Nikon Coolpix 990

This could have been an excellent digital camera! This was my first step into digital photography, after many years with Nikon manual cameras (F2, F3, ...). I did not regret it but I paided my price for trusting Nikon. Current Nikon products appear to be quite different in quality than to what I was used to. The camera body is excellent, but the assembly of the lens case was lousy. I lost a great many shots because the 990 broke down two times, each time in important situations. At present (12-2003) this camera is already outdated. The reason is not resolution or color rendition, its reliability and speed. To begin with the good things: the body design is excellent, the possibility to turn the lens housing independently of the monitor/controls section allows for great macro and people shots. Autofocus is lousy, shutter lag and write speed is below average and too slow for "speedy" subjects. The lens unit had to be repaired twice. For the first time, it broke after two months and was replaced without problems. The second time was after eleven months, when it began to malfunction again ("pumping"), being unable to focus correctly. This seems to be a common problem with this model (see the other reviews). This camera is only interesting if you want to do macro shots or if your subjects are moving slowly. The 990 is not that useful for portraits, because of its slow reaction. Altogether, from what I have learned from other photographers, Nikon is way behind Canon now concerning reliability and autofocus. To put it shortly, I will not buy a Nikon compact digital camera again. I expected image quality and reliability. My 990 only fulfilled the first condition.

excellent body design great macro capabilities image quality

shutter lag lousy autofocus lens assembly problems with numerous 990's write speed

Minolta DiMage 7Hi Canon 10D Nikon F2 and F3, various Nikkor lenses

Needed twice, within warranty period. It took two weeks each time to replace/repair the lens unit.

This camera is a bad joke. I''ve finally just had it with this thing. I''ve put up with it for 2 years because I knew I paid almost a grand. This camera is reliable - in that you can count on it to fail on expensive vacations, meeting celebrities etc.

I was going to say resale value, but heck, even that is less than 40% of sale nowadays.

Horrible focus. Very slow, you''ll never catch the shot you wanted. Never. Buttons and switches all over this thing that don''t do anything useful. Must use the menu. Goes through batteries like poop through a goose. Agonizinly slow zoom (see above about missed shots). Freezes from time to time, requires reset. Has options for apeture priority, shutter priority which are worthless. The only way to run this camera is fully automatic.

Canons, Olympus, Kodak

Not bad. Went back to factory twice in last few years, focus, zoom, etc.

Nice camera for the beginner and the price. I am very happy with the picture quality. Thumbs up to Nikon for having the upgrades posted on their site. I haven''t compared to other cameras I just know with minimum computer experience and digital camera experience it kicked butt.

Ease of use for the beginner.

Having some red eye issues on a few pictures.

Overall, I am happy with the camera with the expectation that this is not a professional level camera. with that expectation, the camera stands out surprisingly well for me. The color and contrast of the camera is well above my expectation. The lens range is good but I hope it can be a little wider - perhaps a 28mm or even a 24mm on the wide end. The grip is great and the camera in general well fit in my hand. The control is well laid out and easy to operate. I use manual control only so that made things fairly easy for me. I wish Nikon will give me a over/under exposure indicator when I am not using the LCD panel which I hardly do. Overall, as I said, it''s a wonderful camera.

handgrip, comfort to use, easy control, color and contrast of images,

still, the shutter lag. Can''t tell the meter setting when LCD is off.

Olympus C3030z

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Solid overall DC. This is the "company camera" that we use mostly for "grip-and-grin" shots. Only glaring weakness is the built-in flash--it''s useless both for proper exposure and for red-eye reduction. We use a Nikon Speedlight w/bracket, and picture quality is excellent.

- Image quality, both electronic and professional prints/enlargements - Ease of use for beginner and expert alike - External flash - Battery life (we use high-capacity NiMH rechargeables) - Zoom performance/noise no problem

- Built-in flash - Bulk/weight of external flash/bracket - Slight delay between pressing shutter button and actual recording of image...forces you to time your "action" shots.

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