27/Jan/2000, 8AM Tokyo Time: Today Nikon announce the Nikon Coolpix 990. They've built on the strength of the 950, fixed some of the problems with the 950 and added a new 3.34 megapixel CCD, some new features, case is the same design but button layout is different with the addition of the new command dial and some professional features taken from their SLR range such as focus area selectors. Expected availability? April.
Apologies for the poor
quality of these images, my scanner is dead so I had to build
a make-shift medium format slide scanner out of a coolpix 950 & lighting
rig
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Significant improvements / new features (IMHO)
- 3.34 megapixel CCD
- Positioning of CF Card slot on side of camera (keep it on the tripod!)
- New buttons ergonomics
- USB connectivity
- AF Area selection (5 point - very F100)
- Command Wheel for easy settings adjustment
- QuickTime movie mode
- Fine-tunable white balance
- Sharpening control
- Improved buffering of images, no wait between shooting
- Sensitivity control in Shutter-Priority mode
- Addition of a Full Manual mode
- Addition of a 3 second self-timer (hopefully it'll work in macro mode)
- Addition of Histogram and highlight point display in playback mode
- Brightness and Hue adjustment of LCD
- New Slide Copy Adapter accessory ES-E28
- Improved now FLAT tripod mount
Things people had been waiting for but appear to be missing (IMHO)
- Support for CompactFlash Type II (boo, hiss)
- Supplied NiMH batteries & charger
- Magnified image "loupe" during manual focus (ala Oly C2020Z) or any other time
- Bigger zoom (3x is starting to feel limited)
- Anti-reflective coating on LCD
- Almost lossless JPEG mode (1.2+ MB JPEG image)
- Histogram / highlight point display in image review (as with D1) - not confirmed
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Details below are from the official Nikon Coolpix 990 press pack - apologies for the sales-y talk.
Nikon Coolpix 990 Features
Images
- 3.34 megapixel 1/1.8" CCD ultra-high definition 2048 x 1536
- Newly designed 3x Zoom Nikkor lens (38-115mm 35mm equiv)
- Nikon new image processing algorithm
- Advanced image control: 256 segment Matrix Metering, Matrix Auto White Balance, 5-area Multi-AF
- High-precision AF with 4,896 steps including macro range with shortest working distance of 2cm (0.8")
Speed
- Quick startup and approx. 0.1 sec shutter release lag (fast)
- Short exposure interval and fast data processing enable continuous shooting
- Overall high-speed operation from zooming and autofocus to data processing and transfer
- USB interface for high speed transfers back to your computer
- Movie mode, QVGA (320x240) QuickTime for 40 secs @ 15fps
- Ultra High Speed Continuous mode captures 80 QVGA (320x240) images @ 30fps
Easy Operation and new Versatility
- Slim compact swivel design with tough molded magnesium exterior
- Superb operability with ergonomic button layout, directional focus area selector and command dial
- Easy-to-see 110,000 pixel TFT LCD
- Exposure control: four exposure modes including full Manual, Exposure compensation and Auto Bracketing
- 7-blade Iris Diaphragm
- Advanced 5-mode built-in Speedlight (flash)
- Extended battery life
- Compatible with Telephoto, Wide-angle and Fisheye Converters
Nikon Coolpix 990 Specifications
| CCD | 1/1.8" 3.34 megapixels |
| Image sizes | 2048 x 1536, XGA 1024 x 768, VGA 640 x 480. Optionally 3:2 ratio selectable produces 2048 x 1360 |
