Nikon Coolpix P90 – tiltable screen
Except for the improvement in screen and a few changes for the mode dial, the Nikon Coolpix P90 isn’t different from P80. P90 is heavier at more than 400 grams weight and the dimensions too are bigger. There is a dedicated button which gives you access to the shooting controls which are frequently used like focus modes (manual, infinity and macro), exposure compensation, flas and self-timer (slow sync, rear curtain, fill, red-eye reduction). Apart from the buttons, there is a back dial for navigating and this too gives you controls for aperture, exposure and shutter in variety of shooting modes. The mode dial has been improved by Nikon here; the Setup has been moved in the menu and it is replaced with 2 custom settings slot and Scene Auto Selector mode.
Other controls on the Nikon Coolpix P90 can be accessed from shooting menu. I was also pleased to see the array of ISO sensitivity options. Along with the complete Auto and manual 64 to 6,400 you get fixed range auto and high ISO sensitivity auto and you can choose from three ranges – ISO 64-400, 64-200, or 64-100. At ISO 200, the blurring gets really aggressive and hence I would recommend you to stick with 64-200 range for automatic mode.
Nikon Coolpix P90 has 4-way VR (Vibration Reduction) image stabilization and it consists of auto-shutter ISO/speed determination for compensating the moving subjects, optical IS, and Best Shot Selection option which chooses sharpest photo from a collection of 10. Just like P80, this camera has support for up to ISO 1600 along with reduced resolution for ISO 6400 and 3200. Another new feature here is 15 fps or frames per second mode which can shoot up 45 frames but you get just three megapixels here and the ISO gets set to a minimum of ISO 640. The ISO performance of this camera is pretty mediocre and hence this mode is useless. The manufacturer has also put in something called get-the-faces-right system which comprises of blink and smile detection, improved face-priority AF, and auto red-eye fix.
The screen of the Nikon Coolpix P90 is good and with wide viewing angles. The display doesn’t get washed out in direct sunlight. I would have still preferred articulated LCDs which is there on shooters like Canon PowerShot SX10. But the screen is still better than fixed display.
