Lens: 8.9-71.2mm f/2.8-4.2 Zoom-Nikkor (35mm equiv: 35-280mm)w. 4x digital zoom and macro
Sensitivity: Auto, ISO 50, 100, 200, 400
Exposure: Auto with Flexible Program, Shutter-Priority, Aperture-Priority, Manual, w. scene modes, Exposure Compensation, Auto Exposure Bracketing, and spot meter
White Balance: Auto, manual, presets, and White Balance Bracketing
Summary: The 8700 is a well built camera with good ergonomics and is easy to carry all day without fatigue. I did not find it satisfactory as a substiute for my SLR. It us too limited in F stops and has a nrather noisy sensor. A bad combination.
Strengths: Size,comfortable handling. Feels well made like most Nikons.
Weaknesses: Very non intuitive controls. Lo range of Fstops. Noisy sensor. Slow to focus, and lots of shutter lag. If you want a point and shoot, get a cheaper more simple one. If you expect to do serious photography, this may do it but there are others that will do it better. It is overpriced for what iit is!
Similar Products Used: Olympus c2500, Nikon D100, Nikon D80. Several inexpensive no name digitals.
Customer Service: Adequate. If you need repair as I did, it's expensive and not particulary fast. They did repair the camera to my satisfaction.
Summary: So far this is a great camera. Used for the basic family shots (family gatherings, kids' school programs, etc) and I have no complaints. It can satisfy the 'geeky' side of me with all the extra features and manual settings, and yet it still makes it very easy for my wife to get the picture she wants without having to 'fuss with all that other stuff'. The prints we make from the shots we take are far better than what we were getting from our old film camera and the local 1-hr photo (Wal Mart). I recently took anout 300 pictures at my brother's wedding, and some of my pictures turned out better than the professional's pictures taken at the same time. I am very pleased overall with this camera. If you're like me and would love to be able to take pictures like a pro, but can't afford to get into the DSLR neighborhood, then this camera will work for you. Great pictures, great prints, easy menus, and ranging from fully auto to fully manual... this camera fits the typical family lifestyle!
Strengths: Great optics. The 8x zoom reaches all the way to the outfield, stage, or wherever else your child may be. Easy to use menus and buttons. Manual or auto settings. Easily connected to the computer and the software (for file transfer) can be set automatic or manual also.
Weaknesses: Sometimes a bit slow on the focus, but a little practice and this fades.
Summary: As point of reference...I am a product professional photographer and my #1 digicam is a Fuji S2 pro. I've had the Fuji for about a year now and love it except for the slightly soft focus filter look of my shots. Still a great camera even today. Now to the 8700...
I bought this camera as an emergency back-up to my Fuji and to use when I don't want to lug the SLR around. I was hoping for a prosumer camera when I bought the 8700 (two days ago)... hopefully more pro than consumer. Here are my relative strengths and weakness views of this interesting camera as far as I know them at this early date in our relationship...
Strengths: Very sharp lens, but not crazy sharp, but the 8x zoom is excellent to have on hand and stays relatively sharp throught the entire zoom range. White balance auto adjust is shockingly accurate! There is also an auto WB bracket mode if you want, but I don't see the point. The camera is very small and very light, but seems to be very well built. All the buttons are firm, but not balky and the ergonomics are fine in general. I took some pics last night in the studio of some figurines and the color, contrast and crispness of the images was better than the Fuji, but at a cost (I'll explain below). I cannot comment on how an add-on flash performs with this camera because I didn't get one, but the little internal does very well for what it is. Give this camera plenty of light and it performs very well! I didn't get this camera for it's movie making abilities (.mov files), but they are actually quite stout. At "TV" size, the movies are outstanding! I am probably as impressed with this aspect of the little camera as anything and it is a snap to connect to a TV for still or movie reviewing. Really fun stuff! I also love tIn general, what this camera does well, it does very well indeed, but...
Weaknesses: There is a darkside to this camera that at times is darker than Darth Vader himself! First off, the minimum aperture is f8 and the maximum is f2.8! That doesn't leave very much room to move exposurewise and you can forget about any sort of decent depth of field! I forgot to ask about the min. aperture at the store...big mistake and here's why... The camera's sensitivity (ISO speed) is very limited, so much so that to me there are only two really useful settings on the camera... ISO 50 and 100. Noise is already becoming a little noticeable at 100, but at 200 it is not good and at 400 it is downright atrocious! To my way of thinking, this is ridiculous! ISO 400 is a commonly used and needed speed for everyday shooting, but it gets worse! At 400, the resolution drops off the table compared to 100 and is even much worse than at 200! If you never make prints larger than 8 x 10, then you might not complain, but if you believe that an 8 meg camera should allow substantially larger printing than that (as I do), then you will be scratching your head at what's happening (as I am).
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