It’s the kind of physical interactivity and feedback I miss on modern cameras, and no, flipping shut a fold-out screen doesn’t come close. The twisting mechanism in particular remains an ergonomic triumph, smoothly turning with just the right amount of friction even two decades later, with very satisfying tactile notches at three 90 degree intervals. Impressively it feels as good today as it did when I first reviewed it 23 years ago. ![]() They’re subtle adjustments, but add up to a camera that looks and feels less like an electronic toy and more like a more serious camera for professional use. In fact Agfa was one of the first to do so in 1997 with the ePhoto 1280.įor the COOLPIX 950, Nikon took the design concept of the 900, but tweaked it to look and feel far more professional, not to mention more consistent with their existing film camera heritage. The new magnesium body swapped angular corners out for comfortable curves, and switched the finish from silver to black with a stylish red oval on the inside grip. It looks pretty unique today, but was actually a fairly common idea in the late Nineties, with Minolta, Ricoh, Casio, JVC and Sony also selling split-bodied cameras. One year earlier, the original silver-coloured COOLPIX 900 introduced the split-body concept with the lens, sensor, viewfinder and flash in the left half, leaving the screen, controls, batteries and grip in the right. You’d hold the right half, while twisting the imaging portion through just over 270 degrees, allowing you to shoot comfortably at high or low angles or even face backwards for selfies. ![]() It came out in early 1999 and cost around $850 to $1000. The COOLPIX 950 may have been the second of four models in the 900 series, but arguably the most impressive on launch and the one that really defined Nikon’s vision of a high-end all-in-one digital camera.
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