Out and About with the Nikon CoolPix 4300

Out and About with the Nikon CoolPix 4300

A heady pixel count of 4MP, limited control, fairly slow operation and yet irreseistable to try out because this example of the 4300 absolutely glows with newness. It has barely been touched and could be straight off a dealer's shelf. Not only the camera, but a gorgeous Nikon leather case made to measure. In fact, the case has a potential lifespan far in excess of the camera and no doubt will house many things before it is finally discarded. So, the camera is an item of beauty in its own right, but is it an item of beauty to use?

To find out, we started to search out some new cemeteries to haunt, so to speak, and found ourselves at Leigh Cemetery. There, we found a fairly flat location with huge numbers of gravestones, but very few stand out ones. Tyldesley Cemetery is much smaller, but much more varied. However, the jewel in the crown was the disused chapel, and we found the doors enticingly wide open. It would have been rude not to go inside and have a look. It's the sort of discovery that gets us excited photographically, so the Pentax MX-1 had to come out to record it more fully, as the Nikon 4300 is not really up to doing the interiors. That's something for tomorrow's blog, but until then, back to the subject and here's the images from the Nikon CoolPix 4300, all uncropped but resized for the blog.






















In summary gorgeous to look at, delightful to hold, but not much fun to use for photography. It's just too slow, the viewfinder and screen are just too poor and the amount of control is minimal. However, to be fair, the results are not at all bad and this camera does at least have a Lithium battery pack so there's no fiddling about with AA batteries. It's back to being a collectable now though, which I guess is just obsolescence.