Nikon Coolpix 4800

Admittedly, the Coolpix 4800 has the kind of looks that only a mother would love and looks the wrong side of robust alongside some of the more compact cameras on the market today. However, there's more to a camera than looks alone and the 4-megapixel Coolpix 4800 is packed with features that more than justify its less-than-svelte dimensions.

Most significantly, this camera houses a powerful 8.3x optical zoom lens and allows you to take close up shots at up to 1cm from a subject using the macro mode. Because the lens that Nikon has used in this camera has a large focal length range (equivalent to 36-300mm in a 35mm film camera), you can experiment with different depth of field effects such as using sharp focus on the subject of a portrait while blurring the background.

You may also want to try the continuous shooting mode, which takes up to eight images of a moving subject in quick succession. The panorama assist mode is another handy inclusion, helping you to take overlapping images by displaying the right-hand edge of the last image taken on the left-hand side of the 1.8inch screen.

You can create a single panoramic picture later using an image-editing program. For the proficient photographer, image settings such as ISO, white balance and exposure can be changed in the shooting settings menu, which, like the camera in general, is easy to operate.

For everyday photography there are 15 automated scene modes to optimise specific compositions such as beach or snow scenes or sunsets, while a mode dial at the top of the unit allows you to switch between still image and movie shooting and image review modes.

Picture quality was good overall with crisp images and lifelike colours and there are enough settings at your disposal to make the most of just about any shot you're likely to want to take.

The Coolpix 4800 is compatible with SD memory cards and, although none is included with the camera, this model does have 13.5Mb of internal memory, which is handy for those moments when the perfect picture presents itself and the memory card is full. This camera may be bulky but it will help you expand your photographic horizons.

Contact:
Nikon 0845 450 0155
www.nikon.co.uk

Also consider:
Fujifilm FinePix F810