Nikon Coolpix 4300

[MatthewCromer]

[font color=\'#000000\']Send it back!

There are plenty of other $500 cameras that will provide tremendous DOF and have an actual aperture control.

The Sony S85 is one of the best, and it has a Carl Zeiss-designed lens that is fast and very sharp.  The Sony also has much better control over blown-out highlights than virtually any other digicam.

Or if you are willing to step up, the DSC-F717 is a great backup digicam with another great CZ lens, and it has a very good fast AF (for a consumer digicam) which makes it a very useful street camera.

For whatever reason, the Coolpix line of cameras just isn't quite keeping up with the Canon, Olympus and Sony cameras in a lot of ways (dynamic range, AF performance, low-light AF assist).[/font]

[MatthewCromer]

[font color=\'#000000\']Most of the consumer digicams have a max shutter speed in the 1/500 to 1/1000 range because they use a leaf shutter (actually a combo shutter / aperture mechanism).  On the minus side, you do sometimes have to break out the grad ND filter or polarizer if you want to open wide up.  On the plus side, flash synch is an absolute breeze, as you can use flash at any shutter speed.[/font]

[MatthewCromer]

[font color=\'#000000\']Ray,

The specs quote the maximum apertures.  The two numbers quoted refer to lens aperture at full wide angle and telephoto positions on the zoom.

For example, my Sony DSC-F717 is a f/2.0 - f/2.4 lens at the wide (38mm equiv) to telephoto (190mm equiv) ends.  This is almost as fast as you can get with the consumer digicams, although the Olympus 5500 family does feature an f/1.8 - f/2.4 lens.

Actual apertures available range from the maximum to the minimum (f/8).

The Sony does not stop lower than f/8 because below this aperture you start getting enough diffraction blurring that the image begins to become unsharp.  But as you stated actual DOF is approximately equivalent to f/32 on the 35mm platform.

I do find that I need to use an ND filter or two quite often in order to get the (slow) shutter speeds that I want in certain situations.

I'm frankly surprised that your Nikon is not delivering "real" apertures.  Perhaps it is using a 2-blade iris like the early Sony digicams did?  If so, what a rip-off.[/font]

[MatthewCromer]

[font color=\'#000000\']Yes the 717 definitely costs more.  The size of it doesn't bother me a bit, although I can see it would for some.  I use it as an SLR-replacement as I don't have the available cash resources for a dSLR plus high-quality lenses, and it serves very well for that purpose.

Although Sony is not a traditional "brand name" in the photographic arena, they are a major player in the digicam market with some high-quality offerings.  I'd put Olympus, Sony and Canon as the top makers of "prosumer" digicams with Nikon just slightly behind because of problems with highlight control and low-light AF performance with all of their Coolpix line..

In your price range, the Sony S85, Olympus 4000 and 4040, and Canon G2 (closeout models) would be excellent choices.  All should feature "real" apertures.  The Nikon 4500 should also perform well and feature "real" apertures.  I suspect the 4300 was deficient here as some kind of cost-cutting decision.

Anyway, check out the reviews at www.dpreview.com, www.steves-digicams.com and www.imaging-resource.com if you decide to buy another model.[/font]

[Ray]

[font color=\'#000000\']A few days ago I bought the new Nikon 4300 digicam as a Christmas present. I've always resisted buying, in my opinion, the overpriced 2 and 3 megapixel point and shoot cameras that have been available for some time. My first digicam was the D60. Anything less would have disappointed me (so I thought).

I was eager to see what this amazingly compact, 'toy-like' camera could do. The reviews indicated that picture quality is above average for the price. And that's the main thing, surely. But what intrigued me is the claim that the Nikkor lens is capable of F stops down to F13.4.

The 3x zoom lens is described as an 8-24mm which is equivalent to a 38-114mm 35mm lens. That is, focal length has to be multiplied by 4 1/2X to get the equivalent 35mm focal length and F stop has to multiplied by 4 1/2x to get the equivalent depth-of-field of 35mm.

F13.4 is astounding on such a camera as the Nikon 4300. Multiplying 13.4 by 4.5 gives an equivalent F stop of F60 on a 35mm camera. What tremendous depth of field. Wow!

This was a major factor in my decision to buy this camera. I read all the reviews I could find on the internet. There was no mention of the situation I'm about to relate (perhaps a mere hint in one review).

The 4300 has a 'manual' mode which allows you to select aperture and shutter speed. (There's no aperture or shutter speed priority.) I was curious as to what F13.4 or F11 or F8 would look like on such a small sensor. There would certainly be tremendous depth of field. How would the quality be affected?

I never got the chance. On page 107 of the manual appears the following note on 'minimum aperture'.

