Nikon has today announced the sucessor to the now legendary Coolpix 990, a hard act to follow. The new Coolpix 995 has the same 3.34 megapixel sensor (sorry guys, no 4/5 megapixels yet) but adds several things which bugged 990 owners: Pop-up flash (designed to address red-eye), a 4x optical zoom lens, CF Type II support (Microdrive MK 2 only), 1/2300 sec max shutter speed, noise reduction. Things some users may see as negatives: plastic case instead of the much loved magnesium alloy, proprietary rechargeable battery (though now included in the bundle). MSRP $900, in stores June 2001.

PS. Sorry this was posted a few hours late, I was told the deadline was 6 AM EST, looks like the other sites had no such limitations.

Phil: Unfortunately we don't have a review, we don't even have a first look, because we haven't received a sample camera yet. Some other people have been more "lucky", Steves-Digicams 995 review, Imaging-Resource's 995 review. All I can do is apologize to my readers and say it wasn't all my fault, I realize this will be a disappointment for many of you but I hope to have a 995 in house fairly soon. You know ours will be worth waiting for.

Nikon Coolpix 995 specifications

(Coolpix 995 PDF brochure; 1.5 MB)

*Standard accessories may differ by country or area

Nikon US press release:

NIKON COOLPIX® SETS NEW BENCHMARK IN DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Coolpix 995 Incorporates Pop-up Flash, Extended Zoom Range and More Creative Controls into Award-Winning Design to Make Best Even Better

MELVILLE, NY, April 25, 2001 - Nikon (www.nikonusa.com), the world leader in photography, today introduced the new Coolpix® 995, a 3.34-megapixel CCD digital camera that builds upon the award-winning design of the Nikon Coolpix 990 to set a new standard in digital photography. The Coolpix 995 combines a pop-up flash for added shooting performance, a 4x Optical

Zoom-Nikkor lens that extends picture-taking capabilities, and a host of creative controls to offer the ultimate Coolpix digital camera available today.

"With the Coolpix 995, Nikon once again raises the bar in digital photography design, control and performance," said Deborah Sauer, general manager, marketing, Nikon Consumer Digital and Compact Cameras. "When Nikon designed the Coolpix 995, we listened to user feedback to develop the perfect blend of features and superior Nikon quality and innovation. As a result, we created a digital camera that is driven by the photographer's imagination and offers the power and ease-of-use to be as creative as you want to be," Ms. Sauer added.

New Design for Greater Functionality

The Coolpix 995 incorporates a multi-mode pop-up flash into the same compact, swivel design as the Coolpix 990 and 950, for added convenience and performance when shooting from any angle. This new flash design also allows for improved Red-eye reduction when taking pictures. The camera provides increased flash power and versatility with the Multi-Flash Sync Terminal that offers the capability to work with up to five optional external Speedlight flashes. In addition, the optional Coolpix accessory lenses may be used with external Speedlights.

Superior Zoom Range & Lenses Capture Superior Images

What makes Nikon imaging products superior to the competition are high quality optics - the Coolpix 995 continues this tradition. To get closer to the action, the camera features a 4x Optical Zoom-Nikkor lens with 38-152mm coverage (35mm equivalent), the highest zoom range in the Coolpix line. For extended zoom reach, the Coolpix 995 offers a 4x stepless Digital Zoom.

The camera's lens boasts two aspherical elements to maximize optical performance while maintaining a compact lens design. The Coolpix 995 also features Super Integrated Coating (SIC) to provide remarkable sharpness and quality. For ultimate versatility, the camera accepts all optional Coolpix accessories and converter lenses giving users the unprecedented focal length range of 8mm-456mm optically and 1,824mm (35mm equivalent) with 4x digital zoom.

Speed and Choice to Capture Your Images Your Way

Not all subjects sit still to be photographed, so the Coolpix 995 offers high-speed full resolution image capture at three frames per second, an improved shutter speed of 1/2300 per second, and fast maximum ISO of 800 to ensure the user doesn't miss out on the moment. To make sure the photographer got the shot, there is a quick review function, plus 6x zooming playback for immediate image confirmation.

For greater creativity, as well as ease-of-use, the Coolpix 995 includes four saturation modes to allow users to create their final image in one less step. The saturation modes enable users to control color saturation based on final output goals, such as printing or uploading images straight to the Web.

