NIKON COOLPIX 8400

Muji Coolpix, a wide-angle flagship compact digital camera

A review and photo examples of the Nikon digital camera Coolpix 8400.

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Review
Specification and Competitor
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Gallery

Review

The COOLPIX 1 8400 (E8400) is a Nikon integrated lens digital camera released in 2003. It is the flagship wide-angle camera of the series that does not have the initial letter of COOLPIX in the model number. As shown in the specifications and comparison below, the flagship camera that emphasizes the telephoto side is the COOLPIX 8800. These cameras are fine old compact digital cameras that have been released for more than 20 years.

The image sensor of the E8400 has 8 million pixels, a maximum resolution of 4032 x 3024 at a 4:3 ratio. With 4000 pixels horizontally, the resolution and image quality feel sufficient.

The lens has a wide-angle end of 24mm, so distortion can be noticeable depending on the distance from the subject. Although it is a paid software, Affinity Photo2, which I personally use, has a correction profile for the E8400, so if you turn on the distortion correction function, it will automatically correct the distortion from the exif information.

The viewfinder is an EVF with a resolution of 240,000 dots, so the display quality feels rough. It is difficult to check the focus, and it can only be used to check the composition. This is probably due to the fact that the viewfinder of the camera I own is slightly cloudy due to aging.

The weak point of the E8400 is the battery. The dedicated battery EN-EL7 and EN-EL7e (with charge capacity display) are only used in this camera and the COOLPIX 8800, and Nikon has already discontinued production of them. And because there are only a few cameras that use them, compatible batteries are no longer available on the market, so it is difficult to obtain batteries. When I bought an unused battery at an auction, it was over-discharged and could not be charged, so I am having trouble with the battery.

The recording media is Compact Flash (CF), and the image storage format is Raw and JPEG, with eight types of JPEG storage quality, but I have confirmed the operation of a 4GB CF, and with a 4GB CF, you can take just under 300 pictures in Raw (NEF) format, so there should be no problem with storing JPEG at the maximum quality.
The camera also recognizes 16GB CF cards, so there is little to worry about in terms of recording media.

ISO50 is the base sensitivity, with an upper limit of around ISO400. Even at ISO50, there is about the same graininess as ISO200 on a 2024 model camera.

Below is an example of ISO sensitivity, with the centre of an image taken in Raw mode cropped out. You can see that noise increases as the ISO is increased. Judging from the results outdoors in sunlight, I think that up to ISO200 is acceptable.

Rather than the ISO sensitivity, the difficulty with the photographs taken with this camera’s sensor is that it records bright spots that are thought to be caused by thermal noise that occurs in the sensor during long exposures.
The example below is the result of a handheld shot at ISO 50 with a 0.4 second exposure, and although they appear to have disappeared in the reduced image on the left, you can see in the cropped image on the right that bright spots have appeared here and there in the black areas. You can see this more clearly by opening the partial image in a new tab. We imagine that modern digital cameras have taken various measures to prevent such bright spots from occurring, but this is thought to indicate the technological limitations of that era.

Many of the options for the E8400 are exclusive, including the HN-CP12 lens hood, three adapter rings for attaching teleconverters and wide-angle converters, and two converter lenses (fisheye, wide, and telephoto). Since the camera is no longer on sale, it is difficult to find used ones, even with a regular teleconverter.

To attach the hood and adapter ring, remove the decorative ring around the camera lens, and you will find a thread on the lens barrel, into which you can screw the hood and adapter. The hood is an elaborate product that has a rotating part separate from the screw-in part so that the position can be adjusted after screwing it in.

The hood happened to be in stock at Antiquary, a store that specializes in hoods, so I bought it at almost the list price. I’m just happy that I was able to buy it at the list price.

However, this optional attachment part is a standard that was only available on this camera, so of the options in the table below, the wide converter WC-E75 (0.75x) can only be used officially with this camera.
The teleconverter and fisheye converter FC-E9 (0.2x) is compatible with several cameras, but you will need to prepare an adapter for each camera to attach it to.

Nikon’s optional parts for compact digital cameras tend to be more general-purpose than those of other manufacturers, but it can be a hassle to need an adapter to connect to cameras with retractable lenses. The adapters are cheap, but most are no longer on sale, so if you look for them second-hand, they can cost a premium.

Since the release of this camera, the trend has been toward lower prices for interchangeable lens SLRs, so this product marks the end of high-end cameras with integrated lenses like this one.

Specification and Competitor

Items	COOLPIX 8400	COOLPIX 8700	COOLPIX 8800
Camera effective pixels	8 megapixels	←	←
Focal length	3x Zoom Nikkor Lens f3.5x Zoom Nikkor lens, f=6.1-21.6mm (equivalent to 24-85mm in 35mm), F2.6-F4.9, 2 ED lenses used	8x Zoom Nikkor lens, f=8.9-71.2mm (35mm equivalent: 35-280mm), F2.8-F4.2	10x Zoom Nikkor lens, f=8.9-89mm (equivalent to 35-350mm in 35mm format), F2.8-F5.2, 2 ED lenses used
Lens Construction	10 elements in 7 groups	14 elements in 10 groups	16 elements in 10 groups
Leaf blade	7	←	←
Image sensor	2/3-inch CCD	←	←
Max ISO	400	←	←
Back LCD	1.8-inch, 134,000 pixels	←	←
View Finder	EVF, 0.44 type, 235,000 pixels	←	←
Battery	EN-EL7、EN-EL7e	EN-EL1	EN-EL7、EN-EL7e
Recorded Media	Compact Flash	←	←
Size(mm) W x H x D	116 × 85 × 121	113 × 105 × 78	116 × 85 × 121
Weight(g)(only body)	400	480	600
Release date	October 1, 2004	February 14, 2004	November 12, 2004
Price(Yen/No-tax)	Open price (around 110,000 yen)	Open price (around 130,000 yen)	Open price (around 130,000 yen)

Options

Fisheye converter: FC-E9 (0.2x)
Wide converter: WC-E75 (0.75x)
Teleconverter: TC-E3ED (3x)
Teleconverter: TC-E3PF (3x)
Lens hood HN-CP12
Adapter ring UR-E14 (for WC-E75) ¥2,500 (excl. tax)
Adapter ring UR-E15 (for TC-E3ED/TC-E3PF) ¥2,500 (excl. tax)
Adapter ring UR-E16 (for FC-E9) ¥2,500 (excl. tax)
PC connection kit

	Fisheye FC-E9	Wide-angle converter WC-E75	Telephoto converter TC-E3ED	Telephoto converter TC-E3PF
Lens Construction	5 elements in 4 groups	4 elements in 4 groups	6 elements in 3 groups	←
Converter Magnification	0.2x	0.63x	3x	←
合成絞り値	No change	←	←	←
サイズ	?	75*29.5	75*78.6	61*64.3
取付径	28mm	←	←	←
Filter Diameter	–	72mm	72mm	?
Weight (g)	205	150	260	175
Compatible camera connection adapter	COOLPIX8400：UR-E16 COOLPIX8700：UR-E12 COOLPIX8800：UR-E18	COOLPIX8400 Adapter ring UR-E14	COOLPIX8400 Adapter ring UR-E15	COOLPIX8400 Adapter ring UR-E15
Price (¥/tax not included)	45,000-	30,000-	29,000-	80,000-

Reference links

Update history

2024.09.6

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