Customer Reviews

Nikon Coolpix 4300 4MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

If you do any research into digital cameras, you'll quickly find that this camera is just about the best value out there.

These are the reasons I think it's great:

1) It has all the features an amatuer photo-enthusiast would want.
2) It is easy enough for my grandmother to use.
3) It is very compact but the controls are so well designed that they're still easy to use.
4) It has optional lenses like wide angles and extra zooms.
5) For "digital film" it uses Compact Flash cards, which are easy to find, cheap, reliable and supported by many other devices you may have at hoome.
6) The Nikon Coolpix line is a well-established line so you know support and parts are going to be available even when Nikon releases a newer model.
7) Picture quality is excellent.
8) Battery life is excellent.
9) 3x built-in optical zoom is a lot for this price range.
10) Great price for all the features.

Here's what you may miss or be annoyed by with this camera:

1) No direct firewire to the camera. There is USB, though.
2) The camera is so small that when you attach some lenses (I have the 19mm wide-angle--WC-E68), the optical viewfinder is partially obscured. This doesn't affect the picture, of course. You just have to use the LCD viewfinder to see the whole picture. It's no problem for me personally.
3) Battery has to be removed to recharge.
4) An AC adapter for powering the camera while the battery's out is not included, although one can be purchased separately.
5) Two different adapters--UR-E4 and UR-E7--are required for some attachment lenses....

Most of these "annoyances", though, are comparable to what you'll find on other cameras in this price range.

First of all, let's start with my needs: (1) $500 budget (2)4mp resolution, (3) optical clarity and color, (4)fast - very little shutter lag and quick sep-up for next picture, (5)compact size, and (6) good camera grip to minimize camera shake.

For three months, I've researched the internet and magazines, queried various sales personnel, and took hands-on in-store test drives. And I finally settled on the Nikon Coolpix 4300.

I have it for a week now, and this camera has exceeded my expectations. The daylight pictures are brilliant and the indoor shots are very good provided that your subject is no more than about 8 feet away. The shutter lag is on par with what I've experienced with point and shoot 35mm and APS film cameras and the next frame advance is about a couple seconds using a high speed 12x 128MB compact flash card (a salesperson recommended the high speed card since next frame advance speed was important to me - and it was only [a few dollars] more).

Uploading the images to my Windows-based PC is very fast and simple.

The only drawbacks I've encountered are: (1)indoor shots from a distance (>8ft) lack contrast and color, but I've found this to be a problem with all cameras with built-in flashes that I've used (even on a Nikon SLR). Right now, I'm researching for an inexpensive ... slave flash unit that's designed for digital cameras. (2) The battery life seems to be on the short side but adequate for most situations. I got 45 outdoor and 15 indoor shots with the monitor on (turning the camera off and on over a 4 hour period) before the battery died. An extra [$$$] for a back-up battery would be a good investment. (3)The picture editing software it came with is adequate, but not very robust. I'll still use my PhotoSuite for editing.

One more thing about indoor shots - many of the reviews knocked this camera for low light focusing. Just for the heck of it, I took it into my dark kitchen with only indirect light coming in though the door, and the focusing was just fine.

In summary, I love this camera and would whole-heartedly recommend this to anyone wanting a high quality point and shoot camera in the [medium] price range.

(June 2003 - Since I wrote the review above in January 2003, I still love this camera. I've picked up a few accessories that I found to be useful. I bought a Digi-Slave DSF-1s flash unit. I don't use a bracket, I just hold it above my head and aim the flash with my left hand. I also got a UR-E4 Step Down Ring Adapter, LC-E900 lens cap, and the Nikon 28mm filter set. This provides added protection for the camera lens and allows the use of filters. I leave the adapter and UV filter on all the time. This also allows you to turn on the camera on without having to remove the lens cap. The downside is that you might accidentally take pictures with the lens cap on, the camera won't fit in the small cases, and 28mm filters are expensive and hard to find.)

