Coolpix A?

Greetings,

I'm not a Nikon shooter, but saw the Nikon Coolpix A on sale for $199. New, Nikon USA warranty.

So, my GF (non-photog), is thinking of buying a camera for travel.. She will probably be shooting on Auto, Program, or Scene modes.

Is the Coolpix A a good camera considering it's an older camera model? Feature set, IQ?

Is it easy to use for a non-photog?

What are any drawbacks of the camera? Any deal breakers?

And how is the IQ Coolpix A comparable to my Fuji X100T? Comparable to Fuji X30, she is also considering, but much more expensive than the Coolpix A.

Thank you.

Lena

That's a pretty good price - where did you see it?

it is so good I got rid of my wide angle for my dslr and now use it for my landscapes and street work. Make sure to do the firmware update it make the focusing much faster





















--
Cheers, Lisa

Hi Lena,

The A is fine to pick up, stick on auto and take pictures. Its super sharp and has a great dynamic range and will take pictures up to ISO3200 no problems. Once the firmware is upgraded the autofocus is as good as most compact cameras. The screen is easy to see even in bright light. I upgraded to it from a Panasonic LX7 whihc is a great travel camera and don't regret it.

The IQ will be as good as your fuji X100 and better than the X30. Its the same sensor as the Nikon D7000 with a much better lens than any kit zoom.

The big question is can she live with a fixed 28mm lens rather than the versatility of the zoom on the X30?

personally I think for travel it is a great camera as long as you accept you will miss some shots because of the focal length. the 28mm is great for city shots, landscapes and groups of people or even environmental portraits. Its no good if you are off on safari to africa, shooting wildlife from a cruise ship in alaska or want to shoot sports.

Great buy at that price.

cheers

Len_Gee said:

Greetings,

I'm not a Nikon shooter, but saw the Nikon Coolpix A on sale for $199. New, Nikon USA warranty.

So, my GF (non-photog), is thinking of buying a camera for travel.. She will probably be shooting on Auto, Program, or Scene modes.

Is the Coolpix A a good camera considering it's an older camera model? Feature set, IQ?

Is it easy to use for a non-photog?

What are any drawbacks of the camera? Any deal breakers?

And how is the IQ Coolpix A comparable to my Fuji X100T? Comparable to Fuji X30, she is also considering, but much more expensive than the Coolpix A.

Thank you.

Lena

Click to expand...

--
Russell
http://russellp.smugmug.com/

The NIKON A produces great IQ pictures. Unlike the FUJI X100 series, it does not have a viewfinder, but the IQ on those two cameras is similar. The Nikom A may be just a tad better. I have both of those cameras.

The NIKON A is a bit smaller and more portable. I usually have that with me on my walks. The FUJI X100 I prefer to use when the viewfinder makes framing easier AND also when the light is too bright to see the screen properly on the NIKON A.

I don't have the FUJI 30 you mentioned. It does have a smaller sensor than the FUJI X100T and the Nikon A, so image quality most likely is not as good - but may be good enough. Depends on you and your friend.

Len_Gee said:

Greetings,

I'm not a Nikon shooter, but saw the Nikon Coolpix A on sale for $199. New, Nikon USA warranty.
Lena

Click to expand...

Where did you see this price? Not even a refurbished A is that low at the Nikon store online.

Indeed, I'm guessing some store warehouse clean out / clearance?

Must be a typo, the lowest I've seen is $399 for new.

I'd recommend something else for an A / P shooter. Something with faster AF and more user friendly for a beginner. Something like Nikon 1 J5 (I got my parents a Nikon 1 J3, which has lightning fast AF and full electronic shutter, and they love it--it's literally point and shoot but with better quality), or Sony RX100 line, or an Olympus PEN line. A touch screen might be useful too, which Coolpix A doesn't have. In my limited experience with Coolpix A, handling is vastly inferior to my E-M1 and less so but still inferior to Samsung NX300M I used to have. I consider it more of an enthusiast compact, where you know you want a large high quality sensor with an excellent prime and can learn to get good performance despite various drawbacks in handling and focus speed.

One quirk is that if your friend does a lot of brief video recording, there's no dedicated video button--you have to go into settings and change shutter speed to video mode, then press the shutter button to start/stop recording. Then change back to normal single frame (or multiple frame) mode after you're done recording.

