Let’s imagine… I’m having an involved conversation with a friend, and the conversation turns deep. I was asked; “What is one thing you wish never happened?”
-crickets-
Selling my Nikon Coolpix A.
OK, hear me out- this might sound a bit dramatic, but as photographers, we do buy and sell a lot of cameras. There’s probably a shortcut to eBay directly on our home screen. (Sound familiar?) And while most times buying and selling some old gear is just one transactional push closer to my next dopamine fix * ahem*.. camera purchase… I knew this sale was a mistake.
What’s so great about the Coolpix A?
In a nutshell, you basically get a DSLR in your pocket. First off, the construction of this camera is excellent. The only thing that ever slightly concerned me was the thin blades making up the automatic lens covers. But after carrying this in my pocket for years and hundreds of on-off cycles, I’ve never experienced any issues.
The external controls are aplenty on this thing. With more buttons and dials than a typical point-and-shoot, adjusting your exposures is fast and pleasant with minimal menu-diving.
Most importantly, though, is the image quality. The Coolpix A has an APS-C sized sensor with no AA filter, parked right behind a super sharp 28mm equivalent 2.8 prime lens. Seriously, I can’t stress enough how good the image quality is on this camera.
The Coolpix A did film simulations before they were cool
Most people shooting this camera would be taking advantage of its RAW files- but not me. I was always satisfied with the in-camera JPEGs that it would deliver. In fact, there are several profiles available to choose from, not unlike Fuji’s film simulations. In addition, there are ‘tweak-able’ profiles that allow you to edit the sharpness, contrast, brightness, saturation, and hue (sound familiar, film recipes?).
These profiles (picture controls) are called Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, and Landscape.
Why would you get rid of something this wonderful?
I’ve been asking myself this very thing since that woeful day I shipped it off… but we all make mistakes. The real answer here is that I was saving up for a new camera. Shocker!
I’ve had my eye on a Fuji XT30ii for the last few months because I love shooting with my XT3, but it’s not exactly the most portable camera. And now that I have the funds saved up Fuji can’t seem to keep a camera in stock for more than a week. Sigh.
So, that’s the quick summary. I put together a video below that goes over the camera’s specs and more of the details from someone who’s a been long-time user of the Coolpix A. I’ll miss it, but hey- there’s always that next camera…
Handmade prints and experimental films:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnalogImages