Rating: 
Summary: I really like this camera, good choice for ambitious amateur
Review: The Nikon Coolpix 990 has been a great camera-I'm extremely pleased with it. This is a good choice for an experienced or ambitious amateur photographer. Most of my previous experience has been with a Panasonic that cost a little over half what this one did. In comparison to that camera, the Nikon has better color saturation, is quicker at the draw, and of course has more features.... I've been very pleased with the way that the 990 allows control over both shutter speed and aperture, color balance, focus and metering points and several more obscure settings. All digital cameras are battery pigs, and this is no exception. A good optical viewfinder (including support for zoom) is important in a camera like this for two reasons. First, the color screen is useless in bright sunlight, but second, it provides you with a battery-saving option of turning off the monitor. An LCD screen on top of the camera provides a readout on the most common settings (aperture, shutter speed, resolution & quality, storage, 'ISO', flash settings, manual focus distance). Japanese electronics tend to have lots of features, reached through obscure combinations of buttons. While I would hardly categorize this camera as being 'completely intuitive,' most of the functions are pretty easy to operate. The more advanced settings are reached through a tabbed menu on the monitor, which is reasonably easy to use. I've also found that the monitor is very accurate in both brightness and tone. The monitor has several different modes-if you leave it turned on, the default mode is to superimpose some of the most-used camera settings over the picture. This is similar to but not a complete duplicate of the readout on the top LCD screen. You can also leave the menu on, superimposing it over the image. While this covers part of the image, it also makes menu options available for immediate use. Unless you are in very bright light, what you see on the monitor after taking a picture is what you get-I've never been disappointed that a picture didn't turn out like it appeared on the monitor (brightness and hue are adjustable). Although the monitor is small, the view feature lets you zoom in and scroll around on stored images so that you can look at them more closely. The configuration of the camera is unusual, splitting the viewfinder, lens and flash from the other half of the camera and allowing their separate rotation. I usually don't rotate the lens, but sometimes it is convenient to do so, allowing you to take pictures over your head or around corners. I bought a small minipod and found that the rotating lens assembly provides some extra flexibility when clamping the camera to whatever happens to be available. The on-board flash is OK, but the red-eye reduction facility doesn't work very well. If you don't use an off-camera flash, you're living with substandard lighting anyway, but there are more effective red-eye reduction systems on other built-in flashes. It doesn't matter how slick the controls are, or how good it looks if it doesn't take acceptable pictures. I've been quite please with the camera's performance in many different light conditions. I've had fun capturing the Christmas lights in Zürich, and my best picture was a misty Fall scene on Mt. Pilatus with yellow and red leaves. It took me 6 tries to get the exposure right (that's why you buy a camera like this), but it perfectly captured that dreamy backlit scene and its Autumn colors. Pictures don't always come out as rich as negative film, but they aren't bad and when they are good, they can be very good. I've found that close-ups work well, and macro mode is fun. I've even used my 990 to copy signs or even pages in a book. It is a quick way to capture text that you need to refer to later. After you've taken a picture of a diagram or text, view it and use the zoom function to make sure that what you've just taken is legible in the monitor. The camera has more continuous shooting options than I know what to do with. The multi-shot 16 feature lets you create a single collage that consists of 16 pictures. That's the kind of gimmick that you can't use very often without wearing out your audience's patience. If you want to create a short movie, though, you can do that too. Speaking of night pictures, I had a terrible time figuring out the self-timer. When you put it in self-timer mode, the close-up icon (flower) comes on, and so does the red eye icon. It turns out that you are stuck with this configuration, which isn't really optimal for night scenes. ... Given the availability of multi-second shutter speeds, and a sensitivity adjustment providing an effective speed of ISO 400, some owners will undoubtedly pay for the MC-EU1 release, and the bulb setting is pretty much useless without it. I like the USB cable. Once you've loaded Nikon View on your computer, connecting the camera to a USB port and turning it on automatically makes the camera accessible as if it were a removable drive. I've been traveling with just the USB cable and find it a very convenient way to pull pictures into my laptop and delete them from the memory card. Connection of the USB cable automatically turns off the color monitor, and subsequent battery drain seems to be low. ... I think most Nikon owners would appreciate a more advanced text than this, but it is comprehensive and has helped me better utilize my camera. In summary, automatic operation is very good, and if desired, this camera offers the ability to control every aspect of the photography process. It has less waiting time than many other digital cameras I've used, it is relatively easy to use, and it takes good pictures. It's a winner!
Rating:
Summary: A change of heart, nothing finer than the 990.
