A review of the Nikon Coolpix S7 digital camera
Nikon have introduced the Style range of digital cameras that are extremely sleek and ooze stylish charm. They are, the S7, S8, S9 and S10 and with knockout looks and very impressive features, they are not just a pretty face, but highly intelligent too. Surely, these ultra-compacts are the Prom Queens of the digital camera high school Prom! Design |
| The Nikon Coolpix S7 is a very stunning and sleek ultra slim compact digital camera that will appeal to the fashion conscious among us. The front of the matt black camera has a small lens 3x lens in the top right corner with the flash next to it. Apart from the camera name on the front, that’s all, a very minimalist look to it, which adds to the trendy nature of it. On the top there is a very small and fiddly power button, along with the shutter release, zoom rocker and playback button. On the back there is a huge, bright 3” LCD screen which dominates the space with the LCD button, menu button, mode button and delete button with the d-panel below. There is a handy grip panel on the back at the top right corner where your thumb sits and grips the camera. On the left edge there is a curve that juts out from the body to assist in holding as its fits very snug into your left hand. These little extras have been well thought out when the Coolpix S7 was manufactured, as the camera is very slim, so it does need a bit extra in the gripping department. Also available in shiny silver. |
| Features |
| With 7.1 mega pixels, 3x zoom lens, a 3” LCD (230,000 pixels) and an ISO setting of 1600, the Nikon Coolpix S7 sits on the shelf with the other high spec digital cameras out there and will ensure that you receive some superb results. Nikon have also included VR (Vibration Reduction) with the S7 so you can wave goodbye to those blurry shots and say hello to crisp, sharp images that you can be so proud of. The S7c also features the new Coolpix Connect service, which lets you send images straight from your camera to people saved in your in-camera e-mail address list so they can view and download your images. This can be done within seconds of taking a shot and with the in-built wi-fi technology you can transfer images directly to your PC or compatible printer. There is a Pictmotion feature by Muvee which enable your to choose a selection of images to create a slideshow and then you can add a soundtrack to the slideshow with the pre-set music or you can install your own using the SD memory card. Nikon have also included the one-touch portrait button that directs you to Nikon’s Coolpix technologies. The favourite of these being Face Priority AF, which will automatically locate and focus on faces within an image to ensure they are clear and sharp. There is also d-lighting which will correct underexposure and red-eye fix which does exactly that. |
| Performance |
| The performance of the Nikon Coolpix S7 was not the fastest we have seen and although not too bad still took nearly 3 seconds to start-up and shoot and about 2.5 seconds between shots. The shutter lag time was much better at around 0.6 seconds. The battery life was extremely good as we managed to take around 400 shots before it gave up. The image quality produced by the S7 was ok, but digital noise started to creep in when we notched the ISO setting up to 100, which was a bit disappointing. Raising the ISO setting up to 200 and then 400 made matters much worse and images were unusable unless they were kept quite small, where it wasn’t so noticeable. However, colours and details were clear and sharp with great colour reproduction in brighter images. |
| What's In The Box? |
| Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL8, Wrist Strap Cool-Station MV-15 USB Cable AV Cable Instructions Software Warranty card |
| Overall Opinion |
| The Nikon Coolpix S7 has many cool features and is a great competitor in the digital camera market, however, not the best we’ve seen. It's excellent value for money and although it has a lot of high-tech features, it is still very user-friendly. |
| By Hayley Malyon |
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Pros + 7.1 mega pixels + 3” LCD screen + Great features + Ultra-slim body |
Cons - Image noise at ISO 200 |
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Picture Quality 8/10
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Battery Life 9/10
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Setup Simplicity 9/10
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Build Quality 9/10
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Ease of Use 9/10
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Overall Rating 
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18/12/2006
at 4:27:52pm
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