Customer Reviews

Nikon Coolpix S1 5.1 MP Slim-Design Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Includes Dock)

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Nikon is the last of the Japanese digital camera makers to come out with an ultra-slim (<= 0.8 inches thin) digital camera, and Nikon has apparently taken many a page from its competitors' playbooks and come out with a deliciously good camera.

Before I continue with my review, let me point out that there's a jet black version available (unfortunately not on Amazon yet) which simply looks MUCH better than this silver version. (Remeber, black makes everything look thinner and cooler.) If possible, I recommend you get the black S1. You'll surely impress not only your friends but their grandmas, too.

Despite being a small and light -- and pocketable -- camera, the S1 takes surprisingly good pictures. Of course, it's unreasonable to expect the kind of quality you can get on a Nikon D70 SLR or Coolpix 8800 "bridge" camera, because these latter models are bigger and therefore have a larger lens (very important for great optical quality) and a larger sensor (important for better color accuracy and lower noise), but I can say that the S1 has the best picture quality in its class, even bettering the great models from Canon (SD400, SD500, etc.) In normal lighting, S1's pictures are sharp and very accurate in color. This latter is very important for getting eye-pleasing photos. Even indoors, the S1 does a decent job; since the lack of light always makes photography difficult, the S1 is better than most. BTW, when indoors, using a camera's built-in flash always results in harsh-looking pictures where the background is dark and ugly. Instead, try mounting the camera on a tripod -- the S1 has a tripod mount -- and taking a picture without the flash. The picture you get will be much more pleasing to the eye.

In short, the S1 is a trustworthy performer when it comes to picture quality -- once again, with the necessary caveat that you don't compare this with a D70 d-SLR. I've seen thousands and thousands of digital images, on screen and on paper, and I'm pretty impressed with the S1's image quality. I simply don't think you'll find another ultra-slim camera that can take better pictures than this.

Nikon has put in a lot of effort -- and marketing -- in creating in-camera software editing, such as in-camera red-eye reduction and the new D-lighting (which lightens up dark shadows and darkens blown highlights). Both of these can be done during playback, but the red-eye reduction can also take place during shooting: in other words, after a picture is taken, the S1 checks whether there's a red eye problem. If so, it'll automatically fix it (you can set this option).

What really amazes me is Nikon's exclusive "face-priority" autofocus (AF) mode when shooting: it can automatically identify the faces in a picture and focus and expose on the closest or centerist face. This is truly AMAZING and works very well -- provided the lighting is not too shabby, or the facial skin tone not too dark. This works especially well in restaurants. You know the drill: you gather your friends at the dining table for a picture, and lo and behold, all too often the camera focuses on the white table cloth in the foreground or that giant Coors neon sign in the back instead of your faces. Nikon S1's face-priority comes to the rescue. The only caveat is, indoors, it doesn't seem to work as well as outdoors when lighting is aplenty.

I should also mention the wonders of D-lighting, which I believe is also included in some other Coolpix models. The idea is that after a picture is taken, better lighting effect can be achieved by lightening up shadow (dark) areas and darkening highlight (bright) areas through software post-processing, thus resulting in a better balanced picture. This is what pro photographers do in the darkroom (burning and dodging) or in Photoshop. In fact, every pro picture you see has gone through this process, since almost no picture has teh perfect lighting in its raw film. D-lighting basically lets you do this adjustment in-camera. While it works quite well, my own preference is to turn it off and save the lighting adjustment for later in Photoshop, where I can see a big picture (pun intended) and know exactly which areas need to be fixed. Anyway, for casual photography, D-lighting is a wonderful aid in creating eye-pleasing photos.

The S1 does not have an optical viewfinder, so for framing you rely on the 2.5" LCD screen. The screen is bright and covers 97% of the shooting frame, but its 110,000 pixel resolution is only average. This pales in comparison the 230,000 pixel count on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T7's 2.5" LCD. The Sony's LCD is also brighter, but the Nikon S1's is not shabby at all and compares favorably to the LCD on most ultra-compact cameras.

