Nikon Coolpix S9 Review

The Nikon Coolpix S9 is a fairly typical pocket sized digital camera. It has six megapixels and a three times digital zoom. The lens is internal and does not protrude from the camera when you zoom in on a subject. In terms of features the Coolpix S9 is a straightforward, point and shoot camera. It is likely to appeal to someone who is looking for a no fuss digital camera that will slip easily into a pocket.

Overall my test shots produced a fairly standard set of results. Images were sharp without being crystal clear and colours were strong. Despite this the results achieved by the Coolpix S9 does not match up to other digital cameras with a similar specification.

My observations on the outdoor scenic photos are as follows. In each of the three photos focusing does fall away to a degree as you move away from the centre of the photo. Detail is lost in the lighter areas of the photos. For example this can be seen in the wooden beams under the roof of the building and also in the boats themselves in the first photo. This can be excused to a degree by the angle of the sun at this time of the year, but other cameras have managed to cope with this problem better than the Coolpix S9 does.

By way of contrast the camera does handle darker areas of each shot well and this means it is able to bring out detail in areas of foliage. There is a very small amount of darkening in the corners of the second outdoor photo. This happens when the zoom lens is not in use at all.

In the third outdoor shot the photo is enveloped in quite a pleasant warm glow that suggests the photo was taken towards the end of the day. In fact this photo was taken in the middle of the afternoon. The Coolpix S9 is not the only camera I am currently testing that this has happened to, but it does suggest the camera will start to struggle as the light gets low.

The dedicated test for colours works well. It emphasises the fact the colours are strong, but no single colour really dominates.

Next are the portrait shots. These give mixed results. The outdoor portrait shot is my favourite out of the test photos I have taken with the Coolpix S9. It copes very well with light falling on the face and manages to retain more detail than a lot of the cameras I have tested recently are able to. Again this highlights the balance of the colours. Skin tones look natural and the portrait has a warm glow while retaining a natural feel.

Moving indoors the portrait shot is not one of the best. In fact compared to many digital cameras the camera struggles in these conditions. The picture is out of focus. The Coolpix S9 has also attempted to remove red eye automatically. In my view it has made a mess of it and has placed strange looking black circles over the pupils.

The other indoor shot is much better. I put this down to the fact the camera is placed nearer to the subject and is able to focus more easily. Although this shot succeeds I would not be confident of the camera in all lowlight situations. As an extra test for this camera I took a number of shots indoors under artificial light. For these shots I handheld the camera. I was surprised by the amount of blur showing in a lot of the photos.

For close up work the camera produced a very good macro shot. The main point that attracts me to this photo is the level of brightness. On top of this the photo is also sharply focused.

My final test is where the camera uses a higher ISO setting. With ISO sensitivity set to ISO 400 the camera produces a seriously below par result. This underlines my concerns about the Coolpix S9 in lowlight conditions.

I was able to take a single shot in 0.52 seconds and five shots in 20.54 seconds. Both of these times are slow, especially the time taken for five shots.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

The 3x optical zoom lens has a focal length of 38 - 114mm in 35mm format. The aperture of the lens works in the range f/3.5 to f/4.3. 4x digital zoom is also available. For macro work the Coolpix S9 can focus from 4cm away from the subject.

One feature that is very rare is the one touch portrait button. By pressing the button the camera realises you are taking a portrait shot. This also activates the automatic red eye fix. This sounds good, but in my indoor portrait test the red eye fix produced a very unnatural looking result.

For composing images there is a 2.5" LCD screen. This is made up of around 153,000 pixels. There is no room for a viewfinder.

To help you take the best possible photos there are a series of scene modes you can use. By selecting a scene mode you indicate to the camera the type of photo you are about to take. It can then use what it considers to be the optimum settings. The available scene modes are: Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night Portrait, Party/Indoor, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Dusk/Dawn, Night Landscape, Close up, Museum, Fireworks show, Copy, Back light and Panorama assist.

To add a different feel to your photos there are a few colour options available. These are vivid, black and white, sepia and cyanotype.

Other features you have access to include white balance (auto, custom, daylight, incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy and flash) and exposure compensation (+/- 2 in 0.3 increments) and ISO sensitivity (auto, 64, 100, 200 and 400).

There is a best shot selector. This works when you take up to ten photos. The camera will then select what it considers to be the best shot. This is based on the exposure and level of blur.

A number of continuous shooting options are available to you. The first is a standard type. This allows you to take up to five shots at a maximum rate of 1.7 frames per second. The next puts 16 photos into a single image. This is displayed in a 4 x 4 grid. Finally there is an interval timer. This is allows you to specify a time delay. The camera will then take a single shot at the end of the delay period. The delay can be set between 30 seconds and ten minutes.

After a photo has been taken you can make a smaller copy of it and also add a short commentary to the picture. Another rare feature is D lighting. This one can be very useful. It allows you to lighten a picture after it has been taken. This can help to save underexposed photos.

The built in flash unit works in a range up to 3.2m. This falls to 2.6m when the zoom lens is in use. The flash modes are: Auto, Auto with Red-eye Reduction (In-Camera Red-Eye Fix), Flash cancel, Anytime flash and Slow sync.

For when you would like to appear in a photo there is a self timer. This can be set to a two or ten second delay.

Movies can be recorded at a top speed of 30 frames per second and at a maximum resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. Sound can be recorded with a movie and you can zoom in and out while recording a movie.

Nikon supplies all the necessary cables and software to connect the Coolpix S9 to a computer, PictBridge compatible printer and a television set.

Overall the Coolpix S9 scores highly for ease of use. To be honest the camera is not overloaded with features and this helps to keep it simple. Help text is available for when you are working with different menu items. This helps you to understand what you can gain from using each of the options. Buttons on the back and top of the camera are kept to a minimum, so it should not take you long to find your way around.

I found the zoom control on the top of the camera to be small and quite fiddly to use.

You can pick up a Nikon Coolpix S9 for around £165. This compares to around £155 for a Canon IXUS 60, £205 for a Sony DSC T9 and £190 for a Casio Exilim EX-Z600.

At these prices I think the Canon IXUS 60 offers much better value than the Coolpix S9.

Weighing 115g and having dimensions of 90.5 x 58 x 20.4mm the Coolpix S9 certainly has no problem fitting into a pocket. With the lens positioned in the top right hand corner and with very little else on the front of the camera the Coolpix S9 certainly has quite a clean look. The front of the camera is not completely flat. This stops it from looking overly plain.

A rechargeable lithium ion battery (EN-EL8) is used to provide power to the camera. Nikon estimates the Coolpix S9 should be able to take around 190 shots before the battery needs to be recharged. Both a battery and charger are supplied with the camera as standard.

Although the camera is compatible with SD cards there are 24mb of storage built into the camera. Therefore a memory card is not supplied as standard. I was able to take 18 shots before the memory was full.

Click here to save money on SD cards..

Help text

Design causes problem with finger over lens
Picture quality is average
Shutter lag
Short flash range

As you can see from the points I like and points I am not so happy about I am struggling to come up with reasons to buy the Nikon Coolpix S9. It is one of those digital cameras that looks good, but in my opinion does not really hit the mark.

Nikon Coolpix S9 Front View

Nikon Coolpix S9 Back View

Nikon Coolpix S9 Top View

Sample Menus

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Nikon Coolpix S9