Nikon Coolpix A $399 at BH/Amazon

I've seen these price differences for years and have heard various explanations. Maybe this is our compensation fro expensive health care.

Often when you take taxes into account there is not much of a difference; but it's the special deals that seem to be a feature of the market in the US. Even Black Friday (which has suddenly become a major thing over here) only got you 5 or 10% off stuff...
 
If they don't replace this camera, and just let it die, I'm gonna want a backup and I'd be happy to buy it at these prices. But I want to keep my options open in case they DO replace it and the replacement appeals to me in any meaningful way. I doubt I'd buy it right away because I like the current version so much so I could wait for the next one to come down in price, but I'd know it was there instead of buying another copy of this first one. And if they DO kill it (or if they replace it but I like the replacement less), it's not like the remaining stock is going to go UP in price. It might get harder to find but I'm sure I'll still be able to find one, if not new then slightly used...

So I'm holding out, but the cheaper it gets the more tempting it is...

-Ray
 
I don't need another camera.
I don't need another camera.
I don't need another camera.
I don't need another camera.
I don't need another camera.
I don't need another camera.
I don't need another camera.
 
Now this is interesting - until now all of the $399 cameras I saw offered were white, and this one says black OR white. I wonder if they're really offering black for $359.

It sure looks like Nikon really flubbed on this camera - overproduction etc. This kind of dumping can kill sales on a lot of items for months.
 
If they don't replace this camera, and just let it die, I'm gonna want a backup and I'd be happy to buy it at these prices. But I want to keep my options open in case they DO replace it and the replacement appeals to me in any meaningful way. I doubt I'd buy it right away because I like the current version so much so I could wait for the next one to come down in price, but I'd know it was there instead of buying another copy of this first one. And if they DO kill it (or if they replace it but I like the replacement less), it's not like the remaining stock is going to go UP in price. It might get harder to find but I'm sure I'll still be able to find one, if not new then slightly used... So I'm holding out, but the cheaper it gets the more tempting it is... -Ray

My impression after using it a couple of months is that even with the 28 mm FL limitation, they overstretched the sensor capability putting it into that very tiny camera.
 

It's just an impression, that other APS-C cameras did much better, and you could see the vignetting in lower light more with the Nikon A than with those other cameras. Here are the only images I have posted - I can't complain since I was shooting JPEG only, but I cropped more than I wanted to....

Dalethorn.com
Dalethorn.com
 
My impression after using it a couple of months is that even with the 28 mm FL limitation, they overstretched the sensor capability putting it into that very tiny camera.

Well, we differ on that. To me, the only compromise was limiting the max aperture to f2.8, but I find the lens is amazing (for what it is - it's obviously not quite the Zeiss stuck on the front of the RX1...) and the sensor notably better than I'd experienced with an APS sensor previously.

Same with the Ricoh GR BTW - even slightly smaller camera and slightly closer to perfect in the corners wide open. Not that the Nikon is bad - it's almost perfect - if you want to see soft corners check out the Fuji 18mm lens for the X-series bodies. I don't personally care that much about soft corners, but it seems to be a metric that a lot of people do care about.

I find the IQ of the Coolpix A basically great, sublime when you consider it's a pocket camera...

-Ray
 
Well, we differ on that. To me, the only compromise was limiting the max aperture to f2.8, but I find the lens is amazing (for what it is - it's obviously not quite the Zeiss stuck on the front of the RX1...) and the sensor notably better than I'd experienced with an APS sensor previously. Same with the Ricoh GR BTW - even slightly smaller camera and slightly closer to perfect in the corners wide open. Not that the Nikon is bad - it's almost perfect - if you want to see soft corners check out the Fuji 18mm lens for the X-series bodies. I don't personally care that much about soft corners, but it seems to be a metric that a lot of people do care about. I find the IQ of the Coolpix A basically great, sublime when you consider it's a pocket camera... -Ray

You may be right and my impressions off-base, but ..... that makes the current dumping price genuinely scary. Does anyone have further thoughts on that?
 
You may be right and my impressions off-base, but ..... that makes the current dumping price genuinely scary. Does anyone have further thoughts on that?
Well, there are rumors of a new one and plenty of speculation that they're just killing it off - we don't really know for sure. Panasonic tends to do the same - at the end of a product's life when a replacement is coming, or just if it doesn't sell very well. They released the LX7 on the heels of the RX100, immediately knew they had trouble on their hands, and lowered the common selling price from it's opening price of $500 down to about $250-300 within a couple of months. Nikon has let this one go for nearly two years at full retail, so it's clearly not because it's not selling (not saying it's sold well - no idea - but if that was the motivation they'd have dropped the price a lot sooner). So it seems likely that they're either discontinuing the line or getting ready to introduce a new model and trying to get rid of remaining inventory on this one...

