Get Your Own Nikon Coolpix 950!: Tiny Compact Flash Cards: Time Stamps In this video I talk about the 20 year old Nikon Coolpix 950 Digital Point and Shoot camera and it's place in history.
I bought one of these cameras in 1999 and used it successfully for a couple of years. I don't ever recall having major battery problems (but I always carried an extra set). I suspect your first shut-down of the camera was either bad batteries or it entered the power saving mode. I owned a graphic design firm and used it to shoot photos for catalogs, etc. As long as you didn't use them in print too big (it was only 2 MP) it worked great. I made way more money back than what I spent on the camera, so don't snicker at it too much :). Was a great camera for the time!
I still own mine with all the bells & whistles. Three different attachable lenses. The Fish Eye, 3x Zoom & Wide Angle. It also has the Nikon external flash attachment & handle. This thing was cutting edge for Consumer digital photography at the time. Still takes really cool photos due to the low resolution & high end lenses. Love it.
I had one of those. With the CCD sensor they were much better than you’d expect from 2mp. I shot used car photos for dealership newspaper ads and even some product shots. It recorded JPGs or TIFFs. In 1999 it was extremely convenient compared to film. Maybe the best ROI I’ve experienced in digital cameras! 😂
Thank you for this very informative video! Just yesterday I found one of these cameras at a donation center thrift shop, for $15, and the salesman threw in a 16 gb flash card. I knew nothing about the camera when I bought it, what year it was introduced, etc., it just looked too cool to pass up. Judging by the the short amount of time that I spent checking out the features, it seems like everything works! After watching this video, I now know: #1- the camera doesn't take video, and #2- use rechargeable batteries.
This was one of my favorite cameras! I still have mine and it works. I used rechargeable batteries. Teamed with the Nikon SB 26 on a bracket produces some unreal quality images for what it is.
This was my first digital camera -- after many years of film photography. It was great, and the 2mp photo quality for the time was superb. The swivel design worked fine and the AA batteries meant I could hike up into the hills without worrying about a charger --- although, if I remember properly, I used to get way more than 15 minutes of use. Tbh, if the same design was still available, but with modern megapixel count and better battery tech, I would almost certainly consider one again.
At first I didn't like the look of these cameras, but after seeing one for $20 I took the time to research them and quickly bought it. They have a magnesium body, take AA's, do great macro shots easily, can be used at waist level for less conspicuous street shots, and have the beautiful colours a ccd sensor puts out. I thought 2mp wouldn't be enough but after seeing some other peoples photos I can't wait for mine to arrive ! I think they might one day be a sought after, and pricey, hipster camera.
I still have my 990, swivel design was awesome bc you could shoot at waist level, or set it down to shoot up. I don't recall having battery problems with mine, but I was using rechargeable. If you shoot in manual mode, this camera to this day will teach you plenty about photography.
I was the envy of that model, though liked my own camera 950 better, for the fact that it had the highly conventional AA battery design. A rare feature, even for today's world.
I loved mine. Coming from the Kodak DC40, the Coolpix 950 was AMAZING. Used it for years. The manual states to only use alkaline batteries or MH rechargables. At the time Kodak made 2500 mah rechargeables and I had several sets. It did use the batteries but not THAT bad. I had a saltwater fish tank and this thing took the best macro shots.
ordered the first one from my local camera store back in 1999, Loved this camera and wore it out. missed it so much ,then found a nib from the estate of a collector he just removed the included batteries and put it up , 84.00 in 2020. BATTERIES = NOT ALKALINE FRIENDLY 2 - 3 PHOTOS THAN CHANGE BATTERIES, BUT WITH RECHARGABLE [NIMH] IT WILL SHOOT ALL DAY ....... LIFE IS GOOD !!!!!!