Review: Keeping this short and sweet (well shorter than most I hope), I just wanted to share with any person interested in this camera some valuable information to consider while shopping for a digital camera. About 4-5 months ago I gave my Nikon 950 to my better half itching to jump on the 3.3 Mp bandwagon. Right off the bat there were only 2 cameras to consider (the Sony DSC-S70 and the Nikon 990), all other 3.3's were just not up to par with these two. After a month of research I decided that the S70 would be the better of the 2 because of the sleek point and click design and sony's proprietary memory stick. Both camera's are true 3 megapixel cameras unlike the predecessor DSC-505V, both cameras have viewfinders (a must-have for day photography), and both cameras deliver exceptional pictures. But with the far stylish look of the S70 at $200 less the S70 was my choice at the time. I then spent the next 2 months trying to locate the camera in stock and at a good price, fortunately Amazon began to sell DCs which allowed me to start pricing cameras again. However, the Sonys were all backordered, which ended up to be a blessing in disguise. A few weeks later a relative purchased the 990 and allowed me to tinker with it. Still a believer on the S70 I was reluctant in accepting the bulkier design of the camera, but after a few hours I found the 990 to be the true champ of the 3.3's. During my tinkering I found a couple facts to consider for both cameras:
1. Both cameras come with an inadequate amount of storage, so getting extra memory is a MUST.
2. 1 battery (or 4 for the Nikon) will not do the job while you are on a trip.
3. Zoom on both are extremely low, so they will never truly replace a 35mm.
Taking those into consideration along with the offer Amazon had on the 990, it was hands down the better of the two for these reasons:
1. The 990 uses CF cards which are a standard in several cameras unlike the proprietary Memory Stick, also you get 16mb with the 990 compared to the 8mb with the S70.
2. A 64mb stick costs as much as a 96mb CF card.
3. The S70's memory write times were significantly slower than the 990 (due to the memory stick again).
4. The 990 uses AA batts which can be found anywhere.
5. The Manual Options for the 990 gives the photographer so much control over their photo conditions.
6. The 990s swivel design is fabulous, something totally impossible on the S70 unless your workaround happens to be your "swivel-neck".
Now does this make the 990 a great point&click? Probably not (dont get me wrong, the 990 is an unbelievable on its "Auto" mode) you will thoroughly enjoy the camera more because of the configurable nature of the camera, if you plan to truly take digital photography seriously then this is your camera. Also, a few quirks you need to adjust to with the camera (all DCs have them, but these I found were actually minor since you can find workarounds for them):
1. Batteries, the 990 inhales them... get a set of at least 4 to a recommended 8 rechargables, they cost a lot, but you will need them, the NiMH rechargers work great.
2. Get at least 32-64mb of memory, 16mb = 1 picture at the 990's absolute highest setting.
3. Upgrade the firmware to 1.1 when you get the chance, the autofocus upgrade is noticable.. quite noticable.
4. The software with the camera is weak, very weak (basic app to download pictures), get a picture editing package.
5. Built-in flash not the best for distant shots, which can be compensated with an external flash.
6. Red-eye is there and red-eye suppression doesn't do the trick most of the time, but get a red-eye removing pen at your local camera shop, they work wonders.
Like I said, every camera has quirks, but if I listed the quirks I discovered about the S70, I would never end this review. Finally, I assume that you can guess which camera I finally purchased off Amazon. I've been messing with it for this past week and I am now a Nikon believer (was one with the 950, but more so with this camera). I'm so eager to take pictures with it these holidays and hope that if you purchased the 990, that you find what I wrote true to your experiences as well. To those who are considering, I hope you find what I wrote informational. Merry Christmas everyone!! :)
Rating:
Summary: Awsome macro!
Review: This camera can focus to 2 cm. I've taken some incredible pictures of mushrooms with the macro setting and they are incredible. Definitly worth all the money I paid for it!
Rating:
Summary: There's Simply No Comparison!
