 Very satisfied for a point and shoot! |
| Review Date: December 22, 2009 |
| Reviewer: J. Barrett, Salt Lake City, UT |
I purchased this camera through Amazon about a month ago, in anticipation of an upcoming cruise to the Caribbean.
My goals when buying this camera were pretty straightforward.
1) Good picture quality.
2) Very portable. Something to fit in jeans / short pockets.
3) Fast interface and quick to snap photos.
4) Limited motion blur. Basically image and camera stabilization.
After packing this camera around everywhere I went for 10 days straight, and using it religiously over the course of the past 4 weeks, I must say I am very happy with the results. My pictures from the Caribbean turned out spectacular, as have all the others in between. So here is the breakdown.
1) Picture quality is great. It does a pretty good job on the auto settings, but it isn't terribly hard to manipulate your shot in manual mode as well, if you're into that.
2) For 10 days straight I packed the camera around in jeans pockets and board shorts. It is light and easy to carry, fits just fine, and isn't a pain.
3) The interface is incredibly fast! It loads up super quick! It does take an extra second or two before all the features are fully loaded, but that was of no concern to me. Navigating the interface is a breeze. You're able to take photos pretty quickly, and with the adjustable ISO you can make it even faster if you so desire. To start it up, and snap a good quality photo in auto mode, might take 3 seconds or so. Very happy about that.
4) This thing is incredible when it comes to blur. I was so impressed I even did a series of tests with it. In auto mode it is easy enough to capture a car traveling 50mph+ with no blur, from a standstill. I took it in my car and on surface streets, traveling 30mph+, captured photos of the city with no blur and good colors. Taking photos from a tour bus on my trip turned out wonderful as well. Using it on my cruise from the tender boats was great. Despite traveling at a decent pace the shots never blurred, even when capturing fast moving settings like the boat wake or other boats.
-- Bonuses --
Works decently in low light situations. Sometimes the auto mode isn't exact and you need to take a second photo, but it works well 99% of the time. I was very impressed by turning off the flash and letting auto mode adjust the ISO in low light situations - those pictures came out great! I played with the ISO in manual mode a fair bit as well, and you can do some fun stuff in low light. It isn't going to be a DSLR, but shoot, for what this camera is and what it costs, it does well.
Macro mode! It is killer on this camera. Extreme closeups come out nice and crisp.
Rechargeable battery. I know this is virtually standard these days, but just in case you didn't notice it. It's really handy.
I was able to purchase a high speed SD card for very cheap online (newegg), and expand my storage up to 8GB. This worked out well, and offloading pictures is nice and quick.
All in all, if you're in the market for a decent point and shoot, this just might be the camera for you. I shopped through a ton of cameras, and then narrowed it down to about 15 for detailed review. This one came out as the winner in my book, and I'm very satisfied with my purchase.
There are several other great cameras out there though, so do your research and read reviews, especially if you're after certain features. All I can do is share my experience with this particular camera, and in this case, it was outstanding. So I hope that helps in some regard.
Cheers, and good luck! |
Ideal for Street Photography
|
| Review Date: January 23, 2010 |
| Reviewer: William R. Bullard, Stuttgart, Arkansas |
| The main camera that is used for a wide range of subjects is my Nikon D70 that I have been using since 2003. The Nikon Coolpix 640 turned out to be my constant companion with a cord attaching around my neck and the camera inserted in my shirt pocket. It can be wide angle for street photography and has a very easy zoom feature adjustment at the shutter release button. It is possible to go to close-up format instantly as well as time-release, flash settings and exposure compensation. Scene modes, white balance and other menu change are instant with a little practice. The overall quality of the photographed images are comparable to my D70. |
GOOD CAM GREAT PRICE
|
| Review Date: January 27, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Jonathan Flores, Puerto Rico |
| great camera great portability great pictures easy to use the best of all was the price |
Muy buen producto
|
| Review Date: December 1, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Alfonso Celi, Caracas, Venezuela |
| La cámara es fantástica. Es liviana, fácilmente manejable, buena calidad de las tomas, pero lo único que creo que le falta son algunos recursos adicionales para mejorar las tomas, y hacer algunos ajustes manuales. Quizás por el tamaño y para lo que se quiere la cámara, esta muy bien. |
Speedy point and shoot camera!
|
| Review Date: November 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Regan Cheng, CA, USA |
I have been looking for a compact all around point and shoot camera for awhile now. I have used multiple cameras in the last few months, and I think I have found my favorite. I'm not an expert in terms of color reproduction, or other details aspects of the final photo, but I don't see much to complain about in terms of photo quality.
PROS:
Ultra fast focus. This baby can focus and lock on in < 1 sec. This ensure that you'll be able to capture those timeless moments in a blink of an eye.
Fast startup. The startup of 0.7s is true, BUT only if you are in Auto Mode and Single Shot mode with AF/Center Focus. If you are in another mode or continuous/BSS, face detect, the camera takes almost 5 seconds before you can take your first show. Although I'm a little bit disapointed that the startup of the camera is limited to a very specific mode, I use Auto/Single/AF 99% of the time so I'm not too concerned.
Easy, intuitive controls. I didn't have to read the manual, and I can get around easily.'
High ISO modes, up to 6400. Although I would not recommend anything greater than 800 (or even 400 if you can help it), just have a capability just in case is nice.
Fast 5x wide angle lens. This lens has a pretty standard wide angle lens, 28mm, but the nice thing is that is also a fast lens - maximum aperture of 2.7. Helps a bit in low light. 5x is more than what basic P&S have (usually 3x).
Extremely compact and solid. Its pretty small, but still has a good feel in your hand. Easily slips into your pocket.
CONS
Picture quality is just SO-SO. There hasn't been many compact 12mp P&S that excel in picture quality. While its not terrible, its not something to be excited about. Its comparable to any of the SD800-SD960, SD1200 cameras.
ISO800 is barely usable, and anything above that I don't recommend. Of course, I've been spoiled by DSLRs, but I was hoping for better.
Battery drains pretty quickly. I don't get the 200+ shots that Nikon says I can get. I get maybe 100? Of course, I use flash sometimes, I replay the photo's quite a bit, turn it on/off a lot. Maybe that 270 shots per battery is 270 continuous shots? I don't know. Get a second one in my opinion.
This camera takes a while to write to the SD flash card. On my previous Canon SD800 and Panasonic ZR1, I was able to take a picture, and flip it to the playback mode instantly. Now, it takes about 1.5 seconds to write to the card, before I can enable the playback mode. Slightly annoying.
So, who is this camera for? Its for the amateur photographer who needs a fast, compact, basic Point and Shoot that will get the job done. I would recommend this over the Canon SD1200, SD800-SD960. But, because of the wide angle and fast shooting capability, you will be able to take quick shots which usually lead to more keeper photo's. |
|
No video reviews found for this product.
November 25th, 2009 | 
Author: 
Posted in 
Tags: