Nikon COOLPIX A900 Digital Camera (Silver)

I am a serious photographer and have been such since the year 2000. Although I travel with and shoot with a big Nikon D 7100 for important photos, I have used a small, compact Nikon Coolpix S8200 camera for fun and to sneak a small, but very good, camera into concerts and performances that do not allow photography. As a result, I have been able to take GREAT pictures, and some videos (at a distance of 200+ feet) of Cher, Santana, Eric Clapton, Andrea Bocelli, In Volo, and other celebrities. The S 8200 is a 16 MP camera and has a 14X zoom (4.5 - 63mm) and has served me VERY well for a camera that--at the time--cost less than $300.00 and is small, came with a handy leather case, and captures images almost as sharp and with the accurate colors as my big Nikon D7100! Then, about a month ago, I saw the Coolpix A900 on the Nikon website and decided to upgrade to a better small compact camera. I was NOT disappointed! The A900 is just as good (in terms of sharpness and color accuracy) and is only slightly larger than the S8200 but has more megapixels (20 MP) and more zoom (4.3 - 151mm) with almost the same aperture range as the S8200. Additionally, the A900 has WiFi and Bluetooth capability and, after downloading the free Nikon app, I can set my A900 to send my images to my iPhone in the event that I want to instantly send a picture to someone (but, obviously a better image than I could have captured with my iPhone's 8 MP, tiny lens camera) without waiting until I'm in front of my home computer or laptop in my hotel room (when traveling) to send as an email attachment. The only thing that I wish the A900 has that my S8200 has, is the ability to easily see the metadata of an imageat the push of a dial, and the ability of the S8200 to automatically raise the flash when the camera is set to automatic; I'm not sure that I like the fact that I have to manually raise the flash on the A900 if I need to use flash, although, in a way I like the fact that I do not have to remember that my A900 camera will accidentally flash if I've forgotten that I had left it in either automatic or force flash mode (like with the S8200). The A900 does, however, have some very nice features that my Coolpix S8200 lacks: If I have captured an image in portrait orientation, I can see it at its full length when reviewing an image simply by turning the camera sideways (as I would with any other digital camera) , but I can still view the SAME image (albeit smaller) without having to turn the camera sideways. I also really like the fact that the A900 has a moveable LCD screen that enables me to take pictures from down low next to the ground to over my head, while viewing what the lens is seeing from a comfortable position. All in all, I really like my Nikon Coolpix A900 camera BETTER than my great Coolpix S8200 and will be sneaking it into future concerts that also forbid taking pictures or videos! (SUGGESTION: Why doesn't Nikon make a similar camera with a small viewfinder and a way of turning OFF the LCD screen on the back of the camera? I say this because, when I try to surreptitiously take photos in a darkened environment, the bright LCD is annoying to others sitting behind me, and, it is a dead give-away (while sitting in a concert where I am taking photos or videos) to the staff in a performance venue who will run over to me and tell me to put my camera away!)

Not gonna lie, I have been an Olympus fan for many years. But when I dropped my point and shoot Olympus and discovered they didn't make that particular model with the super zoom and features that I wanted, I had to go looking. I was not happy about having to change camera models because the beauty of the Olympus cameras that I have previously owned, the batteries/chargers/camera cases were all interchangeable, so I could keep on using perfectly good batteries with the new camera. Long story short, I am thrilled with this Nikon Coolpix - the zoom capability is superior to my previous Olympus cameras, the features are pretty much equivalent to what I was used to and the photos I'm getting are stunning! This camera was very affordable and the battery charger/batteries are reasonably priced. The more I learn about the camera functions, the better my photos are - I am a Nikon convert, this is a great little camera!!

Reading the reviews here and based on my own experience with the A900, I'd say that the it is not the camera for the more demanding or sophisticated user. I'm not a demanding user or a photo hobbiest. I do mostly nature photography for my own study. I'm not out for National Geographic. I want a compact, packable camera with some basic manual options, good zoom and good stabilization. I'm only fussy about ease of use, interface design that allows me to adjust for changing conditions quickly. Given the complexity of cameras these days, the layout of this one seems intuitive. Your intuition may vary. I tried it against the Sony and Panasonic competing models. I get the sense that the firmware for all of them comes from the same factory. I shoot mostly in P mode, I can quickly adjust exposure compensation which does as much as most of the scene modes, though they can be handy. I think the optical zoom works well, though under some conditions at full zoom (notably low light) you may get some blur. That is not surprising. But under even less than ideal conditions I have found the autofocus adequately fast (is it ever really fast enough?) and the image clear. I can't comment on the movie functions. It works OK, but I don't use it much. The SnapBridge works transferring to my Sampsung tablet but it's a bit unpredictable and easier just to copy images to the computer.

