Nikon Coolpix A in 2025
Introduction
The Nikon Coolpix A was released in 2013, and it was Nikon’s first compact digital camera with an APS-C sensor. Weighing a mere 299 grams, it is the only other APS-C sensor (or larger) camera besides Ricoh’s GR series to be able to slip in a trouser pocket. Unlike the Ricoh GR cameras, though, it brings a lot more style, surely fitting the bill as a vanity camera.
I acquired a Silver Coolpix A in 2021 and I’ve used it off and on since. Here’s a review of the Nikon Coolpix A in 2025.
28mm f/1.4E ED Nikkor Review
The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28mm ƒ/1.4E ED is a $2000 (US) prime lens. This, on the surface, looks like poor value proposition. After all, even the cheapest kit lens is going to have a 28mm equivalent focal length at its wide end. So a review of this lens needs to start with addressing why someone would even consider paying for this lens.
Unique Qualities of 28mm
Optically, a 28mm1 lens provides a wide field of view, which roughly matches what we see or percieve of our environment. This is unlike, say, 50mm which matches the view that we can pay attention to, minus the peripheral vision. Interestingly, 28mm is also a cross-over point where perspective distortion (relative enlargement of foreground objects) does not make the image look unnatural.
Quest for the Best Focal Length
If I were to be left with only one focal length to take photos with for the rest of my life, which would I pick? This is my journey through 15+ years to find the answer to that question. Why it’s taken me this long to arrive the answer has a lot to do with experimentation, self-discovery and some great technological advancements. It all starts with the wrong type of 50mm.
Fujifilm X100V Review: An Unfulfilled Dream
A few months ago, I reviewed the Fujifilm X-E4 and mentioned that I got that camera because
For years, I’ve been searching for something that’s compact, elegant and competent – a “Vanity Camera”, as I call it. After much deliberation, I settled on getting the world’s prettiest camera, a Fujifilm x100v. Except, as of this writing, I couldn’t find a new body in three different countries that I looked.
Well, it turned out that my brother managed to find an X100V and was gracious enough to swap it for my X-E4 kit. This is my very personal, highly subjective review/opinion piece on this camera.
Fujifilm X-E4: An Engaging Experience I'd Rather Not Have
When I’m on a business trip and I go for breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant, I want to take a few photos of the ambience and the food. However, my Nikon D750 feels a bit like an overkill for this job, as does my Nikon D500… or Z6 or even Z50.
What I want for this occasion is something svelte. Like a Nikon Coolpix A or a Nikon J5. Except the former is as usable as a butter knife for carving steak and the latter is often outdone by an iPhone.
exiftool Examples
Following is a collection of real exiftool
commands that I’ve used, along with explanations of what each does. exiftool
is a command-line utility that provides very powerful EXIF reading, writing and searching capabilities.
I’m writing this down because I often spend a lot of time reading through exiftool documentation to find out how to get something done, just to forget it within hours. All of these examples work on a Unix shell environment like ZSH on MacOS or the various Linux shells.
D7100 and AF-P DX 70-300 VR on an Airshow
Aero India is a biennial air show that takes place on an airfield on the outskirts of Bangalore. As per Wikipedia, it’s the world’s largest air show after the one in Paris. I first came to know of it when a friend of mine armed with a Nikon D70s and a non-VR 70-300 f/4-5.6 came back with some fabulous shots way back in 2007. Ten years later, I got to visit the show with a Nikon D7100 and an AF-P DX 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G VR.
Factoring the Crop
Here’s a picture whose EXIF I have stripped so you won’t know what equipment was used to shoot it.
If you had to guess the sensor size, considering that this is a minimally edited photo, what would be your guess? FX? DX? m43? 1″? 1/1.7″? 1/2.3″?
Small sensor systems are all the rage these days. 24-1200mm zoom in a handy little package. How about that? The problem is, tiny sensors come with compromises. You have to bear with the compromises in every situation. How would it be, if you could deal with the compromises only when you needed to?
AF-S Nikkor 20mm ƒ/1.8G on DX
Early this year, I acquired a used 20mm ƒ/1.8G Nikkor lens. I only have DX bodies and the 20mm works more like a wide-normal prime than an ultra-wide, as on FX.
Why use 20mm ƒ/1.8G? on DX?
I had long wanted to have a small, fast 24mm prime for my DX bodies. While the 35mm ƒ/1.8 DX is compact enough, I don’t like it that much. The FoV (51mm FX equivalent) is too narrow for general photography and too wide for portraits. I do most of my portrait work with a 50mm ƒ/1.8G, so I need something to cover the wider end.
Nikon D750 + 20mm f/1.8G Nikkor
A few days ago I got the opportunity to try out a Nikon D750, along with the new 20mm f/1.8G Nikkor lens. It wasn’t the best of times for trying out new toys for me, because of which I couldn’t get any presentable shots. I still got some shooting to do with it and I would go ahead to include those non-presentable shots anyway.