Nikon COOLPIX 4300 Digital Camera [4MP 3xOptical]

Product Information

Resolution is very high, and details are sharp throughout the frame. Shadow detail is fairly strong, with fairly low noise. Excellent low-light performance: Great color balance, fairly low noise, but no AF assist light, and no distance readout in manual focus mode. As the screen size of the COOLPIX lens is small and many shots are taken with the maximum aperture, the high optical performance is needed. Not to mention designing, the high product quality at production deserves the Nikkor.

Side-by-side camera comparison - Digital Photography Review

High resolution, 1,050 - 1,100 lines of "strong detail." About average barrel distortion, and low pincushion. And with the fast lens, the faster shutter speed can be used, so a hand-held shot is possible with no handshake without stable holding with a tripod when the ambient conditions permit. For shots like daily box lunch, record of assembling a model, new growth of cultivating plants a photo of merchandise for internet auction and the like, the ease-of-use COOLPIX is the best. It can be said that the macro photography is what the digital camera is most good at. (see sample 4) inch in a diagonal length and the CCD size of the compact COOLPIX 3100, SQ and 3700 is just only approx. 1/6.5 inch in comparison with the 135-type film. Thus, this small sized CCD enables to make the lens compact and produce new features that are not found in the film camera. In the 135-type film camera, the values of depth of field are obtained by defining the smallest permissible diameter of the circle of confusion (that is a limit to the smallness of detail which the eye can perceive) as 1/30mm. When the depth of field of the COOLPIX is calculated with the same definition from the ratio of the screen size, the depth becomes deep approximately by the ratio of the 135-type film camera to the screen size though a detailed explanation is omitted herein. The rough ratio of the screen size is calculated by dividing the focal length of the 135-type film camera converted from the one of the COOLPIX by the real focal length. The focal length of the COOLPIX 4300 is equivalent to 38 - 115mm in the 135-type film camera although the real focal length thereof is 8 - 24mm, so the ratio of the screen size is 4.8 times, namely, the depth of field is 4.8 times deeper in comparison with the zoom lens 38 - 115mm of the 135-type film camera. To put it in other way, we can get the depth of field to the same extent that a lens of f/2.8 is stopped down to f/13 and the f/4.9 lens is down to f/24, too. *1 I routinely shoot this series of images to show the field of view for each camera, with the lens at full wide angle, at maximum telephoto ( 3x, in this case), and at full telephoto with the digital zoom enabled. The Coolpix 3500's lens is equivalent to a 38-114mm zoom on a 35mm camera. That corresponds to a moderate wide angle to a moderate telephoto. Following are the results at each zoom setting.Fig.1 is a lens structure view of the COOLPIX 4300. The lens is consisted of three groups including the first group of a negative lens as a whole, the second group of a positive lens as a whole and the third group of a single positive lens element. Wherein the lens is zoomed by moving the group 1 and 2 and is focused by moving the group 3 as indicated in the figure.

Nikon Coolpix 4300, four megapixel - Digital Photography Review Nikon Coolpix 4300, four megapixel - Digital Photography Review

Most accurate color with the Manual white balance option, but better than average with Auto. A good performance. Optical distortion on the Coolpix 4300 is about average (which is nonetheless too high in my opinion) at the wide-angle end, where I measured approximately 0.8 percent barrel distortion. The telephoto end fared a little better, where I measured a 0.2 percent pincushion distortion. Chromatic aberration is moderate, showing only about three pixels of coloration on either side of the target lines in the corners of the image. (This distortion is visible as a very slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.) This is my ultimate "resolution shot," given the infinite range of detail in a natural scene like this, and the Coolpix 4300 performs very well. The tree limbs over the roof and fine foliage in front of the house show excellent detail, with strong definition in the leaf patterns and branch details. The image is pretty sharp corner to corner, with just a hint of the corner softness that plagues many consumer digicam lenses. The camera loses detail in the bright white paint surrounding the bay window, a trouble spot for many digicams. At the same time, the shadow area above the front door shows moderate detail but a fair bit of image noise, pointing to a somewhat limited dynamic range. The Auto white balance produces good color, though exposure is a bit contrasty. The table below shows a standard resolution and quality series, followed by ISO and sharpness series. This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Advantages are a well above-average image quality regarding sharpness. Color rendition is accurate, especially regarding the critical leaf-green shades. It is, however, under-saturated, and often needs to be improved by subsequent processing. The camera has many setting options, but unfortunately, saturation is not one of them. It also has a zoom-linked optical viewfinder. This Agreement is governed by and shall be construed in accordance with the laws of Japan without regard to its conflicts of laws principles. In the event a dispute arises under or in connection with this Agreement, you hereby consent to personal jurisdiction of Japan and waive any objection that such forum is inconvenient. You further consent to service of process in any action arising from this Agreement by regular mail or other commercially reasonable means of receipted delivery. If any provision of the Agreement shall be determined invalid for any reason, the remaining provisions shall not be invalidated and shall remain in full force and effect. This Agreement sets forth the entire agreement and understanding between you and Nikon, and supersedes and replaces any other agreements relating to the subject matter of this Agreement. The failure of any party to insist upon strict performance of any of the terms or provisions of this Agreement, or the exercise of any option, right or remedy contained herein, shall not be construed as a waiver of any future application of such term, provision, option, right or remedy, and such term, provision, option, right or remedy shall continue and remain in full force and effect. The headings of the sections of this Agreement are inserted for convenience only and shall not constitute a part hereof or affect in any way the meaning or interpretation of this Agreement. Except as otherwise expressly provided herein, the provisions of section 3 and section 4 together with any provisions that by their express terms apply to periods after termination of this Agreement, shall survive termination of this Agreement for any reason. is a case where a performance on the edge is not on a par with the one of the micro lens, so please make sure to take some trial shots in a case of precise reproduction. The lens of the COOLPIX 4300 is equivalent to 38 to 115mm by conversion into the 135-type film, but due to the small screen size, the focal length is in fact equivalent to only 8mm on the wide angle and 24mm even on the telephoto. The lens focal length of the digital camera is definitely short when compared with the one of the film camera. Therefore, the depth of field becomes deep. (see sample 1)

Digital Cameras - Nikon Coolpix 4300 Test Images Digital Cameras - Nikon Coolpix 4300 Test Images

The extreme tonal range of this image makes it a tough shot for many digicams, which is precisely why I set it up this way, and why I shoot it with no fill flash or reflector to open the shadows. The object is to hold both highlight and shadow detail without producing a "flat" picture with muddy colors, and the Coolpix 4300 did a good job. Due to available space limitation, that's all for tonight although I would like to introduce to you a converter lens attachable to this camera. Let's carry it over to next time. Generally, the aberration of the lens is reduced as the lens is being stopped down, so many of the lenses render their optimum performance when the lens is a little bit stopped down from the maximum aperture. In the lens of the COOLPIX, however, the screen size is small and the required resolving power is quite high, so the definition contrarily falls off when the lens is stopped down. This is the reason why the COOLPIX lens has no other aperture stops such as f/16 and f/22.

For example, it has a function to change white balance, gradation compensation, edge enhancement and sensitivity manually, so this makes it possible to change a setting responsive to a subject and ambient situation just like changing a roll film loaded in a film camera. The macro photography of 4cm in front of the lens on the wide-angle side (magnification 0.74x converted in 135-type film camera) and 30cm in front of the lens on the telephoto side (magnification 0.33x converted in 135-type film camera) like a micro lens *2 can be enjoyed by the lens of the COOLPIX 4300.