Recently, there have been articles about the resurgence of point-and-shoot cameras that were popular in the early 2000s before smartphone cameras displaced them. Reasons for this renewed popularity include producing photos smartphones cannot replicate, younger people turning away from overprocessed photos today’s smartphones produce, and a backlash against the impact Artificial Intelligence is having in photography.
Nikon Coolpix S9900 36mm, f/8, 1/200 sec, ISO 125
New fans of point-and-shoot cameras have found they are great for walking around, shooting street photography, or traveling. Many point-and-shoot cameras can only take JPEG images, but a few higher-end ones can shoot RAW. The lower-megapixel images produced cannot match photos shot with phone cameras, which is the appeal of point-and-shoot cameras. Today’s point-and-shoot photographers value the experience over the phone’s photo quality. Photos from older point-and-shoot cameras are not overprocessed like photos from phones. Also, using point-and-shoot cameras makes their users think about their compositions because these cameras don’t have the storage capacity of today’s phones. My current iPhone 16 Pro has one terabyte of storage, while the SD card in my point-and-shoot camera has only eight.
Nikon Coolpix S9900 164mm, f/7.6, 1/40 sec, ISO 125
Nikon Coolpix S9900 193mm, f/8, 1/80 sec, ISO 125
Very few point-and-shoot cameras are manufactured today, so the best places to purchase one are secondhand photography sites, such as KEH or MPB, or some local camera stores that may have used cameras. Due to the low supply and increased demand for point-and-shoot cameras, prices are rising. Fortunately, I didn’t have that problem.
Nikon Coolpix S9900 43mm, f/5.3, 1/125 sec, ISO 125
The point-and-shoot camera that occupied a space in my closet was a Nikon Coolpix S9900. Introduced in February 2015, this point-and-shoot camera proudly claimed a Nikkor 30x wide optical zoom full high definition with vibration reduction capabilities printed on the camera for customers eyeing it at the store. The official stats state the Nikon Coolpix S9900 is a 16-megapixel camera with a 1/2.3 inch CMOS sensor that produces JPEG images at an ISO range from 100-6400 and shutter speeds ranging from eight seconds to 1/4000 sec. The focal length of the Nikkor lens ranged from 25mm to 750mm with a maximum aperture range from f/3.7-6.4. The autofocus capabilities include contrast detect, multi-area, center, selective single-point, tracking, single, continuous, face detection, and live view. The image stabilization is optical. Subjects are sighted through a three-inch fully articulated screen. The Nikon Coolpix S9900 has video capabilities with 1080p resolution, not that I would use it anymore since I currently have video cameras that can shoot up to 8K.
Nikon Coolpix S9900 84mm, f/5, 1/15 sec, ISO 400
When it came out, the Nikon Coolpix S9900 had impressive photo and video capabilities for a point-and-shoot camera, and it still produces excellent images today. All I had to do was order a replacement for the lost battery charger for $16.13 on Amazon. The original EN-EL 19 lithium-ion battery was charged with no problem and worked as if it were still new. I now carry the point-and-shoot camera on daytime walks around the neighborhood and other places I don’t want to bring my Canon R6 Mark II camera and heavy RF-L lenses. The Nikon Coolpix S9900 has made me a better photographer because it trains me to look for photo compositions when I thought there would be none. The camera’s small size allows me to shoot street photography, whereas my mirrorless camera can intimidate many potential subjects. Resurrecting my Nikon Coolpix S9900 has reintroduced me to a whole new world of photography and is making me a better photographer.
Nikon Coolpix S9900 84mm, f/5, 1/13 sec, ISO 400
All photos were shot using a Nikon Coolpix S9900 and edited using Lightroom. Artificial intelligence was used in editing the text for clarity of this blog post but the content was written by me.
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