One area in which the S1 does lag market share leaders such as Canon and Casio and Sony is shutter lag. You know, every photographer wants instantaneous picture-taking. The latest models from Canon and Casio are super-fast and have negligible shutter lag, meaning when you press the shutter button, the camera takes the picture in less than half a second -- that includes the time for the camera to focus, take a meter reading and open the shutter. The Nikon S1 has a noticeable shutter lag that will disappoint some buyers. This can be a problem when you demand fast response from the camera, such as when you want to capture those Kodak moments of an energetic baby or child. Many people place a lot of emphasis on shutter lag, so this may be a serious problem for them.

There are, however, two solutions. First, you could press the shutter button half-way and hold it there to pre-focus and pre-expose, and when the moment you want arrives, just press the button further down to release the shutter. I'm not saying this to excuse Nikon for not including better shutter lag performance (esp. given the S1's price point), but in general, it's always a good idea to pre-focus, even with a fast digital SLR such as the Canon Digital Rebel XT or Nikon D70. One benefit from pre-focusing is you minimize the handshake when pressing the shutter button, since your finger travels less than from the "up" position. Second solution is use the S1's nice continuous-focus feature which allows you to focus on a moving subject without pressing the shutter button. This continuous-focus (also known as servo AF) feature always keeps the subject in focus, at the expense of battery life and slightly more wear on the focusing motor in the lens.

Conclusion regarding shutter lag: if you absolutely demand as little shutter lag as you can get on an ultracompact camera, consider the Canon SD400 or the Casio EX-Z55/Z57. The Fuji Z1 is reportedly very fast, too, although I haven't played with it yet. If you don't mind shutter lag or are willing to use one or both of the solutions outlined above, then you'll love S1 for its other great features (excellent image quality, big LCD, easy interface, ultra-cool styling). My advice: if you don't know much about shutter lag and its implications, check out the S1 and other cameras in a store and pay attention to the time between pressing the shutter button and hearing the "click" sound characteristic of shutter release. My OWN personal preference is I always pre-focus (solution #1) when I need to minimize shutter lag, whether I'm using the S1 or my beloved Nikon D70 d-SLR. (Of course, if you really want fast shooting speed, you'll need to shell out some serious money for a d-SLR such as the Nikon D70.)

What else can I say? You get 3x optical zoom (equivalent to 35mm-105mm focal range in 35mm format), a LiIon battery that's about average in performance (the king in this department is the Casio Exilim EX-Z55/Z57 series), and a cradle which you need in order to transfer pictures. (I myself use a USB card reader that takes the SD card.) Speaking of this, the Nikon S1 kit does not come with an SD card, but the camera itself has 12MB of internal memory, which isn't a lot at all.

Supposedly the "S" in S1 stands for style, and Nikon has definitely created a very stylish and very desirable ultra-slim digital camera -- especially in the black-body version. But great looks are not the only thing the new S1 has; its picture quality is simply the best in its increasingly crowded class. Finally, you can impress your friends and speed-dating dates with a camera that not only looks good and goes into your pocket, but flatters your subjects as well.

Finally, some quick advice: 1) be sure to hold the camera very steady when pressing the shutter; fuzzy pictures from handshaking is the #1 complaint with these tiny cameras; 2) don't let your left hand block the lens; 3) protect the huge LCD screen well; 4) there's a new model called "S2" that's coming out which you might want to investigate before deciding (I personally find the S1 much better-looking).

I just got mine on Friday - found one of the few shops around that got one early (the other shop sold all 3 it had in an hour!) - and have been playing with it all weekend. Verdict : Brilliant.

The design is really good - it fits very comfortably in any pocket you have, and despite rumours that the screen would be hard to see in daylight, I haven't had any problems at all with it so far. The start up time is quick enough to whip it out of your pocket and shoot at a party - especially once you disable the intro screen. The zoom works well - and the quality of the photos has been as good as I expected from a Nikon quality camera. The only issue I had was on the very first night I took it out - after downloading the pictures, it seemed every picture had some sort of weird circles on it - after a gentle blow on the lens though, I haven't seen them since - so am guessing it was just some dust on the lens from the factory.

The features are well thought out and easy to use - I was quite impressed by the templates and built in help in scene modes (this is my first Nikon camera by the way) - and the panorama assistant was really well made and easy to use. Also of note, I've found that the flash is incredibly bright and really lit up the dark bar and everyone in the frame - almost too much so.