I got my camera three days back, and although I had some experience with digital cameras prior to purchasing this one, I still rate myself as a beginner. I bought this camera because it fit my budget and the pre-production and production model reviews were positive.

It's easy to use, and yet very feature rich. In the auto mode it functions basically as a point and click, the Scene modes are very easy to use and produce good results. The manual mode is feature rich and I can't wait to get the hang of it. The macro mode is exceptional, the pictures are very clear and you can take the pictures with the lens unbelievably close the subject. The battery life is very good, I got about 90 minutes with the LCD turned on all the time, the first time around, and I have been using it with the LCD off every now and then, and have yet needed to recharge it. The camera comes with a Lexar 16MB starter card, which stores about 10 images in Fine mode at the highest resolution, I intend to buy a bigger card soon.

This camera is perfect for an enthusiastic amateur photographer. The pictures are razor-sharp, even in macro. It is small enough to fit easily in a coat pocket or purse. It is light enough to carry around all day without bother. Operating its many features is easy and often obvious - I'm no Annie Lebovitz, but I was able to figure out most of its abilities just messing around with it at a camera store. The manual does a fine job filling in any blanks that remain. The auto-focus performs well, but I love having the 12 optional scene modes - they are dummy-proof, and correspond to many situations in which I would actually seek to use the camera. Comes with a 16 mb compact flash and one rechargable battery (the charging unit, included, is fast and small). I bought a 256 mb cf and a second battery, so it's good to go on a long vacation. I enthusiastically recommend this camera.

Awesome camera with huge print quality in a tiny package. The same 4MP chip from the 4500 camera, plus a 3x zoom (with the ability to expand upon that with extenders), great closeup mode, long lasting rechargable battery, etc etc. In my opinion it's the best camera for the money if you're looking for something that's easy to use, small (good for travel), and provides excellent, sharp images.

With our compact 35mm broken, and a vacation in Europe at hand, I finally decided to enter the digital age. I first intended to buy the 3100, but am really happy to invest the extra [money] for the 4300. The lense is a lot better, and the 4MB produce fantastic pictures.
The possibilities with auto, manual, and the very helpful "scene" mode, which offers 11 optimized situational settings like portrait, landscape, beach/snow, sunset etc., are endless. The movie mode is also working great.
The 4300 comes with excellent easy to install software (I use it on XP and Win98 without problem), battery charger, USB and video cable. A 64MB flash card (camera comes with a 16MB) holds 52 pictures on "normal" resolution. I experimented with online print ordering with the two major US brick and mortar retailers, and they both delivered great results. Even at the "normal" setting, a 8x10 print (!) shows not a single sign of visible rendering or pixels - you could never tell that the picture has been taken by a "digital".
The battery life is ok, but can be somewhat short when working a lot with the monitor on. I therefore bought a second battery as a backup, and due to the lightingfast charging with the included charger, which by the way works on 110V as well as 220V in Europe, we ran never out of "juice".
I highly recommend the accessory kit, which provides you with everything else you need: A nice camera bag, which holds camera plus all the cables and the charger. Furher it contains a card reader, a flash card folder for up to 8 cards, a lense cleaning rag, and an AC adapter, which is very helpful when working in an "outlet environment".
Over all a fantastic very compact camera, which made us experience photography on a totally new level!

I did quite a bit of research before buying this camera, and this one had everything I was looking for. It's easy for beginners to use, but has features that more serious photographers will love, so it's an excellent camera to grow into. It's lightweight enough to take with you everywhere, but powerful enough to get outstanding pix.

I love the continuous shot mode, which allows you to take up to 16 pix in rapid succession-- great for action shots. I'm amazed at the photo quality-- prints are indistinguishable from 35mm prints.

I only have one complaint, and that is the 8MB card included. 8MB for a camera like this is a joke. A card with more memory is a must. A minor quibble, since most cameras on the market still only include the 8MB cards.

I am a Nikon fan, and owned and used SLR Nikon FE, N50 and N90s for many many years.

