DIGITAL CAMERA COOLPIX 900 User’s Guide
Cautions • The reproduction of all or part of this manual is prohibited save in cases in which Nikon’s prior permission has been obtained. • The information contained in this manual is subject to change without notice. • Nikon has made every effort to produce a perfect manual, but should you find any mistakes, we would be grateful if you would kindly let us know. The address of Nikon’s representative in your area is provided separately.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Radio Frequency Interference Statement This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation.
Safety Precautions Be sure to observe the following safety precautions when using and storing your COOLPIX 900. Do not look directly at the sun through the viewfinder Viewing the sun or other strong light source through the viewfinder could cause permanent visual impairment. Turn off immediately in the event of malfunction Should you notice smoke or an unusual smell coming from the camera, remove the batteries immediately, taking care to avoid burns. Continued operation could result in injury.
Other Cautions To ensure that you can continue to enjoy the use of your COOLPIX 900, you should observe the following precautions. ✔ Do not touch the lens with your fingers The proper procedure for cleaning the camera’s lens is described in “Caring for Your Camera.” ✔ Handle the lens and moving parts with care Do not apply force to the lens or to the battery, card, or connector covers. These parts are especially susceptible to damage.
Notice concerning prohibition of copying or reproduction Note that simply being in possession of material which has been copied or reproduced by means of a digital camera may be punishable by law. Items prohibited by law from being copied or reproduced Do not copy or reproduce paper money, coins, securities, government bonds, or local government bonds, even if such copies or reproductions are stamped “Sample”.
Contents Safety Precautions ................................................................. iv Other Cautions ............................................................................... v Overview ...................................................................... 1 Parts and Accessories ................................................ 3 What’s in this Package .................................................................. 3 Parts of the COOLPIX 900..............................................
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Overview Thank you for buying a Nikon COOLPIX 900 digital camera. The COOLPIX 900 is a full-featured digital camera with optical and digital zoom and a built-in flash. In automatic mode the camera’s programmed autofocus, autoexposure, auto white-balance, and matrix metering allow for “point-and-shoot” photography that produces excellent results in a variety conditions.
found in “Nikon View 900,” which also describes how to install the Adobe Acrobat Reader software you will need to view the manuals on CD-ROM. Please read all instructions carefully to ensure that you get the most from your camera. Note: The illustrations in this manual are composites. Photographs taken with the COOLPIX 900 may differ from those shown here. Note: The illustrations in this manual show the color LCD monitor used in the NTSC-compatible model of the COOLPIX 900.
Parts and Accessories The chapter identifies the parts of the COOLPIX 900 and lists the items packaged with your camera. What’s in this Package Purchasers of the COOLPIX 900 should find that the package contains all the items listed below. Should you notice that anything is missing or damaged, contact your retailer immediately.
Parts of the COOLPIX 900 [8] [6] [7] [3] [5] [4] m 4m 1 17 . 3 .4:2 .6 5. 8 - [2] FINE NORMAL BASIC AUTO SLOW [1] PLAY M REC CARD A REC [9] OFF OM NIKKO ZO R [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] W [15] T [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] NIKON CORP. BATT. MADE IN JAPAN N150 PUSH Nikon DIGITAL CAMERA E900 4.8V/6V = 0.9A/0.
[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] [ 4] [ 5] [ 6] [ 7] [ 8] [ 9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] Flash/Multiple Selection button Color LCD monitor Zoom switch Hole for camera strap MONITOR button MENU button Flash indicator Tripod connector Battery cover Diopter dial for adjusting viewfinder focus [23] Autofocus lamp [24] Compact flash memory card slot (under cover) [25] Battery cover release button Speedlight (flash) Red-eye reduction lamp Photocell Lens Control panel Connector for AC adapt
The Color LCD Monitor When the selector dial is set to A-REC or M-REC, the color LCD monitor shows the view through the camera’s lens, adjusted for such settings as white balance, exposure, and digital zoom. When the dial is set to PLAY, the monitor displays the most recently recorded photograph.
Camera settings (A-REC, M-REC) Zoom indicator Battery indicator Autoexposure lock White-balance lock Self-timer Lens adapter Image adjustment Number of exposures remaining VGA indicator Image quality Metering Exposure compensation White balance program Focus setting Recording information (PLAY) Date and time of recording Filename (the first four letters of the filename are omitted) Battery indicator Protected image Image quality Position in memory Parts and Accessories: Parts of the COOLPIX 90
Through the Viewfinder [1] [2] [3] [1] Macro close-up field-of-view Use this frame when composing photographs with focus set to macro close-up (appropriate at ranges of 8cm–50cm, or 3˝–20˝) [2] Focus point indicator For best autofocus results, compose photograph with subject at focus point [3] Field of view at ranges of 50cm (20˝) to infinity 8 Parts and Accessories: Parts of the COOLPIX 900
First Steps This chapter guides you through the steps you will take after removing the camera from the box, from inserting the batteries to making your first photographs and playing them back.
