transfer from camera to computer. D-Lighting: Improve
images shot with strong back lighting or in shadow. While in playback,
select the D-Lighting function, apply it and save the corrected image.
D-Lighting fixes underexposed and backlit images without harming
the properly exposed areas of your image.

In the Box: Camera, Lens Cap, Strap, USB Cable, Audio Video
Cable, Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL7, Battery Charger
MH-56, Wireless Remote Controller ML-L3, PictureProject
CD-ROM.


SPECS

Type of Camera: Digital camera E8800

Image Sensor: Imaging Sensor: 2/3-inch-type CCD
(total pixels: 8.31 million); Effective pixels: 8.0 million

Image Size: 8M (3,264 x 2,448), 5M (2,592 x 1,944), 3M
(2,048 x 1,536), 2M (1,600 x 1,200), 1M (1,280 x 960), PC
(1,024 x 768), TV (640 x 480), 3:2 (3,264 x 2,176) user selectable

Lens: 10x Zoom-Nikkor; 8.9-89mm [35mm (135) format
equivalent to 35-350mm] f/2.8-5.2 with macro; 16 elements in
10 groups; two glass molded ED elements included elements in 7
groups; two glass molded ED elements included,
Vibration Reduction; Lens shift

Autofocus: Contrast-detect TTL AF with AF-assist illuminator;
Center, Auto 5-area multi AF, manual 9-area multi AF selectable

Focus Modes: 1) Continuous AF, 2) Single AF, 3) Manual Focus
(from 1.2 in. [3cm] to infinity with focus confirmation indication)

Optical Viewfinder: none

Electronic Viewfinder: 0.44-inch type, 235,000-dot,
polysilicon TFT color LCD viewfinder; Diopter adjustment: -3
to +1m-1

LCD Monitor: 1.8-inch type, 134,000-dot High Transmissive
advanced TFT LCD monitor with brightness and hue adjustment;
approx. 97percent horizontal and vertical (shooting)

Display: LCD Monitor: 1.8-inch type, 134,000-dot highly
transmissible advanced TFT-LCD (white LED backlight);
brightness/hue adjustment; frame coverage: approx. 97 percent
horizontal and vertical (shooting)

Media: CF Card Type I/II (CF), Microdrive(TM) cards

File Format: RAW (NEF) and TIFF-RGB (uncompressed),
JPEG-baseline-compliant (1:2, 1:4, 1:8, 1:16) (compressed),
QuickTime (movies), WAV (sound files)

Internal Memory: N/A

Shooting Modes -- Still: AUTO, SCENE, P, S, A, M, MOVIE;
Scene Modes: Portrait, Party/Indoor, Night portrait, Beach/Snow,
Landscape, Sunset, Night landscape, Museum, Fireworks show,
Close up, Copy, Back light, Panorama assist, Sports, Dusk/Dawn

Shooting Modes -- Movie: TV movie 640(640x480/30fps up
to 60 secs), Small movie 320(320x240/15fps up to 895 secs),
Time-lapse movie (640x480/30fps up to 35 secs 1050 frames),
Sepia movie 320 (320x240/5fps up to 895 secs), B/W movie
(320x240/15fps up to 895 secs)

Mode Dial: Auto, Programmed-Auto (P), Shutter-Priority
Auto (P), Aperture-Priority Auto (A), Manual (M), Scene, Movie,
Setup, Image Size, ISO, White Balance (WB), and Playback

Operation Button/Switch: Power button, Release button,
Mode dial, Delete button, Menu button, Play button, Multi selector,
Zoom button, Select/Transfer button

Exposure Mode: P, S, A, M

Exposure Metering: 4-mode TTL metering: 1) 256-segment
Matrix, 2) Spot, 3) Center-Weighted, 4) Spot AF Area

Exposure Control: 1) Programmed Auto with Flexible Program
[P], 2) Shutter-Priority Auto [S], 3) Aperture-Priority Auto [A], 4
Manual [M]; Exposure Compensation (+/-2EV in 1/3 EV steps);
Auto Exposure Bracketing; AE-BSS

Exposure Range: EV 0.0 to +18.5 (W), EV +1.8 to +18.5 (T)

Shutter: Mechanical and charge-coupled electronic shutter;
2-1/3,000 sec (auto and exposure mode P), 8-1/3,000 sec
(exposure modes S and A), BULB/TIME (max. 10 min.) and
8-1/3,000 sec (exposure mode M), 1/30-1/8,000 sec (Ultra HS),
Maximum at some apertures is 1/1,500 sec

Aperture: 7-blade iris diaphragm; 10 steps in 1/3EV increments
(to minimum of f/8)

Sensitivity: Approximately equivalent to ISO 50, 100, 200,
400, and Auto (auto gain to ISO 200 equivalent)

White Balance: 1) Matrix Auto White Balance with TTL control;
2) 6-mode Manual with fine tuning (Daylight, Incandescent,
Fluorescent, Cloudy, Speedlight, Shade); 3) Preset; 4) White
Balance Bracketing

Built-in Speedlight: Shooting range: approx. 1.8 - 19.8 ft.
(0.5 - 6.0m) (W), approx. 3.3 - 9.1 ft. (1.0 - 3.0m) (T)

External Speedlight: Hot shoe connects to external Nikon
Speedlight SB-800/600

Playback Menu: 1) Full-frame, 2) Thumbnail (4/9 segments), 3)
Slide show, 4) Movie with audio, 5) Playback zooom (up to 10x); File
information; Shooting information; Histogram information and
highlight point display; Hide and protect attributes can be set to
each iamge; Focus confirmation indication; RAW image playback;
Small picture (Small-pic); D-Lighting

Delete Function: Delete all frames, delete selected frames,
protect function available, card format

Auto OFF mode: 30sec., 1min., 5min., 30min., can be set
manually, sleep mode

Interface: USB 2.0 (HI-SPEED)

I/O Terminal: DC in; Audio/Video (NTSC or PAL selectable)
out; Digital I/O (USB)

Power Requirements: One Rechargeable Li-ion Battery
EN-EL7 (included), MB-CP11 Battery Pack (optional) with six
1.5V LR6 (AA-size alkaline) batteries* AC Adapter EH-54
(optional) *1.5V FR Lithium, 1.2V NiMH, or 1.2V NiCd batteries
can also be used

Battery Life: 240 images (EN-EL7; based on CIPA standard*)
* Industry standard for measuring life of camera batteries.
Measured at 25?C (77?F); zoom adjusted with each shot, built-in
Speedlight fired with every other shot, image mode set to NORMAL

Battery: One rechargeable Li-ion battery EN-EL7 (included);
DC input: AC adaptor (optional)

Dimension (W x H x D): Approx. 4.6 x 3.3 x 4.8 in.
(116 x 85 x 121mm)

Weight: Approx. 21 oz without battery, memory card, body
cap, or monitor cover

Storage: Media: CompactFlash(TM) (CF) Type I/II and
MicroDrive(TM) Cards, File Format: Compliant with Design Rule
for Camera File System (DCF)*, Exif 2.2**, and Digital Print Order
Format (DPOF) File formats: RAW (NEF) and TIFF-RGB
(uncompressed), JPEG-baseline-compliant (1:2, 1:4, 1:8, 1:16)
(compressed), QuickTime (movies), WAV (sound files). *A standard
widely used in the digital camera industry to ensure compatibility
among different makes of camera. ** Exchangeable Image File
Format for digital still cameras. Version 2.2 allows information
stored with pictures to be used for optimal color reproduction when
images are output on Exif-compliant printers.

Viewfinder: 0.44-inch type, 235,000-dot, polysilicon TFT color
LCD viewfinder; Diopter adjustment:-3 to +1m(-1)

White Balance Settings: 1) Auto White Balance with TTL
control, 2) 6-mode Manual with fine tuning (Daylight, Incandescent,
Fluorescent, Cloud, Speedlight, Shade), 3) Preset, 4) White
Balance Bracketing

Digital Zoom: Up to 4x

Capture Modes: 1) Single, 2) Continuous H (2.3 fps; up to 5
frames), 3) Continuous L (1.2 fps; up to 11 frames), 4) Multi-shot
16 (consecutive 16 frames at 1.6 fps), 5) Ultra HS (high-speed)
(640 x 480 pixels; 30 fps, up to 100 frames), 6) 5 shot buffer
(0.7 fps), 7) Interval Timer Shooting, 8)TV movie 640
(640 x 480 pixels) with audio at 30 fps; up to 60 seconds, or Small
movie 320 (320 x 240 pixels) with audio at 15 fps; up to 895
seconds**, Time-lapse movie (640 x 480 pixels) at 30 fps; up to
35 seconds; Sepia movie 320 (320 x 240 pixels) with audio at 5
fps; up to 895 seconds**; B/W movie 320 (320 x 240 pixels)
with audio at 15 fps; up to 895 seconds** are selectable

Storage Media: CompactFlash(TM) (CF) Card (Type I and II )
and Microdrive(TM)

Flash Sync Modes: 1) Auto Flash, 2) Flash Cancel (off), 3)
Red-Eye Reduction (In-Camera Red-Eye Fix(TM)), 4)
Anytime Flash, 5) Night Portrait (Slow Sync Flash), 6) Rear Curtain
Sync; Sync method: Standard i-TTL flash

Focus Range: 19.7 in. [50cm] to infinity (W)/ 39.4 in. [1m] to
infinity (T); 1.2 in. [3cm] to infinity (W) in macro and manual
focus modes