Nikon COOLPIX S9900 Digital Camera with 30x Optical Zoom and Built-In Wi-Fi (Silver)

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Reading the reviews here, I was hesitant to purchase this camera. However, I eventually did, and my opinion of this camera is mostly positive. I am not a photographer. I am at best a tech hobbyist/enthusiast. Anything I write here is by no means meant to be condescending to those with different opinions and I hope it is not taken as such. My intention is to address some of the common complaints I’ve read in the reviews: 1. The photos are mostly blurry. 2. Indoor/low-light photos are mostly orange. 3. Manual Flash 4. Poor quality close ups I think many users that have had such issues with this camera are those who would only ever use it on Full Auto (green camera icon on top control dial). That is not a bad thing. But admittedly, if you fit that description, this may not be the camera for you. Here are my observations: 1. Auto seems to favor higher shutter speeds over higher ISO. In Full Auto, the only menu settings I see for photo are Image Quality and Image size. Switching to Programmed Auto (P on top control dial) will give you many more options. On Auto ISO, for most moderately lit indoor scenes, I rarely see this camera choose an ISO greater than 800. My guess is Nikon chose to do this because if it favored sensitivities greater than 800, users would complain of poor photo quality due to the noise reduction applied. I often find that this camera chooses a shutter speed around 1.0s indoors, when zoomed, which is a long exposure time if you are trying to capture a hand held sharp image. This can be easily remedied by switching to Shutter Priority (S on the top control dial) and selecting a shutter speed you are better able to handle. However, I do absolutely understand that this does not address the expectations of some users that Full Auto should handle anything and everything properly. 2. Auto White Balance on this camera does not handle Incandescent lighting reliably. It does not always get it wrong. But it gets it wrong more often that I am comfortable with. If you only use Full Auto, there is no option to alter this. Using P, S, A, or M you can easily change this setting. My experience has been that with low light photos, typically auto white balance on this camera will produce an orange hue. Switching the White Balance setting to Incandescent remedies this. 3. I do not at all envy camera designers on this decision. It seems impossible to please the consumer with this. If the flash was built into the body, it would likely be too close to the lens and underpowered. Red eye would be more common. A shadow cast on photos when the lens is extended for its substantial zoom would be more common. Accidentally blocking part of the flash with your finger and causing a shadow would be more common. Having a flash that raises outside of the main body helps to remedy this. Many higher than entry level point & shoot cameras now have this feature. It is not new for the class. However, the first iteration was automatic. With that, many cameras received lousy reviews simply because the flash was located and popped up where a user was accustomed to holding his left hand. Users complained that when the flash automatically popped up, it frightened them, leading them to dropping the camera. Users complained that their hand prevented the flash from popping up and harmed the pop up mechanism. Users complained when the flash popped up they had no place to hold the camera. I am of the opinion that there is more than one way to hold a camera and adjusting what I may have been accustomed to is not much of an issue. YMMV. A manual flash allows the user to adjust his grip and not be frightened by the popup, as he will decide when exactly to popup the flash. Another common complaint of the automatic popup was that on Auto, the flash popped up even when people had set it to off during their last usage. With a manual flash, off (not raised) means off. You cannot even access the flash options without first raising the flash. If you try to do so, a message pops up telling you to raise the flash. Although there are cameras with perhaps a sturdier popup mechanism, I do not find the implementation here to be “flimsy.” 4. Auto on this camera does not automatically determine when to use macro. The little flower icon on the back control dial indicates macro. If you want to take a macro photo, you will need to change the macro setting to ON. Not doing this may explain why some users complain of poor closeup focus. Random Notes 1. Photo quality is not determined by resolution (image size, MP) alone. A higher resolution does not necessarily mean a better photographic instrument. This camera uses a small sensor typical for this class. With such a small sensor, higher resolution generally leads to lower quality photos. If you are not regularly printing posters, or printing anything at all, the resolution here should be more than adequate. 2. I do not use Android and have not tested NFC. However, a basic description of how to use NFC is indeed included in the pdf manual found on the Nikon website (English, p. 51). 3. Outside of a bundle perhaps, this camera does not include a memory card. This should not be an issue as cameras rarely do. 4. The camera has built-in memory, but certainly not enough to permanently forgo a memory card while going on a 2-week, once in a lifetime vacation. 5. I have not experienced issues with focus any more or worse than other cameras of this class. I find the photos to be focused according to what the display showed it was focused on prior to fully depressing the shutter. A touchscreen would provide faster, more precise, user controlled focussing. If you require that feature, this is not that camera. Nor does it claim to be. 6. After updating the A-GPS according to the manual, I find the GPS lock to be rather fast. Outdoors, my experience has been most often within 15s. YMMV. 7. I find the “vari-angle” display to be useful. Very useful for atypical POVs (such as above or below your line of sight). It is also very useful to fold the screen against the camera, with the screen turned in, to avoid scratches when carrying or packing. I think that is nicer than some options that are fixed or only have 90 or 180 degrees mobility. 8. This camera does indeed have a continuous shot (“quick shutter”) setting. You will not find it in Full Auto. 9. One of the benefits of having this type of “flimsy” flash on the RX100 is that you can pull the flash back for somewhat of a bounce flash. If you try to do that with this camera, it reverts the flash setting to OFF even though the flash is still physically extended. Conclusion I would not rate this 5 stars as it is not a perfect camera. There are indeed some issues with Full Auto not being “perfect.” However, I doubt that Nikon would claim Full Auto to be so. But I do not at all believe this camera warrants some of the low ratings here. It is very difficult to find a happy medium when rating these cameras. Users who have a plethora of options in their photographic arsenal will likely understand exactly what void they want to fill and rate more highly. If they are looking at this camera, they are probably looking for an option that is more compact and convenient than their full kit, while still providing a flexible zoom range and manual control. But they will also not settle on any single option for all scenarios. But for other users, this purchase may be the one and only camera they plan on owning for the next 2-10 years. They absolutely need an awesome, well-rounded jack-of-all-trades. It needs so small that it fits in their pocket like their cell phone and they may even forget it’s there. It needs to be so sturdy that if they do forget it’s there and sit on it, it should not even flinch. It has to have the speed, zoom and stabilization that allows them to get a clear, sharp photo of that car’s license plate as it travels across the Golden Gate Bridge at 70 MPH while they are standing with their camera at the base of the Statue of Liberty at 11 PM. It must geotag their photos while they are perusing the catacombs of Paris. After taking a photo, it has to have the technology to show up on their social media account, with little to no effort, in not much more time than it took to write the photo to memory. All straight out the box, on Full Auto. This is not that camera.