More Creative Controls Without Worry

The Coolpix 995 offers a host of features to give photographers the ultimate quality and creative control, while still providing easy-to-use, automatic operation. The camera includes White Balance Bracketing to guarantee proper color balance under difficult or mixed lighting conditions plus Noise Reduction mode to minimize digital artifacts and get clean and clear long exposures. Nikon's exclusive 256-element Matrix Metering and 7,123-step Multi-Area Autofocus system produces sharp and crisp images. The Coolpix 995 also offers a 50-step Manual Focus and a Manual Exposure mode for complete creative control.

Added Extras Increase Digital Experience & Camera Value

To offer a complete out-of-box experience at an incredible value, the Coolpix 995 comes with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and charger (a $50 value), a Lexar Media™ 16MB USB-enabled CompactFlash™ Card and a USB cable for plug-and-play high-speed connectivity. The Coolpix 995 camera operates from three different power sources allowing users to choose between a rechargeable or disposable battery, or an A/C adapter. The camera also supports both CompactFlash Type I and II cards, allowing users a personal choice of storage methods.
The Coolpix 995 digital camera includes the new NikonView 4 software, which gives users ultimate control in how they save, view, store and use their digital images. For added image creativity, the camera also features a suite of software from ArcSoft. PhotoStudio 2000 is a digital image-processing program that enables photographers to edit, retouch and enhance images. ArcSoft VideoImpression™ lets users edit and share their QuickTime movies. ArcSoft PhotoPrinter Pro 2000 makes it possible to create prints easily, in varying sizes on one sheet of printer paper. The Coolpix 995 also offers ArcSoft Panorama Maker 2000, which lets users easily stitch together any number of images to automatically create beautiful panoramic photographs ready to print or e-mail.

The Nikon Coolpix 995 will be available in June 2001 at an MSRP of $899.95.

Nikon Europe press release:

The Nikon Coolpix 995

Images that capture your imagination

Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce the introduction of the Coolpix 995, the new top-of -the-range model in our COOLPIX digital still camera family.

Building upon the foundations laid by its widely acclaimed predecessors, the Coolpix 995 adds further refinement to the extensive feature set found in this popular series of swivel-design digital cameras. With the objective of offering even more versatility - and delivering increased creative potential - the Coolpix 995 brings places even more photographic capability into the hands of the photo-enthusiast and Professional alike.

First on the list of innovative features is a superior 4x Zoom-Nikkor lens that creates amazingly sharp, clear pictures across the full zoom range. Continuing research into colour science and digital imaging have resulted in exceptional color and white-balance performance -in both printouts and on screen-delivered by the combination of Nikon's advanced image-processing algorithms and matched 3.34-megapixel CCD.

Following the design of our mid-range SLR film series, a powerful pop-up Speedlight has been incorporated to minimize flash red-eye effect and produce a more natural shadow around the subject.

The Coolpix 995's distinguishing design feature, the unique swivel lens, affords an extensive range of shooting angles giving complete freedom to choosecamera position and composition A new Quick Review function allows convenient confirmation of the captured image at the touch of a button.

The new model also incorporates three exclusively digital features that have been added to further the creative enjoyment and potential of Coolpix photography. The results from night -time and low light photography are enhanced with a new Noise Reduction Mode. Experimentation with colour temperature and saturation are now made possible in-camera with White Balance Bracketing -and Colour Saturation Mode bringing the concept of the Coolpix as a "digital darkroom" ever closer.

For image transfer to a computer, a completely new-look Nikon View software makes the copying of files from the camera simple, easy and sure. The need for a method to find images at a later date is acknowledged with support for captioning and renaming during transfer and the valuable Fotostation (bundled software) provides full image management with searching archiving and upload to web.

The 995 can be used with a wide range of converter and speedlight accessories making this camera the most versatile yet in the renowned Coolpix series of digital cameras from Nikon.

Feature Highlights of the Coolpix 995

Superior 4x Zoom-Nikkor
Quality photography starts with a quality lens. The Coolpix 995 employs a 4x Zoom-Nikkor with 8-32mm coverage (equivalent to 38-152mm in the 35mm format) to create clear, sharp images. This newly designed lens incorporates two aspherical lens elements to maximize optical performance throughout the entire zoom range factored into a compact body design. The lens has a rounded, 7-blade iris diaphragm that gives precise control over aperture settings, yet another ingredient in producing results of unparalleled photographic quality. When used with the 4x stepless digital zoom, the lens ranges from a 35mm format equivalent of 604mmdown to an amazing 2 cm macro close-up.