"it's literally point and shoot but with better quality" - ??????

With better quality ? What are you referring to ?

Better image quality than the traditional tiny sensor "point and shoot" camera category with the same ease of use is what I meant regarding Nikon 1 J3. Instant AF, face detection, very easy to use.

That's an insanely good price, if as described. Put it on Auto and it will out-shoot many cameras costing twice as much. If she doesn't like it, you can easily flip it for $199 or better.

Lightpath48 said:

That's an insanely good price, if as described. Put it on Auto and it will out-shoot many cameras costing twice as much. If she doesn't like it, you can easily flip it for $199 or better.

Click to expand...

Sorry, price is $399 not $299.

So, is the Coolpix A still a good deal for that price? 28mm is fine.

BTW, could care less if video is just Ok. We usually just shoot short vacation memory clips with my iPhone 6+.

Lena

Oh the video is fine, just no particular control over it. Either manual focus or continuous AF, but I'd probably do manual at smaller aperture to get more in focus. The footage quality is fine I think. Takes a bit of tinkering to change drive mode to video instead of just pushing one button, but then it's ok.

I think the image quality is wonderful, as you might see if you read a few reviews about the camera--it's the handling that people complain about, especially since it was initially released at over $1000 price. AF is not as fast as a typical m43 camera, but quick enough in bright conditions. Also a nice benefit of this camera is that out of camera JPEGs are quite nice. Colors are good, metering is good, and Nikon's proprietary Active D-Lighting algorithm that expands highlights and shadows in JPEGs is also very good.

It's hard to say if your friend will like it in terms of actual use. I still think that something like RX100 (I/II/III) or a Nikon 1 J5 (or any other Nikon 1s, but the J5 has a nice new 1" sensor that's been well-received) would be easier for someone who doesn't know much about cameras and doesn't have an interest to learn more. I'm thinking of most of my family who only wants to know where the shutter button is and doesn't ever bother changing any settings on any camera, but your friend might well be different in that respect.

These are untouched out of camera JPEGs with Active D-Lighting enabled:






Was testing the Vivid picture mode


some -EV compensation on most of these

I'm completely new to this camera so I have nothing to say about its IQ - but I have seen others photos and am a believer. I paid 299 for mine from lens authority - used. It looks like new and works fine so I was very happy with the deal. They have no more (think I got the last one) but someone else might have one for near that price. Also once A2 comes out others prices might drop a tad... if you'r in no hurry you might want to wait just a bit.

Len_Gee said:

Lightpath48 said:

That's an insanely good price, if as described. Put it on Auto and it will out-shoot many cameras costing twice as much. If she doesn't like it, you can easily flip it for $199 or better.

Click to expand...

Sorry, price is $399 not $299.

Click to expand...

There you go again, you mean not $ 199. Did you steal my Jim Beam

Kung Pao Panda said:

So, is the Coolpix A still a good deal for that price? 28mm is fine.

BTW, could care less if video is just Ok. We usually just shoot short vacation memory clips with my iPhone 6+.

Lena

Click to expand...

puttin said:

Len_Gee said:

Lightpath48 said:

That's an insanely good price, if as described. Put it on Auto and it will out-shoot many cameras costing twice as much. If she doesn't like it, you can easily flip it for $199 or better.

Click to expand...

Sorry, price is $399 not $299.

Click to expand...

There you go again, you mean not $ 199. Did you steal my Jim Beam

puttin said:

So, is the Coolpix A still a good deal for that price? 28mm is fine.

BTW, could care less if video is just Ok. We usually just shoot short vacation memory clips with my iPhone 6+.

Lena

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Yes. In a drinken stupor, when I posted $. Anyway, cameras all gone.

Lena

You said US warranty, but I notice in your profile you are located in a completely different country? If US warranty is relevant, $399 is the normal price for Coolpix A here now, and it can be had for that much with a free leather case from here:

I had been debating on getting a Coolpix A for a while and saw they were $399 at B&H.

I got busy with things and went back today to try and get one and they were sold out of the new ones.

But, I did snag a used one for $319 in good condition. It will be here Friday!

Great deal. Grab it.