Rating: 
Summary: A Mixed bag
Review: I bought my Coolpix 950 three months ago. I had a Sony Mavica before. The Mavica was easy to use, but limited. The Coolpix is extremely flexible and can work well if you have the time to carefully adjust the proper settings. Unfortunately it takes some time to be able to understand enough about the settings to use them correctly. These are often a strange mix of software and hardware settings. You can't be in a hurry to take a picture with this camera. Another negative is the considerable use of energy needed to take the highest resolution photos. The 950 sucks energy from my NiMH batteries at a surprisingly high rate. I bought a backup rechargable battery pack and it goes fast too. On the plus side, the photos are great and the macro gets you less than one half inch from the subject. I consider the camera pricey and a bit quirky. I hope Nikon's next version is less of both.
Rating: 
Summary: adt ?
Review: Hard to learn . Better well witten manual is in order. My main problem is with the retailer.Ordered 6 wks ago. Rcd what was probably a refurbished. After great harangue, replaced but with PAL model. Works only with Euro TV. No warranty or registration card. After much more harangue, 3rd one "will be shipped soon". The joy is gone. ADVICE: BUY FROM REPUTABLE DEALER EVEN IF IT IS A FEW BUCKS MORE. I bought thru a camera store in NY from an ad in a photo magazine. NEVER AGAIN !
Rating:
Summary: Faulty Electronic System
Review: I have owned the Nikon CoolPix 950 for two months and when I go to turn it on from the electronic adaptor it won't turn on. If I go back an hour later and try it it turns on and will work fine but every time I try to use it I have to wonder whether or not it will work. They don't send enough documentation to tell where to ask about getting it fixed. I ordered it but still don't know who to contact. I use it for my business so am very concerned. I'd like some help from Nikon.
Rating: 
Summary: The best digtal out. Hands down!
Review: I've owned this camera now for 1 1/2 months (along with my Nikon N90s) and must say that it takes the most wonderfully clear, focused and perfect shots (We're talking Full-Auto mode here, folks), that it is a must for anyone considering a digital camera. I cannot say enough about it here. See For Yourself!
Rating:
Summary: Coolpix 950 is a FANTASTIC camera
Review: I read some of thes reviews here before buying, and most helped. Nikon has produced a FANTASTIC camera in the Coolpix950. They should have included the 56 page reference book in printed form instead of making the customer print it for themselves. However, I have only referred to one page of it so far! The downloading of images is fairly quick and easy, and the software to enhance images is easy to understand and use. I have taken some GREAT shots and the results are AWESOME! I have no idea why anyone would complain about this camera. It does everything I want to do, including taking terrific detailed pictures of really small model cars. I have no comlaints about this camera, and I would reccomend buying one!
Rating:
Summary: Nice for pros as well as the photographically challenged!
Review: My husband and I are on the far ends of the spectrum when it comes to photography. He loves the CoolPix950 with the advanced mode, I use it with the auto mode for now. Either way we get great pictures, especially with the option to delete and a 32mb Compact Flash card. To print photos, we bought the Olympus printer that Amazon "recommends" and found it to be small and flimsy. We returned it (as always a good Amazon return experience!) and bought the HP PhotoSmart P1100 with duplexer. The best thing about this printer is that you can just pop the Compact Flash card out of the camera and pop it into the printer, and HP's software is FAR superior to the Nikon junk that comes with the CoolPix. A few annoying features: (1) the delay between when you press the shutter button and when the camera finally takes the photo. Hard to get used to when trying to photograph your two-year-old offering his stuffed Pooh a drink from his sippy cup (2) the flash is too close to the lens and everything with eyeballs turns red! We use this camera a lot, especially outdoors. The macro mode is fun too.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: Great camera once you learn the menus and buttons. Advanced users of electronic cameras will find this easy. I have avoided the auto-everything camera's because I like controlling all of the creative process. Because of this, it took me a while to get used to the menus and buttons, but it was not hard. The Coolpix 950 still allows you to control the creative process but I would recommend a good book on digital photography (such as Real World Digital Photography) to get you started, especially if you're a film junkie such as myself. Note: a memory card reader for your computer and bigger CompactFlash cards will make the camera much more enjoyable as well as rechargeable Ni-MH batteries. The first two replace your film and processing budget. One nice thing is that you can instantly reuse the memory card. Mistakes can be erased immediately and the same memory space used for a better shot. A light steady tripod is also recommended as the camera has a "speed rating" of ISO 80 and shutter speeds tend to be slow without flash. If you must use flash, get an external unit as the on board flash is too close to the lens and, as with all small cameras, produces flat featureless images. You'll also need access to a good, fast color printer to print out the full reference manual. A copy center such as Kinko's should work. This is not a camera for the "instamatic" crowd. Hint: negative reviewers tend to be disappointed because it is not an out-of-the-box instant hit, but with a little creative work, the camera does well. I may trade up to the CoolPix 990 in a year or two after the price comes down.
