Nikon Coolpix A

Update September, 2020

It seems like just as I wrote this article about the newly announced Coolpix A  – it was discontinued. In a previous post I mentioned that if I could have the perfect pocket camera – it would be a digital version of the old Nikon Lite Touch – a 35mm film camera, that was incredibly small and had a fixed 28mm lens. This was the camera that Galen Rowell used on many of his adventures to get some his fantastic photographs. I did end up purchasing a Coolpix A, and it is a fantastic camera. I still use it today and there are still many used on Ebay if you’re interested in getting one.

The Coolpix A is Nikon’s re-invention of the Lite Touch, in digital. The only thing missing is the full frame sensor. We’ll get that one day – but we aren’t quite there yet. In fact – getting one of these in the DX format was quite an achievement for Nikon, requiring some finagling with using microlenses on the chip as a means of getting the lens closer to the sensor – similar to what Leica has done with the M digital cameras. Like Nikon’s DSLRs, the Coolpix A allows you to shoot in raw.

Here’s a quick look at the specs:

Here’s a look at the original Lite Touch – which came with a 28mm lens.

I was prompted to make this post on the pretext of the size, sensor, lens combination, which is so similar to the earlier Lite Touch film version. As a professional photographer shooting film at the time – the Lite Touch was one of the few small pocket cameras that provided professional looking images that had a 28mm lens – and I had several of them and used them often. So upon seeing this announcement from Nikon – I was just compelled to say something about it – and as stated previously, ended up getting one.

Having the same sensor as the D7000, and a specially designed lens with aspheric elements, this is a great performer. The biggest issue and ultimately the reason they discontinued it perhaps, was the price. All I can say is “I told you so.” I waited and bought mine used.

Getting a small camera together with a wide angle lens and a large sensor is no simple task, and we will never see cameras like the Lite Touch for the price they sold for, even allowing for inflation. It seems to me that the world of photography has always hinged upon the users being willing to pay for anything that will give them abilities they currently don’t have. This is why Nikon and Canon manufacture lenses costing upwards of $20,000+. People DO buy them. And there will be those, like Galen Rowell, who if he were still living, would not hesitate for a second to pay the price for this camera if it would fit in his belt pack and not interfere with climbing, or other technical activities.

So in that same vein – I can see this camera appealing to pros who could use a small pocket camera for outdoor photography, street scenes, and the like. The rest of the consumer base will complain that it’s too expensive, and will probably go with something else that has more fluff for less money. I prefer having the zoom that comes with the Canon G1X – particularly since the wide end is still 28mm – but that is a much larger camera, and not as pocketable as the Coolpix A. I would be interested to see a side by side comparison – which will no doubt be available soon enough. Bottom line is that the Canon has more for less money, at the sacrifice of bulk. 

Other comments were in relation to the ridiculous price of the optical viewfinder. I must agree on this one. Only Leica charges as much for an optical finder – and one could just look for a used Leica finder on ebay and get it for much less. For that price, Nikon could have provided a dedicated EVF, that showed 100% of the frame (the optical finder only shows 90%) along with all of the exposure and other data in the finder. But who needs a finder anyway? I haven’t looked through the finder of my Canon G1X since I got it.

The Nikon is missing some fluff, like image stabilization, filter threads on the body and a built in lens hood, but none of that really matters much. At least it doesn’t require a lens cap like the G1X! Some are complaining about the speed of the lens at f2.8, which I find comical. With the sensor of a D7000, the upper ISO’s are going to be excellent – and the wider the lens, the larger and more expensive it becomes. The Lite Touch lens was a f3.5 – and didn’t come with ISO 1600. Winers are already complaining about the price – so let’s double it with a faster lens? No need, the f2.8 is perfect for this size of camera.

You can of course get all of the technical details of this camera along with a proper review forthcoming on www.dpreview.com.

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