Make no mistakes though - this camera is not meant for the semi-pro. You won't find all the controls, shutter speed, reliability, etc that you'll find on an SLR. I've read several pre-reviews on this camera that critisize its ability to do complex photography - but at the end of the day - that's not the target consumer for this. It's firmly targetted at the lower end consumer that is looking more for a replacement for APS or disposable cameras - that is, something that is extremely portable, simple point and shoot, but still able to come out with great quality photos. And on that front - it performs incredibly well.

I have spent over 2 weeks now; reading all the major reviews online and many consumer comments. I used to do semi-professional photography years ago; and know enough to say that when compared to the competition this camera competes at the top of the heap. My daughter got the Canon Elph 100; about 2 years ago; I own a Coolpix 800. I also have now tested the S1 for 2 weeks against a HP R717. The HP has a stronger Flash; and reads pictures brighter; but as a result some outdoor shots were washed out; and indoor shots; while well lit; look like Flash pictures. The Nikon colors were incredibly rich and deep outside; and indoors; while occasionally dark, behind the subject indoors; they correct nicely with either the D-Lighting Feature or by adjusting the exposure compensation to +1; as a another user reported. The Nikon pictures are just more natural! As for other models, I haven't tested, they have reported more than what appears to be the normal amount of mechanical failures on the web. I would have bought a newer Canon for example, except for the numerous cracked LCDs and E18 errors reported. Bottom line is you can't beat the size; LCD quality; build quality and ease of use; and phenomenal pictures; that you would have to move to more expensive, and mostly larger cameras to beat and most Point and shoot consumers don't need. The camera performs so well that, I'm buying one for myself, and another for my oldest daughter for Christmas. The Nikon case is absolutely perfect; extra battery and consider at least a Ultra Fast 250 meg memory card, not the basic memory; but the Ultra or Extreme because it improves the camera's load time for images. Get this camera and make someone's holiday more special! Recently the WSJ reported Nikon had a great year /quarter. They got that in part because of the S1 and the strong consumer satisfaction!

I've been looking for a replacement for my Canon S230 3mp camera off and on for a couple of months now. When I saw this camera; its size and 5mp quality I made the leap.

First impressions of this camera are very positive. The learning curve is basically flat. The menu's are very intuitive and easy to use. The 17 or so different shooting modes are very easy to understand and to actually use. The unit itself slips into your pants pocket and feels like its not even there. In fact this is the first camera I will carry with me everyday because of its sleek and light weight design.

As far as photo quality is concerned, I'd agree with one of the other reviewers - its good, not great. I'd have to say its a half step up from my Canon. Having said that I have to remember this is not a Nikon D70, its a handy and very capable everyday shooter with lots of cool features.

The one minus that I've noted now that I've been shooting everything under the sun with it is this; I have big hands and this unit is so petite that I've found my left ring finger showing up in the pictures. I have to be constantly aware of where my digits are when shooting as, with the lens so close to the left edge of the camera they easily get included in the shot.

The other thing I don't particularly care for is the docking station. It appears to be mandatory for recharging the battery which is a bit clunky especially if you want to travel with this unit. The docking station is required in order to recharge, you've just doubled the size of the camera in terms of packing and carrying along on trips. I would much prefer to have a recharge cradle like the Canon uses or just a single cord that I could plug into the camera but there doesn't seem to be an option for one.

Finally, the PhotoProject software that comes with the unit is really a joke. Don't even think about using it. I download my shots via Windows Explorer as the unit shows up as just another USB storage device. The software is bloated, slow, (and I have a very fast computer), and basically useless.

The camera does come with a nice little application that allows you to stitch together multiple pictures to create panaromic photos. When used in conjunction with the Panoramic shooting mode on the camera the results are really great. I have for years taken shots and then tried to stitch them in Photoshop or PhotoElements with the results being disappointing but this little application gets it right and its a snap to use.

I also purchased a 1gig SecureCard for the unit. At present it hasn't arrived but I'm using a 256meg card I previously had it it works great but I want to have the most storage I possibly have as the shots tend to average 1.5m shot. 256Megs gets you 99 shots at 5mp.

Summary

I'm very happy overall with this little camera. Its easy to take with you everywhere you go, the pictures are very clean and of high quality. Again, remember its mission - to deliver a compact, capable and affordable camera that is pure point and shoot. It delivers. Oh, and I can't stop before I mention the beautiful 2.5 inch rear display - very cool and viewable even direct sun.

