Professional-Quality Images at an Affordable Price

The Nikon Coolpix 800 includes many of the features found on the Coolpix 950 at a more affordable price. Two megapixel digital cameras are becoming more numerous. The Coolpix 800 stands apart from the crowd by providing superior image quality with a quality glass lens and an uncompressed 1200x1600 pixel TIFF mode for excellent enlargements up to 11" x 14". The 800 also features three 1200x1600 pixel JPEG formats (low, normal and high compression), and a low resolution 640x480 pixel format for web images and the like. 2x optical zoom capability is provided for 38mm wide-angle to 76mm telephoto images. The camera's macro-photography capabilities are excellent in comparison to other digital cameras. Another big plus: The lens frame is threaded allowing use of accessory fish-eye, wide-angle and telephoto lenses as well as various accessory filters.

Another feature that separates the 800 from the pack is the wide range of shutter speeds available in automatic and manual modes: From 1/750 of a second for fast action shots to 8 seconds for tripod-mounted sunset and starlight shots.

In automatic mode, the camera is easy enough for a digital camera novice to use. The camera's sophisticated light metering system provides excellent images indoors and out, in broad daylight and with little light.

In the manual mode, the camera provides extensive selective adjustments for exposure metering and control, focus, white balance, compression, flash, etc. As a long-time 35mm film camera user, I feel more comfortable and capable with the Coolpix 800 (and the more expensive Coolpix 950) than any other digital camera I've used.

The Coolpix 800 comes with a soft camera bag that holds only the camera, a lens cover (not tethered), four AA alkaline batteries, the camera manual and software on a Compact Disk, a serial connection cable, and an 8 Mb CompactFlash card. Yes, the provided accessories and software are sparse.

The 8 Mb card holds 1 uncompressed TIFF image, 8 low compression JPEG images, 16 normal/medium compression JPEG images (default setting), 32 high compression JPEG images, or 200 VGA 640x480 images. Larger and/or more CompactFlash cards should be on your short-term accessory list (~$3 per Mb is the current price).

I paid $470 for my Coolpix 800 ($599 list) through an Internet vendor and purchased the following accessories immediately: a 32 Mb CompactFlash card (~$80) and an AC adaptor (~$30). Another must-have is an NiMH recharger and 4 AA NiMH rechargable batteries (~$30). I purchased a Nikon "Coolpak" which consists of a large fabric camera and accessory bag, an NiMH charger and 4 AA NiMH batteries, and a set of lens filters (all for ~$80). A USB or parallel CompactFlash reader is also recommended to speed uploads from the camera to your computer (~$50).

For someone who does not aspire to becoming anything more than an occasional digital camera user but needs excellent image quality, I'd recommend the Kodak DC-280 over the Coolpix 800. The DC-280 cost is ~$100 higher than the Coolpix 800 but comes with a 20 Mb CompactFlash card, rechargeable NiMH batteries in addition to alkaline batteries, and is USB ready for fast uploads out of the box. While the DC-280 lacks the extensive manual features and expandability of the Coolpix 800, it does take excellent pictures and is an excellent tool for real estate agents, classified ad photographers, etc. that need good pictures with a minimum of fuss.

Would I buy a Coolpix 800 again? You bet! It's one of two consumer digital cameras (the Coolpix 950 and 800) I've used that allow me leave the 35mm SLR at home. Highly recommended for experienced film and digital photographers. For novices, the Coolpix 800 is simple enough to use immediately with excellent results while providing advanced capabilities to grow into as your photographic knowledge and skill increases.