I've had the camera only for a week so these comments are based on that short evaluation and many are with reference to my Nikon 900.
It turns on fast. I pulled the 900 out to do some comparisons and was going nuts on how slow it was to turn on and change modes...thought there was something wrong with it!
It feels more substantial in the hand...more comfortable...ergonomic, even.
The wait between shots is not too bad. But I'd love to be able to use the buffer other than in "Best Shot" and "Continuous" modes.
Even though it is shorter it is less pocketable. It is more "lumpy", thicker and taller.
The autofocus is a bit quirky. It can often focus fine in continuous mode, but then when you press the shutter down it loses focus. It appears to be a little weaker at focusing in dim light than my 900 (but just a little...this will take more evaluation.)
I tried to take a macro of my eye in a room with only evening light coming through the window. The 950 failed everytime. The 900 took the shot everytime. It seems like when the 900 is having trouble it takes a "best guess" but the 950 seems to go to a set point. This is particularly frustrating in macro mode because the set point doesn't even appear to be in the macro range.
Given enough light, its macro capabilities are amazing. You can really get close with this camera.
I actually like the rubber doors for the video and serial ports. Much less likely to get broken. The CF door is another story. I'm worried that the friction fitting will wear out and the door will flap open all the time (I've already found it sprung open several times.) Living hinges on plastic parts also make me nervous.
It is supposed to be lighter but its so close that it is hard to notice the difference.
The raised ridge on the on/off switch is much better located. Parallel to the camera body it is less likely to be bumped on when sliding it into a case or pocket. I can't count the number of times I'd accidently turned the 900 on when stowing it away.
The camera strap is wider which translates to more comfort but still a bit short for around the neck and under the arm carrying.
Still no timer in macro mode...seems like a big miss by Nikon. The whole camera seems more durable than the 900 (maybe I'm just imagining it because I know that it is magnesium.)
Peoples faces have warmer colors (for lack of a better discription.)
Worked fine with my 32Mb TDK cards. Used them straight from box...didn't format them.
It automatically zooms to 90mm or so when turned off...stays there when turned on. The 900 returned to a more normal 50mm focal length.
The zoom view mode is nice, but not nearly as nice as the one on the Fuji's. Even with the zoom it is impossible to judge whether a photo is in sharp focus unless it is grossly out of focus.
I haven't been able to figure out how to implement fill flash. I took some outdoor shots in bright light and turned the flash on to reduce shadow harshness. The shots were totally burnt out. It was as if it was only metering to one of the light sources. On the the other hand, the shots without fill flash turned out pretty well. The Nikon reached into the shadows fairly well. The white balance fails when you mix sunlight with flash light. I took some shots near an open window that required flash assistance. The shots had a yellow hue to them (using full auto mode.)
The forced flash doesn't appear to squelch properly. All my shots using it end up overexposed badly. The manual focus is finicky to use and isn't accurate over the focal range to boot. I did and experiment with it set to .1 meter. At wide angle it focused at 9 inches. At full zoom it focused at 3.5 inches.
It suffers a little from barrel distortion at full wide angle. Its a little worse than my 900 but better than my Fuji MX-500 in this respect.
I've got some pics posted...more to follow.
Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with this as an upgrade to the 900. It takes some truly stunningly sharp photos with good color balance. There are lots of manual controls for the experimenters and the fully auto mode handles most conditions well.
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