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.
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.
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.
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.
Six Months with Nikon D7100
It’s been more than six months since I have had a Nikon D7100 for my own and I have been thinking of writing down my thoughts about the camera. However, these six months with the camera have been a bit of an up-and-down journey and it’s only now that I feel like I know the camera enough to write about it.
The D7100 is an enthusiasts’ camera and it will make you earn that title before you can be get along with it. Its 24MP sensor is like that brutally honest friend who wouldn’t flatter you and shine a spotlight on your weaknesses instead. Once you’ve overcome those weaknesses, though, the end result is something that can make a casual snapshot look like a stunning, frame-worthy photograph. The abundance of twiddly bits and sweetest ever handling in this line of Nikons appeal to the enthusiasts and set it apart from the latestD5xxx series that has the same sensor but with much crippled functionality and controls.
Nikon D90 vs. Sony RX100 in Goa
Last weekend I was in Goa on a leisure trip, which gave me an excellent opportunity for some photography. I carried the RX100 for landscape and street photography. The D90 also came along mainly for long range shooting with the 55-300mm VR and low light shooting with the 50mm f/1.8D. This trip allowed me to sort out some things related to the pros and cons of using a big DSLR vs. a small compact. Here’s how the cameras fared.
Nikon 1 J1 Review
My gear has evolved from P&S to DSLRs over the last five years, and each year I end up buying a new camera. The focus this year, was on reducing the size and weight of the camera gear, unlike previous years where I had been looking to acquire the latest sensor technology (although I was tempted to swap my D3100 with D3200!).
What started out as a quest for cheap backup P&S, ended up as a story about Nikon 1. But not before I had analyzed every single camera in the INR 10k to 25k price bracket. Thanks to Flipkart which has a decent range of cameras. But somehow I resisted the urge to order J1 from Flipkart, and instead went to a Nikon store in Lajpat Nagar, where to my surprise I got a better deal.