Nikon Coolpix S5 Digital Camera Review

 

The Nikon Coolpix S5 comes with PictureProject version 1.6 software that lets users browse, organize, and edit pictures on Macintosh and Windows operating systems. Videos can be played back in Mac and Windows, but the Pictmotion slide shows can only be transferred to computers that work with Windows. Users can browse in three different viewing modes. The Thumbnails mode displays the pictures like an index print, and users can control how large or small they appear on the screen. The Photo and Thumbnail mode shows the selected image as a large picture, with the thumbnails running across the top. The List mode shows the thumbnail on the left and a host of shooting information organized into rows across the page. In all three of these modes, users can view a basic set of information about the selected file: file name, size, date, properties, information, and keywords. This info is located in the upper right corner of the window.

Also in the top right corner are three mode buttons: Organize (for browsing), Edit, and Design. The following editing features can be found: Brightness, D-Lighting, Color Booster, Photo Effects, Sharpening, and Straighten. In the top left corner of the selected picture is a small toolbar with a few frequently used editing tools for cropping, rotating, eliminating red-eye, and zooming and panning. For users who want a quick fix, there are Auto Enhance and Auto Red-Eye buttons across the top of the screen. The Auto Red-Eye function lessened blatant red-eye phenomena but did not eliminate it; a tool in the toolbar can manually fix it. The Auto Enhance button worked much better, fixing poor lighting and color. Videos cannot be edited with the software, but can only be played back.

The Design button merges collections of pictures into scrapbook-like pages with templates for pictures and places for captions and titles. Across the top of the screen are several controls that can be accessed at any time: Transfer, Import, Print, Mail, Share, Slide Show, Pictmotion, Burn, Auto Enhance, Auto Red-Eye, and Help.

The PictureProject CD-ROM provides a decent software program that is in the upper echelon of editing software packaged with compact digital cameras. It has one-touch controls that automatically fix common problems as well as manual editing controls for the more astute users. 

The Nikon S5 comes with a CoolStation MV-14, which is the camera’s connection to all else. The S5 has a multi-connector on its bottom that sits directly atop the camera dock. There are no other ports or jacks on the camera. Instead, the dock houses all the connections: USB, AV-out, and a power adaptor. The USB mode can be set to PTP or Mass Storage. The AV-out cable can be set to NTSC or PAL standards. The power adaptor and other cables are all included with the camera, so the S5’s battery can charge up while sitting in the dock.

 

There are a few pros and cons to this setup. It is very convenient to set this up at home and do things like charge the battery while downloading pictures to the PC. Pictures can be sent to a PictBridge compatible printer or to a television without having to dig out the proper cables every single time. The downside: this setup isn’t easily portable and doesn’t make sense for users who download primarily to laptops. If you go on vacation, you’ll have to lug around the dock to charge batteries and download pictures to the computer. This can be very inconvenient to set up every time you switch hotels or want to charge batteries.

The Nikon Coolpix S5 can print directly to PictBridge compatible printers via its included CoolStation camera dock. The 6-megapixel camera has enough resolution to print large; Nikon claims it can print up to 16 x 20 inches, but check the Testing/Performance sections to see how it really did. The S5 is DPOF compliant and creates print orders quickly and easily from the playback menu. Users can scroll through lots of images fairly quickly with the rotary dial and check a box to add it to the print order. The quantity of each print, from 0 to 9 images, can be selected, and users can choose whether to print the date and info as well. Print orders can be created, then deleted after they’ve been sent. Sitting the S5 on its dock and pushing the OK button in the middle of the rotary dial sends the orders. Printing is simple, and pictures theoretically look good straight out of the camera. There is no cropping function in the playback menu, and the resizing option makes pictures much too small for printing even 4 x 6-inch shots. There is a one-touch D-lighting compensation button, though, that automatically enhances pictures similar to Kodak’s Perfect Touch technology.

 

The Coolpix S5 comes with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that lasts a measly 210 shots per charge. The EN-EL8 battery will need to take a breather in the included CoolStation dock frequently, which is unfortunate. Photographers who want to use the time lapse modes will need to snap shots from the camera dock if they want to take more than 210 shots.

Memory (4.0)

The S5 has 21 MB of internal memory, which is enough to hold 7 pictures at the top resolution. Still, users will long for more memory – and should get it. Without an extra SD/MMC card, the Pictmotion mode is totally unusable. Once a fresh card is loaded near the battery in the bottom compartment, the camera automatically saves pictures to it. Pictures can be copied from the internal memory to the card and vice versa through the playback menu.

 

Underwater Housing Accessory – The lens and the metal body are very sturdy, but the S5 still can’t take insane amounts of humidity or water. To make it more durable, Nikon has an optional field jacket, FJ-CP1, that allows the Coolpix S5 to go underwater in depths of up to 10 ft.

 

While the Nikon Coolpix S5 is decently priced when compared to other ultra-slim models, its $349 tag is still too high if all consumers want is an automatic camera. In fact, there are cheaper digital cameras that take higher quality pictures now. Sure, they won’t be quite as sexy, but are you paying for the awesome prints you will get or the proud feeling of handling the S5 at the club?

Previous | Next