Nikon Coolpix 885

April 10, 2002

The new digital cameras continue to amaze us. Cameras are now available with a mind-boggling assortment of features that make them suitable for just about any type of photographs, and picture quality is superb even for enlargements.

An example is the new camera from Nikon, the Coolpix 885 (Nikon, $549), which offers the best of three worlds: point-and-shoot, fixed scene, and manual. Lets take a look at how each one works in this compact bundle of technology.

In the point-and-shoot (auto) mode, the camera selects what its programming considers the best settings for shutter, aperture and "film" speed (ISO) and whether to use flash. The camera uses default settings for image quality and size. Image quality setting refers to the amount of compression used to store the pictures: less image compression results in better picture quality, but it also results in a larger file size for that picture. Image size is determined by the pixel size for that picture and can be thought of as resolution. More pixels mean better detail and better quality prints and enlargements. And--you guessed it--a larger file size.

Even in the "point-and-shoot" (auto) mode, you can override some of the auto settings with single button selections on the camera. Set the flash to have it fire in the red-eye reduction mode, fire all the time (fill-flash), or never fire. The camera also has single buttons to set it for distance pictures or close up (up to 2 inches, which make it great for copying documents or pictures), or a self-timer option so you can get in the picture. Picture image quality and size, however, can only be set through the Set-Up menu.

The "Scene" (Assisted Creative Photography) mode of the Nikon Coolpix 885 allows you to quickly set the camera for the best results in 12 common shooting situations. These include Portrait, Night Portrait, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Night Landscape, Museum, Back Light or, our favorite, Fireworks Show. Make your selection from the menu, and shoot away.

The manual (CSM, or Custom Shooting Mode) mode gives you full mastery over a wealth of control options, and we think there’s plenty to keep most advanced photographers happy. Selection of these options is somewhat cumbersome, as is the case with many advanced digital cameras, with scroll, point and select using the camera’s LCD monitor. But you’ll be able to select camera shutter speed (60 sec - 1/1000 sec), aperture (f2.8 - f7.6) and ISO (100, 200, 400) and other settings including white balance, metering type, focus area selection, contrast, brightness, image sharpening and noise reduction.

In the CSM mode the camera can be set to do auto bracketing of exposure or color balance. The camera will take three or five exposures at differing EVs (exposure values) or color balances. You select the best result in either instance. The camera also offers an interesting feature: the Best Shot Selection in which the camera takes multiple exposures (up to 10) as long as you hold the shutter button and then automatically selects the sharpest picture.

Movie recording mode is available using QuickTime but, for pictures only--no sound.

The Nikon Coolpix 885 is a compact, palm-sized camera with a solid feel. With the camera’s 3.21 MB sensor, Nikkor optics and 3X optical zoom, we obtained superb pictures. The camera uses compact flash cards for picture storage and a direct connect USB cable to transfer pictures to your computer. Using the camera’s video output, you can show pictures on your TV screen. Nikon View 4 software is included for photo editing, printing, optimizing images for Internet use and organizing your digital photos.

Under low light situations, focusing was slow (up to three seconds), which precludes its use for any fast action shots such as ice hockey. Otherwise, the camera performed well, and for point-and-shoot use was easy to use. We wished the camera had a small LCD status display so we wouldn’t have to keep the monitor (and its battery drain) on all the time to check the status of pictures remaining, quality setting, flash setting and so forth. The monitor did, however, provide us with additional useful information such as what shutter speed and aperture setting the camera would chose for that particular scene. There’s an optical viewfinder, but we found that it showed only about 75 per cent of the final recorded scene. The camera uses a 2CR5 lithium battery, which can provide up to 100 minutes’ use even with the monitor on. An optional rechargeable lithium-ion battery is available, or the camera can be powered by an optional AC adapter.

Overall, the camera is a good moderately-priced "in-between" digital camera. It lets you start off your digital photography experience with point-and-shoot ease and get some great pictures, but still provides many advanced features that allow you to become more sophisticated in your photographic efforts. Since the camera is packed with so many features, you’ll need to spend learning and practice time to get the very most out of it.

Return to Main Product Reviews Page