Putting Batteries in Your Camera 1. Turn the camera off When putting new batteries in your camera, first rotate the selector dial to OFF. If the camera is on a tripod, the camera must be removed from the tripod before the batteries can be replaced. 2. Open the battery cover Turn the camera upside down and unlatch the battery chamber by pushing the button and sliding the cover away from the camera. Then raise and open the lid. 3.
Cautions Batteries may leak or explode if improperly handled. Observe the following precautions when handling batteries for use in this camera. • Turn the selector dial to OFF before replacing the batteries. If you are using the AC adapter, be sure to unplug the camera. • Use only 1.5V AA (LR6) batteries. Alkaline batteries are recommended, but nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel metal-hydride (NiMH), and lithium batteries may also be used.
Inserting and Removing Memory Cards The COOLPIX 900 records photographs on compact flash-memory cards. Before you will be able to take photographs, you must insert a memory card in the camera. 1. Turn the camera off Cards can only be inserted in, and removed from, the camera when the selector dial is set to OFF. ✔Caution: Inserting memory cards when the power is on could render the card unusable. 2.
Checking the Battery Level Before using your camera, you should check the battery level to be sure that the batteries do not need to be replaced. To check the battery level, turn the selector dial to M-REC, A-REC, or PLAY. A battery indicator will appear in the control panel on top of the camera. An identical indicator will appear in the LCD monitor when camera settings are displayed.
Choosing a Language for the Menus For the display of messages and menu items in its LCD monitor, the COOLPIX 900 offers a choice of English, French, German, and Japanese. When you first turn your camera on, you may find that the menus are in a language other than English. To select a new language for the display, follow the steps given below. 1. Turn the selector dial to M-REC After turning the dial to M-REC, wait one or two seconds for the camera to start up.
Setting the Time and Date The camera’s clock-calendar is not set at the factory. When you first turn on your camera, you will need to set the time and date. 1. Turn the selector dial to M-REC After turning the dial to M-REC, wait one or two seconds for the camera to complete start-up. The color LCD monitor should show the camera’s current settings superimposed on the view through the lens. If the date has yet to be set, the date “00.00.00/00:00” will be shown flashing at the top right corner of the display.
Press the zoom-out switch (W/▼) until the DATE item is selected as shown above, then press the shutter button to display the date menu. Year Day Month DA T E Y M D ▲ 1998 . 01 . 01 ▼ 00 : 00 A D J . ➔ Z OOM SW▼▲ S E T ➔S H U T T E R Hour Minute The currently selected item will flash. Edit the selected item by pressing the zoom-in switch (T/▲) to increase its value or the zoom-out switch (W/ ▼) to decrease its value.
Taking Your First Photograph The COOLPIX 900 offers a choice of two modes for recording photographs: automatic (A-REC) and manual (M-REC). In automatic mode, the user can control flash settings, image quality, focus settings, and zoom. In manual mode, the user can also make adjustments to exposure compensation, metering, and white balance, and in addition can experiment with a variety of digital effects. The present section provides a brief overview of how to use the camera in automatic mode.
Note: To save battery power, the camera will automatically turn the color LCD monitor off if no operations are performed for thirty seconds (three minutes when menus are displayed). Press the MONITOR button to turn the monitor back on (if the monitor has not been turned off manually, the monitor will come on when the shutter button is half pressed).
Step 4—Ready the camera The COOLPIX 900’s color LCD monitor is joined to the lens by a rotating hinge, allowing the user to hold the camera at almost any angle while making photographs. When framing photographs in the monitor, the camera can be held as shown below. Framing photographs in the color monitor Self-portrait mode Note: When the lens is rotated to point at the user, the monitor will show a mirror image of the view through the lens and camera settings will be hidden.
Step 5—Compose a photograph Frame your subject in the viewfinder or the color LCD monitor. Press the zoom-in switch (T/▲) to magnify the subject so that only a portion of it fills the frame, or use the zoom-out switch (W/▼) to expand the field-ofview so that more of the subject is visible. While the zoom switch is pressed, an indicator showing the amount of zoom is displayed in the color LCD monitor. Zoom indicator Note: Wait a moment for the camera to focus after zooming in or out.
