Nikon COOLPIX 900: 23 YEARS later RETRO review

Nikon's THIRD digital camera, the COOLPIX 900 from 1998!
COOLPIX 950 photo: Hiyotada
COOLPIX 990 photo: Ib Rasmussen
COOLPIX 995 photo: Hiyotada
COOLPIX S4 photo: Ib Rasmussen

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[zilog]

The image quality was a lot better than i was expecting from 1998. neat.

[benhizzle]

Thanks for the review Gordon. 23 years later and it continues to take great looking photos.

[calvinchann]

I wonder if having had the Minolta D’Image V influenced me to buy the Nikon Coolpix 990, which I still have, though the battery door latch is broken.

[AndySnap]

Wow, this takes me back..! My newspaper had a Nikon Coolpix 950 (which followed an Agfa 1280e!) as our digital camera when we were shooting 35mm film in with Nikon F5s. I was really impressed with the image quality from 2mp, and speed of use on news jobs was mind blowing! It was 2-3 years until we re-equiped with Nikon D1, but the Coolpix was still in use for some time.

[edcastaneda]

Love your new series on vintage digital, especially the cameras; looking forward to seeing some more episodes!

[metalrat]

I love this series of old cameras, thank you very much for it!!!

[Paul_anderson_creative]

I had its precursor.. Agfa Ephoto 1280 from 1997. Same swivel layout. 0.7mp...! Thank you.

[giulianoiunco]

I started my digital journey with the Nikon Coolpix SQ (cunning twistable body). It would be nice to watch your review of it. Thanks for your high quality videos.

[Dedubya-]

A really good point about how we all favoured those electronics that had the lithium ion batteries back in the 90's (cameras, minidiscs etc) but now they're a real pain compared to devices with AA batteries. It's possible to keep old lithium ion batteries working, I've got an original Sony MD battery that holds a decent charge that dates back to around 1998... I keep checking it every few months and give it a bit of a top up to stop it going flat. That seems to keep it alive.

[MattParson]

I finally made a vid about the 990… The swivel feature is actually very practical… Would be cool to see another camera design like this with a modern sensor

[RyeOnHam]

Absolutely loved my 950. Essential for eBay sales in the early days.

[SteveMorton]

Using AA batteries was one of the things I looked for in digital compact camera a few years ago. We still have it a Canon Powershot SX120 IS and it still gets used occasionally too!

[VWLivin]

These throwback vids are so great! I would love to see a modern reveiw of the Panasonic DMC-LC5.

[AnandaSim]

G'day Gordon. Finally subscribed to your latest channel. I have a Nikon 775, that was my first digital camera. It uses rechargeable battery or expensive alkaline battery of uncommon shape. Start up speed was very slow even by the expectations of those days, I bought a Nikon add on lens for wider angle. Best thing about the camera. It could take photos of close up photos of yellow Oxalis weed without needing to examine settings or focus.

[MicroFourNerds]

Just got one of these off eBay!!! Oooo awesome second channel this is right up my street Gordon 😁📸

[Uilenstede]

My first Coolpix was Coolpix 2000. I bought it for around RM 1000 in a camera shop in Penang, Malaysia. Pure happiness! It was also my first digital camera. Used it for a year then upgrade it to the legendary CP5000 and then to a Canon 3 MP DSLR D30.

[CMC]

Nikon Coolpix 995 was my first digital camera. I found the twisted body is a very useful design.

[thecaveofthedead]

It was a cool camera series that I had my eye on. Definitely bigger than I remember.

For me, I watched digital cameras, waiting. The first one I really used apart from getting to play with a friend's Elf was a Nikon D70. With the Nikon D200 digital finally achieved a level where I've still used it in the last few years to take some great images that want for nothing (as long as you have enough light).

Those first 12 years or so, the image quality kept being better, but remained rather terrible compared to even a cheap negative film like Kodak Gold. Even those first two generations of DSLRs with their horrendous grey skin tones and blown-out highlights.

[LEAJ]

I had the Coolpix 4500 (similar twisty form factor). Loved that thing... until I dropped it down a flight of stairs during a holiday in Malaga one summer.

[JohnRobertsTV]

I've still got my Coolpix 950 in the closet and it still works with off-the-shelf AA batteries. That was the camera that really got me out of film and into the digital era. I agree these were fun cameras and the size limits on CompactFlash cards did not seem as great because I was coming from 35mm film which were just 24 or 36 photos per roll. You could get similar numbers of photos on CompactFlash cards of that era.