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| Date Reviewed: Nov 30, 2004 |
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Strengths: Very sharp images, excellent metering and color balance, excellent macros (down to 1.2"), long zoom, RAW, good flash, lightest camera in its class.
Weaknesses: Shutter lag in low light, delay while saving RAW images, needs adapter for really wide wideangle shooting.
Summary: I'm surprised by the negative reviews of this camera. No camera is best at every kind of work. Most reviewers sound like they bought the wrong camera for their particular needs and are blaming the camera for not being something it isn't.
This is not a snapshooter's camera. If you shoot sports or news or even weddings, I'd pick another gun, preferably an SLR. And if you mostly want to shoot high quality family and vacation photos, the 8700 is overkill - it's too complex for efficient casual use. But if you primarily do deliberate work in fair to good light - macro, candid, art, real estate, scientific, etc. - it's a light, powerful, flexible joy to use.
I'm particularly pleased by the sharpness of the lens at almost all stops and zoom ratios. Anyone who isn't getting sharp images with the 8700 needs to check his work habits; it's clearly capable of getting high real-world resolution and crispness. The metering is also superb under a wide range of lighting situations that would have completely defeated any other auto-exposure camera I've used.
Autofocus is slow in low light, but I've seen worse. At least the 8700 has an AF-assist lamp that comes on when needed. Several other cameras in this price and MP bracket lack the assist and can't do AF at all in low light.
I need a lightweight camera with a lot of pixels, a long sharp zoom, great macro capability, and the ability to work in RAW. I don't need to shoot rapid sequences on the run or in low light. I need to carry a camera and tripod around with me, but there's no way I'm going to lug a 2-3-pound digital SLR around with a heavy bag of interchangeable lenses. For me, the 8700 was a great choice.
If you can afford the Coolpix 8800, it has an even longer zoom, makes a few small improvements, and gives you auto-stabilization. If your budget is a bit tight, however, the 8700 is a terrific bargain at under $600 net. (I paid $465 for mine after the rebate.) If you buy yourself a good tripod with some of the money you save, your pictures will be sharper and you won't miss the stabilization.
It comes down to what you want to use the camera for. If you need the long lens, pixels, sharpness, lightness, etc., of the 8700, you can't beat it in its price bracket. But if you need shooting speed and simplicity more than you need 8MP and a long zoom lens, you need a different camera.
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| Date Reviewed: Sep 2, 2004 |
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jamiek2004
from NY - Member Since:
Sep 2004
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Strengths: 8mp, amazing Macro focus capabilities. Its my upgrade from the coolpix 4500, because Nikon Coolpix is the undisputed champ of Macro focusing. For my needs at work it is perfect
Weaknesses: Every photo needs color correction. Everything tends to be leaning to much on the yellow side. I work with photoshop, but the average user probably doesn't.
Summary: As mentioned above, for small objects (product photography) the 8700 is a champ. For weekend getaways: the pics come out great, but the shutter reaction time is too slow, you press the button and the camera needs a second to think about it. Love the swivel LCD screen, perfect for putting the camera where you want it, and lining up your shot no matter what the situation calls for. Very easy to use once you get used to the computer menu, I usually keep everything on auto (especially the focus) , all and all a great camera. And now with the rebate its possible to get it at about $500, down from the price I paid of $1000+ at my job. A high capacity memory card (512 megabytes) is a must, as well as a second battery, and perhaps a third.
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| Date Reviewed: Oct 13, 2004 |
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 This is my 5th digital camera, and is by far the m ... Strengths: Nikon lens, small size, excellent zoom, good battery consumption, 8 megapixel,
Weaknesses: Most pics need color correction, very complex and difficult to use menu system, slow response of shutter
Summary: This is my 5th digital camera, and is by far the most difficult to use with complex menu system...I still haven't figured out how to use all of the functions and carry along the owners manual to figure out how to use it. Pics are sharp and detailed, but shutter reponse is very slow and negates taking any action pics with any degree of accuracy.
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| Date Reviewed: Nov 22, 2004 |
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I've always found a distinct difference between th ...
Strengths: Zoom, Flash, Relatve ease of use.
Weaknesses: Haven't found a solid weakness yet.... more to come
Summary: I've always found a distinct difference between the professional and non-professional attitude for a paticular camera. The 8700 is a Semi-pro camera. If you want a point-n-shoot, save your money with a lesser model. BUT... if you want professional level operations.. the 8700 is a great choice. The key... to use the features... you've got to understand what they do. If you don't.. you'll be very frustrated. My buying decision was based on the need for control but not the need for changing lenses. More to come on this review as I experiment with various shooting situations.
