Part 1. : Fundamentals of fundamentals
"Buying a Digital Camera, Opening the Package, Shooting Pictures, and Viewing Them"

Nikon COOLPIX 885 has 3.2 million effective pixels (Coloring of COOLPIX 885 may differ by country or area)

What's the number of the pixels ?

Nikon COOLPIX 885 / 880 having 3.2 million effective pixels. Among the 3.2 million effective pixels, the number of recording pixels, of which image data is actually recorded, are at maximum 3.15 million (= 2.048 x 1.536 pixels) in the case of [FULL] mode. Thus, there are several ways to rate the number of the pixels.
In the case of COOLPIX 885 / 880, if you use a home-use printer to make prints, you can get an A4 size (210 x 297 mm) print (approx. 8 x 10 in.) of which image quality is roughly equals to that of the same size silver-halide print.
If the recording pixels become half of 3.15 million pixels (in the case of XGA mode or a the same number of pixels), you get an A5 size (148 x 210 mm) print (half of A4 size) having the same image quality.
So if you use COOLPIX 885 / 880, you can have sufficiently good image quality for general purpose.

If your purpose is only to post a picture on the home page (web) or only to transmit a picture by e-mail, such high image quality is not necessary.

If you transmit such a high quality picture by e-mail, the transmission takes a long time and brings inconvenience to the other end of the connection. The picture quality is much influenced by not only the number of recording pixels but also other factors such as lens performance and the way of processing signals (image processing).
Thus, the number of pixels is not the only factor to decide image quality. So it is not always true that the more pixels the CCD has, the better image quality the camera has.

What's zooming ?

Zooming is a function that makes a distant subject look bigger (shows a narrower area of the scene) or, on the contrary, makes a distant subject look smaller (shows a wider area of the scene). Lenses with a zooming (vari focal) function are more convenient than lenses without it.

The brochure of COOLPIX 885 describes that COOLPIX 885 has 3x Zoom Nikkor lens (COOLPIX 880 has 2.5x Zoom Nikkor lens). 3x Zoom means that the lens can magnify the image from 1 to 3 times. The magnification of zoom lenses is continuously varied by the optical means, this zoom is called optical zoom.

COOLPIX 885/880 has another type of zooming function. It has digital zoom up to 4x magnification. This digital zoom crops the center of the screen and enlarges the cropped picture.
Unlike the optical zoom, the digital zoom decreases image quality as its magnification increases. Using 4X digital zoom, for example, the cropped area is a one-sixteenth (1/16) area of the whole screen (image), resulting in fairly coarse image quality.
But COOLPIX 885 (3x optical zoom lens) full combination of the optical zoom and the digital zoom let you use 12x zoom (3 x 4 = 12). And you can enjoy a variety of appearances of the images. These appearances are in detail described in Section 1.3 "Key points for shooting".

Photo 1.b.
Check here in the specifications (exposure compensation and white balance)

Check here in the specifications.

If you think that the reproducibility of color and density is important in the digital images or think about taking pictures for products displayed on Internet shops, note the following points in the specifications of the brochure.

1. Exposure Compensation
   Choose a digital camera having the function of exposure compensation. Using this function, you can adjust the brightness of captured images. This will be in detail described in Subsection 1.3.3 "Adjusting the image brightness".
2. White Balance
   Choose a digital camera that has both functions of Auto White Balance (AWB) and Manual White Balance.
   In addition to these functions, if the camera has the function of Preset White Balance, it is the best choice.
   COOLPIX 885 / 880 has these two functions. White Balance functions will be in detail described in the next issue.

Necessary and optional accessories

You can't take pictures only by the digital camera body.
You need storage media (memory cards (media)) for storing digital images as you need film for recording silver-halide images. The memory cards (media) in the digital camera correspond to the film in the conventional camera. Unlike the film, the memory cards (media) is reusable. You can delete recorded images on the memory cards (media) and use it any number of times. Although the memory cards (media) are reusable, it is preferable that you prepare for an extra storage medium when you take pictures (images).
There are shown some necessary and optional items here. Though a tripod is not shown here, it is preferable that you have it. About a tripod, refer to "Who's Afraid of Digital Cameras ?" on our Home page and read Subsection 3.3.1..