Very interesting to me, if not nostalgic. Here is another story from a true, then owner of this legendary camera. This was my top of the line gear, when other competitors were Olympus and a Parasoic (That later used to record directly on Floppy or Zip drives thus cheap memory) but overall, no other camera could make me look shinner or happier on those days, to shoot with like CP 950. Ok, maybe the dream camera, Nikon D1 that was available at the same time but on a totally different price level point (Out of reach for me). Like the other commenter here, I never felt left alone, with short life battery. May be thanks goes to very small memory card size of the day, Yes 8 mega-bite and seriously no. No typo. It's not GB. I correctly said MB!!! I always used to have rechargeable AA batteries and was so proud in economical use, then availability as the norm of that day was very strange, never seen before batteries that they have had only one thing in common, even when from the same manufacturer, The Very High Price Tag!!!! So having AA was really a big plus, the ability to find a set of battery even in the middle of Disneyland, if my batteries would die... What I love most about this camera: The accessories. Especially that FC-E8 fisheye (True round fisheye) lens that did open a new world to me. Especially in conjunction with the software (Forgotten the name) that would allow you to take only two pictures, from the same point on a tripod, but each at 180 degrees from the other, then merge it in pc to give you an unbelievable for the day, VIRTUAL reality picture that I remember not only was unheard of but if you had a multimillion-dollar mansion to sell, that would be the only way to present it on the virtual world of the day. There was even a dedicate tripod head for the camera to place the lens, right at the pivot position, so become the center of rotation (Not to omit even a bit of two side images that are to be stitched, as otherwise would happen due to extension of the lens, well ahead of the camera!)(How much Nikon was thinking about this camera!). The biggest caveat: The software manufacturer was very greedy and apart from 2 free sample images that you could make, every additional picture would cost as a single very high price tag license that the photographer had to purchase, thus the reason that the company went bankrupt!!! Only to see VR tech and VR glasses someone and half a decade later..... How advance was Nikon with this, and then the power of software engineering with those turtle speed computer CPUs of the day and handicapped video graphic cards. It was a miracle how everything would actually work, so well, despite all the limitations... In short, this was the marvel of technology for the day and I have a lot of admiration for it. Cons: The only thing I didn't like about it was the battery compartment door. Now that I look at eBay or likewise, most have a broken latch that I really suspect to see, every time I placed a battery in it. Seriously nothing else bothers me, about this great camera. Destiny: Sadly mine died when I was using it as a slide show (Yes that was the norm of the day to connect AV cable to the camera, run the pictures of the camera and feed them to TV for the view of the audience. Mine was placed on top of large subwoofer of Bose home system, attached by DC charger cable to wall, when it went to permanent darkness and I never repaired or reused it...
I bought this camera (bundle) from a dealer on eBay. I just received this camera today 3/18/2021. I got the whole camera and bundle (without the memory card, not included). I also ordered two 16 gig memory cards. I hope that they work. I like this camera.
Was looking at some images that people took with this on flickr, and they are actually not as bad as i thought they were going to be tbh. they are quite nice. I would say that phone cameras didnt look this good until about 2012-2014 ish
hey i have one of these and i was wondering if u know where i could find a replacement for the battery cover it broke of 3 years ago and kinda forgot about it but now that i am getting into photography i want to take photos and see the photos on it
My camera is in storage, so I can't mess with it, but some older cameras with internal storage give you the option to transfer photos from internal memory to a card. You could try hunting around in the menu system for that.
@@PrimeStudios I watched it, but my camera is like really dirty on the inside. And the only way I think of is dissembling the camera nikon coolpix 950. Any chance will you do a tutorial? thanks
The greatest thing about this camera is that you can fire real speedlights with the ttl socket on it. A feature not even the stupid 1 series had. It is from a time when „dumbing down“ products was not usual.
Hah ha. And yes. They really easily could. But never realize the fact that these cameras can produce free videos, on those days. A technology that had to be born many many years later and show it's most glorious day when introduced by Canon in 5D mk II , capable of real 1080 video, besides the still picture and a subject of serious debates on the day....... Coz this one had REAL "LiveView" and EVF that had to be re-born, long latter!!! I am pretty sure if someone looks into it, you should be able to find a simple hack to make it video-capable but would it worth the effort? NO.
Cherish it. You can't find anything else to be proud of, when showing and describing to your grandchildren, as antiquity. My nonfunctional original Coolpix is still kept somewhere in the attic for this purpose!
I have the silver Millenium Edition of it. Just took some great macros with it with a Pocketwizard attached to the flash bracket and my off-camera SB-11.