Review: I started researching digital cameras nearly a year ago, as I had decided a while back that I wanted a digital camera. As an amateur photographer, I was looking for something reliable that produced excellent photographs. There were a plethora of websites containing opinions on which camera to purchase; I even took a few ¡§compatibility¡¨ tests, and most of the results named the Nikon Coolpix 990 as my best bet. After asking others for their opinions, I received an overwhelmingly positive response to this camera. There were a few people who deemed the Coolpix 990 too pricey and convoluted, and I did consider getting some other less expensive cameras (like Fuji and Kodak), but my propensity for top-of-the-line items ultimately won. I purchased the 990 here on Amazon, and it arrived in a couple of days (thanks for the speedy service, Amazon!). There were several fears, however. A few people have said that such a high-end camera was not exactly necessary, that a cheaper camera would do the job. Initially, I had only planned to use this camera to post photos on websites, but I then realised that if I¡¦m going to spend a few hundred dollars on a big toy, I might as well have it do everything (namely 8 x 10 prints). Having just returned from a short vacation in London, England, I can now accurately attest to the 990¡¦s excellence. I took this camera everywhere, and I soon abandoned my camera bag and I hung it around my neck for easy access. The tube, Parliament, Tower Bridge, pubs, restaurants, streets, shopping centres....I went to many places and took several photographs along the way. Before this trip I had really only used this camera for a few photos around my town, but now that I¡¦d taken it on vacation, I have a more lucid perception. This camera is phenomenal, and although I cannot ramble on in technical terms, I can articulate the ease with which I took photos, the terrific quality of the prints, and the sheer professionalism of it. Some specific points: * The LCD is nicely-sized and clear, although I would stock up on NiHM batteries. I played around with the menu settings for such a few minutes, and the batteries completely drained. During my trip I shut off the screen to conserve the batteries. * The swivel lens is convenient and affords a lot of versatility. Some people consider it odd, but I thought it was a nice touch. * 16 MB memory card included in the box. Instead of buying more cards, however, I purchased the IOMEGA Pocketzip (formerly Clik! Drive) in order to dump my photos onto it during my trip. Highly recommended procedure! * Some red-eye when you use the flash, but I've stopped using it altogether, as I prefer the soft effect of photos without it. In conclusion, I am extremely satisfied with this marvelous camera. I take it everywhere now, and I can¡¦t imagine being as happy with anything else (until the next model comes out, of course). Albeit expensive, it is worth every penny. The photographs are amazing, the settings numerous so that you can customize it to your needs, and the convenience priceless!
Rating:
Summary: Kiss your local photo shop goodbye
Review: To make this plain and simple,with the Nikon 990 and the H/P Photosmart 1100 printer, your friends will think your a pro! Excellent photos and outstanding pictures..Thank you Nikon.
Rating: 
Summary: Great camera with some flaws
Review: I owned this camera for about 4 months, and in the time took over 1000 photos with it (yeah, I know, too much free time!). I used the photos for on-screen presentations, as well as 8x10" printouts. The camera takes just incredible photographs, with accurate colors, and very sharp definition. Here are some other points I saw: • autofocus was fairly quick during the day, but can bog down and become very indecisive in low light • flash: powerful, but nothing you do can get rid of red-eye in virtually any shot (red-eye reduction mode is useless) • camera can store photos in separate folders, which is useful for multiple occasions • no support for Microdrive is a fatal flaw • metering system is extremely accurate; found virtually no need to use the spot meter • macro ability is second to none • for dentistry, takes wonderful intraoral photos, utilizing the chair light and the built-in flash; not terribly good, though, if you want to focus on ONE tooth, since the flash will wash things out. The resolution is good enough, though, that you can focus on a quadrant, take the shot, and crop it later. Overall, found it to be the perfect camera, minus the red-eye problems and lack of microdrive support. So I sold it and bought a Canon Powershot G1 (review forthcoming)...
Rating:
Summary: Extra comments
Review: I am semi-retired, my background was commercial photography for about thirty years. I now have a furniture store which both my wife and I own. We also have a crew that builds custom furniture. For our web site we needed good photos. We have designated an area in the store mainly for photography. We chose the Nikon 990 coolpix digital camera because of the 3.34 megapixels and the reputation of the Nikon name. We purchased the camera when it first became available,I have had it since sometime in July 2000. It took me several weeks to learn the camera. The documentation is very difficult to follow. However I feel that I know the camera well enough now to use it to its fullest extent, we are getting incredible results. The Express photo program that comes with the camera is very good. I am able to correct the flower pot shape from looking down on the subject and crop for the desired results. In one previous ratings red eye was mentioned, and I also found that no matter what you do you get some serious red eye problems. In another program (Adobi Photo Shop) I zoom in on an eye so that the eye fills the entire monitor screen then I take all the red squares and turn them into the color I want, with amazing results. If anyone wants to know more detail of how I do it please feel free to email me.