Rating:
Summary: The best digital camera today
Review: I've had the 950 for 3 months. It's fantastic. I particularly like the immediacy of being able to see how the shot turned out and then print it up at home. Partnered with the HP PhotoSmart, the results are as good as my old Nikon SLR on 8" by 10". It's not a complete replacement for a traditional SLR since certain types of shot requiring special lighting, capturing fast action or specialized lenses can't be taken but for 80% of the functionality it's beautiful. Everyone who's tried mine's bought one. What more can I say?
Rating:
Summary: Buy one! But you can't buy mine!
Review: This camera is the digital equivalent to a some of the fine utility film cameras such as Canons' Rebel and Élan EOS series: The camera is just as complex as you need it to be - whether you are a 'point-and-shoot' user or a need it for professional uses. In my design business use it has far exceeded my expectations.
Prior to purchasing the 950, I would take a product shot, make a print and tape it onto my monitor where I used it as reference to draw the product into an on screen graphic. With this camera, I seldom print the 'film' out at all - in fact in many cases I didn't even have to redraw the product in at all. A shade-tree calculation says that this camera has saved me well over 100 hours in the three months I have owned it. Even at my low-low rates this is several times the cost of this camera - even including the optional memory.
The resolution is high enough for everyday publication uses -- print or pixel. A caveat here: the lens does not collect enough light to do studio quality photography. For this reason in most high quality still photo work it is useful to use a tripod to keep the camera steady. The 'speed' of the camera is roughly equivalent to ASA 100 film.
While it takes only a few moments to discover the basics for 'point-and-shoot' mode it is worth a few hours practice in the 'pro' mode. Few of the 'advanced' features are really difficult to understand and using them once or twice is so rewarding that learning becomes an easy and fun process - especially since you can erase the film and use it over! With careful lighting I can come very close to studio quality work which compares to my yeoman Canon EOS Élan 35mm.
Particularly handy for me is the macro mode - or close-up mode. You can focus from less than an inch! I sometimes use it over my high-test scanner for documents because it is easier and faster. My partner (whose mechanical ability allows the use of the toaster correctly 7 out of 10 times) uses it for online auctions and has found it to be a blessing: she no longer shuns putting up the low cost items due to the difficulty of getting an image. She is still using the point and shoot modes but they are more than good enough for this use.
Notes and recommendations: Even a casual user will find the need to have more than the supplied 8-megabyte chip. I have a 64 and it is more than enough. Probably an additional 8- or 16-megabyte would do for average use. Uploading pictures using what is in the box is straightforward but cumbersome and requires a serial port. For not too much money you can get a serial or USB drive that makes the CompactFlash chip into a drive - plug the chip in and using explorer or your photo software you can retrieve your photos just like any file on your computer. (We have even used it to move non-photo programs from one 'puter to another!) Please note that I have skipped over many features which have bee covered admirably by the other reviewers on this page.
In this fast-moving technological era it is difficult to make a decision to buy as there is another camera coming out in the near future. However, this camera will work for me for a long time and I recommend it to anyone from the family album user to photo professionals for everyday use. With the new online services that will make you paper prints from your uploaded images there are fewer and fewer reasons for cumbersome film and this camera is one of the first to deliver print-quality resolution.
Rating: 
Summary: High Cost - Disappointing Outcome
Review: Purchased and returned the camera. From an optical perspective and the quality of the images, quite a great camera. Considering the substantial cost, several items were very disappointing and caused me to return it on a cost vs. benefit aspect: 1) The camera does not come with a recharger and appropriate NiCad (or better) batteries. Regular alkaline batteries last about 30 min. for normal use. 2) The connection to the PC requires a serial port only. Would be a nice option to include USB hookup. My computer's serial ports are all used for other devices. 3) An 8MB flash card that holds a mere 16 images in the 'normal' mode. 4) When connected to the PC, the pictures cannot be easily transferred to software programs that can sort, package or send the pictures. A cumbersome copy procedure has to be utilized to get the pictures on the hard drive; from there they need to be imported to the software. Even with a 450 Pentium II machine, the transfer was slow (even at the fasted speed setting for the serial port). The instructions confirmed that photo software does not recognize the camera as a device to copy from. It should work just like a scanner (from a system's perspective). I think the folks at Nikon have a great camera here but need to work on making it more cost effective and user friendly. To bring the camera up to speed a minimum of another $200+ would have to be invested. (Batteries, charger and larger flash card) The PC hook-up could be greatly improved and made more user friendly. Considering the already high cost this is not yet a good package. I was sorry to return it.
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