The Nikon COOLPIX P90 is a prosumer camera or alternatively can also be called an ultrazoom camera. The P90 has the largest zoom we’ve seen so far — 24X optical zoom (4.0 – 110.4mm). Like the

Fujifilm Finepix S1500, this too has a good handgrip. The buttons are all of very good quality. The screen hinge design is very similar to the Sony DSCHX1 and only allows vertical movement. The user interface looks very similar to the ones found on Nikon dSLRs. It is very functional and lacks the

over-user-friendliness seen on cameras of some other brands. The zoom trigger brings up a help menu when you use it in any of the camera settings menus. Lithium-ion batteries are used so most of the weight is the camera itself. The jogdial is built well just like on Nikon’s dSLR cameras. It isn’t used to control the manual focussing though. One of the unique features we’ve seen is the ISO sensitivity range which can be capped. The camera then will not cross that limit so you never end up with very grainy images. Video recording resolution is rather basic on the P90 whereas most of the ultrazoom cameras are aiming at the basic HD standard — 720p. There are some modes where custom user settings can be stored. There are also modes which change the aspect ratio of the image to fit TV screens. Operation of the huge zoom is silent although there is some fine vibration. Image stabilization at maximum zoom isn’t too bad either. It’s very usable but a better quality lens would’ve really made this shine. At maximum zoom, there’s some quality loss. There’s a little bit of yellow colouration on the screen after the photo has been captured. On a computer screen though, the result looks natural. The colours are sober and there is no overemphasis of colours. There’s little to hate about the Nikon P90. It’s a great overall camera that now moves Nikon closer to the ultrazoom camera market at least in India. So far, it’s been Canon and Sony that have mostly dominated this area. A little more of quality and performance and this camera could’ve been a winner.

The Nikon COOLPIX P90 is a prosumer camera or alternatively can also be called an ultrazoom camera. The P90 has the largest zoom we’ve seen so far — 24X...