Nikon Coolpix 885 3MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom and Battery Charger

by Nikon

Product Details

Product Manual [3.64mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 2 x 3.7 x 2.7 inches ; 7.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0000635UW
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,736 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 15, 2002

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good things do come in small packages!, May 31, 2002

By 

"cutelilangel4830" (Gainesville, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nikon Coolpix 885 3MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom and Battery Charger (Electronics)

As a first time digital camera user I found the Nikon 885 extremely simple and user-friendly. The user manual is very easy to understand and it is easy to find what you need. The small size is great for traveling. The shutter speed seems fine to me although I heard some people found it to be very slow on their cameras.

One of my favorite things about the camera is the movie feature. You can make a 40 second movie without sound and play it on your computer. I was impressed with the quality and even in fine mode the 'movie' only takes up the memory space of 7 or 8 pictures. Which is hardly anything if you have the 128 mb card which takes 80 pictures in fine mode, 157 in normal mode and 302 in basic mode.

One of the bonuses of owning a Nikon is that the memory card that it takes is made by several different companies and therefore cheaper and easier to find. The Sonys, on the other hand, only accept Sony Memory sticks, which is very annoying because some computers and printers do not accept the Sony disk, while almost every device will take the one used for Nikon. I bought a device to plug into my USB port that I can insert the disk into to download onto my computer so that the battery of my camera isn't running out while it uploads. Oh while I'm on the subject of batteries another great thing about Nikon is that it has an adapter to charge your battery outside of the camera so if you have 2 batteries, one can be charging while you're using the camera. Oh, and if you are on vacation or something out sightseeing and your battery goes dead you can run into a shop and buy regular camera batteries b/c Nikon made their cameras to accept them too.

Another one of my favorite things is the scene modes. This is something that was important for me because I know very little about photography. I really needed a camera that I could just point and shoot and Nikon was the only brand the scene selection feature where you don't have to focus it and decide whether to use flash or not and all that stuff. The twelve scenes are portrait, party/indoor, night portrait, beach/snow, landscape, sunset, night landscape, museum, fireworks show, close up, copy (black & white), and back light.

Well I hope you found this review helpful. Obviously I'm very happy with my Nikon 885. If your looking for a cute, compact, easy to use camera then this would be a good choice. Good luck!

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Works okay, but could be a little better, December 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Nikon Coolpix 885 3MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom and Battery Charger (Electronics)

I bought this camera about 8 months ago. I'm a grad student in a design related subject, so I often need to take several dozen reference pictures in a short period of time (many of which I won't keep). Digital is a great way to go considering film processing costs.

The good about this camera is that the image quality is high. I use it in high resolution mode, so I have more flexibility to manipulate the photos later in Photoshop. It also has a surprising ability to shoot in low-ish light without its flash.

It is a very simple camera to use. I don't use any of the proprietary software that came with it, such as the photo organizing software, but instead simply plug it into a USB port and treat it like an external drive. It also comes with a battery and charger, which seems to last for about 40 or 50 pictures (depending). I usually leave it to charge in the evening overnight and it is fine.

However, there are also a few frustrating aspects.

The software that it comes with is pretty much junk, so if you don't already have a graphics package on your computer, this is worth considering. I never really figured out how to use the photo database program effectively, because it told me it had "expired" after only a dozen or so pictures were down loaded (apparently a $[amount] camera still doesn't get you a full licensed software package--which it later prompts you to buy). I would ignore the included software completely.

The camera also really likes the colors red and orange, and they sometimes turn out nearly neon. Again, if you have Photoshop or something like it, this can easily be corrected (and it doesn't really bother me).

Likewise, this camera doesn't have many modes like B/W and sepia like some other cameras (i.e. Sony) have, but if you are into digital manipulation this is easy enough to do yourself.

Like most digital cameras, the memory included is way too small to be useful. The one accessory that I purchased was a 128 mb flash memory card. Although 128 mb is a lot, I would say that the minimum needed for this camera is probably 64 mb. So add about $[amount]to the price for your memory.

Other annoying aspects: there is a pretty big shutter delay from when you press the button, meaning that this camera will not work well for sports or action shots. Also, even when the battery is fully charged, my camera goes to standby after only about 15 seconds, and takes a few seconds to come back on. I've tried to change this, but the settings seem to have no effect. So again, spontaneity is not it's strong suit.

Overall, a functional camera that is reliable and works well, but with a few wrinkles. It is about what I expected from a "newfangled" emerging technology.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent optics and software, December 19, 2002

By 

Mehmet C. Mocan (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nikon Coolpix 885 3MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom and Battery Charger (Electronics)

I have searched for several weeks for a digital camera, and although I own a Canon Elan 7e conventional SLR, I went ahead with Nikon and I am very pleased for having made this choice.
If you want to get a 3-4 MP camera, I would like to tell you why you should consider this camera:
1. Excellent optics. Very crisp pictures, good color adjustment. (you can always depend on Nikon because the commpany is dedicated to optical instruments in contrast to some other companies who produce digital cameras, speakers, PDAs, TVs, radios, keyboards etc at the same time! Makes sense?).
2. Size: It is compact and light but at the same time gives you the feeling of holding a camera and not some nonspecific electronic rectangular object (which I value very much).
3. The zoom: 3x optical zoom is not provided by other brands with similar value and MP. They all offer digital zoom and all of us know what that means!
4. Software: Very intuitive and easy to learn. I did not have to read the manual to understand the menus and that is a great plus. The Custom mode offers several settings from room lighting type to bracketing, and several other stuff that you will enjoy using. But the bottom line is, you actually can get to use the camera the way you want to just by the click of a single button.
5. The Macro mode: Fantastic! You can get close up from 1.6 inches and this is real. Try the other cameras and get a close up at that distance. I have tried but could not succeed. If you are going to use the Macro mode, be sure to try all the brands but when you try, you will see that Nikon has an excellent macro mode.
One problem I have encountered is the focusing sound the camera produces when it focuses. However, at day 2, I realized that it was due to the default continuous AF mode and when I switched it to single AF, there was virtually no sound. If that sound had persisted, the camera rating would have been 4 stars and I am so glad that you can actually get rid of that sound. Some people may not find it bothering but I did!
Amazon offered it at a great price when I bought it and I don't know if they will continue selling it because it is so good you don't need any better (unless you want to print pictures with sizes > 11x14 inches, where Coolpix 4300 or 4500 would be better suited to your intentions. However, for that paper size, remember that each shot will be of about 2 MB size)
I definitely recommend this camera to people looking for 3-4 MB range. Just try it before buying any digital camera. You will notice the difference.