It is a very convenient size camera that performs very well to handle the more difficult photo shots. It's Fstop and Shutter speed settings are very effective in dealing with either low light or movement. It's menu items have momentary text messages presented to explain the function so most of the time you don't have to use the manual. The flash has multiple choices to control the light levels and red eye. The LCD screen has very good resolution and works in all but the brightest situations. The camera lens autofocuses in very low light and is well protected when powered off.

I own several Nikon cameras, from DSLRs down to point and shoots, and have shot Nikon cameras exclusively for several years. The A900 interested me because of the articulating screen, which is a great feature. However, the performance of this camera is dismal. How so? First off, the image quality is very poor and photo results are inconsistent. In low light situations it seems the camera over compensates, resulting in colors that are washed out; subjects appear over exposed. Color reproduction overall is very poor. Secondly, the VR seems to only work occasionally - you can take a photo that looks okay and when you snap the next one the subject is blurred. This has has never occurred with any other Nikons I own and I have to conclude that this camera is defective. Thirdly, auto-focus is also inconsistent; the auto-focus hunts and often cannot lock in, particularly when using the zoom. I purchased this as a travel camera, but after three days of shooting and comparing the results of this camera with my other Nikons, I have to conclude that this is sub-par product that does not live up to the product description and I am returning it. I would not be able to rely on this camera to capture vacation memories with my family.

I am a big advocate for NIKON. This is not my first, nor my second, NIKON digital camera. The body (D800/ D5300 - even this one) is always sturdy and the lens on a Nikon is magnificent. My issue with the above referenced two was a question of portability - they are heavy to tote around on vacation or pack. So, it was with great anticipation that I bought the A900. I was banking on: the Nikon quality; and, the GPS. In short - look at something else if you want a second camera for travel purposes. The lens does a passable job but the MANUAL controls do not exist. On vacation with a tour group, I set it to AUTO so as not to hold the group up but this camera seems only to have an AUTO function that works. Disappointing. The WI FI/ GPS? It does not work with the IOS platform. Nikon knows this but nothing has been done to remedy the situation. Sadly it wastes the battery life and, if it does work (which it sporadically does), it picks the first point and gives that as the location for all the further pictures you take that day. It is small, light, sleek and the photos it takes are good enough but for 24 megapixels, they should be better but, sadly, are not. It does not make much noise and seems to operate fairly well as a basic point and click camera. it even has a screen that makes selfies quite easy. However, if you are looking for NEF files/ low lite situations/ long battery life (it really is shameful the short life span), then look further. NIKON really dropped the ball on this one.

Bought this camera prior to recent vacation. I had been looking at SLR with even better zoom (50), but decided I didn’t want to walk around with a bigger camera around my neck, and that large a zoom probably needs a tripod for stable pictures anyway. This Nikon worked out perfectly taking great shots in all lights, and from close up to its furthest zoom (35). I did lose a few shots before I got the hang of the double press to take a picture, but once I got familiar, it was a very comfortable camera to use. I’d recommend playing with it for a while before using on a trip.

Bought this as a vlog camera thats easier to hold all day long VS the dslr camera we usually use. I have to say I am less than impressed. Now I know I'm coming from a very high end DSLR camera and this is definitely not that, BUT this camera SUCKS when it comes to filming. Not only did Nikon choose to limit video recording times to avoid certain product taxes (cheapo's), but they also used an out of date sensor. The sensor when it comes to still photos, is good. Not great, but not bad. Just good. When it comes to videos however, even at the 4k resolution, the image is very flat, almost blurry. The videos are not sharp, AT ALL. It looks like what you'd expect a video filmed on a 480p camera phone to look like. And low light filming? Forget it. You need legitimate film lighting set up for the image to be useable at all. I was going to attach some sample footage but I ended up giving the camera away and deleted all footage I had from it because I didn't see any use for it. I recommend spending the extra couple hundred bucks and getting the Canon G7x. Nothing competes with Canon