Nikon Coolpix - is it any good

[Londontel]

I am considering investing in a Nikon Coolpix 4500 for my digiscoping which I would use with a Swaro 80HD and 20-60 zoom. I have had excellent advice on here recently as a junior digiscoper and I would be interested in the views and opinions of BF members. I understand there is better out there than the 4500 but this is within my cash range as they are coming up a lot on the used market. What is a reasonable price to expect to pay for a used model please.
Would it be recommended or are there any problems I should know about.
Looking forward to your answers

Thanks
Terry

[delia todd]

Hi Terry

I get on fine with mine, with the Leica APO77 with a 20-60 zoom, so a similar set up. I don't zoom in very much (if at all) though.

See my gallery for some of the results.

As for other cameras I'll leave that to the experts ;)

D

[bobwoodcock]

I think the same as Delia,I have used mine for the past 3 years,I personally think its still the best digiscoping camera for me with my Leica apo77 (straight),I just hope I can get another if this one goes belly up!!
There's a few shots on my gallery as well if you are interested.

[postcardcv]

I used to use a 4500 and loved the image quality, however it is very slow (wake up, shutter lag, write times) and the screen is tiny. In it's day it was the camera to have, but it really is outdated now (though I just bought another one having sold mine a couple of years ago). The image quality is as good as any digiscoping camera out there, but the shutter lag means the birds is often only half in frame! Secondhand you'll probably be paying about £100. The Fuji F30 is available new for £125 and is probably a much better buy (if you can stretch that bit further).

[davidg]

I've been watching Ebay over the past few weeks to see how much 2nd hand 4500s go for. One lucky punter got one for £110 a couple of days ago but mostly they go for around £150, or even more. If you're going to pay that much then you might as well go the extra and buy a new one from Warehouse Express (£179)

[Brian Stone]

I've yet to see better results than those taken using the Canon A95. Seen them go for about 80 quid on Ebay (or 40ish refurbished). Not sure how it meshes with the Swaro though.

[nikovich]

look online for Anne Cook's birds of manitoba website - her images were taken with a swaro and nikon 990 handheld to the scope ! - in my opinion they are some of best scope pics around

[john-henry]

I've yet to see better results than those taken using the Canon A95. Seen them go for about 80 quid on Ebay (or 40ish refurbished). Not sure how it meshes with the Swaro though.

No problem using the A95 with the AT80HD scope and 20-60 zoom, vignetting clears at about 1/3rd zoom and if you can get the lens adapter to go with it connecting it to the scope should be no problem.

Regards

John

[nick scarle]

There are a lot of photos in my gallery from a recent trip to Ethiopia, all taken with CP4500 through a Leica 62 scope with zoom.
While I agree with other comments about the camera being slow to start-up, slow to write files and shutter lag, I am willing to forgive these faults when I see the results I get.
I particularly like the Eagle Eye Digiscoping Mount which screws onto the lens and slips over the eyepiece. I like this arrangement much better than the swing away type and would only consider changing the camera for one which will take this type of adaptor.

Nick

[christineredgate]

Still the ultimate digiscoping cam.Lots of small faults.Poor screen , takes long time to write pic to card,but at the end of the day,you can obtain excellent images.

[iporali]

Still the ultimate digiscoping cam.Lots of small faults.Poor screen, takes long time to write pic to card,but at the end of the day,you can obtain excellent images.
Ultimate...? At the end of the day you have lost count of lost chances.

Ilkka

[postcardcv]

Still the ultimate digiscoping cam.Lots of small faults.Poor screen , takes long time to write pic to card,but at the end of the day,you can obtain excellent images.

In my opinion it's not the ultimate digiscoping camera... Sure the image quality can be good, but the shutter lag and slow write time cost me a lot of shots. In it's day it was the camera to have, but that was years agao and for someone starting out in digiscoping now there are far better camera options.

I should add that even with all it's faults I do like the 4500 and recently bought one (having sold my first one two years ago).

[iporali]

I should add that even with all it's faults I do like the 4500

Me too - I still have one and use it a lot for macro photography. But for digiscoping... never again. :t:

Ilkka

[Neil]

I've come in a bit late here but I do get nostalgic when I hear the old 4500 talked about. I looked at some of the galleries mentioned here as I was surprised to hear about not much zooming with the 4500 (I've had 3 of them and I wish I still had a working one ). The Exif info that I checked in each site shows focal length of 27 - 32 mm which is up there at almost full zoom. You won't get excellent images with the 4500 around full camera zoom. The sweet spot on the lens is in the Yellow Macro zone which is probably about 1/3 rd the way in ( I can't remember exactly now ). I had to have special adapters made to reduce vignetting in this zone and I even shaved down eyepieces and took the front glass element off the camera. The lens is this camera is 38-155mm which is very long if you use it a full zoom or near it (2.5 - 3x optical ). This would be why most of the images I looked at appeared a bit soft.
If people are going to use words like "excellent" and "still the best out there" they should post their best photo with the Exif info so a new prospective user will be able to judge for themselves.
Now to the two main problems with the 4500 , the very slow Auto focus which means that in many cases the bird has long left the perch by the time it locks on and the small , poor resolution screen which makes it very difficult to check focus in daylight (without a screen shade ) or to review a taken image. I understand that the experienced guys can get around these issues but I would be cautious about recommending it to a new user. The world has moved on from the 4500 and there is much more choice out there as you can see from the these threads.
Now has someone got an old 4500 to sell me as I miss mine, Neil.

[Jaff]

Said it before and I'll say it again.
I love mine and would only change it if it broke beyond repair. Nearly 8000 acts. and it's still going (though I have been less than gentle with it at times as well). The screw thread and internal zoom is a major plus as it makes the problem of adapters SO much easier. I'm using an old 60mm non-ED scope (Kowa 612) and there are two reasons I'm getting the picturres I am. One is the Opticron eyepiece I'm using and the other is without doubt the 4500.

I would still recommend it as it just has something about it that makes it a very easy camera to digiscope with and in many ways it is more of a "photographers" camera than the point and shoot road that the newer models seem to be going down where more settings are up to the camera to decide than the user.

Jaff

[Tannin]

I really find it a little difficult to believe that people are still looking for 4500s. Yes, it was a good unit in its day, but it's been a long, long time since it was surpassed by other cameras. I'm sure there are several others as well, but just to mention the one that I've owned myself, the Canon A95 beats the Coolpix 4500 as a digiscoping camera in pretty much every dimension.

Quotes from above:

* "Still the ultimate digiscoping cam". Not even close. Very slow, poor battery life, too many other things to list.
* "The image quality is as good as any digiscoping camera out there" - nope. Easily beaten for IQ by the A95, presumably others too.

The A95 is a third the weight, twice as fast, has noticably better image quality, has much better high ISO for when the light is poor, works well with standard adaptors for Swarovski and other scopes .... there is no contest.

[Tannin]

PS: I have owned 2 4500s and used them a lot. Loved the 4500 in its day, but that was quite a few years ago.