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The CoolPix 775 is just Too Cool!

September 17th, 2001 -- Moose Peterson

 

In April, Nikon introduced its "latest" pocket digital Coolpix, the 775 (I know, I'm a little behind). I've had the CP775 for many months now and I'm here to tell you, I really, really, really, really, did I say really, like this camera! Yes, I shoot with the D1/X/H the majority of the time but I like to have a pocket camera just like the rest. I depended on the Kodak DC4800 for the last couple of years but the CP775 blows it out of the water (new technology will do that for you).
What is it about the CP775 that I love so much? It's a no-brainer camera that delivers images like I thought about it. The CP775 has a number of those "party" modes, seven to be exact. I've never used them other than to play, I just shoot on the AUTO mode all the time for killer results. I do tend to add flash when the camera doesn't think it's required, but that's a simple press of a button on the back of the camera. One thing I've always felt about Nikon's pocket digital cameras was their flash left a little bit to be desired. That's nowhere near the case with the CP775. The flash, be it the main light or fill, is perfect. Every time!
What I really like about this camera is all of this quality comes in a camera smaller than my palm! I carry this camera all the time in my shirt pocket and just love it (though my family is getting tired of being ambushed by it J). I also really like that Nikon has gone to the rechargeable battery system for their Coolpix cameras which includes the CP775. I find that I can take and play with about 128MB of images on one charge--that rocks for my needs!

What about the picture quality? It's not the D1x but it's not junk either. I've made beautiful 8x10 prints from the 2.01 million CCD that works just great for what I want it to do (Full 1600x1200 pixels). What really amazes me is how rugged this little dude is. I have it in my shirt pocket when I'm out fly fishing and it takes the abuse of the cold, dampness and jostle of fishing. Here's the specs for the camera:

Nikon COOLPIX 775 Specifications

Type

digital camera E775

Effective pixels

2.01 million

CCD

1/2.7-in. type (2.14 million total pixels)

Image size

Full (1600 x 1200 pixels), XGA (1024 x 768 pixels), VGA (640 x 480 pixels)

Lens

3x Zoom-Nikkor
f=5.8-17.4mm (35mm camera format equivalent to 38-115mm); f/2.8-f/4.9
Seven elements in six groups

Digital zoom

1.25x, 1.6x, 2.0x, 2.5x

Autofocus (AF)

Contrast-detect through-the-lens (TTL) AF
Focus modes Monitor on: continuous AF
Monitor off: single AF
Focus range 30cm (1 ft.) to infinity
Macro mode: 4cm (1.6 in.) to infinity

Viewfinder

Real-image zoom optical viewfinder with LED indication
Magnification 0.35-0.97x
Frame coverage Approximately 82%

Monitor

1.5-in. 110,000-dot low-temperature polysilicon TFT LCD with brightness adjustment
Frame coverage Approximately 97%

Auto off

Can be selected from 30 sec. (default) and 1, 5, and 30 min.

Storage

System Design rule for Camera File systems, Digital Print-Order Format (DPOF) compliant
Compression JPEG-baseline-compliant; FINE (approx. 1/4), NORMAL (approx. 1/8), BASIC (approx. 1/16)
QuickTime movies
Media CompactFlashT (CF) Card Type I

Approximate capacity

8MB (64MB)

 

FULL

XGA

VGA

FINE

8 (66)

19 (159)

48 (390)

NORMAL

16 (131)

37 (306)

88 (709)

BASIC

32 (256)

71 (578)

161 (1301)

Shooting modes

Auto (includes shooting menu for control of white balance, capture mode, best-shot selection, exposure compensation, and image sharpening)
Scene: Portrait, Party/Indoor, Night Portrait, Beach/Snow, Landscape, Sunset, and Back Light
Movie (up to 15 sec. of QVGA frames at 15 frames per second)

Capture modes

Single
Continuous
Multi-Shot 16 (sixteen frames 400 x 300 pixels in size)

Exposure metering

256-segment matrix through-the-lens (TTL) metering

Exposure

Control Exposure compensation (±2.0 EV in steps of 1/3 EV)
Range (ISO 100 equivalent) EV +2.5 - +16.2 (W), EV +4.2 - +17.8 (T)

Shutter

Mechanical and charge-coupled electronic shutter
Speed 1-1/1000 sec.

Aperture

Electronically controlled preset aperture
Range Two steps (f/2.8 and f/7.9 [W])

Sensitivity

Approximately ISO 100 equivalent with auto gain to ISO200 equivalent

White Balance

Select from Auto (matrix auto white balance with TTL control), Fine, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy, Speedlight, and Preset

Self-timer

10 or 3 sec. duration

Built-in Speedlight

Range 0.4-1.7m (1 ft. 4 in.-5 ft. 7 in.) at maximum zoom
0.4-3.0m (1 ft. 4 in.-9 ft. 10 in.) when camera zoomed all the way out
0.2-2.4m (8 in.-7 ft. 10 in.) in macro close-up mode
Flash control Sensor flash system
Flash modes Auto, Flash Cancel (off), Anytime Flash (fill flash), Slow Sync, Red-Eye Reduction

Playback

Playback modes Single frame, thumbnail (nine or four images), movie, zoom (2x), slide show
Image deletion User can delete all or selected frames
File attributes User can set transfer and protect attributes for each image

Interface

USB 1.1 interface

Video output

User can choose from NTSC and PAL

I/O terminals

DC input
Data output (video/USB)

Power requirements

One Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL1 (supplied), or six-volt 2CR5 (DL245) lithium battery (available separately)
EH-21 AC Adapter/Battery Charger (available separately)

Battery life

Approximately 100 minutes (EN-EL1) when using monitor at 20°C (68°F)

Operating environment

Temperature 0-40°C (32-104°F)
Humidity Under 85% (no condensation)

Dimensions (W x H x D)

Approximately 87 x 66.5 x 44mm (3.4 x 2.6 x 1.7 in.)

Weight

Approximately 185g (6.5 oz.) without battery and CompactFlashT card

COOLPIX 775 supports EPSON's "PRINT Image Matching". "PRINT Image Matching" is a technology that assists in producing vivid photo-quality prints from PIM-enabled digital cameras. To obtain this benefit, a digital camera and printer that are compatible with "PRINT Image Matching" are required.

 

The CP 775 has a bunch of bells and whistles I've not even played with but are pretty darn cool! The CP775 is truly designed for the traveling digital photographer. The 7 Scene Modes are Party/Indoor, Back Light, Portrait, Night Portrait, Landscape, Beach/Snow and Sunset. If you don't know how you want to capture these scenes, here's a quick and sure fire way to get started. All of the controls on the CP775 are such that you can set them literally with one hand tied behind your back.

The coverage of the Nikkor lens in the CP775 equals 38-115mm (35mm). It's easy to zoom by simply depressing the button on the back of the camera. These same buttons actually run many of the functions of the CP775 which makes it very easy to operate. This thing can even do macro, 1.6 inches utilizing the BSS function.
The CP775 has a movie mode producing QVGA-size images in QuickTime file format at approximate 15fps for up to 15 frames. That's a favorite of my boys when it comes to having fun! The CP775 also features a "transfer" button permitting users to automatically upload images from the CP775 directly to a computer (cables included with camera). You can even use the Plug-and-play USB interface!

 

Between the CP775, the newly released CP5000 and D1H, Nikon has all of my digital needs neatly wrapped up and covered. Gee.that means I just have to go out and shoot, darn!

All images for this article are Copyright B. Moose Peterson. 
All were taken with the Coolpix 775 except for the product shot.

 

 


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