| Lens | 3x Zoom-Nikkor (38-115mm 35mm equiv.) / F2.5 - F4.0, 9 elements in 8 groups, all elements glass, Nikon Super Integrated Coating applied; glass-molded aspherical lens element included |
| Autofocus | Contrast-detect TTL AF; 4896-step autofocus |
| Focus modes | 1) Continuous AF mode (when using
LCD monitor) 2) Single AF mode (selectable) 3) Manual (50 steps from 2cm to infinity with peaking indication) |
| Shooting distance | Normal: 30cm - infinity Macro: 2cm - infinity |
| Optical viewfinder | Real-image zoom, frame coverage: 85%, diopter -2 ~ +1 DP |
| LCD monitor | 1.8", 110,000 pixel low temperature TFT with brightness and hue adjustment |
| Auto OFF mode | Selectable: 30s, 1min, 5min, 30mins |
| Storage | CompactFlash (Type I only) either JPEG or TIFF |
| Shooting modes | Fully Automatic (A-REC), Custom (M-REC) |
| Shooting menu | 1) White Balance 2) Exposure Metering 3) Continuous 4) Best-Shot Selector (BSS) 5) Lens Converters 6) Tone Compensation 7) Image Sharpening 8) Digital Zoom |
| Capture modes | 1) Single 2) Continuous 3) Multi-Shot 16 (16 frames in one image) 4) VGA Sequence 5) Ultra High Speed Continuous - 80 QVGA @ 30fps 6) Quicktime Movie - 40sec QVGA @ 15fps |
| Exposure metering | 4 mode TTL: 1) 256-segment Matrix 2) Center-Weighted 3) Spot 4) Spot AF Area |
| Shutter | Mechanical and CCD electronic shutter |
| Shutter speed range | 8 seconds - 1/1000 second |
| Aperture | 7 blade Iris diaphragm |
| Exposure compensation | +/-2EV in 1/3EV steps |
| Exposure control | 1) Programmed Auto with Flexible program 2) Shutter Priority Auto (with Sensitivity control) 3) Aperture Priority Auto 4) Full Manual mode |
| Bracketing | Auto Bracketing (5 steps within +/-2/3EV) |
| Exposure range | Wide: EV -2 ~ +15.5 Tele: EV -0.8 ~ +16.7 (ISO 100 equiv.) |
| White balance | 1) Matrix Auto White Balance with
TTL control 2) 5 mode Manual with 7-step fine tuning 3) Preset (using a white card) |
| Self-timer | 10 secs or 3 secs |
| Flash | Nikon "Speedlight" Guide number: 9/30 (at ISO 100, m/ft) |
| Flash modes | 1) Auto Flash 2) Flash Cancel 3) Forced Flash 4) Slow Sync 5) Anti-Red-Eye |
| External Flash | Multi-flash sync terminal connector for external Nikon Speedlight SB-28/28DX/26/25/24/22s using Multi-Flash Bracket Unit SK-E900; built-in flash can be cancelled when using external flash |
| Playback menu | 1) 1 frame 2) Thumbnails (4 or 9 segments) 3) Slideshow 4) Zoom playback (stepless up to 3x) Histogram indication & highlight point display Peaking indication Hide and protect attributes can be set to each image |
| Delete mode | Delete all frames or selected frames |
| Interface | USB Serial RS232C/RS432 (Windows 115kbps; Mac: 230kbps) |
| Video output | NTSC or PAL (switchable) |
| I/O terminals | Power input Video output Digital output (USB / Serial) Sync terminal for external flash |
| Power requirements | 4 x 1.5V LR6 ("AA" Size)
batteries -or- 4 x 1.2V Ni-MH "AA" -or- 4 x 1.2V Ni-CD "AA" AC adapter optional |
| Battery life | Approx 1.5 hrs with LCD, 4 hrs without on standard alkaline "AA" batteries |
| Dimensions | 149 x 79 x 38mm (5.9" x 3.1" x 1.5") |
| Weight (no batteries) | 370g (13.1 oz) |
| Included accessories | Lens cap Neck strap Video cable 8MB CompactFlash card USB Cable Four 1.5V "AA" Alkaline batteries NikonView version 3 CD-ROM |
| Optional accessories | Soft Case CS-E990 AC Adapter EH-31 CompactFlash Cards PC Card Adapter EC-AD1 Serial Cables (SC-EW3 for Windows, SC-EM3 for Mac) Telephoto Converter Wideangle Converter Fisheye Converter Slide Copy adapter ES-E28 Multi-Flash Bracket Unit SK-E900 |
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