Nikon Coolpix 8800

polopaul69

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
7 votes

Price Paid:  $499.00 from Jessops

Summary:
I have read other reviews on this camera, and personally as you can see from my gallery, it does produce great shots time and time again. The 8800 does take a bit of playing around with in order to create the best settings for you, but that is why it has programmable modes, rather than just using the Auto mode. Plus it makes you a better photographer in the long run. It does take a while to focus, but with all cameras, it depends what you are using it for... I mainly take photos of nature and landscapes, which doesn't really need a fast lag time or focus time. If I was taking action shots, I’d probably use my dad's 350D. I bought the camera back in August, I have used it for my sisters wedding, parties, visiting London, Windsurfing, on the beaches and cliffs of Cornwall and all manner of occasions, and to say the least, I would rather have this by my side than have to worry about taking lenses, tripods etc with me wherever I wanted to go - especially down the sides of cliffs etc. You can use it as a simple point and click camera, but that isn't what it was designed for. It was designed for professional minded enthusiasts who wanted a good 10x optical lens which works well in ALL situations, VR to reduce the blur caused by camera shake, changeable settings (ISO, WB, Bracketing etc) multiple modes and settings and to feel like a DSLR without having to lag around with you all of the extras you would with a DSLR. These are afterall my own views and opinions. If you don't like it - take it back and change it. A photographer should be happy with their equipment at the end of the day, and if it doesn't do what you want it to do, change it to one that does.

Strengths:
10x good Optical Lens - 35-350mm VR - stops blurring (when on maximum zoom helps a lot) Good Lithium-ion battery - normally get to take 800 photos on 8MP level before I need to charge it again

Weaknesses:
Slow focus time Slow lag

Similar Products Used:
Cannon Powershot PRO 1 Cannon Powershot S1 IS Cannon Powershot S2 IS Nikon Coolpix 8700

Customer Service:
Good - they price matched saving me £200 Good support from Nikon

Heymagee

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5,
4 votes

Price Paid:  $899.00 from B&H PhotoVideo

Summary:
This camera leaves a lot to be desired.

Strengths:
The camera is small and easy to take along.

Weaknesses:
Poor focusing. I have yet to get a nice sharp picture. The images are very noisey in low light situations.

Customer Service:
Nikon customer service is just abysmal. My first 8800 needed replacement and it took months to have them agree that the camera had technical serious problems.

racom

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5,
1 votes

Price Paid:  $700.00 from buydig.com

Summary:
I've had this camera for 3 months. My second digital so the learning curve was not so steep. My results have been mixed mostly due to MY errors. The camera handles very well, has a very good feel, not as small as some which I like better. The lens is exceptional which is my prime reason for the puchase. The write time complained about by many is not a problem for me, I use a 80x card and usually 5mp setting, works very well. I have to believe that mosy complaints about results are due to user error. I love what it does.

Strengths:
Exceptional lens, VR shake control, excellent handling, easy to use menu and controls, good battery life, IR remote device.

Weaknesses:
slow write time.

Similar Products Used:
nikon film cameras

Customer Service:
none

tonymgr1710

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
21+ years

Visitors rate this review
3.75 of 5,
4 votes

Price Paid:  $550.00 from Pixmania

Summary:
I have to say that the camera overall is excellent, well balanced and capable of producing excellent (which I have). Some see to expect DLSR performance, but if you want that then spend another £500+ and remember all the extras you have to lug around with you!!! I also use an EOS20D and this little machine is perfectly capable of keeping sides with it image wise. Alright the speed is not as fast, but thats where the extra money goes to in a DLSR. I use it when I am out on the mountain bike and to/from work, where I don't want bags of equipment and security risks, this one you can slip into a large coat pocket and no-ones any the wiser.

Strengths:
Superb picture quality, it is NOT slow as some say. The zoom is excellent as is the VR which impressive.

Weaknesses:
None that I can think of, only the person behind the camera

Similar Products Used:
Nikon CP 5700

Customer Service:
As usual with Pixmania, I cannot complain. First class service, and the benefit that card fraud is being taken seriously. Very well done.

cp8800

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
2-5 years

Visitors rate this review
2.33 of 5,
3 votes

Price Paid:  $650.00

Summary:
i think the people that give this camera really bad reviews are those expecting a DSLR performance. i am upgrading from another digital camera so i quite, quite happy with this camera's image quality & video capabilities.

Strengths:
excellent image quality. i have definitely put the camera's zoom capabilities to good use. videos are smooth and clean. battery life is decent.

Weaknesses:
need to buy a fast writing media card (i use an 80x lexar compact flash) & i have not experienced slow write time except when writing a full video file at the max setting.

Similar Products Used:
cp8700 cp5700 cp5000 olympus 2 meg camera