ISO settings of 50, 100, 200 and 400 are available in P, S, A and M modes, along with auto, where the camera sets the ISO to suit the light level. The instruction manual recommends ISO 50 unless you really need a higher setting, for optimum image quality (digital images tend to get “noisier” at higher ISO settings), but we found image quality to be quite good even at ISO 200. You can set ±2 EV of exposure compensation, in 0.3-EV steps, by pressing the exposure-compensation button and rotating the command dial until the desired amount is displayed. There’s also automatic exposure bracketing, which shoots three or five frames at 0.3-, 0.7- or full-EV increments. Nikon’s exclusive Best Shot Selector (BSS) shoots up to 10 exposures as long as you keep the shutter button depressed, then compares the images and saves the sharpest one. There’s also AE BSS, which will save your choice of the picture with the smallest area of overexposure, the smallest area of underexposure, or the least over- and underexposure. With these features—and the ability to preview the image in the electronic viewfinder or on the LCD monitor, and to check it right after shooting, poorly exposed images should be a thing of the past. More Features Shutter speeds range from 8 seconds to 1¼3000 (2 seconds to 1¼3000 in auto and P modes), plus Bulb for exposures of up to 10 minutes. Shutter speeds up to 1¼8000 are possible in Ultra HS mode. There are a variety of advance modes, including single-shot, continuous H (up to 5 full-size images at 2.3 fps), continuous L (up to 11 FINE/8M images at 1.2 fps), Multi-shot 16 (16 consecutive pictures at 816x612-pixel resolution are shot at about 1.6 fps, and arranged into a single picture measuring 3264x2448 pixels), Ultra HS (up to 100 640x480-pixel images at up to 30 fps), 5 shot buffer (the camera shoots up to 0.7 fps as long as the shutter button is held down, but only saves the last 5 shots), and interval timer, in which the camera automatically takes pictures at user-set intervals. The Coolpix 8400’s 24mm (35mm-camera equivalent) setting is the widest on a consumer digicam, allowing you to get everything in the shot...or to move in on a small subject to make it appear much larger. Photo © Mike Stensvold, All Rights Reserved Flash Both cameras have a built-in Speedlight, plus a hot-shoe that accepts accessory Nikon Speedlights. Either way, you get standard i-TTL flash control, which provides proper exposure on the subject but does not necessarily balance that with the background. Flash modes include auto (the flash automatically pops up and fires when needed), flash cancel (flash won’t fire no matter what), auto with red-eye reduction (flash unit fires several low-power pre-flashes to “stop-down” subjects’ eyes and thus minimize red-eye), anytime flash (flash fires for every shot, regardless of light level), slow sync (flash with slow shutter speeds) and rear sync (the flash fires at the end of the exposure instead of at the start, for more natural-looking “speed streaks” in long exposures of subjects moving across the image). The i-TTL flash system works very well, as do the red-eye reduction features. Photo © Renee Chodor, All Rights Reserved Digital Features The 8-megapixel (3264x2448-pixel) images can be saved as unprocessed RAW files (which Nikon calls NEF, for Nikon Electronic Format), uncompressed TIFF files, or JPEG files at four compression levels (the new JPEG Extra with just 1/2 compression, plus Fine, Normal and Basic). When you don’t need the full 8-megapixel resolution (or need to be able to record more images on a given CompactFlash card), you can also shoot JPEG images at any of the four compression levels, at sizes of 5 megapixels (2592x1944 pixels), 3 megapixels (2048x1536), 2 megapixels (1600x1200) or 1 megapixel (1280x960), as well as at PC resolution (1024x768 pixels) and TV resolution (640x480 pixels, good for e-mailing). There’s also a 3264x2176-pixel “3:2” mode, which crops the top and bottom off the full 4:3-format 8-megapixel image to match the 3:2 aspect ratio of 35mm film cameras; you can record in this mode at any of the JPEG compressions or TIFF format. In playback mode, you can create TIFF copies of NEF (RAW) images, which can be used right out of the camera with no special processing. Images can be stored on Type I or II CompactFlash cards or Microdrives. An 8-megapixel RAW image takes up about 12 megabytes on the memory card, an 8-megapixel TIFF image about 23 MB, and 8-megapixel JPEG images 7.6, 3.8, 1.9 or 1 MB, depending on compression level. Thus, a 256MB CompactFlash card will hold about 20 8-megapixel RAW images, 10 8-megapixel TIFF images, or 30, 60, 125 or 240 8-megapixel JPEGs, depending on compression. The Coolpix 8400 brings true wide-angle capability to the consumer digicam. Photo © Lynne Eodice, All Rights Reserved A couple of unique digital features bear special mention. In playback mode, you can activate D-Lighting, which functions as an after-the-fact digital fill-flash, brightening dark and backlit subjects. The brightened image is saved as a separate copy image; you’ll still have the unaltered original as well on the memory card (unless you choose to delete it). In-Camera Red-Eye Fix automatically activates when needed in Red-Eye Reduction mode to digitally diminish red-eye even further. Each camera has a 238,000-pixel electronic viewfinder, plus a 134,000-dot flip-out external color LCD monitor that can be rotated through a 270° arc for easy odd-angle shots (and can be stowed face-in against the camera for protection when not in use). Both viewing devices show 97% of the actual image area, and both cameras provide EVF eyepiece correction from –3 to +1 diopters. The viewfinders can be set to show just the image, the image plus shooting data (shutter speed, aperture, image quality settings, shots remaining, exposure mode and more), the image plus shooting data and histogram, or tic-tac-toe framing guides (which are very helpful in aligning horizontal or vertical lines). The image sensor and 256-segment matrix meter record good color and detail from highlight through shadow. Coolpix 8400, 85mm setting. Photo © Mike Stensvold, All Rights Reserved