Coolpix 4100: 4 Megapixel Entry-level Nikon for Under $200
by Stephen Caston on March 11, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Digital Camera
Final Words
The Nikon Coolpix 4100 offers quite a bit for its price. It features a 4 megapixel sensor, 3x optical zoom, and a good array of recording modes. Although there are no advanced exposure controls, metering options, or ISO settings, the 4100 does offer exposure compensation and manual white balance. In our regular lineup of tests, the Coolpix 4100 puts in a mixture of performances. For example, the camera takes 4.02 seconds to start up and take a picture, which is fairly slow compared to the competition. We weren't very impressed by its cycle times either. With the flash disabled, it can shoot with a mediocre 1.90 seconds between frames. When the flash is enabled, the camera takes an average of 12 excruciating seconds between frames. Although the camera is slow to start up and take pictures, the 4100 has very impressive shutter lag/focus times. In addition, the camera features an AF-assist lamp to aid in focusing in ultra-low light environments. The Coolpix 4100 also did extremely well in our battery test and has the advantage of using affordable AA batteries.In our assessment of image quality, the Coolpix 4100 falls a bit short. For example, we noticed a grainy quality throughout almost every picture taken with the 4100. Also, despite a good performance on our resolution chart, the 4100 produces images with a slightly soft/muddy appearance. Smaller than average file sizes are usually an indicator of over-compression and we were disappointed to find that this is the case with the 4100. With an average file size of 1.34 MB, we found some subtle JPEG artifacts as well as jaggies along diagonal lines in our sample photos. So, don't expect pristine 8"x10" prints with this camera, but it will certainly do a good job on smaller prints or for web use. The Coolpix 4100 can currently be found for ~$160. However, for about $100 more, the Nikon Coolpix 4200 offers a larger sensor (which should reduce grain), metering and ISO options, and a slightly smaller body.
| Pros | Cons |
| - Good resolution performance - Fast shutter lag - Very impressive battery life - Very accurate colors in sunlight - AF-assist lamp |
- Yellowish cast with Auto WB in tungsten light - Very slow Shot to Shot w/Flash - Soft and grainy images - Slow startup time - No options to adjust ISO setting - Low quality movie mode |
Thanks again to Newegg.com for loaning us the Nikon Coolpix 4100 for review.
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lopri - Wednesday, March 19, 2008 - link
[quote]we[/quote]g33k - Monday, July 18, 2005 - link
A very thorough review. Thanks!cholm - Monday, April 18, 2005 - link
Pardons for continuing the OT thread..."Barf" is Farsi for "snow", and a popular brand of laundry detergent and shampoo available at any corner store in Iran. In the same vein, a "barfi" is the guy who shovels the snow off of your roof.
MrCoyote - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
I was looking at Nikon, but bought a Kodak DX7440 instead. This gives you a good lens which has very little barrel distortion compared to all Nikon point and shoot. Plus manual settings for EVERYTHING and near instant shutter response, that Nikon's line lacks.The only bad thing about P&S cameras, are the 4:3 ratio of the pictures. I'd rather 35mm film ratio of 3:2, like all SLR cameras got.
stephencaston - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
#10: Yep it's real, but I can't remember what country it's from ;-)Jigga - Monday, March 14, 2005 - link
BARF detergent powder? Where do you get that--please tell me its a novelty gag and not an actual brand!!!skrivis - Monday, March 14, 2005 - link
Camera reviews...Epinions is worthwhile sometimes, and as someone else mentioned, dcresource is good. Another one I found valuable is Steve's Digicams (http://www.steves-digicams.com/)
skrivis - Monday, March 14, 2005 - link
The Canon A75/A510 and A85/A520 were models I had considered, and I was all set to purchase an A85 after the 520 was released and the prices on the A85 dropped significantly.However, the Nikon Coolpix 5400 was just too good a deal to pass up. :-)
Magnesium case, 5.1 MP, ED lens, flash hotshoe, LCD screen that swivels, diopter adjustment for the viewfinder... it's a level above any of the Canon 75/85/95 etc. models.
There are only two drawbacks to the 5400 (and some other Nikons).
One is that it takes a Li-ion battery pack. You can also use a standard Lithium disposable battery in an emergency. The good thing is that other companies make replacement packs that are cheaper than Nikon's. I was against this type of pack and wanted a camera that takes AA cells. I decided I can bend a little since the 5400 has so much else to offer.
The other drawback is the lack of an auto-focus helper light for low-light conditions. It hasn't proved to be a problem yet, and I plan to get a cheap LED pointer and use that if needed.
AtaStrumf - Saturday, March 12, 2005 - link
hoppa here is one review of Canon A510/520 I have been able to dig up:http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_...
I seems that A520 is a total waste of money since quality is not improved and due to larger files it is a bit slower and it even has more noise, so it's A510 all the way. I bought one and I am very happy with it. LOVE the all manual controls and it's very snappy.
Even movies are much better than I expected from 320x240@15 FPS up to 3 mins. Perfectly OK for goofying around, since this is primarily a still and not a movie camera. Even so it still puts this Nikon to shame.
Lens is a bit soft in corners at wider apertures, so I use Aperture Value at 5.5 to 7.1 and the quality is great.
Overall I think it is _the_ best camera for the money, I'm just having some strange problems when the camera refuses to shoot with flash and then tells me to change the batteries and turns off even though the batteries are far from depleted and even new fresh from the charger don't help. It happened twice in two weeks since I have it and is very annoying, since it comes out of the blue and disappears as mysteriously as it appears. Thankfully I bought it at a local camera shop so RMAing it will be easy.
hoppa - Saturday, March 12, 2005 - link
Thanks for the review. You guys should really review the new Canon A510/520. From what I've seen they (at least the 510) blow everything else in the price range away. Compared to the entry-level Nikons, they offer full manual controls, longer lenses and much sharper pictures. Certainly seems like a better choice to me.