Rating: Summary: Great picture quality! Review: I've had this camera for just over 1 year. Picture quality out of the camera is phenomenal. With a high quality printer I get better pictures than I ever did with my 35mm. I would suggest a minimum of 32 MB compact flash card, but they're cheap now.The serial connection is the biggest problem with this camera. It can take an hour or more to download 32 MB of pictures and you have to use the Nikon software which doesn't always like W2k. But a card reader is relatively cheap and does the job quickly without draining the batteries. The optical zoom went out after about 5 months and Nikon quickly repaired it. I've heard this is not an uncommon problem though. It's worked great since then though. We always use the LCD screen and haven't run into a problem with guzzling battery power since we started using the card reader, even with normal batteries. Although I haven't seen better pictures from any other camera in the 2 MP range, the red-eye flash on this one doesn't seem to do much good, and most of the photos with people in them need to be edited if a flash was used. The menu on the camera does allow you a lot of options and control when taking pictures though. In fact the camera has two modes - one where more control is permitted and one where most of it is automatic. Nice if you know what you're doing. All in all it takes great pictures, but doesn't have many bells & whistles for the price and you'll need to buy a USB card reader.
Rating: Summary: good for sunlight and not moving, not usable with flash Review: I've been using the Cool Pix 800 camera for about one and a half year, June 30, 2001 Reviewer: Peter Walther Germany Some things you should know: The picture quality for outdor pictures is great, but there is a significant time delay between the time you press the button and the time the picture is taken, do not plan to take pictures from moving objects. It real eats AA batteries for breakfast, lunch and dinner if you plan to use Rechargeble Cells you need at least 2 set's and you will not be happy, if you are away from a power outlet. Do not plan to use the build in flash, it will generate a real cool pix with green blue colors, but worst than that, in almost every picture you take with a person you will have the red eye effect. The zoom in the camera was broken (within the warranty period) and I spoke with a friend who own's the same, it was broken in his camera too (outside warranty). Current status, the camera is stolen, and I am waiting for money from the insurance, I do not plan to buy the same camera again but I learned a lot of things I have to check next time. Peter
Rating: Summary: Fine little camera Review: I have had my 800 for about a year and like it very much. It's easy to use (and I agree with most of the comments below) and takes good quality pix. (Most of mine are flowers/birds.) I use the NiMH rechargeable batteries - have two sets - and have no problems; they last much longer than the NiCD ones. I use a Microtek reader connected to my Mac's usb port (and with an earlier Mac, used a card.) My only big complaint is the lag time between seeing and taking the shot - often a problem with birds. Question: are any of the cards better/quicker than others? I have a SanDisk. I am also thinking about upgrading to the 995, but wish it used AA batteries.
Rating: Summary: Great, BUT...... Review: this is a great camera for the money, BUT there are so many things that are needed after the purchase. ac adapter, bigger flashcard, flashcard reader, camera bag, another lens, because of the lens, a flash attachment. This all adds up to alot of money. More than I had wanted to pay. I should have done more homework, before buying. I still love the camera. Would I do it over again? Not sure. k.
Rating: Summary: Good starter - but not durable Review: I have had a Nikon Coolpix 800 for just over a year - and have found it to be pretty good. What people say about the image quality is correct - it is excellent! A couple of hints: 1) Don't ever drop it, bang it or travel with it unless it is VERY well padded. The lens mechanism is quite flimsy and costs more than the camera (!!) to fix 2) Buy a Compact Flash reader - don't even think about downloading photos any other way - its just not worth it The comments that other reviewers have made about the lack of paper manual, flimsy battery door, and battery consumption are correct ... but the first twio you eventually get used to - and the last seems to be true of most digital cameras. Buy it as a starter camera ... be REALLY careful with it ... and you'll get some pretty good photos!
Rating: Summary: A pretty good digicam Review: My primary use for this camera is taking pictures in Macro mode. And the Coolpix 800 delivers, with a host of operating features that an advanced photographer shouldappreciate. Don't waste $50 buying the AC adapter/cord, I bought one at Radio Shack for half the price.
Rating: Summary: A mixed bag... although very solid Review: I purchased this camera over 6 months ago and have used it extensively(hundreds of photos so far). The camera is fantastic for outdoor photography in bright sunlight but not very good for shooting indoors or in very low lightconditions. The range of the integrated flash is extremely limited and "flahsed" photos appear extremely cool (blue-ish). P>Minor quirks aside, I have to say that I am very happy with this camera and I have completely stopped using film cameras since I got it. As I said before, photos taken in bright sunlight look absolutely fantastic, with great colors and no artifacts (even when compressed to JPG). Also, this is one of the only cameras in this price range that has a manual mode in which you are free to tinker with almost every aspect of picture-taking. You can set manual focus, F-stops and much more. If you like to take control of your photography and don't want to spend a fortune you should definitely take a closer look at this one. Oh yeah... and get a bigger memory card (32MB+). The 8MB card shipped with this camera is inadequate for high-resolution photography. And while you're at it, get a USB card reader too.
Rating: Summary: A partial fix to my 05/15/2001 complaint of flash pix Review: I called Nikon recently to complain about the flash picture problems I wrote on 05/15/2001. I got a quick but partial solution. The solution works only in Manual REC mode: 1. Select M-REC mode; 2. Press MENU button; 3. Select RESET ALL (to the default values); 4. Set SENS to 200 or 400. The Manual flash picture is much better (about 15-20 feet vs 10 feet). But, the Auto flash and the SLOW SYNC are still problems. Daylight pictures are excellent. Nikon did a very poor job in quality control and in communicating this problem to their registered customers. My experience shaked my confidence to all other Nikon products.
Rating: Summary: Maybe this time the review will shoow up Review: ... I got the camera and first time out of the box it had a system error. No problem I figure, call Nikon and get it fixed... Now that I actually have a working camera it has it shortcomings, eats batteries, hesitation after you click and other annoying quirks. However after I got more memory it actually takes great pixs. I would NOT buy it again after going through all the nightmare with Nikon. Maybe after a few months with it working properly I might change my tune.
Rating: Summary: A 5-Star day-light and 1-Star low-light camera Review: ...I have used this camera for more than 6 months, I found the following situations where Nikon 800 produced extremely disappointing flash pictures, even with ISO-400 and exposure compensation: 1. Out-door Slow Sync Flash (low light or night light) - Shutter speed is too slow to obtain a clear picture (no way to change). 2. Out-door Regular Flash (night light) - You can't see any landscape. 3. In-door Flash (dark wall/wall paper) - Bright colors turn into grey. 4. In-door Flash (large room or long hall way) - Colorful background turns into grey. I think the problem is the Nikon firmware. I have seen other cheaper cameras produced much better night and low-light pictures.
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