Nikon Coolpix 775 Digital Camera -------- A Good Static Photography Camera
Written: Dec 05 '05
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Pros: nice and small, not too expensive, works pretty well, takes good static pictures
Cons: lots of the features are quite slow, no sound when photographing, hard to see monitor
The Bottom Line: The Nikon Coolpix 775 is a small, easy to use camera, that could be a good choice to someone watching their spending.
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| three_ster's Full Review: Nikon COOLPIX 775 Digital Camera |
The Nikon Coolpix 775
The camera itself is pretty compact measuring only about 2.5 inches tall and about 3.5 inches wide. This means it isn't much bigger than something that can slide right into your pocket, and is one of the main selling points of the camera. On the front of the camera is of course the lens, which is closed when the camera isn't being used. Just above that area the re-eye reduction lamp (also the self-timer lamp), the built in speed-light, and the small viewfinder window which is of course what you look through to take your picture. On the right side of the camera is the eyelet for the camera strap and the connector slot for an AC adapter. On top of the camera is the mode dial which will switch through all of the different camera modes, and of course the on/off switch for the camera itself. It is the back of the camera where all of the flashy parts of the camera are, and lets jump into those now. The monitor, the viewfinder, and the first set of buttons are on the right side of camera (menu, editing buttons, and trash buttons). On the center are the transfer button and the quick find button which both come into play with the pictures. Finally, on the top right of the back are the multi selector / zoom buttons. On the bottom of the camera is of course the battery slot.
Using the camera is pretty easy, and the main thing that you need to do is decide which mode that you want to set it on when taking the pictures or filming a scene. Those modes are auto (automatic mode for simple point-and-shoot photography), scene (7 modes here used for specific types of portraits), movie (this gives you the ability to create silent movies that will last up to 15 seconds in length), and playback (this I used to play back and either continuing saving the pictures or delete them on the spot). The modes are quite easy to alternate between, and when you decide what mode you want to use, by just sliding the mode to the arrow on the top of the camera, you will be using it right away. The instruction manual also comes with specific instructions about all of the different snazzy things that you can do in each mode, and they further elaborate on what I have said here.
Use of the Camera:
There are a couple of problems with the camera, but there are usually things you can find wrong with any camera. Seeing as this is an older Coolpix model though, I guess some of the delays that are experienced should be expected. First of all, you don't get any real notification that you have taken a picture from the camera itself. Once you take it, there isn't a fake clicking sound, and while you are taking that photo, the camera will sort of freeze up until it is ready to take the next picture. The only that you have (and you must watch for) will be a little flashing green light up under the viewfinder on the back of the camera. So, once you take a picture, you need to make sure you are watching for that green light which signifies that the picture is being saved to the memory card. That means also, that you shouldn't lower the camera after you have taken the picture, but instead give it the up to 5 seconds that is sometimes necessary for the picture to go through. That is sometimes though, with other times the picture being taken almost instantly. This can probably be attributed to the camera trying to adjust to light and focusing itself, but could be annoying to some camera users.
When you are first turning the camera on, it takes close to 10 seconds for it to all warm up, and for the LCD to be ready to transmit your images. Add that to the delay that you might have for taking the picture itself, and you could be looking at a total of 30 seconds from the point of taking your camera out, to actually having the picture saved to the memory card. This could be a problem for some users, and if you are looking for a camera that is intended for quick-action photos, or live-action, then this one probably is not going to be very successful for you. This is instead a "static" picture camera, where you would use it to take pictures of things that aren't going to be moving any time soon. So, primary uses could be vacation photos, home photos, or family pictures where everything in the picture can be controlled to a certain extent.
