Nikon COOLPIX A 16 Megapixel Digital Camera - Silver

Bottom Line Up Front: Exceptional images, tack sharp and great color. Quick focus. Quality build, feels good in the hands and handles well. All the essential settings and knobs are accessible. Highly recommend if your shooting style is compatible working with a fixed wide angle lens (28mm full frame equivalent). Light, small and unobtrusive. Discrete, not intimidating and doesn't scream "professional." An excellent carry around camera and back up to a full DSLR. Seems a bit pricey, but you're getting what you pay for - high quality images. Great for street scenes and environmental portraiture. I consider the 28mm equivalent lens a bit too wide for tight head shots, but have used it with success in a pinch. I'm a professional documentary photographer and a pro DSLR mounted with a prime 35mm or 85mm is my primary tool of choice; however, there are times when whipping out a large intimidating professional camera wouldn't be appropriate - enter the Coolpix A. I've been looking for a compact carry-around camera that will produce high quality images and this little Nikon fills the bill. I've been shooting the camera extensively for about a month now and have been very pleased with the camera's performance and the images that it's produced. Ensure that shooting with a fixed wide angle lens (28mm FX equivalent) suits your style. If so, then this camera is definitely worth considering. If you want a mirrorless camera that can change lenses or zoom, then look elsewhere. If you are looking for a compact, robust, rugged wide angle fixed lens camera that produces excellent images, the Coolpix A may be for you. Would definitely recommend seriously looking as this camera.

A great discrete camera that's not awkward to bring to party, and still take great pictures at those venues (low light) where nearly all phone cameras fall short. Let's face it. It's a compact camera with APS-C sized CMOS inside. The fixed lens is quite up to the task (well some soft corners and flare control left some room for desire). Low-light performance was of its own league in compact world (except when compared to the now-common 1"+ larger sensor pocket cams, now it's so close). Picture quality is awesome. However, where it fall shorts, is pretty close to the borderline of "bad". While it has amazing image quality in low light, focusing in general is slow and not so accurate at times. The zone focus is a joke only covering the center, the only way that works when you hand your camera to others to take a picture of you is to set it to do face recognition, which works ~80% of the time. Not to mention it just get worse in low light condition, kind of defeated its purpose. I would also suggest a dedicated video button to take videos. I ran into this a couple times that I want to take video and had to flip through the menu just to found out the moment was gone as I found the "video mode".

Very nice piece. Extremely sharp optic. Lens was was the fourth sharpest Nikon optic tested on DXO labs site. Very light and compact. Use it for backpacking. Took it into Shenandoah National Park. Up Old Rag, down into canyons w/ waterfalls. Great pics of bears w/ it. Combined w/ a Velbon UT-43D & a Gossen Luna Pro SBC it makes a very powerful and versatile photo kit. DSLR quality w/o the bulk. Plus the 28mm lens on this thing out performs the standard kit lenses. Wish it had the in camera ND filter. Can't figure out why so many reviewers trashed the A. Except for the fact that they are comparing it to what its not. A DSLR. Also probably because of the pretentiousness & snobbery inherent in the photo community. All the camera really is, is a black box w/ a lens on it. So you get the best lens/sensor combo you can get your hands on. To many bells & whistles out there. I think that Nikon was pricing the A as a cheap alternative to a Leica. If you can get a factory refurb unit of an A the price point isn't that bad. The A's color scheme looks more natural to me also. The Leica & Fuji cameras seem to have a color scheme similar to the Fujicolor films of old. With the trademark green cast you can't filter out. The Cosina/Voightlander 28mm brightline OVF works well with the A. There was also a Nikon 28mm brightline OVF made for the P6000 that looks like it was made by cosina/voitlander. Both are a more cost effective $100-$200 option than the official OVF for the A that rings in @ $396. The Fotasy hood/shade combo works well w/ the A (see my other reviews) Fantastic little camera. A DSLR in your pocket. A Leica on the cheap!!!! Highly recommended.