Seems to me they did that with the V1 as they prepared to and then did release the V2...

-Ray
 
You may be right and my impressions off-base, but ..... that makes the current dumping price genuinely scary. Does anyone have further thoughts on that?

I don't have a Masters degree in Economics, but my guess is that they need to scale manufacturing to bring per unit costs down and if they need to blow out the remaining percentage at break even or a small loss, well then that's just the cost of ordering more than they needed.

After flushing all these through the system though, I really wonder what the market could possibly be for the next one. But there seems to be no shortage of people lining up to buy a shiny new phone every 2 years when the old ones work fine. I think there's just still too many people who have too much disposable income. I need to start manufacturing disposable electronics built by slave labor.
 
After flushing all these through the system though, I really wonder what the market could possibly be for the next one. But there seems to be no shortage of people lining up to buy a shiny new phone every 2 years when the old ones work fine. I think there's just still too many people who have too much disposable income. I need to start manufacturing disposable electronics built by slave labor.

At some point they'll stop making better and better and more capable cameras. MAYBE. Maybe not. But until then, if the new one comes in at 24mp with a flip up screen and/or a built-in EVF, there will be some upgraders. There are rumors of a 24 mp Ricoh GR replacement too and you know that'll sell to the Ricoh-philes. I don't have much desire for 24mp the way I use the Coolpix (or Df for that matter), but if they magically make it even better in low light or improve a couple of key features, I might eventually go for a new one.

I'm running really REALLY low on GAS these days, but mostly because I got over my fear of DSLRs and now I don't feel like there's ANYTHING better out there than what I've got, let alone something I'd want to shoot with. But before I got to that last step, I'd always be looking for a leg-up with the compact mirrorless cameras and I don't think this would be any different. Although the exponential improvements in sensor performance seems to have finally plateau'd in the last couple of years, so maybe it's getting tougher to sell new gear without the promise of a truly better sensor...

-Ray
 
At some point they'll stop making better and better and more capable cameras. MAYBE. Maybe not. But until then, if the new one comes in at 24mp with a flip up screen and/or a built-in EVF, there will be some upgraders. There are rumors of a 24 mp Ricoh GR replacement too and you know that'll sell to the Ricoh-philes. I don't have much desire for 24mp the way I use the Coolpix (or Df for that matter), but if they magically make it even better in low light or improve a couple of key features, I might eventually go for a new one.

I'm running really REALLY low on GAS these days, but mostly because I got over my fear of DSLRs and now I don't feel like there's ANYTHING better out there than what I've got, let alone something I'd want to shoot with. But before I got to that last step, I'd always be looking for a leg-up with the compact mirrorless cameras and I don't think this would be any different. Although the exponential improvements in sensor performance seems to have finally plateau'd in the last couple of years, so maybe it's getting tougher to sell new gear without the promise of a truly better sensor...

-Ray


We're rapidly reaching the point where upgrading is far less urgent. And we've actually passed that point with some cameras and gear. For me, 16 mp is more than enough and my GAS seems to have been cured for now. A GR with a built-in EVF would get my attention but I'm not sure I'd buy it. I suppose the introduction of the long-rumored organic sensors would excite me - but only if they brought truly marked performance improvements.
 
I think there's just still too many people who have too much disposable income.

Or at least act like they do. :doh:

I've thought about the $399 deal and did some looking around. The vignetting problem does seem to be a real effect (Photozone documents it well and you can really see it in Dale's "dragonfly" shot) but I can live with it. Oddly, the first and only Canon I ever owned was the M and now my first Nikon will be the A. I am clearly only attracted to monoalphabetic offerings from the Big Two.
 
I went to the camera size website and compared the A to the Sony RX1. The bodies are the same size. The lens is bigger on the RX1 but it's also not a collapsible design. I wonder how small Sony could make a FX compact with a collapsible lens.
 
I went to the camera size website and compared the A to the Sony RX1. The bodies are the same size. The lens is bigger on the RX1 but it's also not a collapsible design. I wonder how small Sony could make an FX compact with a collapsible lens.
 
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