digital camera | Fae Gems & Baubles

When I first began my Etsy adventure in June this year I thought photographing my products would be a cinch; I’ve worked on a literary magazine after all, so I’d be a natural right? Wrong. So wrong. Dead wrong. I couldn’t have been more woefully incorrect. My photography has come a long way from when I started, but I am nowhere near the Etsy pros. Before I started photographing Fae Gems & Bauble’s line of products I did a lot of research on what specifications I should look for in a camera, on a budget.

I began my research close to home, on Etsy, and found a wonderful article that compared three cameras across three price ranges ($15-$300). It just so happened that my wonderful, intelligent, and thrifty Dad already had the Nikon Coolpix L4 secreted amid his digital camera collection.

You can get the Nikon Coolpix L4 here for ~$20, and there are other versions available of this camera on Amazon too.

I’ve taken some wonderfully crisp photos with this camera, and some really awful, blurry, flash-filled, poor-excuses-of-photos with the same lens. Every photograph in this post has been taken with Coolpix. There are a few things I would have really liked to have known about the Nikon Coolpix L4 before moving forward with it:

Pros:

1. Inexpensive: easily attainable for the beginning Etsy seller on a budget! (My starting budget was $250 for initial stock, shipping supplies, props, etc..)

2. Compact: You can take this camera anywhere without much hassle!

3. Takes great pictures in natural light: Seriously, some of my photos are comparable to expensive cameras, under the right circumstances (ah, there’s the rub).

4. Macro mode: is present and is wonderful for taking up close pictures. (Read about Macro Mode Tips!)

5. Video: capabilities for future projects, like IndeGogo funding or Kickstarter.

Cons:

1. The Flash: is ALWAYS on. ALWAYS. It doesn’t care what you want. If you’re outside and the camera deems it to be too dim, it shall flash, relentlessly. Ugh. You have to really struggle to prove to the camera that you do, in fact, have enough light.

2. Flash off button: Is nonexistent. Chakra Pendant 3

3. Flashing delay: When the camera flashes (against your will!) the screen needs recovery time, and will blank itself out to do so, for about 3-5 seconds. I thought I was breaking the camera at first, but it’s designed to do that. It’s super annoying during a shoot.

4. Eats through batteries: maybe it’s because the first few sets were cheapos, but since I’ve switched, I’ve noticed that it is draining the better ones after only three shoots. (But maybe this is just an accepted camera trait I’m not aware of.)

In the end, the Nikon Coolpix L4 is a great camera for beginners. It has the capabilities to produce great photos, but you still get to experience annoyance while you struggle to get your Etsy shop up and running, as all neophytes should be forced to do.

Do you have any questions about the Nikon Coolpix L4? Ask below!