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This is the most incredible point and shoot camera you will ever have. A little heavier than the average point and shoot but this one has 30X wide optical zoom which means the photo with the nest and eggs is something you can take from a long distance away. Definitely worth the money. I hung up my D3100 for this one because it is so compact it is much easier to take with me when I go climbing and hiking. Also, when I took the two photos I uploaded I was on a bridge with a bunch of photographers who had an arsenal of LONG LENS. One photographer looked over my shoulder at my camera and told me I was taking "great photos." I called all those other photographers "the peanut gallery." You dont need high powered cameras anymore to take great shots!!! You just need this camera.

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I spent hours trying to figure out what camera to buy to "upgrade" from my P100. I ended up in waffle between cameras with viewfinders (which I do like) and a camera that I could, once again, actually fit into my purse. The idea of having a purse-size camera once again won out - when traveling, its a pain to have both a purse AND a camera looped around ones neck. I hoped I wouldnt regret this decision - and I have not! This camera is wonderful. Im not going to get into a bunch of technical details - Im sure other reviewers will have done that. If you want a camera that is compact and can be carried in a purse, but also has the features of a much larger beast, this is it. It has an excellent zoom. But heres where it won my heart - we spend a lot of time in museums. Anyone who travels and attempts low-light indoor photography knows how "iffy" the results can be. Im not a techie, but Im assuming what makes the difference here is the CMOS feature - instead of throwing out 1/3 to 1/2 of my indoor shots, I threw away a tiny percentage. It works GREAT in low-light situations, and it seems to actually "light up" a low-light feature. The one problem is if you have a situation where part of the view is well light and part is dark - in that case the camera will "read" the light part and not the dark area. Another area where this has been a lifesaver is in my eBay sales. One of the things I like least about selling stuff on eBay is having to take the photos and then photoshop them to compensate for the camera. Still have to do a BIT of that, but this camera has a much better white light sensor; I found that I dont even have to set it for "incandescent" vs. outdoor lighting. It also has an option to manually preset the lighting, which also works quite well. One complaint is the location of the Wi-Fi button - its just where you naturally are going to hit it every time you pick up the camera, as its right where the thumb is going to go. I end up having to shut that off quite often, which is annoying. The rotating screen tempts one to leave it in the "open" position rather than close it up, and it has less range of mobility than the screen on the P100. And this is not a lightweight camera - yes, it goes in a purse, but youll notice that its there! However, in choosing "size" over "viewfinder," I am very happy with the choice - if you want a smaller camera that does just about everything (if not EVERYTHING) the bigger models do, you wont be disappointed!

