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Nikon Coolpix P90

Digital Camera Review

Previous: Page 9

Controls
Page 10

Design & Handling

The manual is thorough, but the menu system is overly long, and the camera grip is shallow.

The Nikon Coolpix P90 is a bit uncomfortable to handle, due to it having a very shallow grip. It’s just too small to get a good grasp on, and it feels like you need to keep a death grip on the camera to stop from dropping it. It’s also missing a decent handling area on the left side, so you’re forced to awkwardly grasp around the lens if you want to shoot two-handed.

Handling Photo 1
People with large hands will have trouble grabbing the P90 well.
Handling Photo 2

The construction and layout of the buttons on the camera is effective overall. The layout is well designed, with plenty of space between each of the controls, preventing accidental settings changes. While they’re a bit on the small side, the controls do feel like they’re strong enough to take a bit of a beating.

Buttons Photo 1
The rear controls

If you’ve used a Nikon point-and-shoot in recent years, you won’t be surprised by the menu system. It’s logically organized, but menu sections run multiple pages in length, so scrolling down to find the option you want to change can be tedious. The P90 also misses a quick menu system containing frequently used record options, an increasingly common option that can dramatically streamline the shooting process.

The menu system runs long

The camera’s manual is a tome, in the best kind of way. It has a good table of contents, decent index, and goes into great detail on how to set options and what they do. While its sheer size might be off-putting to some, there’s also a Quick Start Guide, and the level of detail makes the manual a good reference guide. The manual can be downloaded in PDF format here.

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Nikon Coolpix P90
Digital Camera Review

Previous: Page 9

Controls