Nikon Coolpix S710 Review

The Nikon Coolpix S710 is a 14.5 megapixel digital camera. It has a 3.6x wide angle lens. One advantage it has over other smaller compacts is the fact it also has manual exposure modes. Other features include image stabilisation and a 3 inch LCD screen.

The main attractions are impressive picture quality and the manual exposure controls.

Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
In the past I have been quite critical of the quality of photos taken with smaller Nikon digital cameras. A lot of the problems I have had have been down to the sharpness of the scenic photos. The Coolpix S710 starts off by clearly outperforming all the previous smaller Nikon compacts I have tested. This shot has surprised me with the levels of sharpness and definition. Sun glare is also handled well.

Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
I have lost count of the number of times I have written that a digital camera with a wide angle lens has struggled for sharpness when the lens is zoomed all the way out. Therefore it makes a pleasant change to write that the Coolpix S710 handles this photo impressively. When it comes to sharpness this photo is right up there with the best I have taken. The camera also manages to produce vivid colours too.

Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
This is another good effort. Sharpness is impressive again. I also like the amount of colour the Coolpix S710 manages to pack into the picture.

Outdoor 4 (Building)
My final more distant outdoor shot confirms my earlier findings. I would give this camera 9 out of 10 for focusing. This places it above the majority of cameras I have tested.

Outdoor Portrait
This photo was taken on a very cold day. Many digital cameras find it difficult to produce a warm feel to a portrait in these conditions. In this instance the Coolpix S710 has coped very well with the conditions and has managed to add a degree of warmth that makes all the difference to the photo.

Indoor Portrait with Flash
Perhaps this photo could be a touch brighter. Other than that the shot works well. Focusing is good and the skin tones look natural.

Indoor Portrait without Flash
I like this photo. There is less noise and more definition showing in the shot than I am used to seeing.

Colours
Taking all the different camera brands into account Nikon is my favourite when it comes to colour. Their cameras are capable of producing vivid colours when necessary, as well as giving a more natural feel when required. The contrast between colours is excellent.

Macro
The one feature this camera lacks is a macro mode that can get you right in close. You can only focus from 10cm away from the subject. Although the quality of the shot is very good indeed the distance is limiting. My test shot has been cropped for display.

ISO 400 and ISO 1600
At ISO 400 the Coolpix S710 works as well as any similar model. By the time you reach ISO 1600 noise levels are spectacular and picture quality is really suffering.

Overall
Picture quality is up there with the best smaller digital cameras. Aside from the macro mode I am very impressed with the quality of the photos it is able to take.

The time taken for a single photo was 0.36 seconds. This is about standard. Taking five photos really slowed the camera down. This took 22.98 seconds. A single shot with flash timed 0.43 seconds. Strangely using flash increased the speed of the camera when reeling off five shots. This took 17.56 seconds.

To turn the camera on and take a photo took 4.88 seconds. This is slow. Turning the camera on seemed to be very quick, but then it appeared to take a long time to finish readying itself to take the shot. This left me wondering if it was my test set up that was causing a problem, but I set up a completely different test and produced a similar result.

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

The Coolpix S710 has rounded edges to take away any harshness from its rectangular shape. It feels good in the hand, giving the impression of a good build quality. The camera is available in graphite, deep red and silver.

92.5 x 57.5 x 24mm.

155g

Lithium ion (EN-EL12). A battery and charger are supplied as standard. Nikon estimates you should be able to take around 250 shots in between charges.

Nikon has built 42mb of memory into the Coolpix S710. That is enough for around 13 shots. It is also compatible with SD and SDHC cards.

Click here to save money on SD cards..

Good. Compared with other smaller cameras there are a few extra features for you to get to know. There is nothing to stop you from using this camera in fully automatic mode, but to get the most out of it you will need to spend a bit of time mastering its more advanced features. Help text is available for most of the settings to make operation that bit more straightforward.

Picture quality - build quality - help text

Macro mode - turn on time

A similar digital camera with very good picture quality is the Panasonic DMC FX500.

I really like the Nikon Coolpix S710. It takes excellent pictures that are sharp and full of colour. The fact that it also offers some manual exposure controls is another plus point. So if you are in the market for a smaller camera with one or two useful, extra features then this camera is well worth looking at.

Front View

Back View

Top View

Sample Menu

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 S710