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Here is an extremely compact super zoom camera that is solid and easy to use. There are only very few cameras that offer 30X zoom in a model this portable and this one is very well received by camera critics (see dpreview site) and comes at a very affordable price. There are only two small drawbacks that I can see and that is it doesnt take Raw photos and struggles in low light without its pop-up flash. But it more than makes up for it with the long, long zoom and great optical stabilization. It can take bursts at 7 fps and video in 1080/30p. The two control dials and intuitive menus make for easy navigation and quick setting changes. I dont often use the articulating screen, but its great when I need it and the rubber grip is surprisingly helpful. Add to all this GPS, WiFi, and a full Nikon warrantee and youve got almost everything you could ask for. Ive gone through many excellent point-and-shoot long zoom cameras in the last few years, but I believe this one will satisfy me for many years to come.

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Bought the camera for a family road trip. Wanted great pictures and lightweight. Definitely got it. 1,400 picture later after the trip I can now have close to DSLR pictures without the weight of it. Only less than perfect things... - no presets for kids school show - a bit slow to save sometimes - a very annoying wireless button what one touch easily while trying to hold it - No support (but I knew it) for wifi PC back-up. I dont care about bringing a few photos (the phone app is pretty bad!) on my phone, I want to back my pictures on the cloud so I have to do it the old way: take the card, put in in my PC, import.... Would buy it again.

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I took this to Tanzania with me on a safari in the Serengeti National Park. My pictures came out stunning. Everyone on the trip was jealous of the amazing quality of my cameras pictures. I got up close enough to all the animals near and far. 30x zoom is all you need for 99% of photos you will ever take. For a camera under $300, this one is well worth it. My pictures turned out beautiful. National Geographic status. This camera made me look like a pro. Everyone asks what kind of camera I had. So small and inexpensive yet such awesome quality pictures. Id recommend to the average traveler just wanting great pics of their trip. I tried out the special effect features like sunset and color adjust. I dont think I am savvy enough to use them to their potential. I used auto for most pictures and like I said a million times, they are quite amazing. Great camera. Great price.

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I purchased this for my wife who was looking for an easy to use camera with a long zoom lens that takes really good pictures. She wanted something for the specific purpose of taking photos of wildlife and flowers but did not want a large SLR camera or have to fiddle with settings and this one certainly fit the bill! It even has WiFi, shoots video and is great for both beginners and experienced users. Ive owed several older manual and automatic SLR cameras as well as modern SLR digital cameras and can say this camera is really well appointed and can do most anything you want except shoot in RAW mode. At this price point the COOLPIX S9900 is hard to beat.

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This Nikon replaces a Nikon CoolPix S9300 that was damaged when a tornado destroyed my house. I had really enjoyed the previous Nikon, and I like this one even more. The rotatable monitor which saves the screen from scratches and makes taking shots from unusual angles, including selfies, really easy. The addition of shooting modes that allow one to exert more control over photo taking is especially appreciated. In addition to fully automatic, there are program, shutter priority, aperture priority, and fully manual modes. Additionally you can edit the images on the camera, and you can take raw images. The new features make this camera very much like my Canon SureShot SX50 HS (50x optical zoom), which was also trashed in the tornado, and it still fits in a pocket (although a bit more snugly). Images are very sharp. The 30x optical zoom is quite amazing. If youre not at least an amateur photographer, you need to spend some time learning about the camera and using the appropriate modes in the appropriate situations. Automatic mode wants to produce a sharp photo on good light, so if youre taking photos in low light situations, you need to switch to an appropriate mode or your photo will probably be blurry. I also like that you can use it pretty much one handed.

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Bought this about 3 months ago as soon as it was available, waited to get some experience to review. I have been waiting a long time for a camera with these features. I am not a camera buff. I wanted a compact digital with the fold out, multi-direction monitor viewscreen and good zoom (better than 5x). Those last two seemed mutually exclusive for the last 10 years. The zoom on this camera is amazing. Took with with me to Australia a month ago and got great pictures of wildlife in the rainforest, Sydney Harbor, etc. Biggest two issues: the wifi button is in a terrible spot, very easy hit with your thumb while holding it or lining up a pic and that just slows you down and burns battery life. I havent figured out how the manual macro on it works, but the preset option for close-up worked very well, so I stopped worrying about it.

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I was looking for a camera that had a higher level of optical zoom and wouldnt break the bank. I love to take pictures when I travel but Im still not great at manual settings. I like that this has a good auto setting and plenty of pre set scene modes, but it also has the possibility of taking more control if I want to. I took this with me on a field trip to the zoo shortly after I bought it. The auto settings let me turn it on and snap good pictures quickly while still keeping track of my class. I cant wait to see what kind of pictures I get when I travel this summer. The camera comes with a wrist strap. The longer cord seen in the pictures is something I bought separately. It is a strap that can be worn cross body or around the neck. It has a sliding connector that lets the camera hang or be brought up quickly to snap photos. I love it. OP/TECH USA 3401002 Compact Sling for Cameras (Black)

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