"Filter is applied to adjust the light entering the camera when its aperture is set to its minimum. Because of this, the minimum aperture setting may not yield wider depth-of-field as expecterd from the aperture value displayed in the monitor."

I'm confused. May not yield wider depth of field? Does the camera have a capricious mind of its own? Some times there is wider depth-of-field, some times there isn't!!

Perhaps Nikon does not want to confuse the customer by specifying what circumstances the larger F stop does or does not increase depth-of-field.

Perhaps Nikon really wants to say that the larger F stop does not in any circumstance produce a wider depth of field, but they want to let us down gradually. How nice of them!!

Having given the camera a quick test, it seems clear to me that the F stop ranges from F2.8 to F4.9 depending on the focal length of the zoom lens and that the higher F stop choice at any particular focal length, for example, at F2.8 in manual mode one can choose F7.6, is not a real F stop that gives one greater depth-of-field but a 'filtered' F2.8.

Shame on you, Nikon, for your deception.[/font]

[Ray]

[font color=\'#000000\']Send it back!

The Sony S85 is one of the best, and it has a Carl Zeiss-designed lens that is fast and very sharp.  The Sony also has much better control over blown-out highlights than virtually any other digicam.

For whatever reason, the Coolpix line of cameras just isn't quite keeping up with the Canon, Olympus and Sony cameras in a lot of ways (dynamic range, AF performance, low-light AF assist).[/font]

[font color=\'#000000\']Mathew,
Thanks for the advice. I think it's a bit late now to return the Nikon. In any case, neither Nikon nor the sales rep has significantly misrepresented the features of this camera. For all I know, it may be common practice with point and shoot cameras to have F stop ratings achieved through use of filters instead of changes in actual aperture size. In the example of the Nikon 4300, which is essentially a one F stop camera at any specific focal length, the maximum shutter speed is 1/1000th. This is not fast enough at F2.8 shooting a bright scene. To allow correct exposure, there has to be a choice of a faster shutter speed or bigger F stop.

I'm just a bit peeved that reviewers such as Steve's Digicams and DCRP never mentioned that these smaller apertures were not actually smaller.[/font]

[Ray]

[font color=\'#000000\']On the minus side, you do sometimes have to break out the grad ND filter or polarizer if you want to open wide up.  [/font]

[font color=\'#000000\']Mathew,
You seem to know a bit about these point & shoot digicams. Just what sort of real aperture range do some of them have? The specs tend to quote a small range (say F2.8 to F4) which varies with the focal length of the zoom setting. Since F2.8 on such cameras with a really small sensor is equivalent to about F11 on a 35mm camera, the manufacturers obviously think that no useful purpose is served by providing the choice of smaller apertures. I guess people have got used to the fairly impressive DoF of F11 with a standard 35mm camera - no need to give them even greater DoF. It would perhaps cost more and then you'd have to 'sell' the benefits of greater DoF.[/font]

[Ray]

[font color=\'#000000\']Mathew,
The Sony F717 appears to be about double the price of the Nikon 4300 and much bulkier. I would sure hope the aperture would extend to F8. If it didn't, that would be a real rip-off.

I guess I'm more concerned about how other digicams in the same price bracket perform. Could I have got another camera for around US$500 with a 'real' F8 setting at wide angle? Perhaps not. This was just a Christmas present for someone less critical than myself. I didn't want to spend too much time looking at all the options. I chose Nikon for the quality brand name and the reviews that claimed above average picture quality for the price (and one review actually best picture quality for the price).

That I could spend that amount of money on a camera and not even get adjustable apertures was a shock to my system. How the world has changed![/font]

[Ray]

[font color=\'#000000\']Mathew,
I don't think I'll be buying another model in the near future. I did consider the G2, but it's a heavier, larger camera than the Nikon 4300 AND about 40% more expensive. Despite this deficiency of no real aperture choice, the 4300 has a lot going for it. It literally fits into my shirt pocket (with flap and button - it wouldn't do if the camera fell out as one bent down). It's got an excellent Macro mode allowing close-ups from just 4cm as opposed to the G2's 6cm, excellent battery life (some of these cameras don't even come with re-chargeable batteries), continuous mode and even White Balance bracketing. Considering the price and size, this is a feature rich camera and I've got only one gripe and that's because it was unexpected. Low dynamic range and increased noise (compared to cameras like the D60) was expected.

Browsing some of the user's comments on the forums (such as Imaging-Resources) the fact that these increased F stops on the 4300 do not provide greater DoF, seems to have escaped everyone. There are a few puzzled comments about why, in manual mode, there is only a choice of 2 F stops at any given focal length, for example, F2.8 or F7.6, F3.5 or F11.2, F4.9 or F13.4 etc.

I'm such a nice guy, I'd hate wading in and spoiling their fun!![/font]