Nikon CoolPix 775Nikon packs advanced Coolpix technology & superior ease-of-use into a tiny, affordable 2 megapixel camera!<<Design :(Previous) | (Next): Optics>> Page 4:ViewfinderReview First Posted: 07/23/2001 |
ViewfinderThe 775 offers both an optical viewfinder and LCD monitor to assist in image composition. The optical viewfinder zooms along with the lens, but does not provide any center target brackets or framing guidelines. The LCD monitor turns on automatically when you power up the camera, but it can be turned off by pressing the top arrow button twice, or letting it sit idle for more than 30 seconds to 30 minutes, depending on the Auto Off setting (adjustable in the camera's Set-Up menu). This same button also controls the information display on the monitor. When the LCD is turned on, it shows a full information display in the form of icons distributed around the edges of the screen. Pressing the top arrow button once turns off the information display, but leaves the image display turned on.
When the 775 is in Record mode, the information display includes an Auto or Scene mode indicator in the top left corner, Flash mode in the upper right corner, and the image quality and number of remaining images in the lower right corner. Other camera settings are displayed on screen as they are engaged, for example Digital Zoom, Self-Timer, Best Shot Selection, Continuous Shooting, Exposure Compensation, White Balance, and Image Sharpening are all indicated on the monitor when they are in use. Unlike most other Coolpix cameras, the 775 does not show shutter speed or aperture settings -- a feature we definitely miss, but that's probably not an issue for the point & shoot users the 775 is intended for. However, it does let you know if you've forgotten to set the Date and Time in the camera's Set-Up menu, by showing a continuously flashing icon at the top of the screen (a very annoying distraction when you're trying to frame a shot!).
In Playback mode, the LCD monitor displays captured images as single, full-screen shots or in multiple thumbnails (Index mode). Single images can be viewed with or without a complete information display by pressing the left Arrow button. The information displayed on-screen includes the date and time the image was captured (top left of the screen), the image size and quality (bottom left), file number and type (top right), and current frame number / total picture count (bottom right). When engaged, the Playback screen also displays the low-battery, image transfer, print-order, and protect icons.
A unique feature of the 775 monitor is its Quick Review function, which enables you to view thumbnails of previously captured images in the upper left corner of the monitor, while still observing the live action taking place on-screen. You can scroll through stored images just as you would in Playback mode, without having to switch the Mode dial to the Playback icon. Quick Review is activated by pressing the Quick Review / Playback Zoom button on the back panel one time while in any image capture mode. If you press the button twice, the review image expands to full screen size.
Nikon reports the viewfinder coverage at 82 and 97 percent accuracy (respectively) for the optical and LCD viewfinders. Our own measurements showed the optical viewfinder's accuracy as between 84 and 88 percent, depending on lens zoom (quite a bit better than Nikon's claimed number) and the LCD viewfinder at 98 percent. Our measured viewfinder accuracy is a bit better than average for the optic finder, and a good bit better than average for the LCD.
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