The Coolpix 775 may be small but it is equipped with a 3x Nikkor optical zoom lens with a 38 to 115mm (in 35mm equivalent) focal length coverage. The maximum aperture is F2.8 to 4.9 and it has a dedicated macro mode. Auto focus is handled by a contrast detect TTL system and the focus range is 11.8 in. to infinity in normal mode and from 1.6 in. to infinity in Macro mode.

The UR-E3 adapter (available Fall 2001) will allow the use of the Nikkor TC-E2 2x tele and the WC-E63 wideangle lenses on the Coolpix 775.

The eyelevel optical viewfinder zooms in and out with the lens and shows about 85% of the captured image. The two LEDs indicate the flash and focus status. There is no diopter adjustment.

The builtin speedlight has a guide number of 23 (at ISO 100, ft.) and can be set for Auto Flash, Red-Eye Reduction (lamp type), Fill Flash, Slow Sync or Disabled.

The power on/off switch is built around the shutter release. The Mode Dial has positions for Auto, Movie, Play, Party, Backlight, Portrait, Night Portrait, Landscape, Beach/Snow and Sunset.

The TRANSFER button lets the user easily transfer pictures from the camera to the host computer running the NikonView software. The button lets you quickly view the last picture taken, it displays in the upper-left quarter of the screen. Press the Quick Review button a second time to display it full screen. In Play mode the Quick Review button magnifies the image 2x.

Below the LCD are the Focus, Flash and MENU buttons. The Focus button selects Landscape (infinity), Macro, Macro + Selftimer or Selftimer modes. The Flash button cycles through the flash modes. The MENU button enables the onscreen menu system which is navigated by the 4-way controller. The 4-way controller is also used to select images during Play mode and operated the zoom in Record modes. Pressing the "Up" button turns the LCD on and off as well as controlling the data overlay information.

A single port is used to connect the USB cable or the Video Out cable. The Coolpix 775 is compatible with USB-enabled Windows or Macintosh computers. The video signal is selectable for NTSC or PAL. An optional AC power supply can be plugged into the DC IN port.

The Coolpix 775 is equipped with a CompactFlash Type I card slot and is supplied with an 8MB size card. Cards are easily removed by pushing the ejector button.

The camera can be powered by the included EN-EL1 lithium rechargeable battery or by one-use 2CR5 type batteries. The EN-EL1 battery can power the camera for up to 100 minutes.

The EN-EL1 battery is charged out of the camera in the included MH-51 rapid charger. The charger can replenish a depleted battery in two hours or less. The AC adapter for the charger is a 100-240 volt type.

An alternative Coolpix 775 power source is the Maha PowerBank, a $59 lightweight, external lithium battery with more than twice the amount of power of the Nikon EN-EL1 battery.