Nikon Coolpix 950 2MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom
by Nikon

Our Price: $78.00
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Digital Camera
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Digital Photo Product Details

• 2.1 megapixel sensor captures enough detail to create photo-quality 8 x 10 prints
• 3x optical plus 4x digital zoom lens with autofocus
• Included 8 MB CompactFlash card holds 17 images at default resolution
• Connects to Macs and PCs via serial port
• 4 AA batteries included; an enthusiast's camera that allows manual control of virtually every function

• Adobe Photoshop CS5 Upgrade [Old Version]
• Serif PhotoPlus X3
• Adobe Photoshop CS4 Upgrade [OLD VERSION]
• Aperture 3
• Pixelmator [Old Version]

Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Nikon Coolpix 950 2MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

Customer Review: GOOD: Image quality. BAD: No USB, distortion at wide angle.
Summary: 4 Stars

For positive, well, overall image quality is very good, colors are very balanced and not artificially saturated for that extra good look. I found myself doing some level adjustment sometimes, you will still need your Photoshop, but in any case, even with high-end professional models, you are likely to end up doing some digital darkroom work. The 2.11 CCD is quite good and enough to print excellent photo-quality A4 (I'm in Europe, that's about the area of a 17" monitor) prints that people will mistake for normal photos (matched with a good printer of course). The firmware is very effective, but a few features have been improved in the 990, which I have used too. The swivel design ends up being VERY useful. Trust me, you will notice the difference sometimes when a normal camera wouldn't work as good.

My favorite aspect has to be the absolutely AMAZING macro mode. The 950 can focus sharply at a ridiculously small distance from the subject. This thing is almost a microscope. Yes, it can be tricky to adjust lightning in those cases, but the ability to focus so well at such distances really impressed me when this model came out.

So to keep it short, I'm happy when it comes to overall image quality, color accuracy, and features the main problems with this model are:

-Considerable barrel distortion at wide angle. If you do a lot of architectural photos or are just unlucky and pick a tricky shot (like a door for instance) at the edges of the screen, at wide angle, well, it is way too obvious sometimes. Few digital cameras offer high-quality lens that are completely (almost) barrel distortion free, but I can't help looking at some cheap digicams using Zeiss lenses and feeling that the Coolpix deserved better. At Tele, the problem is a lot less obvious, but on wide, expect some of your lines to be more like,well...splines. -No USB interface, no Firewire, no nothing besides the plain' old serial interface. Ever tried transferring 48MB at 115k? Well, let's just say that it reminds me the days when I used analog modems. A lot of patience is required. Again, this could and should have been released with USB support (which was widely available at the time). -Big body. The camera is a big big, not cigarrete-packet size like some Canon's and other models, so, that might end up meaning that you'll take it with you less often. -Some chromatic distortion (purple edges, etc) under certain conditions. -Forget about using Alkalines they will last 10 minutes. Go for NiMh 1600 rechargeables. The 8MB default card will only hold about 10 photos at maximum resolution, or 1 if you don't want lossy compression. 48 MB or 64 MB cards are essential. -Panel isn't always visible under bright sunlight (newer firmware revisions have addressed this issue, but it's still tricky sometimes) -First versions of NikonView were incredibly , to the point of the user not being able to recover transferred photos after a connection failure (that meant that aborted transfers at 90% of the card when you're using a slow serial protocol meant starting all over, quite fun). Don't worry, NikonView is now a lot more solid and, but I did suffer with the first versions.

Overall, a very good camera that can give you very good photos (and that means printed photos). Also, keep in mind that the final price ends up rising, since you're likely to need at least the following accessories: A Bigger CompactFlash card (48 MB or 64 MB), At least 4 NiMh 1600 batteries + a charger, and a decent case

With Zeiss lens instead of the Nikkor 7-21mm used and USB interface, this could still be the best 2.11 on the market. Because of these details, and since I paid full retail $ when it came out, I'm keeping a star to myself...

Description of Nikon Coolpix 950 2MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

Digital Cameras

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