Front
The front of the Nikon Coolpix 7900 is straight forward, with the majority of the design focused on the right side (looking at the front). The lens is in the bottom right corner with the viewfinder and built in flash directly above. The left side of the front is contoured for easier grip with the right hand. A thin shiny sliver on the inside of the curvature also supplies added style and stability.
Back
The back of the Nikon Coolpix 7900 is the nervous system of the camera, with the 2 inch LCD screen dominating the back side. The LCD is situated in the lower left corner of the back, with the optical viewfinder and flash status LED’s located above. The LCD area is slightly raised, which nicely separates it from the rest of the back. To the right of the LCD, in the lower right corner, is the control button, which is designed as a compass with each arrow/divot pointing to a different feature icon. Menu and Playback buttons are directly above the control dial. Above these two buttons is the speaker (for that annoying “shutter closing” sound effect) and for mpeg movie playback. Above this monaural speaker are the zoom toggle controls, with wide angle on the left and telephoto on the right. These buttons, as with the Menu and Playback controls are separated by a small ridge, which is a great aid when making adjustments without looking.
Away from all the other buttons, at the top middle of the camera’s back, is the trash button used to erase images during playback.
Left Side
The left side of the Nikon Coolpix 7900 is home to the port cover for the USB terminal. The terminal is covered by a gray port cover, which gently interrupts the silver trim running around the entire Coolpix body, aesthetically splitting the camera in half.
Right Side
The right side is also home to a single port cover, which discreetly hides the battery and memory card port. At the top of the right side is the small aluminum strap holder.
Top
The top of the Nikon Coolpix 7900 is weighted to the right in terms of design layout and functionality. The shutter button is positioned off to the far right side, above the contoured hump, with the mode dial behind it towards the middle of the camera body. The power on and off button is recessed into the aluminum body cast, and is soft gray in tone. There is a small LED bulb also recessed, indicating power. Due to intelligent placement, the buttons are easy to identify and access.
