Nikon Coolpix 4300

Opinion: I bought this secondhand as budget was a constraint. However, I'm pleased with this so far. It has taken gorgeous photos for such a little camera.

Opinion: It is an excellent camara for an amateur. I have had it since december 03, and after 3.5 years I am changing to a smaller one Canon A540. I am very happy with the Nikon, the quality of the photos is excellent, it has several features and it really made a very good work. I will still use it even if it is an old model.

Opinion: Nice pics for simple things, but not for professional.

I've had this camera for a few years and have been pretty happy with it. But it doesn't take professional pictures. If you want portraits, it doesn't blur the background, so it makes pictures look very busy.

I like the small size--it fits perfectly in my purse. It has a lot of features on it and I have found that by presetting the white balance in Manual mode without the flash, it takes the best pictures, but without flash, the images are blurry if there is any movement.

Opinion: I have had this camera since it was released. I went out and got a Canon SD800IS because it was pocket-sized and had over 7M MP. The Canon was/is great, but this Nikon holds its own. I took a couple of pics to compare (macro), and the detail of the Nikon was awesome. I could not justify owning the Canon aside from the fact that it was so tiny and easy to take to bars, restaurants, etc. So, I returned it and decided to go with a Nikon DSLR (D80) for real high quality shooting. I think the 4300 is simply a great camera that might lack the ease of throwing it in your shirt pocket, but makes up for with its picture quality and features.

It's a little slow, but very capable. I have had it since it was released and have had no problems or complaints with the exception of maybe its inability to really adjust white balance that great in auto mode...this is really only an issue in poor lighting and with no flash.

Overall, this is a great camera and can be found used for a very cheap price.

Opinion: The camera was bought in Hong Kong in the summer of 2003. At that time it had really high specifications, and it produced (and still produces) very good pictures. It has been used regularly as the family's only digital ever since and has been very reliable.
Luckily I bought a 4 mp camera back then, because in my opinion that is the minimum resolution a camera can have to produce good results.
I am moving up to an Olympus E-300 now, but the Nikon will be used as a second camera or by other members of the family.
On the negative side, it has a fliimsy construction, it is slow, can only shoot low resolution pictures in continous mode, and has a small viewing screen.

Opinion: <font color=yellow><b>Wonderful camera. </b></font>

Takes very impressive photos compared to all the other 4mp cameras I have seen. In fact a couple buddies of mine bought 5mp cameras (both sony's) a year after mine and yet we all agree the Nikon takes superior photos.

Flash fills out the pictures quiet nicely, although sometimes the camera focuses poorly if flash is needed.

Image color without flash is suberb and almost always true to life. When in manual mode this camera can take amazing photos for a compact.

Opinion: My second Cool pix. Bought it because 1st one died at 18000 exposures but had good close up. This one has poor close up, had power switch die at 10,000 exposures.
Nikon says warranty not valid if sand in system but they sell in Arizona where sand is a fact of life.
The focus system is very weak, and quite noisy to boot.
Color good, pictures very high quality if they focus. Very hard to focus on detailed object if the camera can see any background items.
This is not a camera for any serious work I'm afraid.

Opinion: I have taken many many thousands of photos over the two years I have owned the 4300. The camera has performed faultlessly during this time. It is a little slow by the standards of today's models, though shooting in continuous mode and using a Sandisk Ultra II card makes a noticeable difference. Images exhibit natural colour with little noise, even at higher ISO settings, and chromatic abberation is not discernible. With exposure compensation, the flash is powerful and far ranging, and if you enjoy macro-photography, this, like other Nikons, cannot be surpassed at this price level.

I use a Nikon 5400 extensively at my place of work because of its wide-angle capability. Though it produces slightly better results than the 4300 - and so it ought given its advanced specification and far far higher price - it is a pain in the neck to use. Give me the 4300 any time and great sharp photos almost every time.

Opinion: This camera has endured over 2 years use in a R&D department for an aftermarket automotive manufacturer. Dust, debris, dropping onto the floor haven't caused any degradation in clarity. We are planning to cycle this camera to back-up status and buy another Coolpix as our primary. This camera is inexpensive and does the job better than most cameras priced somewhat higher. Zoom is limited (3x) but the capability for this camera to focus in very low light keeps me from putting this camera on the shelf (we take mostly low light photos under vehicles). I hope the next Coolpix does as well as the 4300.