Intelligent advanced image processing.
Already well know for optical technology skills, the Nikon continues to advance in the digital imaging field with high-tech research into fields such as colour theory, image processing, scene analysis and composition. The results of this research are realized in the design of the algorithms - the image processing engines - within Nikon digital cameras that ensure well balanced, natural and pleasing results from all photographic situations and subjects. The Coolpix 995 has inherited and refined the Coolpix uncanny ability to deliver colour whether subtle skin-tone or vivid colours from nature or high contrast technical detail.

White Balance Bracketing
A newly developed White Balance Bracketing function allows an automatic sequence of exposures at three different white balance settings, bringing to the dimension of colour to the well-known photographic technique of exposure bracketing. Thanks to digital processing, the photographer can simulate the effect of trying three different types of film for each shot.

Saturation Control Mode
Saturation Control Mode has been introduced in recognition of the widening use of digital photography, for instance in situations where achieving instant results on a printer or computer screen without manipulating the image is of paramount importance. The saturation control effectively pre-sets the camera for a variety of different output devices.

Noise reduction mode
Long exposure times for night photography have so far been beyond the reach of affordable digital cameras. Now the new Noise Reduction mode automatically cancels out the background noise which has traditionally been unavoidable in such images, opening up many new opportunitieis in long-time exposure photography.

Built-in pop-up Speedlight
Flash photography has now been made more reliable and enjoyable thanks to a pop-up design which positions the flash head away from the objective lens. This new design helps with throwing the light around any fitted lens converter and also produces a far more natural "top-lit" flash effect.

Coolpix 995 Major Features

• 3.34-megapixel CCD with non-interpolated image resolution of 2,048 x 1,536 pixels for easy cropping, resizing and superb print quality.
   
• Superior 4x Zoom-Nikkor lens with 8-32mm coverage (equivalent to 38-152mm in the 35mm?135?camera format) for clear, sharp images, plus 4x digital zoom.
   
• Nikon's advanced image-processing algorithm for faithful color reproduction.
   
• Outstanding 7,123 AF steps, 5-Area Multi-Autofocus allows for more uninterrupted compositional possibilities.
   
• Macro focus as close as 2cm to your subject, 50-step Manual focus . Focus confirmation indication.
   
• Exclusive 256-segment Matrix Metering and Matrix Auto White Balance guarantee outstanding exposure and white balance control in every image.
   
• Centre-Weighted Metering and Spot Metering modes give a wide range of exposure metering and control options. In AF Spot, the selected focus area and metering area track together.
   
• In addition to Matrix Auto White Balance, there are five Manual Modes for TTL White Balance: Fine, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy, and Speedlight, plus the possibility to work from a measuredmemorized white balance.
   
• Programmed Auto, Shutter-Priority Auto, Aperture-Priority Auto Exposure where the camera takes over and configures itself automatically for best exposure every time.
   
• Manual Exposure Control for total creative control.
   
• Extended shutter speed range from 1/2,300 to 8 seconds - essential for for achieving full creative control over your photography.
   
  
• Innovations such as Noise Reduction Mode, White Balance Bracketing, and Saturation Control Mode deliver more creative options.
   
• More versatility : greater creativity: Exposure Compensation, Auto Exposure Bracketing, Brightness and Contrast Compensation, Sharpness, Sensitivity Control (ISO 100 to 800), Best Shot Selector.
   
• Superior operation as used in the Nikon SLR range: The thumb-controlled Command Dial and Multi Selector respond rapidly and confidently to your command.
   
• Quick Review allows instant check and selection or rejectioun of captured images at the press of a button, even while the camera is in record mode.
   
• Long battery life: 110minutes with a dedicated EN-EL1 lithium-ion rechargeable battery)
   
• Extraordinary versatility in any situation: compatible with a wide range of converter lenses and accessories, including 2x telephoto, 3x telephoto, 0.66x wideangle, 0.63x wideangle, 0.21x fisheye, slide copy adapter, remote cord, external Speedlight and Multi-Flash Bracket unit.
   
• Compatible with both CompactFlash Card Type I and Type II.
   
• USB connector for easy, high-speed image transfer and Nikon View 4 software for more convenient data archiving.