I didn't buy this camera. I got a magazine from one of my credit card companies that gives me points and I was going to cancel the card and thought I might as well burn up a bunch of points. I have a Canon S200 2.1mp camera that I carry in my pocket most of the time. It has served me very well, but I like new gadgets and I saw this S1 in the magazine within my points, so I decided to try it out.

Upon opening the box, I was surprised at how much smaller it seems than my S200. It is about the same size around, but it is about half as thin. The Canon was a lot easier to hold onto when taking photos than the S1 is. The first suggestion I will make to anyone buying this camera is to put the camera strap on and use it every time you take photos. It is very easy to lose your grip on this camera, especially if you have big hands like me!

I've been playing with it for several days and find there is certainly a learning curve as far as not taking blurry photos with it. The colors are very good and the videos are acceptable, though a bit choppy. Course this isn't a video camera, if you want that function, go get one of the new minidv's that are cheap!

The stop motion video function is another that will be pretty fun to play with. You can set the camera to take a frame every few seconds for as long as you want (or until battery runs out or card fills up) and then it will stitch the frames together in kind of a neat jerky video. I suppose you could animate drawings this way as well.

Buy a camera case. The large LCD is just begging to be scratched or bumped. Of course you have to buy a memory chip (secure digital) to go along with the 12mb internal memory. What was Nikon thinking? (...)

A lot of people make a big deal about not being able to plug a cable into the camera and download images. I have a couple thoughts on that, #1 I don't want to be sticking usb cables in and out of my tiny little camera. Those plugs are just begging to break and I don't think it's worth the risk. #2 Get a card reader. Leave it attached to your computer and transfer from the card to the reader. It's quicker and much easier than plugging your camera into a dock just to transfer the images.

As far as my conclusions, I just don't know yet. This camera may wind up on an auction site so I can get the cash to buy a Canon S500. The jury has not yet rendered a final verdict! The user submitted images of the rings were taken by me and the S1.

Initially I was looking at some of the 4 and 5 MP Nikon and Canon models, and I was leaning toward one of the 5MP Nikon A models (because it is able to use AA batteries instead of expensive proprietary batteries) but it was just a few inches too big to be a "slip in your pocket" camera. The Elphs seemed nice, but were a lot more expensive, and it seemed there were a few issues that scared me off, like purple fringing, E-80 error messages, and cheap battery doors. So I decided to go with the S1.

Pros

* tiny
* the "cool" factor (people always comment on this camera)
* good bright light pictures
* lots of features

Cons

* the shake factor
* flash distance
* shutter speed
* noise at higher ISO's

Basically I like having a camera that I can keep in my pocket, and can whip out on a whim. This camera fits in the tiniest of spaces, and with no extendable lens it is ready in an instant. (also there is no fear of damaging an extended lens) During daylight, the pictures are good. I keep mine at 100 ISO and only get a few blurred pictures holding it by hand. One thing I really have not noticed with my camera is the "pin-cushioning" and "fish eye" distortion that some people have reported. Taking some pictures downtown, the buildings look straight as an arrow. I also read reports of softness in definition of pictures at the corners, but have not noticed this either. The battery life is good, but get a backup battery if you want to take a lot of pictures. The dock is nice. It charges the batery and is able to transfer pictures to your computer, however it is at the snail's pace of USB 1.0, but really, who cares. Some other nice suprises on the camera are: voice recorder, panoramic "stitching" software (that lets you connect as many successive pictures taht you want), blur warning, and many manual controls.

"But what's the catch?", you ask. Well, you have to realize that this camera is not going to match up to its larger competitors. The lens is smaller and internal, so this presents a few problems. If you set the ISO at automatic, in darker rooms you will get some noise in the shadows (little blue and red specks), and this is not always desirable in pictures. So to combat this, I automatically set the ISO on my camera, but in darker areas, this makes for some long shutter times, and consequently, blurred pictures. So you have to choose between noise and blur when there is not a lot of light out. If you have a tripod, then you will have no problem, but that kind of defeats the whole small camera thing.