I must say that I'm a little underwhelmed by the Nikon Coolpix A. The menu system is odd to say the least and having to go into a menu to switch between still and movie mode is a real pain. Image quality is quite good but the 18mm (28mm equivalent) f2.8 lens is rather limiting. An f2.0 or 1.8 maximum aperture and the inclusion of VR would have made it more usable in low light. With no viewfinder built in, you have to hold the camera in front of you to use the rear LCD which is unstable and doesn't allow you to support the camera properly handheld (VR would have helped here too...). There is an optical viewfinder option but it cost nearly half as much as the camera itself! The size is OK given the APS-C size sensor but, otherwise, I'm not really a fan of the Coolpix A. At this price point, I should have went with the Fujifilm X-E1...

While I was happy with the results of the photos taken with this camera, after having it for only a couple of months [it was ordered from Amazon beginning of November, 2016], a significant spot had developed on all of the prints. I called Green's Camera World, the place who sold me the (new) camera (through Amazon), and they said I couldn't return it for a refund; it was beyond the allowable time. But I only wanted it to be repaired by them, but they didn't offer me that work, so I shipped my camera to Nikon direct for repairs (for $26 including insurance). However, Nikon came to find out Green's Camera World [and Amazon!] sold me a "gray market" camera. They could tell by the serial number on my device and other information on my sales receipt. Look up gray market cameras if you're not familiar with this term. It's not pretty. There's NO warranty to fall back on because there was no warranty to begin with. Nikon proper will not work on gray market cameras, because they are cameras with potential issues. Not approved by Nikon's standards in the first place. To say I'm upset over Amazon's working with Green's Camera World is an understatement. I have asked for a full refund. If this is not rectified quickly, my only recourse is to take this to the Better Business Bureau. So be forewarned. You are not getting a "deal" on this camera, only a bunch of headaches (if something goes wrong with your unit), expenditures, and lots of wasted time, not to mention I've been without a camera for weeks.

I would have never bought this camera at it's original price of $1,200. But when it went on sale for $400, I couldn't resist. I think I should have. I wanted something smaller and lighter than a full size DSLR but something better than my Canon S90. This Coolpix A has the same sensor as the Nikon D7100 and that is a great camera. What could go wrong? I just cannot get this thing to focus properly. On a recent trip, I tried to give it a good work out and took multiple shots of everything. I took some shots on auto and tweaked others. But everything is out of focus. I gave up and went back to carrying my D800. Kind of funny is that I ran into a guy at a viewpoint. I was trying to take pictures with the Coolpix A. He looked over and said, "Oh, you have a Coolpix too. How do you get that thing to focus?" Hahaha, I don't. It's going back to Nikon for a check and then we'll reassess from there.

First off, the build quality of this camera is solid. I love the simplicity of the design. Where I live, dslr's scream pro. This camera gives me amazing sharp pictures without the attention of a dslr. I recently went on a family trip to Washington DC. I set the camera to Aperture Priority mode at f5.6 and shot all day for 5 days. When I presented my pictures on my 50" panasonic plasma for the family, everyone was impressed with the clarity and transparency of the pictures. One of my favorite features of the camera is exposure compensation and watching the effects in live view. I get perfect exposures no matter how bright or dark it is. As a side note, I also own a D600 and love it. However, I have not invested in a wide quality lens for it yet. I plan too. Anyways, the pictures I get from my coolpix a blows my current 24-85 vr lens on my d600 out the water. Lastly, the focus is not blazingly fast. However, for what I plan to use the coolpix a for, which is mostly travel and street shooting, its very good. I never felt like I missed a moment because the focus was too slow. The coolpix a is awesome in my opinion. Highly recommended!!!

This is an amazing product, which produces high quality photos. As someone who is not a professional, I'm pleased that the gadgetry and settings of it haven't been all too difficult to figure out. The only thing I have mixed feelings about is not having the ability to zoom in and out. However, the camera's fixed lens has really pushed me to become more intimate with what I'm shooting though. I love how quickly it focuses and the clear photo shots I've been getting with it. It was definitely on the costly side, but for me it's been a worth while investment.