Nikon Coolpix S3 Review

The Nikon Coolpix S3 is a six megapixel digital camera with a three times optical zoom lens. It is an ultra compact digital camera the type that will fit into a small pocket. As is typical of this type of digital camera the Coolpix S3 is easy to use and can be used as a simple point and shoot model. Therefore it is likely to appeal to anyone who is looking for a camera that is easy to carry around, is easy to use and can be taken more or less anywhere.

In my tests I would say the Coolpix S3 produced a fairly standard set of pictures for this type of camera. The outdoor scenic type photos were the best with lively colours and the images were sharply focused. Indoors the camera worked fairly well but I have produced better results with other slimline digital cameras.

Starting with the scenic shots the camera handled contrast between light and dark areas well although I felt it could have done better with reflective surfaces. For example the bright shiny side of the boats tend to lose a level of detail. Otherwise I think the outdoor photos show that this camera should produce quite acceptable landscapes style pictures.

Although I like the colours produced by the outdoor portrait I feel that the photo itself could be a degree or two sharper. In this shot I have used the flash unit to give the picture a little more warmth. It is good to see that the camera has managed to adjust the flash accordingly and not produced an overexposed or too bright image.

Taking a look at the colour test this camera produced a result just about identical to those produced by other Nikon digital cameras. The colours are not as vivid as those produced by Canon and Sony digital cameras but you may feel that they have a slightly more natural feel to them.

Moving indoors the shot taken of bottles in more or less complete darkness is a very good attempt by the camera. Despite the conditions the picture is sharply focused and very well lit. A good attempt is made at the indoor portrait as well, but the shot falls somne way short of perfection. As with the outdoor portrait I would have like to have seen a sharper image. On a positive note there is no red eye that I can see in the picture.

The macro shot is bright and clear but not quite as good as some of the close-up shots I have managed to produce recently.

I managed to take a single shot in 0.45 seconds. This is a slightly slow time. It took 13.08 seconds to take five consecutive shots. This works out at a rate of one photo every 2.61 seconds. These times are noticeably slower than those recorded by ultra compact digital cameras from Casio, Sony and Pentax.

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 equivalent to 35 - 105mm in 35mm format. The lens is the non protruding type. The aperture ranges from f3 to f5.4. There is also a 4x digital zoom feature. For close up work the camera can focus from 4cms away.

For composing photos there is a 2.5 inch LCD screen. This is made up around 110,000 pixels. There is a brightness control to help in low light and bright conditions. There is no viewfinder.

To help take the best possible shot in different settings there are a wide range of scene modes. All you need to do is select the most appropriate mode and the camera will then use the optimum settings. The scene modes available are Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night portrait), Scene (Party/Indoor, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Dusk/Dawn, Night landscape, Close up, Museum, Fireworks show, Copy, Back light and Underwater. A number of the scene modes provide further help. For example in portrait mode there are extra settings for someone standing left of centre and for a couple. There is also a Panorama assist mode.

The built in flash unit has a maximum range of 2.5m. This drops down to around 1.4m when the zoom lens is in use. This is a very limited flash range. Flash modes are Auto, Red-eye Reduction Auto (In-Camera Red-Eye Fix), Anytime Flash, Flash Cancel and Slow sync.

For when you would like to appear in the photo there is a ten second self timer. Different colour effects can be added to a photo. The effects you can choose from are black and white, sepia, vivid and cyanotype.

If you have taken a photo that turns out darker than you would like there is a facility called D lighting. This allows you to brighten a photo already taken in the camera. I must admit when I tested this it led to over bright photos and also a loss of quality in the shot.

Movies can be captured at a maximum resolution of 640 x 480. The maximum speed of each movie is 15 frames per second. Sound can be recorded with the movies. The duration is only limited by the space available on the memory card.

The camera can also be used as a voice recoreder.

Shutter speeds range from 2-1/350 seconds. There are white balance controls for daylight, incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy, flash and a custom setting, exposure compensation between +2 and -2, a best shot selector and sensitivity of automatic, 50, 100, 200 and 400.

Other advanced features include a continuous shooting mode that can take shots at a rate of 1.8 frames per second. You can also use a multi shot setting that allows you to takes 16 shots and creates a single photo from them. There is also a time lapse movie. This allows you to set a delay time and a picture is then taken accordingly. This is often used for taking a sequence of shots of a flower opening or clouds passing across the sky.

This camera can be used underwater by buying a waterproof case. The case is named WP-CP5.

Nikon supplies all the necessary cables and software to connect the Coolpix S3 to a computer, PictBridge computer and a television set.

One great feature of the Coolpix S3 is its help button. The help button explains to you what each of the menu items do. This ensures you select the correct option. It is also a great way to learn about the camera's capabilities. You can also choose between a text or icon based menu.

Even without the help button the Coolpix S3 would be an easy-to-use camera. The menus are well defined and easy to understand. You will find all the main control buttons situated on the back of the camera. There are buttons for zooming in and out, setting the self timer, changing the flash mode, reviewing images, deleting images, selecting scene modes and movie mode. All in all this was a pretty straightforward digital camera.

You can pick up a Nikon Coolpix S3 for around £225. This compares to around £225 for a Pentax Optio S6, £225 for a Sony DSC T5 and £215 for a Canon IXUS 55.

As you can see there is more or less nothing to choose on terms of price between these ultra compact digital cameras. It is worth noting that only the Optio S6 and the Coolpix S3 are six megapixel models. The other two only have five.

The Coolpix S3 is a typical ultra compact digital camera. It is slim rectangular shape. The front of this camera is very plain though compared to other models. You can select either a silver, white or black model. It has dimensions of 89.9 x 57.5 x 19.7mm and weighs in at 118g.

Power is supplied by a rechargeable lithium ion battery. Both the battery and a cradle for charging are supplied with the camera. Nikon estimates the Coolpix S3 can take around 190 photos before the battery needs to be recharged.

Images are stored on SD cards. A card is not supplied with the camera as there are 12mb of storage built into the camera itself. I was able to take 15 shots before the memory was full. This was using the camera's standard settings. It is therefore well worth considering buying a high capacity memory card to go with the Coolpix S3. Click here to save money on SD cards..

Menu help available
General ease of use

Some images could be sharper
Small flash range

I am finding the Nikon Coolpix S3 very hard to sum up. In fact it is difficult to come up with reasons why you should buy it and reasons why you should not buy it. Nothing really grabbed me about this camera that says buy me, but then again nothing really put me off either. One selling point is that it is one of the very few six megapixel ultra compact models around.

Nikon Coolpix S3 Front View

Nikon Coolpix S3 Back View

Nikon Coolpix S3 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 S3