When you are taking pictures with the monitor on (making sure that your battery hasn't been fully drained yet), you will get a brief glimpse of the photo on that monitor before it goes away. The image will disappear no matter what you do, and you must use the "quick playback" option button in order to retrieve the photo for a second look. This too could be annoying to someone who has had a superior digital camera, but is an easy step if you don't mind it too much. Another small drawback is the 5 second wait for the camera to load up the playback, but again, that isn't too much of a problem for me. The camera focuses itself when the lighting is bad outside, and sometimes it takes the camera a while to figure out what type of lighting it has. This could be as much as 10 seconds added to the turn on time, if the camera can't figure out the lighting right away. The final drawback is that the LCD is really hard to see outside, simply because it isn't lit up very well. So, if you aren't taking pictures during the daytime, then you could be in for another problem here. This is one that it is harder for me to look past with the Nikon Coolpix 775
The Battery:
Comes with a single rechargeable Nikon EN-EL1 Lithium-ion battery. One of the things noted in the guide is that the cameras battery is not going to be fully charged when you get it. They recommend that you use the battery charger supplied with the camera and to charge it up before the first use. The instruction manual of the Nikon 775 also comes with a set of instructions which should be followed to charge up the battery. When the message "WARNING!! BATTERY EXHAUSTED" appears on the monitor, it is time to pop it out and charge it up. Removing the battery won't affect pictures that are already stored into the memory card, so don't worry about when to expend it once it has been spent. Another warning they do give though, is to not use the adapter that comes with the camera on any other appliance in your house. So, a good rule of thumb is to keep the box the camera came in, and put the cords back in when you are done using them. The battery lasts around 100 minutes if the monitor is left on.
Memory Card:
The memory card that comes with the Nikon 775 is a Cannon CompactFlash Card (FC-16M). The card holds 16 megabytes worth of pictures, and slides easily in and out of the right side of the camera using a push button release. It comes pre-formated for the Nikon, so you don't have to worry about doing anything to it when you first want to use it. This will save you a little time and effort, and lets you just get down to taking pictures. If the 16 isn't quite enough space for you and your pictures, there are also 64 and 96 MB cards available for the camera that you can purchase. When you are ready to take the images off of the memory card, you start by installing "Nikon View" from the CD provided with the camera, and then select the images that you want to transfer from the thumbnail images. Connecting the computer using the cables from your camera will allow the pictures to be uploaded instantly. For those photos, you can use the Nikon View to further enhance the colors, or edit anything about the picture that you want to before you end up printing anything or saving anything for life. The editing features aren't the best in the world though, so this could be something that causes disappointment in some users. The software that comes with the camera works with the pictures in a very basic format, so it is easy to use, it just doesn't do much.
Thoughts on the Nikon Coolpix 775
Now there were a lot of problems with the Nikon Coolpix 775 that are hard to get past. I should point out that I like the camera, and I am not going to complain about having it, but that I should point out the many flaws that could have been improved upon. There are delays with turning the camera on, more when you are getting ready to take a picture, and still more when you actually take the photo and it is saving to the memory card. Because of these delays the camera could be very frustrating to someone who doesn't have a lot of patience with technology. Couple that with the facts that you can't really see the monitor well outside, and you aren't really sure when the photo has been taken, and you might want to throw the camera into the road. Regarding the flash, and whether it works well, you will have to guess and check with it, because sometimes it works well and sometimes it doesn't. It isn't very powerful, and that explains why it falters at times. The camera won't work well at all if you are trying to take pictures of events, and instead is relegated to taking pictures of only things that aren't moving. Therefore, the camera does have its little niche, and if you are looking for it to do that, and only that, then you have yourself a winner here. I like the camera, I don't like all of the delays that it has though, and because of that, I recommend it only to people who want a small/cheap camera that will photograph non-moving images for you.
Further Details:
LCD Panel With LCD Panel
LCD Panel Size 1.5 in.
LCD Screen Resolution 110,000 pixels
Camera Resolution 2.14 Megapixel
Image Resolutions 640 x 480 • 1600 x 1200 • 1024 x 768
Optical Zoom 3x
35mm Zoom Lens 38 - 115 mm
Digital Zoom 2.5x
Focus Range 11.8 in. to Infinity (w)
Macro Focus Range 1.6 in. to Infinity (w)
Focal Length 5.8 - 17.4 mm
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): under $200
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
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