The Nikon Coolpix P90 is a full-featured ultra-zoom with a 24X very wide-angle zoom going from 26mm to 624mm and full-manual controls. For the most part, these are the only two specifications that matter. It means that the Coolpix P90 is designed for versatility, making framing and exposure control extremely versatile.
The remainder of the P90 is now standard fare for ultra-zooms models with full-manual controls:
12 Megapixels sensor
24X Wide-angle optical zoom lens
Optical image stabilization
ISO 64-1600 at full-resolution
ISO 3200-6400 at 3 megapixels
Shutter speeds from 1/2000s to 8s
Full manual controls including manual focus
Automatic, preset and custom white-balance
Exposure bracketing, 3 frames, 1/3, 2/3 or 1 EV steps
High-quality movie recording
Built-in distortion correction
Tiltable 3" LCD with 230K pixels
Suitability - What is it good for?
The Nikon Coolpix P90 is highly versatile due to its 24X optical zoom which starts at a very wide-angle 26mm and reaches 624mm, in 35mm equivalent terms. This wide range covers most photographic uses, particularly well in the telephoto range for wildlife and bird photography. This super-long reach puts the P90 even beyond the reach of DSLR lenses under $1000 USD. Macro photography is also possible with the Nikon P90 which can focus as close as 1cm (0.4").
The shots below were taken from the same place at both extremes of the zoom. The second shot, at 624mm, is so zoomed in that it is hard to see where it comes from in the wide 26mm shot. As shown in our sample image gallery, even the moon can be decently framed.
The Nikon Coolpix P90 also features full-manual controls for creative and versatile exposures. With a shutter-speed range from 1/2000 to 8s, this digital camera can in theory handle action and night photography. The limiting factor here is the noise and speed performance of this camera. Regardless of the level of performance described on the next review page, it is to be expected that this is where a camera like this one mostly trails digital SLRs.
While it is no longer as compact as its predecessor, the P80, this camera remains reasonably compact relative to the reach of its lens. Its moderate size means that it is easy to carry such a powerful zoom and shoot rather discretely with it. Size is key to versatility simply because a smaller camera gets taken to more places.
With a 12 megapixels sensor, images from the Coolpix P90 are suitable for relatively large prints, up to 24"x18" provided ISO is kept low. Needless to say, any computer display or web-use will not be a problem.
Storage and power options for this digital camera are rather typical of ultra-zooms. The P90 supports SD-HC cards which always means SD too. it is powered by a small proprietary lithium-ion battery.
Capability - What can it do?
As an ultra-zoom, most of the flexibility comes from the P90's huge zoom range. Like most ultra-zooms, this digital camera is equipped with a number of advanced features. Below
is a list of its most useful features, followed by explanations, when required.
Program exposure with shift, shutter-priority, aperture priority and manual exposure
Metering: matrix, center-weighed, center spot and AF-point spot
Exposure compensation: +2 to -2 EV,
in 1/3 stop increments
Flash compensation: +2 to -2 EV,
in 1/3 stop increments
Exposure bracket: 3 shots, 1/3, 2/3 or 1 EV steps
Auto ISO maximum selectable from 100 to 1600
White-balance: Auto, 5 presets and custom
Flash: Auto, red-eye, off, on, slow-sync and burst.
Focus distance: Normal auto focus, macro, infinity and manual
Focus area: Auto (9-point), Center, Manual (99-point) and Face-Priority
A few features here appear in other Coolpix cameras but may not be familiar to everyone. BSS is best-shot-selector which is a drive mode which takes a few shots in rapid succession and stores the least blurry one. Another drive mode is Multishot-16. This mode records 16 ultra-low resolution photographs into a single low resolution image.
Smile timer waits for someone to smile and Blinkproof takes two pictures and chooses one where the subject did not blink, unless he or she blinked twice. Finally, there is an interval timer feature which shoots one image each 30s, 1, 5 or 10 minutes.
Noise reduction can be forced to ON, otherwise it is Auto only. Distortion compensation triggers processing in the camera to compensate for optical distortion inherent to the lens.
In addition to normal and macro focus, the Nikon P90 has manual focus and infinity focus as well. In macro mode, the center of the image can be magnified to inspect focuss. In infinity mode, focus is locked at infinity. This is useful in low-light when the camera is unable to focus at all.
The Nikkor 24X optical zoom lens of the Nikon Coolpix P90 has a wide range from 26mm to 624mm in 35mm terms. This is 2mm wider than what is considered wide-angle and reaches well into the telephoto range used for wildlife photography and birding. The exact same range is found on the Pentax X70 and Kodak Z980. Olympus does slightly more with its 26X zoom, also starting at 26mm but reaching 676mm.
