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"Picky Details" for the Nikon Coolpix 4300 digital camera
(Timing, Power, and Storage Info)

Timing
I measure both cycle times and shutter delay times, using a test system I designed and built for the purpose. (Crystal-controlled, with a resolution of 0.001 second.) Here are the numbers I collected for the Nikon Coolpix 4300:

 

Nikon Coolpix 4300 Timings
Operation
Time
(secs)
Notes
Power On -> First shot
4.81
About average for a camera with a telescoping lens.
Shutdown
2.81
Fairly fast for a camera with retractable lens.
Play to Record, first shot
1.18
Pretty quick.
Record to play
2.28
Time to display a large/fine file after capture. Fairly fast.
Shutter lag, full autofocus
0.96/1.04
First time is for wide angle zoom setting, second is for telephoto. A bit slower than average. (Average is about 0.8-0.9 seconds.)
Shutter lag, prefocus
0.15
Time to capture, after half-pressing shutter button. Quite fast (Average is about 0.3 seconds.)
Shutter lag, manual focus
0.634
A bit slower than average. (Average is about 0.5 seconds.)
Cycle Time, max/min resolution
2.66/2.37
First numbers are for large/fine files, second number is time for small/basic images. Fairly fast. Times shown are for first five shots in large/fine mode, until buffer fills, then slows to about 6 seconds per frame.
Cycle Time, continuous mode, max/min resolution 0.88/0.78 Times shown are for first five shots in large/fine mode, then must wait for buffer to empty, which can take 20-30 seconds, depending on memory card speed. Buffer holds 100 shots in small/economy mode.
Cycle Time, Ultra HS Mode
0.037
(~27 frames/second)
Ultra High Speed mode snaps very small images, but boy howdy, it's fast. ;-) Captures about 30 frames, then must wait 20-30 seconds for the buffer to clear.

 

The Coolpix 4300 is a fairly quick little camera. Some higher-end models are faster from shot to shot, and its shutter delay is a bit slower than average, but performance is quite good overall. - And the 5-shot buffer memory (in large/fine mode, up to 100 shots in small/economy) is generous enough that most users will never see slower speeds. Continuous-mode speed is very good, and Ultra HS mode is blazing.

Power
The Coolpix 4300 uses a single lithium-ion battery pack for its power source, or the optional AC adapter.

The table below shows the Coolpix 4300's power consumption in various modes, and approximate run times for each, based on a single lithium-ion battery pack with a (true, not advertised) 700 mAh capacity:

 

Operating Mode
Power
(@8.4 volts on the external power terminal)
Est. Minutes
(One 700 mAh lithium-ion cell)
Capture Mode, w/LCD
395 mA
94
Capture Mode, no LCD
10 mA
60+ hours (!)
Half-pressed shutter w/LCD
391 mA
94
Half-pressed w/o LCD
259 mA
143
Memory Write (transient)
943 mA
n/a
Flash Recharge (transient)
1026 mA
n/a
Image Playback
221 mA
168

 

Battery life is average to a bit shorter than average in the 4300's highest power-drain mode. (Capture mode, with the LCD display illuminated.) The big news though, is how little power it draws when the LCD is turned off. - You could literally run the camera for several days in capture mode if you just leave the LCD off. Very impressive! (Olympus cameras have generally done very well in this respect, it's good to see one from Nikon doing the same.)

 

Storage Capacity
The Coolpix 4300 stores its photos on CompactFlash Type I memory cards. (I strongly recommend buying at least a 64MB card, preferably a 128MB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings.) The chart below shows how many images can be stored on a 16MB card at each size/quality setting.

 

Image Capacity vs
Resolution/Quality
16 MB Memory Card
Fine
Normal
Basic.634
Uncompressed
2272x1704 Images
(Avg size)		 8
1,939 KB		 16
985 KB
32
492 KB
1
Approx.
Compression 		7:1 12:1
24:1
1:1
2048x1536 Images
(Avg size)
10
1,600 KB
19
821 KB
37
821 KB
N/A
Approx.
Compression
6:1
12:1
23:1
N/A
1600x1200
Images
(Avg size)
16
985 KB
31
512 KB
59
271 KB
N/A
Approx.
Compression
6:1
11:1
21:1
N/A
1280x960
Images
(Avg size)
25
640 KB
47
337 KB
86
185 KB
N/A
Approx.
Compression
6:1
11:1
20:1
N/A
1024x768
Images
(Avg size)
37
424 KB
69
230 KB
121
131 KB
N/A
Approx.
Compression
6:1
10:1
10:1
N/A
640x480
Images
(Avg size)
86
185 KB
144
111 KB
229
70 KB
N/A
Approx.
Compression
5:1
8:1
13:1
N/A

 

Download Speed
The Coolpix 4300 connects to a host computer via a USB interface. Downloading files to my 500 MHz PowerMac G4 (OS 9.1), I clocked it at 564 KBytes/second. (Cameras with slow USB interfaces run as low as 300 KB/s, cameras with fast ones run as high as 600 KB/s.)

 

 

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