A great camera, my tips and opinion.
Written: Aug 14 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great pictures, 3.34 megapixels produce great printout up to 8 by 10, Durable, Great interface
Cons: Built in flash is weak (like all point and shoot cameras)
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| dancilmi's Full Review: Nikon Coolpix 990 Digital Camera |
I have been waiting quite some time to buy a digital camera. I figured, like almost everyone else on the planet, that prices would continue to drop and quality would improve as time went on. Eventually I was going to have to "stick my feet in the mud", but how should I know when?? Then a few months ago, the answer landed in my face when Nikon introduced the Coolpix 990.
Since I first became employed (as a teenager), I have always been the type of person who was willing to pay a bit of a premium to get a great product, and this was no exception. As an avid photographer and computer user, I wanted a digital camera that would allow me creative control, ease of use, and most importantly great photographic results. After reading a couple dozen reviews (before I discovered epinions), doing a lot of product testing in the stores, and tirelessly bugging the salespeople with questions, I came to the conclusion that the Coolpix 990 was every bit as superior as I hoped it was.
After plunking down $900 for the camera (and $320 for two 64MB Compact Flash Cards), I brought the camera home and spent about 6 hours testing it out. The first thing that I noticed was how solid a feel the camera had without being too heavy. The controls were second nature within an hour of shooting with it, and quite similar to the controls I have come to appreciate on my Nikon N90s SLR. The focusing was fairly fast for a point and shoot, and can acquire proper focusing very accurately in almost any lighting conditions. Battery life was about 2 hours with alkalines, 6 hours with lithiums, and 3 hours with Nickel-Metal Hydride rechargeables.
Having started out in film-based photography, I never realized how many doors digital photography would open for me. For one thing, since taking pictures no longer costs money (assuming you use rechargeable batteries, which is a must in my opinion), you can shoot as many pictures of a subject as you need to get a great shot. Then all you have to do is view the pictures and delete all but the best one. Secondly, you have immediate results, so you never have to wait hours or days to know how good the shots are. These things can be a much bigger blessing than you would assume, as they improve greatly both the quality and professionalism of your photographs.
My first big test of the camera came about a month ago when my family and I took our annual summer vacation (all 27 of us). I decided that for the I was bringing only my digital camera, and I carried it around my neck literally every waking hour of my vacation. The combination of the 270-degree swiveling head and the LCD screen allowed many more creative angles and photo opportunities than normal cameras would have otherwise provided. The "shutter" response was quick, the 3D matrix metering and focusing were astonishingly accurate, and the camera was astonishingly intuitive to use.
My system for taking pictures was great. I brought my PowerBook G3, 8 AA rechargeable Ni-MH batteries with 1 hour charger, 3 compact flash cards, and a PCMCIA adapter which allowed my laptop to read the cards directly (a $10 accessory I consider a must for laptop users). Using full resolution and the lowest possible JPEG compression, I could fit about 50 images on a 64MB card (and 14 on a 16MB card). This allowed me to shoot for an entire day without having to offload the images to my computer, which thankfully only took about 2 minutes for all 3 cards. The results were always quite impressive, due to a 3.34 megapixel resolution and great sharpness and color saturation.
After taking about 1000 pictures on the trip, I returned home and printed some of them out using an Epson Stylus Color 900 and glossy paper. The printouts were beautiful, with no graininess or pixelation at 8x10 print size, and my friends all thought the pictures were from a conventional camera. To get great results, some adjustment was required (hue/saturation and levels) in PhotoShop, but even without the adjustment, the printouts looked pretty good.
As for whether or not the camera can replace film-based cameras completely, I would say not for those who need the features which can only be found on SLRs or the ability to print at sizes larger than 8x10. I can say conclusively that this camera the first that allows the average user to forego the idiosyncrasies of using film for everyday photography. I recommend it enthusiastically.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
dancilmi
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Member: Dan Cilmi
Location: New York
Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 18 members
About Me:
An electronics, computer, and photography buff. IT consultant by trade.
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