Opinions on Nikon Coolpix 4300 please

[mubs]

Would you pick the Olympus C-4000 Zoom or Nikon Coolpix 4300?

I know how the Oly performs well (have helped somebody who has one). Downsides to it are that it uses Smartmedia, have to buy batteries and charger for it.

Know diddly about the Nikon. But it uses CF-I, comes with a rechargeable battery and charger, can take filters, lenses, etc. For the same capacity, CF seems to be half the price of Smartmedia. But picture quality! How good is it with the Nikon? Indoors, outdoors, focussing ability in low light.

I'm reading all the reviews I can find, but I value real-world experience.

I'm all ears. Thanks!

[Mercutio]

I'd say the Nikon. You might also want to look at a Canon S45. They're very, very similar according to specifications.

[time]

The Nikon 4300 is a very nice camera. I had one for several months.

Color was excellent. Resolution appeared to be near the top for a 4 megapixel digicam. Speed was quite acceptable - except for writing TIFF files, but that's usual.

I found the flash good for such a compact camera. Red eye is a problem, as you would expect. The grip is excellent - you can easily hold the camera one-handed. Although there is no focus assist lamp, I only had difficulties focussing in low light when the subject was in shadow.

With a runtime of about 90 minutes, you will need a spare Lithium Ion battery. Fortunately, third-party EN-EL1 batteries are common.

Unlike the cheaper Nikon models, it has a full manual mode (I notice that the Olympus also has user-definable presets). Movie mode is rather weak - but that's typical.

The monitor screen is very good and "gains up" in low light, a feature I believe the Olympus lacks.

All in all, I can't think of any significant annoyances with the camera. As a rule of thumb, I'd say that a Nikon would tend to beat an equivalent Olympus model, but I see that this particular Olympus has a few more features for enthusiasts.

[mubs]

Thanks Merc and Time.

[e_dawg]

In general, the Olympus C-series were excellent choices for prosumer point and shoots in that they offered excellent manual control and low light capability. I purchased the Olympus C-2040 back in the day for those reasons. However, I think the other manufacturers have caught up to Olympus in the last couple years and they are no longer as compelling a choice as they were in the past.

[e_dawg]

One time the C-2040 let me down was at a wedding a couple weeks ago. I tried to get a quick shot of the bride & groom kissing in front of a window (strong backlighting condition). I didn't have time to futz around with the spot exposure or exposure comp settings so I just pressed the shutter button and hoped for the best. Sure enough, the subjects were very underexposed. My friend's Canon Powershot S50 showed the subjects bright and properly exposed.