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| Date Reviewed: Aug 12, 2004 |
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OK it has been a few days and I have turned out so ...
Strengths: Numerous features to work with
Weaknesses: This is a revised review - low light is still weak
Summary: 2004-08-20 23:53:20 OK it has been a few days and I have turned out some very impressive photos, the camera is a work horse. But! Everything the camera gives you you must first beg it to do so. And that is no assurance you will get the desired photo you are hoping for. Many have claimed the camera is a battery hog, it does just fine no worse than any other big gun on the market. Perhaps a little better than some.
I will "up" the rating to satisfactory for those who are gluttons for punishment and do not mind working hard for a shot. Some of the scene selectors are totally whacked and cannot imagine a scenario that would call for such settings. Auto focus is fussy, and the hype is impressive for this unit but I do regret buying this unit and do have a RMA to return it to the vendor and will send it off next business day and just pay the stinking restocking fee and keep my stress level down.
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| Date Reviewed: Mar 20, 2004 |
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 What a dissapointment! As professional digital cam ... Strengths: A quality Nikon lens
Weaknesses: Very poor digital photo quality
Summary: What a dissapointment! As professional digital camera lecturers who conduct digital camera workshops and speak to over 12,000 people each year we felt that we had better sign on to the 8mp craze asap, so we purchased the Nikon Coolpix 8700.
Wow! What a disappointment! The digital photo output from our Coolpix 5000, Pentax 555 and even the Konica-Minolta G-500 (all 5.0mp digital cameras) is measureably better than the digital photos coming from the new, suppossed to be a "super" digital camera, the Coolpix 8700.
We are certainly not "anti-Nikon" at all as we own the Coolpix 995 and Coolpix 5000 and are very pleased with them. We will update this review when we have completed our learning curve with the Nikon 8700, but to say the least, keeping in mind the price we had to pay for the Nikon 8700, it is HUGE disappointment!
83% of People (224/271) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: Oct 19, 2004 |
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Strengths: It does everything well.
Weaknesses: None.
Summary: A GREAT camera. While it does take a bit of effort to learn all of it's fine features, I found it not to be as difficult as some others have said.
78% of People (14/18) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: Apr 1, 2004 |
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04/02/2004
Review Update: The Nikon Coolpix 870 ...
Strengths: Nikon Lens
Weaknesses: Picture Quality
Summary: 04/02/2004
Review Update: The Nikon Coolpix 8700 has been returned for warranty repair. I will keep you updated on how long the waranty repair takes and the sucess of the under warranty repairs.
75% of People (79/105) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: Aug 3, 2004 |
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Strengths: easy to use, beautiful pictures, excellent zoom, ease in carrying around
Weaknesses: none
Summary: I wore it around my neck during my entire vacation to Sedona, Arizona - truly a test when you are sight seeing for a week. This is my first digital camera - I was nervouse about buying it one week before my vacation, I wanted to make sure I knew how to use it. It was so easy to use, yet it has a lot of features. I love my camera!!!!!
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| Date Reviewed: Mar 30, 2004 |
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Tomymoty
from TX - Member Since:
Mar 2004
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6 million Effective pixels (6MP) will give you 304 ...
Strengths: 8 Megapixel, 8 Optical Zoom, rotating LCD
Weaknesses: Lens distortion, Chromatic Aberration (purple fringing), Noise present at 200 ISO,Max ISO 400 (ISO 6400 Nikon D100)
Summary: 2004-03-31 07:42:49 6 million Effective pixels (6MP) will give you 3040 x 2008 pixels Max resolution
8 million Effective pixels (8MP) will give you 3264 x 2448 pixels Max resolution
If you would like to get twice the size of the 6 MP chip
(3040*2)*(2008*2) = (3040*2008)*(2*2) = 6MP*4 = 24MP
Spend more $300 and get the Nikon D70 (6MP) with the lens
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| Date Reviewed: May 22, 2006 |
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Strengths: sharp images, good auto B/W, great 3D matrix metering,very good macro, light, a lot of options, good image compression never over 3MB,good video, full metal body very best quality
Weaknesses: shutter lag in low light, and focus very slow in some indoor occasions, flash poor, start for 35mm, video only 35 sec,at begining difficult menu navigation
Summary: This is a very very good camera, it's main quality is superlative images in all conditions,after a little time of use you can take very beautiful shots, absolutely comparable with d50 and d70 but more lightweight and with more features, you only need a wideangle lens and this is the perfect camera,8700 it's better than 8800 because bigger and slower ( I hate the telecommander rda )
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