Recently bought this Coolpix 4300 along with a 256MB ULTRA flash card ... As expected, I happily found that qualities of the picture are excellent with 3M-4M Pixel/FINE combos and many of the user-friendly functions are very similar to SLR models, and with added convenience of a digital camera that you can see pictures immediately. I particularly like the "TXT" file which records all the Control information for all the pictures you take...The compact digital camera is especially useful if you have little children around and you can always take the camera with you and take many pictures of them.

Try to buy a high capacity Ultra card, as it's 2X as faster as the regular CF card. Consider the time you save during picture taking (especially not missing a good moment) and during download, it's well worth the little extra money.

An extra rechargeable EN-EL1 battery.. is also handy, so you will seldom run into "out of battery" situation. Use the rechargeable because that saves you money and helps the environment in a long run.

One thing puzzles me is that for "FINE and 2200+" quality pictures, one Ultra 256MB CF card can only hold 130-140 pics, but the size of the pictures are only around 1.2MB, the math does not add up. I would expecct the card to hold over 200 pictures for size of 1.2 MB/per. Anybody can explain that?

A Nikon will make you happier and leave you lots of good memories, as always.

I am an amateur photographer and here is a piece of advise to all the folks who are thinking about making a move the digital world. Nikon 4300, I feel, is THE BEST camera out there for the features and price.

Here were my requirements in a Digital Camera:
1. I had initially thought of buying a 2 or 3 Megapixel camera but these are good for 4x6" or 5x7" prints and I wanted some really great 8x10" photos once in a while.
2. I did not want a very small camera as it seems to get lost in my hands and I wasn't comfortable with that...I wanted a decent sized camera with a contour for my fingers to hold it steadily.
3. I wanted a camera that had a lot of built-in settings for different types of suroundings while giving me an option to use my photography skills (although, I am an amateur with an interest in photography) by turning on the manual settings.
4. And, of course, I wanted a respected brand and had to stay within my budget because I had bought an expensive Camcorder before but hadn't used it much.

Depending on all the above requirements, I had narrowed down my search to Nikon 4300 and Canon Powershot S400 models. Nikon got the final nod for its settings (auto and manual along with movie modes), medium & compact size, price, brand name, good software that is included and previous reviews. I should say I have been very happy with my decision ever since. The pictures are absolutely amazing - the camera captures the minutest of details.

A few things that might make it even better:
1. Pictures taken in an indoor setting are a little dull and rarely hazy if you tend to take photographs from a distance.
2. It takes a while for the camera to actually capture the photograph from the time you click the button and I have seen people becoming a little impatient waiting for the flash to glow...
3. The pictures come out hazy if your hands shake even for a moment during the entire process of taking a picture.

All the above, I think, are problems with all the Digital Cameras out there and so I have no major complaints. Try to buy a tripod and that should solve some of those problems. Whichever camera you buy, add upto about 200 dollars for an additional memory card (I bought a 256 MB card), USB card reader, camera bag and the warranty. And finally, get your pictures developed at a Kodak Picture Maker machine even though it costs you a little extra - no one can beat Kodak processing in terms of clarity and brightness...

Hope this review has helped you in making up your mind. I have taken about 150 photographs so far and have absolutely loved the experience. I am looking forward to my Vegas trip for some great photographs now.

If you're looking for a small, compact, super resolution digital camera, you can end your search with the Nikon 4300! After a lengthy and extensive journey for a feature-loaded, high performance, travel size camera, I initially gravitated to this little gem because of the superior picture quality (4 Mega Pixel). After using it for about a month, I can state unequivocably that this Nikon definitely delivers a huge bang for the buck. Its easy to use and the sheer fun of being able to use an array of Nikon accessories like the telephoto and wide-angle lenses is the proverbial icing on the cake. Yes, the picture quality and features (which are too numerous to mention) are unmatched for any camera in this price range. The design and construction are excellent-- as is the legendary quality of the Nikon optics. I own a 35mm SLR camera and this is my second digital. If you're seeking that elusive state of photographic euphoria that is free of buyer's remorse and filled with cool, then travel to the world of the Coolpix 4300!