Nikon Coolpix A $399 at BH/Amazon

Someday and not too far off, we'll be ordering many things from the Internet as patterns only, and making them at home with 3d printers. Currently they're very crude with relatively simple composite materials, but I have a feeling this will eventually make almost everything.
 
The A came in this morning from Roberts. There is a US warranty, which is nice. The time was set but every still looks new. Very solid feeling, a cold metal silver camera. AF is a bit slow as I had read, but I had an E-P1 and a Canon M so it's hard to scare me. The MF ring is nice, and the distance scale is good enough to set a basic zone focus or hyperfocal distance. Of course, it all resets when the camera is turned off (I haven't checked on sleep yet). I can see why some are annoyed by the macro focus. You have to switch is on at about a meter, and that means you will use it for many not-really-macro shots. A few quick shots give me really nice sharp IQ. For $360, this is pretty nice. I guess I was forgetting that Nikon was marketing this as a high end compact which would even compete with the X100s. From what I've read, the GR is probably a little better to use, but if that wasn't true I wouldn't have gotten such a deal.:big grin: I also have an Oly VF-1 designed for the 17. The lines are way off, but the total view through the VF is only a bit narrower than the view on the LCD, so that will work fine.
 
Enjoy the camera, it will be perfect for "single in January 2015". I had both the GR and the Coolpix A for a while and actually liked the handling of the Coolpix a bit better. Seems that most prefer the GR though, but I've never really liked them plus the font size on the menus is so small on the GR. I like the Info menu of the Coolpix A where the important settings are easy to access and see without putting my reading glasses on.

The camera is a bit quirky and it takes a bit to figure out how to configure it. I reconfigured the camera to use the front button for AF instead of the shutter button. That way it is easy to pre-focus and then shoot. I can still use regular shutter button focusing via one of the user settings and continuous focusing so I can hand the camera to someone else to take a picture.

I think $360 is a steal for this camera :) I paid full price but got some off the finder that I bought at the same time. If you can find the Nikon finder for a decent price it is the best 28mm finders that I've used. Better and much lighter than the Voigtlander one.

-Thomas
 
Got mine with the Nikon optical finder too. It is a really nice finder, especially since it was thrown in to the deal along with an extended Nikon warranty when they were selling for $600.
 
I prefer the handling of the A also to that of the GR, but a case can easily be made for either - which means it's just down to personal preference again, not better or worse. Make sure you have the firmware up to date. The AF in good light is a bit better but in low light it's a LOT better than with the original firmware.

-Ray
 
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