Compared to... (contd.)

Now we'll compare the Coolpix 885 to a few other cameras from our test archives. Here we're comparing colour and resolution to the Sony DSC-P5, Nikon Coolpix 995 and Olympus C-3040Z.

Colour Chart Comparison

Colour charts are shot in daylight, Auto White Balance, EV compensation +0.3 (all cameras), measured light ~10 EV. This test is also dependent on the accuracy of the camera's auto white balance, the colour charts are shot in daylight but some camera's white balance is better than others. All cameras are given 20 seconds to "settle" before the shot is taken.

Nikon Coolpix 885	Sony DSC-P5
Nikon Coolpix 995	Olympus C-3040Z

In the table below we're only measuring colour. The RGB values were measured from a VGA reduced image (to average colours, remove noise and eliminate JPEG artifacts) using the Eyedropper tool in Photoshop with a 5 by 5 Average Sample Size.

Nikon Coolpix 885 observations:

• Good white balance - black, gray and white patches are very pure
• Very strong red - red value of magenta and red patches is very high (comparatively)
• Blue in green - green patch shows high blue value leaving it looking pale and washed out
• Very strong cyan - blue value of cyan patch is very high (comparatively)
• Weak blue - blue patch is weak (blue value less than 50%) - same as 995

Resolution Comparison

Shots here are of the PIMA/ISO 12233 standard resolution test chart (more of which are available in our comparison database). This resolution chart allows us to measure the actual performance of the lens and sensor system. It measures the ability of the camera to resolve lines at gradually higher resolutions and enables us to provide a definitive value for comparison purposes. Values on the chart are 1/100^th lines per picture height. So a value of 8 equates to 800 lines per picture height.

Studio light, cameras set to auto, all settings factory default. Exposure compensation +0.7 EV for all cameras.

Horizontal resolution	Vertical resolution	5 degree diagonal res.
Nikon Coolpix 885
Sony DSC-P5
Nikon Coolpix 995
Olympus C-3040Z

Measurable findings (three measurements taken for each camera):

Definition of terms:

It's a close run thing however the 885's sharper lens proved to have more resolution than its bigger brother the 995, up there with the DSC-P5 the 885 is capable of producing approximately 1000 lines per picture height.