Another problem (I don't know the technical term) is that there is a lapse in time between when you press the button and when the picture actually takes. So when dealing with people, you will get a few shots where the person is turning away because the camera needs a few seconds to adjust.

And this brings me to the issue of the flash. The range of the flash is 8 feet, which is very short. In a dark room (like a wedding reception) you have to be 8' away from your subjects. If you try to scoot back and fit a few more people in, your shots will be dark.

Another issue with dark rooms is that the camera uses a focus assist, which is a bright red laser light that shoots in your subject's eyes.


This might sound like a lot, but really the camera is great. In most conditions, it takes great pictures. As in most relationships, you have to accept that there are some advantages and disadvantages. If you like tiny, then just deal with the few shortcomings that come along with it.

This camera is hot and stylish. It may not be the best performer out there but compared to my cousin's exilim (which is 4mp) and my friends Sony T-33(or whatever its called). With my S1 dumbed down to 4mp to match the Exilim's pic for pic of the same subject matter ended up with great results. The pics were just as good if not in some instances better than the exilim. The same goes for the Sony. At 5mp it goes toe to toe. I had an SQ before and was only satisfied with the pics but with the S1 the pics come out amazing and the in-camera auto red-eye fix is excellent.

The S1 is a highly compact camera that can fit into a box of playing cards and leaving some room! Nikon designed this camera to be an easy point-and-shoot for beginners and casualists like myself but they also add in controls for the more seasoned guys to control how they want the camera to perform. The LCD screen is huge and vibrant and everything is easy to see. The only bad thing is that there is no view finder (with the huge LCD you won't even miss it), and the flash has limited range in really dark settings (though the pro camera guys could probbaly mess with the settings to get better results). I highly recommend this camera to anyone who wants style and substance!

I got this camera about a month ago before we left on a 10 day trip for Florida. I absolutely love it! It's easy to use--in fact, my 11 year old daughter had it out of the package and was using it before I read the first 2 pages of the instruction manual. I took over 300 pictures on vacation, easily loaded the Picture Perfect software at home, and was blown away by the quality of the images on the picture (a vast improvement over my Kodak easy shot camera).

I did not experience any of the "blurring" problems mentioned by others (well, once or twice when the picture really WAS blurry). The camera has a variety of setting for different images, and I got great pictures of people, scenes, action shots, etc. during our trip. I haven't played much with the video features on the camera, so I can't really comment on that.

I am extremely pleased with the camera so far and would highly recommend it to others. It is a great value for the features it provides.

I have a Canon Powershot G2 and my wife\'s cousin bought this camera (Nikon Coolpix S1). We both took pictures at lots of different light settings and here is my conclusion about this camera.

Pros:
1. Very small and thin. Easily put in pocket.
2. High megapixel resolution and pictures are good in proper lighting.

Cons:
1. Very small and thin. It is good for small people but for someone big, the camera is too delicate and buttons very small.
2. The screen is unprotected and can be damaged easily in the pocket.
3. Low light photos are not illuminated well enough by the flash so you might just have the subject lighted up and the background dark.
4. Don\'t know if it is due to small size but if you casually take out the camera for a picture, the chances of picture being blurred are high.
5. Also, almost 80% pictures had red-eye problem which can be removed easily but still is cumbersome.

Summary :
Camera is an entry level camera good for small people. The main asset is the small size.

I chose this camera at the advice of a professional photographer. He told me this is the camera he carries around the world in his pocket for those quick shot moments when he does not have time to lug out all of his more expensive and cumbersome equipment.

I am thrilled to death with the simplicity of use, compactness, and quality of photos this camera produces for my family. I love having a camera in my purse at all times to catch moments with the kids or grab shots of things I want others to see who arent' with me.

It does well with action shots, something my last digital did not do well.

The options for types of photographs are simple to understand, select and use to enhance the quality of my photos.

I am also pleased with the video option for short memory moments.

The screen is so large and works even in bright sunlight, especialy compared to other digitals and video cameras I have used.

My camera came ready to go with all the cables, software and instructions for a rookie like me to understand.

Extra memory is vital. While the camera has it's own memory it is rather small holding only a handfull of picutures and/or few moments of video.

It is so small and light that use of the enclosed strap is essential as a drop would be unfortunate. I recommend the case (sold separately) to protect the screen and the camera while floating around in a purse or pocket.