Rating:
Summary: Great pics, some quirks
Review: Photo quality is remarkable, including excellent colors and detail. Of course these are the most important aspects of a digital camera. Aside from that, other nice tricks include being able to swivel the lens and take mpeg movies. Some complaints you should be aware of: - Not having a case seems chintzy when you're paying over $800 for a camera. - Bad red-eye even with that mode turned on. Lens is probably too close to the flash on the body. - Settings are not for the amateur. You need to spend a lot of time with the manual before using the complicated menus. I've used the "restore settings" button more than once. Don't pay for settings you don't use! - Flash seems weak, or I haven't found the right exposure+flash balance for taking shots in imperfect light from more than 12 feet. - Get a large flash card or don't bother. With "normal" photos in 3.3 megapixel cameras weighing in at 750K+, you should have at least a 32MB card. Over 100MB cards are really where digicams come into their own. - Flash card readers are also nice. The Coolpix USB is fine, but if you have 50 pictures it can still take a while. (Have to download new software for Win2000, a little annoying.) - The mpeg movies it produces are 40-second silent films, no sound! (Unless I've really gotten screwed up by the settings...) - The AC adapter is definitely worth it if you use the camera frequently, and you will.
Rating:
Summary: Five stars...not enough!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Wait...you STILL haven't purchased this camera!??! What are you waiting for? I bought the 990 when it first became available at Amazon.com back in July. I've been using it for everything. I take it on mountain bike rides, take it to the beach, use it for fast action sports, portraits, you name it. I love taking movies with it, too. They're very easy to load into Premiere to add special effects. This camera has options and features designed to work in all environments. Make sure you have V1.1 software, though. With V1.0, I was DYING while waiting for the camera to store all the pictures I took while in continuous mode. This is one of my favorite modes, especially with soccer games. But, with V1.1, as soon as you let go of the shutter release, the camera is ready to take more pictures. This fix makes the camera as near perfect as can be! I purchased the 2X telephoto lens...OH MY GOODNESS. This lens is incredible. I think the pictures are even SHARPER with this lens on. It amazes me. The 3X telephoto lens is now available and I have no doubt that it will exceed my expectations. I also purchased the remote shutter release which adds more features to the camera like time lapse photography! Cool for sunsets/sunrises. Also, if you think the swivel feature of this camera is going to cause problems...DON'T. It's the neatest thing and one of the biggest reasons I decided on this camera over the Olympus. Well, why haven't you clicked the "Purchase Now" button??? Hurry!
Rating:
Summary: My unbiased opinion on this camera
Review: First off, let me say that this camera is incredible, and worth every penny. I've owned mine for about a week, and I've taken some incredible photos that look like they came out of a magazine (and I'm an amateur at best). Now, let's get realistic about the camera. I want to provide enough factual information to allow people to make their decisions about whether or not this is the right camera for them. TheCoolpix 990 has tons of great points. Most notably, it's 3.34 megapixels (3.24 effective), and thus produces top-quality images with incredible sharpness. Another thing that was had me sold was the fact that you can go into full manual mode with this camera. You can choose either shutter priority, aperture priority, or full manual (including fully manual focus). This aspect of the camera should appeal to the professional or "artsy" photographer who wishes to customize the camera to get the exact effect they want. After you upgrade the firmware to v1.1, the speed of certain camera operations are a bit faster, but the camera is already originally very fast. Reviewing photographs in "Play" mode is a breeze, and there's not much delay when paging through them. Buy rechargeable NiMH (nickel metal hydride) batteries and a charger before your camera ships. The alkaline batteries that ship with the camera will die within hours,guaranteed. Also, grab the amazing Maha C204F charger. It allows you to leave the charger plugged in with batteries in it indefinitely, without ruining the batteries at all. The charger will save you several hundred dollars in batteries. A few drawbacks about the 990 (yes, they do exist): BSS (best shot selection) feature is kind of weak. It's supposed to let you take 10 shots and it chooses the best ("the one with the most detail" I believe the manual says, whatever that means). On some occasions it has actually chosen blurry photos over the sharp ones. I've no clue how this works, but Nikon needs to reevaluate this function. And a warning: don't rely on this camera for good long-exposure shots. Shutter times of 4 seconds and longer in a dark setting will sometimes show a lot of noise in the photograph. This is a very noisy camera (audibly and graphically), so try to limit your exposure times. Also, please note that you will NOT be able to access the "info.txt" file that people in other reviews have mentioned. Yes, the camera saves all photo details (shutter speed, ISO, flash, aperture, etc.) to a file called "info.txt", but you CANNOT access the file unless you're using a card reader. The NikonView software will only let you pull photos from the camera, nothing else. I'll conclude this here because I could rant on for a while on other great points. The camera is truly amazing, buy it now. Yes, it has drawbacks, but no camera is perfect--and this one comes pretty close to perfection. This camera is comparable to the Olympus C3030, so check that out as well. The features of the C3030 are similar, and in some ways the camera is a little better (the movie mode actually records audio!), and a little worse (uses SmartMedia only).
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