• Excellent image quality, class leading at this size
• Good colour balance, good white balance
• A baby 990 without losing any flexibility
• New menu layout more logical
• Excellent manual controls: focus, exposure, white balance
• Control over internal algorithms: image adjustment, sharpening
• Great new Quick Review mode
• Excellently implemented SCENE modes, perfect for beginners and more established users alike
• Fast processing, very fast shutter lag, good internal buffer
• Lots of features mean you'll grow into the camera and explore as you gain confidence
• Excellent macro performance almost gives the 990 a run for its money
• Size, weight
• Excellent user manual

• Limited aperture options: just two apertures
• Some chromatic aberrations (although less than the 990)
• Barrel distortion at wide angle
• Low light / long exposure noise
• Red channel noise
• Startup time a little slow
• Very noisy focus / lens extension
• No flash sync connector
• LCD would benefit from an anti-reflective coating
• TIFF not ideal for uncompressed (can we have a CCD RAW in the next Coolpix?)
• Nikon's Lithium rechargeable should be a standard accessory, not optional (certain regions)
• Still no support for CF Type II cards

Overall conclusion

Here's my rating of the Nikon Coolpix 880: (3 megapixel compact class)

What can I say? The 880 is simply an excellent digital camera, it takes excellent pictures and has every feature you'd ever need, things that may not seem useful at first but you'll grow into using. For many buyers that was the attraction of the 990, plenty of photographic features, well Kudos to Nikon because instead of stripping the 990 down to produce the 880 they IMPROVED IT!! With the new SCENE modes and newly arranged menus the 880 is better than ever, I'd be just as confident handing it to my grandmother to shoot as use it myself in a really difficult shooting situation.

If you ever considered the 990 but didn't like the swivel lens, or thought it was too highly priced then you really must consider the 880. If you're thinking of Olympus's C-3030Z or Sony's S70 then you must also put the 880 on your list (somewhere near the top) it's simply that good. There's only one thing Nikon could have done to improve the 880, and that's include their rechargeable Lithium battery & charger in the box (that's why it lost half a point for value for money).

Recommended

So which one should I buy? A question I get asked several times a day, and I wouldn't like to say. In a new addition to my reviews (after the amount of feedback I normally get) I've added a link to a specific forum in which you can discuss the review or ask me specific questions which I've not answered in these pages.

US readers

You can buy the 880 online from Dpreview.Com's approved affiliate State Street Direct. Buying online through State Street helps to support this site. Click on the links below:

• Nikon Coolpix 880 (no bundle)
• Nikon Coolpix 880 Special Bundle I (including extra 16MB CF Card, Nikon rechargeable battery, Nikon AC Adapter/Charger, Padded Camera case and 3 year extended warranty)
• Nikon Coolpix 880 Special Bundle II (including extra 32MB CF Card, Nikon rechargeable battery, Nikon AC Adapter/Charger, Padded Camera case and 3 year extended warranty)

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