Nikon COOLPIX 995 Digital Camera

This is my second Coolpix 995. I owned one previously, which I lost. And although I have now progressed to Digital SLR photography, I wanted to have another 995 to use as a second camera because of its user-friendliness and sheer versatility. I find the swivel lens irreplaceable in some situations. There is nothing quite like it on the market today. The lens is of excellent quality for its time, which together with the sensor in installed in this model creates high-quality pictures for a camera in its class. Apart from the swivel lens, which incidentally is surprisingly robust and reliable, another of its strong points is the excellent macro capabilities of this camera. I have tried several other cameras of similar age, and in my opinion, none of them are as good as the 995. If you are on a budget, and are looking for a bargain second-hand camera that will deliver consistantly good pictures, this is an excellent choice. The 995 is now an obsolete model, yet it still stands up well against many of the newer models available today.

I am a wildlife photographer specialising in close up work on wild orchids and insects. Also photography of extreme close-ups of set insect specimens using special staging and lighting equipment which has been described in specialist entomological journals.

My orchid photographs have been published in high quality field guides, promotional posters and schools teaching materials. My photographs are also used by professional taxonomists in publications and for use in presentations.

The unique combination of the following features make this camera stand alone:-

1. Small front profile minimises light loss on the subject at close distances.
2. Manual focus uses exact preselected distance scale.
3. Lightweight and tough construction makes it a convenient field companion.
4. Internal focussing non interchangeable lens eliminates internal dust.
5. Superb quality lens with zoom function at all selected focus distances.
6. Takes a range of supplementary lenses.
7. The ability to fill the frame with the subject offsets modest image pixels
8. At close ground level working all photographs are taken hand held.

I have a total of eight Nikon 995 cameras, apart from the first one which I purchased as new from a camera retailer, all my cameras have been bought through ebay. They are currently available through ebay for from £40 to £90. This is in comparison with the original 'sticker price' of about £750. My cameras have proven to be very robust and reliable. I have probably taken some 20000 photographs with them over the last few years. All cameras are still working perfectly.

I was working with Karel Kreutz, the orchid taxonomist and author, in Chios, Greece this spring on orchid photography, he was using the latest Nikon SLR digital camera with expensive close-up lenses and flash equipment, costing over £3500. He was so impressed with the results from my Nikon 995, we could compare his results with mine, that I gave him one of my cameras. He recently told me that on some subjects he had recently photographed with both cameras the Nikon 995 results were the best!!!

For extreme close up work on small insects the Raynox MSN-200 supplementary lens is a 'must have' accessory. I bought one about five years ago from the USA, cost $65 plus duty and postage, so I was very pleased to buy another one from ebay in June 2008 for £9.50 plus P&P!!! This lens allows a full frame high definition image of an object only 9mm long.

Do not buy a Nikon 4500 which might seem attractive with its somewhat larger number of Pixels because it has a completely useless manual focus scale. The Nikon 4500 was 'improved !!!??', by substituting a focus 'bar' with a flower at one end and a mountain at the other so you cannmot preset a precise focal distance ( its a good thing that aircraft flight control altitude selection is not based on a similar 'aery fairy' choice !!).

Wanted to buy a camera exactly like the one ive got, as mine was wearing out,i wanted another one the same ,as im very happy with this make and it suits my needs very well!
The one i purchased from ebay was exellent ,i could'nt have wished for better as it was in brand new condition,with loads of accessories, i was very impressed with it.
The seller was really helpfull with exellent communication, so overall a very good experience

At this day and age, what do you replace a 'dead' Nikon 995 with? My son bought his in Korea in 2001 and I bought mine two years later, second hand. Mine is still going strong but my son's came to the end of it's life. So what do you replace it with 6 years after you could buy the last ones off the shelf. The answer is simple... another Nikon 995 - that's the only option. They are becoming more difficult to get hold of now and seem to be holding prices more than most cameras their age. The 995 and later 4500 are still favourites for many photographers.

Have three cameras of different types, all newer and technologically far more capable, but this has a great feel and some little tricks that i miss. Sent my own to nikon for a repair and they want £150!!

We own two of these cameras and find them very reliable and easy-to-use.
Somewhat outdated now and a little on the bulky side they are nevertheless ideal to use for internetwork such as eBay.

A particularly good feature is the ability to take very detailed and very close images.
Patrick Going
Online Auctions

I love the price ,just the camera I wanted . My mate has the same one and said I should get one ,its like new, I hope to use it to put things on Ebay.Its great.

THIS CAMERA HAS A SUPERB LENS THAT GIVES CONSISTANT RESULTS USING ANY COMBINATION THAT YOU CAN USE. IT IS VERY VERSATILE WHETHER IT IS USED IN MANUAL OR AUTO. I LIKE BEING ABLE TO LOOK THROUGH THE VIEWFINDER WHICH CAN BE ADJUSTED IF YOU WEAR SPECTACLES,AND ALSO THE WAY THAT IT CAN SWIVLE.ALTHOUGH IT HAS ONLY 3.34 MPS. IT PERFORMS BETTER THAN MY 6 MILLION MPS CAMERA. 10 BY 8 PRINTS ARE SHARP WITH EXCELLENT COLOURS. WHEN IT COMESW TO MACRO THIS CAMERA TAKES SOME BEATING I WOULDNT PART WITH IT FOR THE WORLD.I OWN SEVERAL DIGITAL CAMERAS, CANON 30D,OLYMPUS SP700,SONY DSC-P1, SONY DSC P32,PENTAX MICRO CAMCORDER PLUS 30 FILM SLRS,SO I DO KNOW A GOOD CAMERA WHEN I SEE ONE.DONT HESITATE TO BUY ONE OF THESE.