Nikon Coolpix S4000

Manual Controls

Except for exposure compensation, preset scene modes and the option to take a manual white balance reading, the camera is the brains of the operation when it comes to exposure settings and you're along for the ride.

Focus

You can choose between single-shot autofocus, which locks in when the shutter is pressed halfway and maintains that setting, and full-time autofocus, which continues to adjust the focus setting until the photo is taken.You don't have control over autofocus area, but there is a face detection mode which can find up to 12 individuals simultaneously.

This is an area where having a touch-screen makes a lot of sense. If you want to focus on a particular person or object, you can simply touch the screen and the camera will focus on that spot, then go right ahead and take the photo (a brief delay avoid camera shake caused by your finger poking, but may mean a missed shot). You can also initiate autofocus tracking by touching the moving subject. And you can also lock in focus and exposure by touching the key area, and then recompose the shot as you like. On a standard camera, you have to move a cursor around the screen with a four-way controller to tell the camera where you want to set the focal point; a finger is a far more effective pointing implement.

ISO

Available ISO settings range from 80-3200.

White Balance

In addition to auto white balance, there are presets for daylight, incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy and flash illumination. You can also take a manual white balance reading, a pleasant surprise on a highly automated camera.

Metering

The camera handles metering decisions, though exposure compensation is available, in a ±2 EV range, in 1/3 EV increments.

Shutter Speed

There is no manual control of shutter speeds, and no mention of shutter speed range in the currently published specs.

Aperture

The 5x zoom lens has a maximum aperture of f/3.2 at its widest setting and f/5.9 at the highest zoom.

Image Stabilization

There is no mechanical image stabilization, but there is a digital processing system that attempts to minimize blur caused by camera shake, and another that automatically boosts ISO and shutter speed when movement is detected.

Picture Quality & Size Options

Available picture sizes are 12M (4000 x 3000), 8M (3264 x2448), 5M (2592 x 1944), 3M (2048 x 1536), 0.8M (1024 x 768), VGA (640 x 480) and 16:9 (3968 x 2232). There is no control over JPEG compression settings, or RAW file support.

Picture Effects

There are no filters, color effects or other image enhancements available while shooting, though there are a few in-camera editing adjustments available during playback.