Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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272 of 280 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nikon's first ultra-compact digicam is simply great, May 27, 2005
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).
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158 of 164 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Top Point and Shoot digital camera - excellent design!, May 2, 2005
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.
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42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just an exciting camera; beautiful pictures!, November 22, 2005
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!
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