NIKON COOLPIX 950

Nikon Coolpix 950 digital camera review and photo examples

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The Coolpix 950 (hereafter referred to as CP950) is a Nikon lens-integrated digital camera released in 1999. It is a fine old compact digital camera since it has been more than 20 years since its release.

I no longer have this camera on hand, but I purchased it at a slight discount on the day of its release. The CP950 has a red accent on the grip, which is used in Nikon’s SLR cameras, and combined with the black body, it closely follows the image of Nikon cameras.

The CP950’s image sensor has 2 million pixels, a 4:3 ratio, and a maximum resolution of 1,600 x 1,200. This is about the same resolution as a high-resolution monitor in the Windows XP era.

As for the shooting results, 2 million pixels is still a tough resolution for 2024. Similarly, Sony’s DSC-U20 and DSC-U30, which are 2 million pixel old compact digital cameras, have a similar resolution, but judging from the shooting results, they also seem to be tough. I think that even with an old compact digital camera, if you have 3 million or more pixels, or about 5 million pixels, you can take a satisfactory photo. Of course, it is up to the photographer to use low resolution, so it is up to the photographer to decide what to express and how to express it.

The real image optical viewfinder of the Swivel Coolpix changes the shooting range in conjunction with the lens zoom, but the photographer can only check the shooting range and not the focus position, which is the same method as AF compact cameras from the film camera era. The rear LCD is a live view, so you can check the shooting range and focus, but the monitor size is small at 1 inch and the resolution is 100,000 dots, so it is not very accurate.

The CP950 runs on four AA batteries, and also on relatively low-voltage nickel-metal hydride batteries such as Eneloop. It is probably designed to run on a single battery voltage of about 1.2V.
The startup time is relatively slow, and it takes a few seconds from turning on the power until you can start shooting, so you have to wait a while.

The recording media is CompactFlash, the image storage format is JPEG, the recording size is 1,600 x 1,200 (FULL), 1,024 x 768 (XGA), 640 x 480 (VGA), and the image quality can be selected from 4 types: HI/FINE/NORMAL/BASIC.
At 1,600 x 1,200 (FULL) resolution, HI is about 8MB, FINE is 1MB, NORMAL is 0.5MB, and BASIC is 0.25MB, with HI being almost uncompressed and the compression rate increasing from there. In the past, I could only buy small memory cards, so I shot in FINE or NORMAL.

The image quality is old digital camera, so it is far from today’s smartphones, and even in daylight at ISO80, the default setting makes the photos look a bit sleepy and loose (you can adjust the sharpness and post-processing to make it look better), and the maximum sensitivity of ISO320 generates noise and reduces the resolution.
At night, camera shake has a big impact because there is no image stabilization mechanism.
The autofocus speed is also quite slow, and in sudden scenes the focus cannot keep up at all. I think this is quite a tolerable specification for someone who is used to modern cameras.
The Coolpix 9xx series has a 28mm thread on the tip of the lens, so teleconverters and wide converters can be used with both. There are a fair number of Nikon options on the market, so they are relatively easy to find even second-hand. With Olympus and other models, the options vary depending on the model, so it can be difficult to find the right one even if you search.

Specification and Competitor

Items	COOLPIX 900	COOLPIX 950	COOLPIX 990	COOLPIX 995	COOLPIX 4500
Camera effective pixels	1 million pixels	2 million pixels	3 million pixels	3 million pixels	4 million pixels
Focal length	3x zoom Nikkor lens f=7 to 21mm (35 mm film equivalent: 38 to 115mm) F2.6 – F4	←	3x zoom Nikkor lens f＝8～24mm (35 mm film equivalent: 38 – 115 mm) F2.5 – F4	4x zoom Nikkor lens f＝8 to 32mm (35 mm film equivalent: 38-152 mm) F2.6 to F5.1	4x zoom Nikkor lens f=7.85 – 32mm (35mm film equivalent 38 – 155mm) F2.6 – 5.1
Lens Construction	–	–	9 elements in 8 groups	10 elements in 8 groups	←
Leaf blade	–	–	7	←	←
Image sensor	1/2.7-inch CCD	1/2-inch CCD(?)	1/1.8-inch CCD	←	←
Max ISO	–	320	400	800	←
Back LCD	2-inch, ? pixels	2-inch, 130,000 pixels	1.8-inch, 110,000 pixels	←	1.5-inch, 110,000 pixels
View Finder	real image type	←	←	←	←
Battery	4 AA Batteries 1.2V*4	←	←	EN-EL1	←
Recorded Media	Compact flash	←	←	←	←
Size(mm) W x H x D	157×75×35	143×76.5×36.5	149×79×38	138×82×40	130×73×50
Weight(g)	360(Only body)	350 (Only body)	390 (Only body)	390(Only body)	360(Only body)
Release date	1998.4	1999.3	2000.4	2001.6	2002.6
Price(Yen/No-tax)	110,000	125,000	125,000	113,000	OpenPrice (105,000)

Items	Fish-eye Converter: FC-E8 (0.2x)	Wide Converter: WC-E63 (0.63x)	Teleconverter: TC-2E (2x)	Teleconverter: TC-E3ED (3x)	Teleconverter: TC-E3PF (3x)
Lens Construction	5 elements in 4 groups	4 elements in 4 groups	4 elements in 3 groups	6 elements in 3 groups	6 elements in 3 groups
converter magnification	0.2倍	0.63倍	2倍	3倍	3倍
composite aperture value	No change.	←	←	←	←
Size	?	75*29.5	64*44	75*78.6	61*64.3
Mounting Diameter	28mm	←	←	←	←
Filter Size	–	72mm	62mm	72mm	58mm
Weight	?	150g	240g	260g	175g
Supported models	COOLPIX P5100 COOLPIX P5000 COOLPIX 8400 COOLPIX 5000 COOLPIX 4500 COOLPIX 4300 COOLPIX 995 COOLPIX 990 COOLPIX 950 COOLPIX 885 COOLPIX 880	←	←	←	COOLPIX 8400 (with adapter ring UR-E15) COOLPIX 5000 （COOLPIX 5000 (with UR-E6 adapter ring) COOLPIX 4500/4300 （COOLPIX 4500 /4300 (with UR-E4) COOLPIX 900 Series
Price(Yen/No-tax)	45,000-	14,000-	14,000-	29,000-	80,000-
Note	–	Image quality is better without telecon after 35mm focal length	Vignetting occurs on the wide side.	←	←