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Manual Control Options
Remember the Kate Moss analogy? The Nikon Coolpix S5 is, again, more for looks than functionality. Thus, its options are limited to exposure compensation, white balance, ISO, and a few others discussed in the following sections. Surprisingly, the most manual control options are available in the Auto mode – perhaps because there is no Manual mode on this camera at all.
Focus
Auto Focus (6.5)
The S5 uses a contrast detection auto focus system that does well in good lighting but has trouble in low light (although it does have an auto focus assist lamp) and with difficult surfaces like water and glass. When it can’t focus, it displays a message: “Initializing lens cannot focus!” This most often happens in the macro mode, which can focus as close as 1.6 inches. The problem ultimately doesn’t prevent the camera from taking the picture, though; it just slows down the process. Pushing the bottom of the multi-selector rotary activates macro mode. When it is turned off, the camera can only focus as close as 12 inches.
The auto focus mode has Center and Manual options only. The Center option focuses just where its title says it will, while the Manual option lets users scroll around to 99 different points on the frame. There is no automatic mode that focuses on off-center subjects, though. If users don’t want to manually move the focus point, they can always use the scene assist modes that have right and left framing helps: these cater the focus to the specified point. The face-priority auto focus mode, activated by the one-touch portrait button, can also find faces throughout the frame – although it takes a few seconds. When the subject is in focus, the camera makes a tiny clicking noise and a green dot appears at the top of the LCD screen. Otherwise, the dot is red and the picture isn’t perfectly sharp.
Manual Focus (0.0)
Nikon S5 users won’t have the opportunity to manually focus on the dewed leaves in the morning; they must cross their fingers and pray to the god of auto focus to capture sharp images.
Exposure (7.0)
 The Nikon Coolpix S5 has several ways to manipulate exposure, although there are no manual shutter speed or aperture choices. The camera’s exposure values range from +1.2 to +16.1 in wide to + 2.9 to +17.8 in telephoto. This can be tweaked with the standard +/- 2 exposure compensation range, which comes in one-third increments. There is also an Exposure Best Shot Selector feature with three modes: Highlight, Shadow, and Histogram. Each mode snaps up to 5 shots like a burst mode and saves the best one – according to the whim of the Coolpix S5. This mode might be fun to play with for a few minutes, but shouldn’t be used in situations where grabbing the photograph is important.
Metering (5.5)
The Nikon Coolpix S5 has only one metering system on the camera and doesn’t let users control it any other way. It uses a matrix metering system that measures the exposure from 256 points around the frame and averages them to determine the final exposure value. The S5 does have a Back Light scene mode that uses a spot metering method, so it is possible to get decent shots of a couple on the beach in front of the bright sun.
White Balance (7.25)
The choices are much better in white balance than ISO . Auto, White Balance Preset (manual), Daylight, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy, and Flash options are available in the Auto recording menu. There is a live view, but it is blocked by text and very hard to see. The manual setting is by far the most accurate – and it is simple to use. The camera shows a small box within the frame, in which to snap a shot of something white.
ISO (6.5)
The Nikon Coolpix S5 hasn’t caught up with competitors in this area. Many digital cameras, including compacts, have higher sensitivities now that consumers are demanding imaging capabilities in low light. The S5 has an automatic ISO setting that chooses between 50-200 and a manual selection that extends from 50-400. The ISO can only be chosen in the Auto mode and there are no live views of it in the menu system. All in all, the selection is slim and the accessibility limited.
Shutter Speed (0.0)
The Coolpix S5 has a mechanical and charge-coupled electronic shutter that snaps at a fairly lousy pace. Its range is quite short, with its slowest shutter speed being 2 seconds and its fastest at 1/500th of a second. The camera automatically chooses the shutter speeds, although users can choose scene modes with the speed in mind. Modes such as Landscape will use longer exposure times, and the faster shutter speeds will be utilized in the Sport mode. There is a blur warning that can be turned on and off in the setup menu. It appears when the camera thinks users are snapping action shots in low light, for instance. This mode warns, but it does not prevent, and chances are that the warning is correct: the focus will be fine, but the shutter speed doesn’t snap fast enough for most subjects. Lots of pictures of my one-year-old returned blurred legs and hands.
Aperture (0.0)
The Nikon S5 has a maximum aperture that is about a stop smaller than those offered on most compact models. At f/3.0 wide, this Coolpix isn’t poised for greatness when it comes to low light. When zoomed in on a faraway subject, the aperture shrinks to f/5.4. The smallest the aperture can get is f/8.5. Apertures, like the shutter speeds, are automatically selected by the camera.
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