Vibration Reduction is Nikon's image stabilization. The Nikon Coolpix P90 is equipped with stabilization which compensates for involuntary camera movements, up to 3 stops compared to no stabilization. This helps with the usability of such a long zoom. Recall that the rule-of-thumb is to shoot at 1 over the focal-length. Thus, at the 624mm end, shooting at 1/750s is expected for shots to come out sharp. Considering the maximum aperture is F5 at 624mm and the desire to use low ISO settings, a shutter-speed of 1/750s can be difficult. With stabilization, this requirements is reduced to 1/200s or even 1/100s.
Usability - How easy is it to use?
The Nikon Coolpix P90 is very easy to handle and straight forward to handle and operate. Its body is well built and features a deep-but-narrow hand-grip to hold it steady. The entire camera feels sturdy, even the hinge for the LCD screen - which is often a liability - is substantial.
The main controls are easy to use with positive click points. The shutter-release is decent with a very soft halfway point used to focus the camera before taking a picture. The P90 has a single command dial which is set on the camera's rear within easy reach of your thumb.
The tethered lens-cap easily stays with the camera but causes a lens-error when it is powered on with it in place. Underneath the P90, a metal tripod mount is placed at the camera's physical center. It is better for panoramas if the tripod mount is aligned with the lens' center but for other uses the physical center gives more balance.
The P90 is powered on by a simple button on top of the camera, behind the shutter-release. The zoom control is wrapped around the shutter. Zooming is quite fast if a little coarse for such a range. The top of the camera also holds the mode dial. It features the usual Auto, Program, Shutter-Priority, Aperture-Priority, Manual and Movie mode. Additionally, it has two user-modes which are Program (P) modes with user-defined presets. It is really too bad one cannot choose the exposure mode here.
The mode dial also has Movie-mode, Automatic Scene-Mode detection, Scene-Mode and High-Speed shooting positions. The Scene mode hides all individual scene modes under one setting. High-speed mode is a low-resolution burst mode with frame-rates up to 15 FPS (16:9) or 11 FPS (4:3). A maximum image resolution of 3 megapixels is available here. Up to 45 images can be captured in those scene-modes. A clever Pre-Shooting cache keeps up to 10 images captured between the halfway press and full-press of the shutter-release to reduce the changes of being too late on the trigger.
As most ultra-zooms, this digital camera features a large rear LCD and a small EVF. The EVF has a good protruding position. However, it is quite small, making judging details and focus nearly impossible. The LCD is better with great visibility but limited dynamic range: what you see as all-white or all-black on the LCD may not be over or under-exposed, but you just can't tell by looking at the review image.
Another problem with the LCD is that the preview isn't entirely accurate, although not by much. In Auto and P mode, the LCD is exposure-priority but not in M mode and not in Aperture-priority or Shutter-priority mode when parameters are out of range. This is really too bad as you do not see the effects of being beyond the camera's exposure range.
The camera has a button to switch between the EVF and LCD which is separate from the display mode button. The display mode button cycles through the image-only, information and alignment grip modes. Speaking about the displays, both of them have poor coverage, showing only 94% of the frame.
On the camera's rear, a standard 4-way controller is used to navigate menus and as short-cut to some camera functions. Those functions are: flash-mode, self-timer, exposure-compensation and focus mode. Unfortunately, ISO, white-balance and drive mode do not have dedicated buttons and therefore must be changed by using the menu system. The menus are easy to navigate. This camera is shooting-priority, so a halfway press of the shutter returns this Coolpix to the set shooting mode. There is a playback button which toggles playback mode. The user interface has plenty of useful and intuitive indicators to remind users of how to operate the camera. There is also a delete button which prompts for deletion of the last image shot when in shooting mode. In playback mode, the delete button prompts for deletion of the displayed image.
ISO is selectable between 64 and 6400. Up to 1600, the camera can shoot at its maximum resolution of 12 megapixels. From 3200 onwards, the P90 limits itself to 3 megapixels which is normally enough for an 8"x10" print and for displaying full-screen on most computer displays. Because the usable ISO range depends on the photographic medium, it is great when a camera like the P90 allows the Auto ISO range to be selected. The p90 offers 5 possible ranges: 64-100, 64-200, 64-400, 64-800 (called Auto) and 64-1600 (called High ISO sensitivity auto).
This ultra-zoom allows for -2 to +2 stops of exposure compensation and flash compensation, both in 1/3 stop increments. Exposure bracketing, always 3 frames, can be set in increments of 1/3, 2/3 or 1 EVs. Unlike its predecessor, the P90 allows to reset file numbering via the Setup menu, otherwise file-numbers keep increasing, even after formatting a card.
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Introduction
ISO is selectable between 64 and 6400. Up to 1600, the camera can shoot at its maximum resolution of 12 megapixels. From 3200 onwards, the P90 limits itself to 3 megapixels which is normally enough for an 8"x10" print and for displaying full-screen on most computer displays. Because the usable ISO range depends on the photographic medium, it is great when a camera like the P90 allows the Auto ISO range to be selected. The p90 offers 5 possible ranges: 64-100, 64-200, 64-400, 64-800 (called Auto) and 64-1600 (called High ISO sensitivity auto).
