The Nikon Coolpix S4 is a six megapixel digital camera with a 10x optical zoom lens. The feature that makes the Coolpix S4 different to almost all other digital cameras is its twisting lens. The lens can be swiveled 270 degrees. This helps you to take pictures at difficult angles. It also means the LCD screen can be moved away from bright sunlight. Otherwise the camera is a fairly standard point and shoot model. It is straightforward and is likely to appeal to someone who is looking for a camera with a long zoom lens that also offers point and shoot simplicity.
Image Quality
The set of photos I took with the Coolpix S4 were a shade disappointing. I have certainly produced many sharper images and there was also a tendency for the photos to become softer towards the edges. Cameras with this length of lens almost always suffer from purple fringing. This is where a purple line is added along the sides of light coloured objects. With the Coolpix S4 this problem appears to be more pronounced than it is on many of its competitors.
The best test shot is the outdoor portrait. The trouble is most digital cameras are able to make a decent fist of this type of photo. Nevertheless I like the warm feel to the colours and the natural skin tones. The other portrait test shot is taken indoors and is disappointing with the camera being unable to produce a sharp photo. Although there is no evidence of red eye in the photo the fact that the picture is poorly focused is a big disappointment.
The other indoor test shot is taken in more or less complete darkness. This is a picture of some beer bottles. With the camera placed closer to the subject than it is in the indoor portrait the auto focus illuminator is able to help the camera focus properly this time around. This leads to a much better photograph.
Both the test for colour and close up photography produce pleasing results. The Coolpix S4 is able to produce colours with plenty of depth. I especially like the deep blues, but no one colour dominates. This is another plus point. The macro shot is clear and sharply focused.
Looking through the outdoor scenic shots I feel they are let down by the problems mentioned above. Each photo is less than pin sharp and purple fringing is a big issue when you start to push the zoom lens towards its full capacity. A further problem appears in the skies where the pictures suffer from a degree of pixilation. This leads to some jagged areas appearing instead of a smooth section of sky.
My final test is for noise at higher ISO levels. Higher ISO levels are often used in lowlight or to freeze motion. Using higher ISO settings usually means a decrease in overall picture quality. This loss of quality is commonly referred to as noise. For this test the Coolpix S4 achieved an average result. If you use ISO 400 you will see a clear decrease in picture quality.
Shutter Lag and Recycling Times
I managed to take a single shot in 0.37 seconds. This is a slightly slow time. It took 9.77 seconds to take five consecutive shots. This works out at a rate of one photo every 1.95 seconds. This time is fairly fast time.
You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.
Features
The 10x optical zoom lens has a focal lengths equivalent to 38 - 380mm in 35mm format. There is also a 4x digital zoom feature. For close up photography there is a macro mode that allows the camera to focus from 6cms away from the subject.
For composing shots, reviewing images and accessing the menu system there is a 2.5" LCD screen. This is made up of around 110,000 pixels. The brightness of the LCD screen can be adjusted. This is a help on bright days and in lowlight situations. There is no viewfinder.
As well as being able to use the camera in fully automatic mode there are a range of pre programmed scene modes you can take advantage of. These help the camera to select the optimum settings for different types of photograph and in different conditions. All you need to do is select the most appropriate scene. The scenes you can use are portrait, landscape, sports, night portrait, party/indoor, beach/snow, sunset, dusk/dawn, night landscape, close up, museum, fireworks, backlight and copy. There is also a panorama assist feature. This helps you to line up panoramic photos.
Short movies with sound can be recorded. The maximum resolution is 640x480. The maximum speed is 15 frames per second. This is just below TV quality. You can zoom in and out while recording a movie.
The built in flash unit has a maximum range of 3m. The flash modes you can use are Auto, Auto with Red-eye Reduction (In-Camera Red-Eye Fix); Anytime Flash, Flash Cancel and Slow sync.
Shutter speeds range between 2 and 1/1000 seconds. There are five aperture settings f/3.5, f/4.0, f/6.8/ and f/13.6. The camera selects both the shutter speed and aperture automatically.