Photo 1.c.
CompactFlash (CF) cards (Different types of memory cards (medias) are adopted by camera makers and camera products.)

Photo 1.d.
Computer connection kit (Kit may differ by country or area)

Photo 1.e.
AC adapter / Battery charger, Rechargeable battery (adapter/charger may differ country or area)

Photo 1.c.: Memory cards (medias) in the digital cameras correspond to film in the conventional cameras. Though the memory card may come along with the digital camera, it is preferable that you buy another large capacity storage card (e.g. 32MB). The memory card can be directly inserted into the computer and the printer.
And by providing only the memory card to a photo laboratory (D.P.E. Shop), you can order prints of the pictures. So having several memory cards is very useful.

Photo 1.d.: Using the cable of the connection kit, you can connect the digital camera to the computer and transfer the image data to the computer.
The connection kit also includes software for processing the images. The price of the connection kit is lower than the amount of each item, so you can save your money.
Even if you don't have the connection kit, you can also transmit the image data to the computer by using a PC card reader or a CF card reader.

Photo 1.e.: Though we can make sure the appearance of the current image and the shooting result by the LCD monitor of the digital camera, the LCD monitor consumes battery power a lot. When you take pictures indoors, I recommend you to use AC adapter for saving the battery power.
If you use rechargeable batteries, though they are a little expensive, they will pay after a while. It is preferable that you have three rechargeable batteries including an extra one.

Now, you have got digital camera (COOLPIX 880) anyway.
Let's open the package.
It's a happy moment !
But there are things to do before you take pictures. I'll explain procedures using the images, and they are not so difficult. And it's better to read the instruction manual during the procedures. Before you start to shoot, learn from the instruction manual how to delete captured images.
Make sure the warranty and retain it. Carry the instruction manual when you take images.

Photo 2.a.
Let's open the package. It's a happy moment !

Photo 2.b.
Load the battery

Photo 2.c.
Plug in a CompactFlash^TM card and turn the power switch ON. Plug in or pull out the memory card (medias) after the power has been turned OFF

Photo 2.d.
Choose [SETUP] mode

Photo 2.e.
Format the CompactFlash^TM card

Photo 2.f.
Set the date and time

Now we have set the basic conditions for taking pictures.
Next, let's set the following three points: image quality, image size, and the auto file numbering mode.
When the image quality and the image size are set, a file size of the image is changed. This greatly influences the number of frames remaining on the memory card (media). So select the image quality and the image size so as to meet your needs.

Photo 2.g.
1.) Set the image quality to [NORMAL] for normal shooting, to [BASIC] for sending pictures by e-mail or viewing pictures only by the display, to [FINE] for making a larger print, and to [HI] for getting the best image quality. If you have enough time to retouch the image using photo-retouching software, I recommend you to store the image at a higher quality level.

Photo 2.h.
2.) Set the image size to FULL for an A4-size (approx. 8x10 in.) print, to XGA for a postcard-size print, and to VGA for viewing the images only by the display. If you have enough time to retouch the image using photo-retouching software, I recommend you to store the image in larger size.

Photo 2.i.
3.) Set the auto file numbering mode to ON. The auto file numbering assigns serial numbering to each image. The auto file numbering let you to avoid double numbering when you use plural memory (storage) media or store many files in the same folder on your computer.

You can view images, captured by the digital camera, by the LCD monitor of the camera. But you can also view the images on the display of the computer. It is interesting to enlarge pictures, to make prints, to process them in a variety of ways, and to transmit them to another location, using the computer.
There are several ways that connects the digital camera to the computer.

