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.
The MetaComputer™ (Part "How" of 3)
In the previous articles of this series, I talked about why we need a new computing model and what that model should look like. The “why” was pretty clear – we’re drowning in accidental complexity while building distributed systems. The “what” painted a picture of a unified computing environment that makes building distributed applications more tenable. Now comes the challenging part – how do we get there?
Starting at the Foundation
When you’re building a skyscraper (yes, I’m bringing back that analogy from Part “Why”), you don’t start with the penthouse. You start with the foundation. In our case, that foundation is a programming model that treats distributed computing as a first-class citizen rather than a bolt-on addition.
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.
The MetaComputer™ (Part "What" of 3)
In part “Why” of this series that appeared previously, I talked about the need for a new computing model that simplifies modern cloud-native distributed application development. In this part, I’ll go into some details of what this new computing model should be and what it should provide.
The MetaComputer™ (Part "Why" of 3)
It’s been a quite a while since I truly enjoyed programming at work. Don’t get me wrong. I like wrangling with code to make interesting stuff happen. The problem is that for a long time now, making interesting stuff happen with code hasn’t been the end game. Since the last ten years or so, it’s become incredibly more complex to get finished code to start working in the real world (aka production). Some say it’s because we OD’d on microservices. That probably true but there’s more to it than that alone.
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.
Using a QLC SSD for Backups. Am I Insane?
I have a properly working Seagate Backup Plus Hub. However, I’m now using a Samsung 870 QVO for Time Machine backups on my Mac, despite its bottom-of-the-pile TBW (durability) rating. It actually makes sense.