Nikon Coolpix P90

Shooting Modes (20.00)

Ultrazoom cameras generally include the manual shooting controls so often missing in standard point-and-shoots. In addition to your standard Auto mode, the P90 also has Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority and Manual mode. It also has two custom modes, U1 and U2. These are basically customizable versions of Program mode, retaining their settings so you can easily return to them.

Auto Mode Features

Focus

If shooting with autotofocus, you can set the camera to face priority, auto (full frame), manual or center.

Exposure

The exposure compensation range runs ±2 EV, in 1/3 EV steps, which is typical. The P90 does have auto exposure bracketing, over three shots at ±0.3, ±0.7 or ±1 EV.

Metering

Nothing too surprising on this front. Metering can be set to Matrix (full frame), center-weighted, spot or spot AF, which will meter off the focusing area as defined by the AF Area Mode setting.

Self-Timer

Quite a few timer options are provided. In addition to the standard 10- and 2-second modes, there’s smile detection and blink proof. The former waits 5 seconds after you press the shutter, then takes a photo after it detects a smile. Blink proof handles identically to smile mode, but takes two photos and discards the one with eyes closed.

Scene Modes

There are 15 scene modes on the P90, which will do for most situations. The one letdown is the Panorama Assist mode can’t stitch the images together in-camera. We’ve become slightly spoiled by the Sony HX1’s superb panorama function, which allows you to simply pan across a scene to automatically create a striking image.

Picture Effects (3.50)

There aren’t any crazy picture effects on the camera (except for the More Vivid color mode, which is a bit over the top). However, you can set up a custom color mode, which lets you tweak contrast, sharpening and image saturation to ±2 levels each. There’s also the option to shoot in black and white.

Manual Controls (10.68)

Manual focus is available, but it’s adjusted using the up and down buttons on the four-way controller. It strikes us that it would have been more sensible to use the control dial on the rear of the camera for focus rather than relying on buttons.

The preset white balance settings are daylight, incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy and flash. Unsurprisingly, there are also auto and manual settings. One nice feature of the white balance system is that the menu is shown as an overlay on the Live View display, providing an interactive preview of each white balance setting’s effect.

Thanks to the magic of Aperture Priority mode, you have complete control over the entire range of apertures on the P90. At the wide angle end of things, the maximum aperture is f/2.8, which then decreases to f/5 at maximum zoom. Regardless of the focal length, the minimum aperture is limited to f/8, which limits available depth of field.

The shutter speed range is respectable on the P90, especially at the high end. It can get exposures down to 1/2000 of a second at full resolution, 1/4000 at reduced resolution. The stats are a bit less impressive at the long exposure end, as it maxes out at eight seconds, and there’s no bulb mode. It seems this isn’t a camera for attempting long exposure work.

Drive/Burst Mode (8.00)

While our drive/burst mode testing only looks at full resolution speed, the P90 has a number of alternatives that offer faster speeds and additional options. Continuous mode is the full resolution version discussed below, which captures 1.4 frames per seconds. Best Shot Selector (BSS) that takes up to ten images in a row, and saves the one which is the sharpest. Multi-shot 16 mode fires off 16 photographs at 7.5 frames per second and assembles them into a 4×4 grid on a single image. Interval timer shooting takes photos every 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes or 10 minutes. Finally, there’s a Sport Continuous mode, available from the mode dial, which knocks the resolution down to three-megapixels, and can be set to 15, 11, 6 or 4 frames per second.

Shot to Shot (2.34)

At full resolution, the P90 only managed 1.4 images per second. Hardly the fastest horse off the mark, but not the slowest either. Thankfully, if you crank the resolution down, you can get a fair bit more speed.