Step 6—Half-press the shutter-release button When the shutter-release button is pressed halfway, the camera will determine the the distance to the subject. Once an the focus operation is complete, the green autofocus lamp next to the viewfinder will glow steadily. These settings will remain unchanged as long as the shutter button is half-pressed, even if the distance to the subject should change (this is known as “focus lock”). The zoom ratio cannot be changed while focus lock is in effect.
Step 7—Take a photograph To take a photograph, press the shutter-release button all the way down. The autofocus lamp will flash rapidly and an hourglass icon ( ) will be displayed in the color LCD monitor while the photograph is being recorded to the compact flash memory card. Once the process of recording the photograph to memory is complete, the exposure count in the control panel and color LCD monitor will go down by one.
Step 8—Play the photograph back To play a photograph back, turn the selector dial to PLAY. An hourglass icon ( ) will be displayed in the color LCD monitor while the camera reads a photograph from memory. The most recently recorded photograph will then appear, together with information on the date of recording, the image quality setting, and the photograph’s filename and position in memory.
Step 9—Turn the camera off When you have finished using the camera, be sure to turn the selector dial to OFF. The camera is off when the control panel display is blank; if the monitor is off but the control panel is on, the camera has not been turned off. Check that the camera is off before putting it away.
Nikon View 900 This chapter describes how to connect your COOLPIX 900 to a Macintosh or IBM PC/AT compatible computer and install the Nikon View 900 software that allows you to browse the contents of the camera’s memory from a computer. It also explains how to install the Adobe Acrobat Reader software you will need to view the reference manuals provided on CD-ROM. For details on using Nikon View, see the reference manual for your platform.
Attach the other end of the cable to the computer’s serial port (IBM compatibles) or printer or modem port (Macintosh). QUAL ITY M REC IBM compatible OFF PLAY DIG ITA L AL DIGT Macintosh Note: When connecting the COOLPIX 900 to a computer, use only the cables provided with the camera. Once you have connected your camera to the computer’s serial port, turn the camera’s selector dial to M-REC, A-REC, or PLAY.
Once the camera has been connected to your computer, you can use Nikon View to browse the contents of the camera’s memory or to copy items from the camera to disk. Note: When unplugging the cable from the camera, pull the cable from the camera while pushing the cable’s release button (located on the underside of the connector). Unplug the cable by the connector, not by pulling directly on the cable itself. ✔Caution: Do not use the camera with a computer when battery power is low or critical.
Software Installation This section describes how to install the Nikon View 900 software provided with your camera. For reasons of space, detailed installation instructions are not provided in this user’s guide. Details may be found in the reference guides provided separately on CD-ROM. Users who would like to review installation procedures should refer to these reference manuals, which can be read using the Adobe Acrobat software provided on the reference CD-ROM.
Step 2—Install Adobe Acrobat Reader To install Adobe Acrobat Reader, follow the installation instructions for your platform given below. Windows Turn on your computer and place the reference CD in the drive. Double-click the My Computer icon and then double-click the Nikon CD icon. Open the folder for the language of your choice (the reference CD for cameras sold in the U.S.A. contains an English folder only) and then double-click setup.exe to start the installer.
Once you have installed Adobe Acrobat Reader, you are ready to read the on-line documentation for the COOLPIX 900. To view the on-line reference manuals, double-click the INDEX.pdf icon in the root directory of the reference CD (see above). Before proceeding to the next step, you may wish to read Before You Begin in the Nikon View 900 Reference Manual for your platform. After reviewing the reference manuals, proceed to Step 3.
Macintosh Place the Nikon View CD in the CD-ROM drive. The folder shown below will open on the desktop . Double-click the installer for the desired language (DE for German, EN for English, ES for Spanish, or FR for French; the U.S. version of the CD contains an English installer only) and follow the instructions on the screen to complete installation. See the Nikon View 900 for Macintosh Reference Manual for details.
EC DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY We Name: Address: declare that the product Product Name: Manufacturer’s Name: Manufacturer’s Address: Nikon Europe BV Schipholweg 321, 1171 PL Badhoevedorp, The Netherlands Nikon Digital Camera E900 (PAL), AC Adapter EH-30 Nikon Corporation Fuji Bldg.
ERKLÄRUNG ÜBER EG-NORMENGERECHTHEIT Wir Name: Nikon Europe BV Schipholweg 321, 1171 PL Badhoevedorp, The Netherlands Anschrift: erklären hiermit, daß das folgende Produkt Produktbezeichnung: Nikon Digital Camera E900 (PAL), AC Adapter EH-30 Name des Herstellers: Nikon Corporation Fuji Bldg.
