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
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Review

Overview
Usability
Add info

1．Overview

The COOLPIX 8400 (E8400) is a Nikon digital camera with a built-in lens that was released in 2003. It is the flagship wide-angle camera of the series that does not have a COOLPIX initial in the model number. As shown in the specifications below, the flagship camera that emphasizes the telephoto side is the COOLPIX 8800.

Both cameras are fine old compact digital cameras that have been released for more than 20 years.

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

The focal length is equivalent to 24mm to 85mm in 35mm format, the viewfinder is an electronic viewfinder (EVF) with a resolution of 240,000 dots, and the ISO sensitivity is 50 to 400.

The battery is a dedicated lithium-ion battery EN-EL7 or EN-EL7e (with charge capacity display).

The recording media is CompactFlash (CF).

2．Usability

The lens has a wide-angle end of 24mm, so distortion can be noticeable depending on the distance from the subject. Affinity Photo2, which I personally use on a regular basis, 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 240,000-dot EVF has a rough display quality. It is difficult to check the focus while looking at the EVF, so it can only be used to check the composition. This is probably due to the aging of the viewfinder of the camera I own, or perhaps the viewfinder is slightly cloudy.

One of the weaknesses of the E8400 is the battery. The dedicated lithium-ion battery EN-EL7 and EN-EL7e (with charge capacity display) were only used in this camera and the COOLPIX 8800, and have already been discontinued by Nikon. And because there are only a few cameras that use this model, compatible batteries are no longer available on the market, making it difficult to obtain batteries. I bought a new battery at an auction, but it was over-discharged and couldn’t be charged.

I’m having trouble procuring batteries.

When I got the COOLPIX 8800, I got a battery grip(MB-CP11) that uses six AA batteries, so I hoped I could use it with the COOLPIX 8400, which has the same battery model number, but unfortunately the mounting shape didn’t match and I couldn’t attach it.

Image storage formats are Raw and JPEG, and there are eight types of JPEG storage quality, but with a 4GB CF, you can take just under 300 photos in Raw (NEF) format. It also recognizes 16GB CF cards, so there’s no need to worry about recording media.

ISO50 is the base sensitivity, and ISO400 is the upper limit. Even at ISO50, there is a graininess similar to ISO200 on a 2024 camera.

Below is an example of ISO sensitivity, with the center part of an image taken in Raw cut out. You can see that the noise increases as the ISO is increased. Looking at the results outdoors in sunlight, I think 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.

3．Add Info.

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-