Photo 3.a.
Using the computer connecting kit. The camera is directly connected to the computer by cable to transmit the image.

Photo 3.b.
Using a PC card adapter. This is the most popular way to place the storage card in your laptop computer. When you use the desktop computer, you may need a PC card reader.

Photo 3.c.
Using a CF card reader. You only need to insert the CompactFlash^TM card into the CF card reader. It's very convenient. (The photo shows a "JumpShot" made by LEXAR MEDIA.

Compact (P/S) type digital cameras are small and light. But these advantages tend to cause camera shake.
So learn how to hold a camera so as not to cause camera shake and not to fail in shooting.

When you take scenes in a dim room and in nightview or you get close to a near subject, I recommend you to use a tripod.

Photo 2.a.
Holding the camera in the horizontal (landscape) position. Hold your left elbow against your body to make the camera steady.

Photo 2.b.
Holding the camera in the vertical (portrait) position. You can widen your choices in picture composition.

Photo 2.c.
Another way to hold the camera in the vertical (portrait) position. From the relation between the positions of the flash and the lens, the position of Photo 2.b. is better because the shadow of the object is natural.

Photo 2.d.
Taking images using the LCD monitor. Be careful not to cause camera shake.

Photo 2.e.
Taking images in a low position. Try to take images from other angles by changing your body position.

Photo 2.f.
COOLPIX 900 series cameras, 900 / 900s / 950 / 990, and 995 have a swivel-lens structure in which the lens is rotatable. So you can easily take pictures in such positions as a high-position and a low-position.

I said "In [AUTO] mode, you can take pictures automatically in most cases". But, unfortunately, you can't shoot a small subject near the camera. When you shoot a subject located at 4 cm (1.6 in.) to 40 cm (16 in.) in front of the lens front (for COOLPIX 880), you have to set Focus mode to Macro mode to focus the lens onto the subject.
Learn the functions of the Focus mode and how to change the Focus mode button.

Macro Mode

In the macro mode, you can focus the lens on the close object located away from the lens front by only 4 cm (1.6 in.) or more. In this mode, although you can focus the lens on the very distant subject, it may take an extra time to focus the lens.
If you mount the camera on the tripod and set the camera to the macro self-timer mode in which the self-timer works in the macro mode, you can avoid causing camera shake.

Photo 3.a.
Setting the camera to the Macro mode. The "flower" symbol (icon) mark appears on the display.

Photo 3.b.
You can easily do macro shooting.

Landscape Mode

In the landscape mode, the lens is set to the position for distant scenes and the speedlight is prevented from being fired. So you can operate the camera fast to take scenes.

Photo 3.c.
Landscape Mode. The "mountain" symbol (icon) mark appears.

Photo 3.d.
You don't need to focus the lens. So you can shoot fast.

Self-timer Mode

You can take yourself without the help of somebody in the self-timer mode.
If you have a tripod, you can take pictures anywhere using the self-timer. In the self-timer mode of COOLPIX 885/880, if you press the shutter button once, the shutter is released 10 seconds later. If you press the shutter button twice consecutively, the shutter is released 3 seconds later.

Photo 3.e.
Self-timer Mode. The "clock" symbol (icon) mark appears.

Photo 3.f.
"What a nice picture!" Sorry, the guy behind the lady is me.

For most cameras with a zoom lens, a photographer can choose either of two zooming directions by using the zoom button. One is "W" (toward a wide angle) button, the other is "T" (toward a telephoto) button. Pressing the W button allows the camera to capture a wide scene, and pressing the [T] button allows it to make a distant subject bigger. You can make sure the appearance of the scene on the LCD monitor.
If you continue to press the [T] button of COOLPIX 885/880 for two seconds or more, the digital zoom is activated. The degree of digital zooming is shown in numbers on the LCD monitor.

