Rating: Summary: Best bang for the buck Review: I've had my Coolpix 800 for about a month now, and I can still say that I'm one proud Papa. Yeah, they eat batteries like candy, but so do most cameras with any kahonna's. Buy rechargable! The biggest drawback to this camera is the serial port issue. There's a way around that, though. Buy a SanDisk (they manufacture Nikon memory cards) drive and USB...uploadin' quicker than spit. Well, now that we've bought a CompactFlash drive, some Nickle Metal-Hydride rechargable batteries, an AC adapter, and another 48mb of memory(or you'll be reminded of that time when you ran out of film), we've just added about $250 to an already pricey camera. Not to fear folks. If your reading this review, that means you have internet access. Shop around for the best price. On-line prices will, without a doubt, beat the human factor. Try, Buy .com for the camera and Spotshop.com for the other goodies. I saved a couple hundred easily. Oh and lastly, I wouldn't have a digital camera without at least 2 megapixels, built in flash, optical and LCD viewfinder, and CompactFlash(most common). There's lots of other goodies with this one, and that's why I think this is the most camera for it's price range.
Rating: Summary: Only the pictures are good Review: I have virtually no digital camera experience and bought this camera about a week ago. I did extensive on-line research and the reviews were outstanding concerning picture quality. In this regard the reviews were accurate. However, I mistakenly thought that picture quality was the only necessary feature in a digital camera. Wrong. I have found many disaapointing features in this camera. First, that the camera's manual is on disk rather than paper is LAME! How are you supposed to read how to download and process pictures when your computer screen is tied up reading the manual. Second, the camera's controls are very confusing. Many buttons serve dual (sometimes three) functins which of course you have to memorize because the manual is only on disk. (There is a printed pocket guide but it is an abbreviated version.) By the way, I printed the entire manual and it is still the worst written electronic manual I have ever read. More experienced digital photographers may not mind this. Third, the camera has a cheap feel to it. After buying it I went to a few stores to see some others and realized how cheap the feel of this camera was. Fourth, the camera is an odd shape and size making it difficult to put it in your pocket and go. Fifth, the serial cable provided is a slow method of transfer. Purchase of a card reader is a must. Sixth, the Nikon View software is very basic. Thus, a photo editing program will be necessary. Finally, the lens cap is not tethered to the camera. While this is not a big deal, it is inconvienant, but more importantly highlights the many shortcomings of the camera's design. Again, although I have many complaints I have to admit the picture quality is exceptional. The question is would I buy this camera again. Probably not. I would trade a slight reduction in picture quality for a better thought out camera which is easier to use. By the way, I have since discovered that the place I bought it has a 30% restocking charge precluding return of the camera. I strongly suggest that anyone contemplating the purchase of a digetla camera on-line go to a local store first just to handle a few diffrent models and then check the rules regarding on-line returns.
Rating: Summary: Easy to use, High Res output, compact, lightweight Camera Review: This little brother to the CoolPix 950, has almost all the same features. Excellent 1.9 Million Pixels, very easy to use. The 8 meg Compact Flash holds 1-32 images in different formats. Optional A/C adapter should be included, in order to download pictures to your PC. I bought the SanDisk Compact Flash Disk Drive and it downloads to the PC without wasting Camera batteries. Lot's of optional accessories, lenses etc.
Rating: Summary: 2.1mp that won't disappoint Review: Amazing,this was an expensive high quality camera just under Nikon's best 950 digital back in 1999! However,this Nikon 800 still takes pictures that will match or exceed the best cameras in the market today thanks to its original build quality internals which were not skimped on plus the all glass 2x optical zoom (38 to 76mm equivalent)f/3.5-4.8 Nikkor lens. ..it's virtually a steal at todays price and nothing today takes better pictures in it's class. Oh,did I mention it fits in pocket like a hand. :)
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Rating: Summary: no zoom Review: This camera takes wonderful pictures but the zoom doesn't do the job. its no good for taking pictures of your child playing football but its great for pictures on a trip. be careful the lag between pushing the shutter and taking the picture is long as well as the time between pics at high quality.
Rating: Summary: Decent camera...that's about it Review: I bought one of these when they came out. The first problem was the batteries. It ate them like no tomorrow. I ordered two sets of rechargeables and that fixed that. Then I bought a card reader to transfer pictures, and that really helped...until...I accidentally dropped it (not that hard) and it broke. ... It worked fine when I got it back.My other problem is the fragility of it. It's extremely fragile. I like the camera but would not purchase it again because of this.
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.
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