Colpix 4300

[orensztajn]

Hi

For 6 months ago I bought COOLPIX 4300, this is my first dig cam

and it woke up my interest in photo again (I have a CanonIX7 too),

some of you may have one of this, so I wonder what do you think

about this one, it is wisw to go for a 5 MP camera like the Sony DSC

F-717, I can not afford an expensive camera like Nikon D70, EOS

300,350 etc.

But I want to take clear colour pictures and I feel like this

coolpix 4300 it not giving me what I want (Sorry for my english by

the way).

 

I will apreciate inputs.

Thanks

/Gus

[katha_chalotorn]

My wife has this camera, and I think that it takes very good pictures

in most situations. There are, however, two minor issues. First, I think it tends to under-expose, which, according to the discussions that I read on here, is a common trait of Nikon digital camera. Secondly, in certain situations, the auto mode does not focus on the subject in the middle of the frame, but instead focuses on the background.

 

I'd be interested to know why you feel it doesn't give you good-enough pictures.

 

I consider cameras such as the Sony F-717 prosumer ones, while this little coolpix is a consumer one. I don't know about the picture quality of the F-717, but I doubt that it will be much better than what you get from the 4300, especially if you don't make large prints. However, if you want to upgrade to it because you want more controls, then that's a different story.

[orensztajn]

Thanks Katha.

What I feel about this camera is as you said the focus probelm and many times colour, they seem "not alive", darker (may be what you said about underexposure), another tonallity.

It takes ok pictures but do you think junping to a 5MP will get better result?

[katha_chalotorn]

I'm not very knowledgeable about cameras, and so you should take the following with a heap of salt. To remedy the tendency to under-expose, you can dial in exposure compensation (if you're in the auto mode). But this can be cumbersome as whatever compensation you set will not be saved as soon as you turn the camera off. Alternatively, you can achieve the same effect by using the manual mode and compensate for the exposure in the setup menu. For this to work, you will also have to set the exposure mode in the manual menu to P (and not M). The benefit of this alternative is that the compensation that you set will be saved.

 

As for the focus issue, it bothers me too. But I think the following should help (not sure as I haven't tried it yet). In the manual menu, set the AF focus area to manual (and not auto). You will then have 5 focus areas that you can choose (by the arrow button in the back of the camera).

 

As for the colors, I think that they are very accurate and lifelike. If you want more vivid colors, I think you have to change the brand. I heard that Canon and Sony produce vivid pictures (which may not be natural).

 

I hope that anyone who knows more about these issues would chime in.

[josebayon]

Hi Gustavo. I have a 4300 and a D70. I have used the first for 3 years and I'm very happy with it. I don't agree with you about the colors. I think they are realistics. If you want vivid color just adjust the saturation. If you buy a F-717 or something like that you'll get more quality images, but if you like photography I suggest you saving money to get a DSLR, with a bigger CCD. They are becoming cheaper day by day.

[albinonflickr]

My wife has it for appr. 2 years now. It is a tad slow (which requires acceptance & getting used to). I find underexposure not a problem (no Coalpix i.m.o.) - in general it exposes pretty good. In fact, I find image quality much better than the newer Olympus Mju camera (also 4MP). For social snapshots and close-up work, I have few problems with this camera, except it's speed.

 

good luck