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
Playback Features
To review previously taken pictures/videos, simply press the Play button. The camera can be powered on directly in Play mode by holding the Play button while pressing the power button. Press left/right or up/down on the multi-selector to move to different images. Image thumbnail view |
 Image regular view |
 Image magnified 10x |
By pressing the wide end of the zoom controller, a 2x2 thumbnail screen will appear. Another press of the wide end of the zoom rocker will switch to a 3x3 thumbnail display. Conversely, by pressing on the telephoto end of the zoom controller, you can magnify an image in 29 increments up to 10x. To move around to different parts of the image, simply use the 4-way multi-selector. While an image is magnified, the image can be cropped by pressing the shutter button. When the shutter button is pressed, the LCD will display "Save this image as displayed?" If "Yes" is selected, the camera will save a cropped version of the image as a new file. While an image is being viewed full-screen, a voice memo can be recorded by holding down the shutter button. Audio clips are limited to 20 seconds in length and are recorded as WAV files with the same file number as the image. Video clips can be viewed at normal speed or frame-by-frame. You can also fast-forward or rewind through a clip.
 Information on |
 Information off |
By adjusting the "Monitor settings" option in the Set up menu, the LCD can vary the amount of information displayed. When it is set to "Show info", the LCD will display the following information: resolution/quality, number out of total, date, time, folder, filename, file location (flash card/internal), and auto transfer. When the monitor is set to "Hide info", the LCD monitor will only indicate whether the file is on an SD card or on the internal memory.
To erase an image/video, simply select it and press the Delete button. By pressing the Menu button, there are several options available to the user:
| Playback menu | |
| Print set | Print selected (Select), Delete print set |
| Slide show | Start, Loop |
| Delete | Erase selected images, Erase all images |
| Protect | Select |
| Auto transfer | All on, All off, Select image(s) |
| Small pic | 640x480, 320x240, 160x120 |
| Copy | Internal to SD card, SD card to internal |
The Print set option allows you to select images to be printed on a DPOF-compatible printer. When the Slide show option is selected, the camera will cycle through the pictures on the camera with approximately three seconds between each image. When Loop is selected, the camera will loop the slideshow continuously. With the Delete option, you can delete specific images/videos or everything. The Protect option allows you to tag specific images/videos as protected. When an image/video is protected, it cannot be erased by using the delete function. However, if the internal memory or SD card is formatted, protected files will be erased. The "Auto transfer" option allows you to specify images that you want to transfer automatically when the camera is connected to a computer. The "Small pic" option allows you to create a smaller version of an existing image so that it can be emailed or uploaded to a webpage easily. Finally, the Copy option can copy images from the internal memory to an SD card or vice versa.
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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.