Other features available are ISO settings of auto, 50, 100, 200 and 400, colour modes (black and white, sepia, vivid and cyanotype), exposure compensation and white balance (custom, daylight, incandescent, florescent, cloudy and flash).
There is a best shot selector. By keeping the shutter button pressed down you can fire off up to ten shots. The camera will then select the picture it thinks is the best one. There is a multi shot facility too. With this the camera captures 16 shots and creates a single photo from them. There is also a continuous shooting mode where the camera keeps snapping away until the memory card is full. I found this mode reeled off about 15 photos very quickly and then proceeded at a much more leisurely pace. In addition to this you can also record time lapse movies. This is where you set a delay time and the camera takes a picture every time the delay time is reached. This technique is often used to plot clouds moving across the sky or a flower opening. The delay time can be set between 30 seconds and one hour.
For when you would like to appear in the picture there is a self timer. The delay time for the self timer is ten seconds. You can also use the camera as a straightforward voice recorder, although I could not find a feature that allowed me to add a voice memo to a photo I had already taken.
After a picture has been taken you can use a feature called D-Lighting to brighten the picture. This comes in handy if the picture you have taken is darker than you would like. You can also make smaller copies of photos you have taken.
Nikon supplies all the necessary cables and software to connect the Coolpix S4 to a computer, PictBridge computer and a television set.
Ease of Use
The Coolpix S4 has no real problems with ease of use. It is not overburdened with features and you should soon find yourself up and running with it. One very useful feature is the help text available for each menu item. You can also display the menu as text or icons, whichever you feel more comfortable with.
One feature that did irritate me is that a lot of menu options are selected by using a very small joystick on the back of the camera. I found this a bit fiddly and on a number of occasions I found I had selected the wrong option. This is a handicap if you are in hurry to set the camera up to take a picture. You do become accustomed to this after a while.
Cost
You can pick up a Nikon Coolpix S4 for around £235. This compares to around £00 for a Fuji Finepix S5600, £250 for a Sony DSC H1 and £225 for an Olympus SP-500.
In my view unless you are particularly taken with the swivel lens other cameras with a similar length lens and more features offer better value for money.
Style
With its swivel lens this camera is a little different to many others. It is quite large compared to many compact digital cameras. Its dimensions are 111.5 x 68.5 x 37mm. One question I asked myself was whether the swivel lens makes it harder to get a good grip of the camera when taking a picture. In my view it does make it harder.
The camera weighs in at 205g.
Batteries and Memory Card
Power is supplied by two AA batteries. Nikon estimates the Coolpix S4 should be able to take around 160 shots with standard AA batteries before they need to be replaced. Picking up a set of rechargeable batteries will help keep the costs down and also allow you more shots before the batteries need to be recharged.
The camera has 13.5mb of memory built in. Therefore no memory card is supplied. I was able to take 13 shots before the card was full. With internal memory soon filling up it is wise to invest in a high capacity memory card to go with the camera. It is compatible with SD cards.
Click here to save money on SD cards..
Points I like:
Novel swivel lens
Help text for menu
Where it is not so hot:
Picture quality only average
Summary
The Nikon Coolpix S4 is not a digital camera I would rush out and buy. Although the swivel lens is likely to get you out of a tight spot now and then it certainly adds a premium to the price. There are many other digital cameras out there with a long lens offering better picture quality, more features and greater value for money.
Nikon Coolpix S4 Front View
Nikon Coolpix S4 Back View
Nikon Coolpix S4 Top View
Sample Menus
| Nikon Coolpix S4 Summary |
| Description: | 6 megapixels with a 10x optical zoom lens |
| Ease of Use: | 8 |
| Features: | 7 |
| Colour: | 8 |
| Macro: | 8 |
| Indoors: | 7 |
| Value for Money: | 6 |
| Style: | 7 |
| Movie Mode: | 7 |
| Image Quality: | 6 |
| Build Quality: | 7 |
| Total: | 71 |
| Verdict: | With a swivel lens the Nikon Coolpix S4 offers something different to the majority of digital cameras. I must admit though unless this type of lens really appeals to you I feel there are many better digital cameras out there with similar features. |
| Review Date: | February 2006 |
| Click for: | Specification Sample Images |
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