At first glance, it's easy to mistake the new Nikon Coolpix 990 (AU$2149) for the existing Nikon model, the Coolpix 950. Both cameras share a nearly identical camera body, and Nikon has kept many of the featuresââ,¬"a swivelling lens, terrific close-up mode, and simple operationââ,¬"that made the Coolpix 950 such a hit. But underneath the Coolpix 990's metal skin, Nikon has made a number of improvements that make it superior in virtually every way.

Nikon has relocated the CompactFlash card socket to the side of the camera so that you can change cards while the camera is mounted on a tripod. The Coolpix 990's tripod socket is metal and is located off-centre so that you can swivel the lens through its full range of motion.

The optical viewfinder shows about 85 percent of the actual picture area and includes an adjustable dioptre. The 1.8-inch lcd screen is bright enough indoors but is difficult to see in sunlight. The Coolpix 990 offers a wealth of other features, including four image sizes, an excellent macro mode for close-ups, automatic white balance, and built-in usb and serial interfaces.

In our testing, the Coolpix 990 performed well, providing high-quality images that were neck-and-neck with the Olympus C-3030 Zoom. The Coolpix 990 is responsive: it starts up in about 5 seconds and takes 4 seconds to store an image at the highest resolution. A control pad located next to the lcd screen allows you to quickly navigate through the Coolpix 990's excellent user interface. The camera's playback function shows single images or a group of four or nine thumbnails with zoom-in viewing.

If the Coolpix 990 has one weak spot, it is the built-in flash. We found the flash to be adequate for shots up to about 10 feet, but it doesn't have enough power to cover a large room. Furthermore, the flash element is very close to the Coolpix 990's lens, which causes red-eye when you're taking pictures of peopleââ,¬"with or without Nikon's red-eye reduction feature.

The Coolpix 990's lens is threaded on the front, allowing it to accept any of the add-on lenses from the earlier 900 and 950 series cameras. The accessory lenses obscure both the built-in flash and the optical viewfinder, so you must use the lcd screen (and an external flash) when using an accessory lens.

Excellent image quality, lots of features, and ease of useââ,¬"the Nikon Coolpix 990 has it all, earning it a shared Editors' Choice spot among this first wave of 3-megapixel digital cameras.

Nikon Coolpix 990
Price: AU$2149
Rating: 5 Star
Company: Maxwell
Ph: 02 9390 0200; Fax: 02 9390 0220;

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