Photo 1.a.
Zoom Buttons (COOLPIX 880)

Photo 1.b.
Indication of zooming. The bar between [T] and [W] letters indicates degree of the optical zoom. The number "x4.0" indicates times of the digital zoom.

Anyway, try operating the optical zoom from Wide Angle to Telephoto.
And try combining Telephoto and the digital zoom at the maximum magnification, comparing image quality. In particular, check the reduction of image quality in the digital zoom on the LCD monitor.

Pictures below are taken at the same position by using the zooming function. It's amazing that the sizes of the subject are very different.
But if you compare in detail Photo 1.d. with Photo 1.e., you'll notice that Photo 1.e. is cropped from Photo 1.d and is enlarged, because the background blur effect is same.

Photo 1.c.
A picture taken at the end of [W] that corresponds to "38 mm" focal length in the 35mm (135) format

Photo 1.d.
A picture taken at the end of [T] that corresponds to "95 mm" focal length in the 35 mm (135) format

Photo 1.e.
A picture taken by using combination of the [T] end and the maximum digital zoom magnification that corresponds to "approx. 380 mm" focal length in the 35 mm (135) format

Now we consider key points of zooming. Compare pictures below.

Photo 2.a.
A picture taken at the end of [W]

Photo 2.b.
A picture taken at the end of [T] (the maximum magnification of the optical zoom)

Photo 2.c.
A picture taken by using the maximum magnification of the digital zoom

Each zooming condition of Photo 2.a., Photo 2.b., and Photo 2.c. is same as that of Photo 1.c., Photo 1.b, and Photo 1.e., respectively, but each position at which the picture is taken is moved so that the size of the subject is same.

The focusing distance is 3 m (10 ft.) for Photo 2.a. (W end), 7 m (20 ft.) for Photo 2.b. (T end), and 20 m (60 ft.) for Photo 2.c. (the maximum magnification of the digital zoom).
You'll notice that the impression on these pictures is very different.
At the [W] end, subject's body proportion seems to be worsened than reality. At the [T] end, she looks like a lady having an average proportion.
Using the maximum magnification of the digital zoom, she looks like a well-proportioned beauty.
For the backgrounds of the pictures, notice that there are great differences in the appearances of the backgrounds in Photo 2.a. and Photo 2.b..
If you change focusing distance as well as use zooming, you can get such pictures having deeply different impression. This is a very important key point.

There is another important point. Compare pictures below.
In Photo 2.d. that is taken at the end of [W], the shape of the map board looks like a barrel.
But in Photo 2.e., it looks a regular square.
Thus, using the [W] end, the shape of the subject is distorted and the distortion increases much more at the periphery of the frame.
When you want to take pictures of less distortion, it is fundamental to take pictures at a zoom position much closer to the [T] end.

Photo 2.d.
Taken at the [W] end

Photo 2.e.
Taken at the [T] end. The map board has a regular square shape.

Photo 3.a.
Exposure compensation is set by the Exposure Compensation button and the Multi Selector (COOLPIX 880). A numeral with signs "+" or "-" appear at the lower part of the display.

As described at the beginning, It is preferable that you choose a digital camera having the function of exposure compensation.
This function is fairly useful. When you feel that pictures are not taken well, this function often modifies the images well. Note that some type of cameras can not use the exposure compensation mode in the [AUTO] mode (full auto mode).

The fundamental of operation is simple.
After you have tried taking a picture once, if you want to make the picture bright, you should increase the plus numeral.
And if you want to make the picture dark, you should increase the minus numeral. COOLPIX 880 can adjust exposure between + 2EV to - 2EV by a step of 1/3 EV.
At first, try to adjust exposure greatly and to check the difference of exposure.

Photo 3.b.
Exposure is set to +1EV

Photo 3.c.
A image without the exposure compensation

Photo 3.d.
Exposure is set to -1EV

Now you have mastered several key points of shooting and you may have a feeling you get close to a professional photographer.

The Part 1. ends here. The next lesson is "Let's challenge the manual mode."