Nikon Coolpix S510

Color (7.66)
Color accuracy is essential for producing beautiful, realistic photos. We test color accuracy by photographing a GretagMacbeth ColorChecker test chart under bright, even studio lights. We compare the colors the camera reproduces with the known colors of the test chart to give an overall color accuracy score. The ColorChecker chart contains 24 color tiles from all over the color spectrum. The image below shows how well the Nikon S510’s colors mimick the actual colors of the ColorChecker. The outside squares show the colors the S510 reproduces, the inside squares show the ideal colors of the test chart corrected for exposure, and the inner rectangles show the ideal chart colors under a perfectly even exposure.


Comparing the outer squares with the inner squares, you can see that a lot of the colors match up quite well, with the exception of some yellows and blues. This is confirmed in the graph below, which shows color accuracy in a different way. The locations of the ColorChecker colors are shown as squares in the RGB color space, and the locations of the S510’s colors are shown as circles. The lines connecting the squares and circles show the extent of the color error for each color tile.


The graph shows the S510 does a good job reproducing most colors, except for blues and yellows. However, these colors are often shifted on purpose because they can make for prettier blue skies or deeper foliage greens. Overall, the S510 has decent color accuracy, but doesn’t hold up to the stunning color reproduction found in some similar point-and-shoots by other manufacturers.

Resolution (5.35)
We test resolution by photographing an industry-standard resolution test chart at varied focal lengths and exposure settings. We run the images through Imatest, which determines sharpness in terms of line widths per picture height (lw/ph), the number of equally-spaced, alternating black and white lines that can fit across the image frame before becoming blurred.

Click to view the high resolution image

The 8-megapixel S510 proves to be sharpest at ISO 64, f/3.7, and a focal length of 11mm. The camera resolves 1487 lw/ph horizontally with 6.1 percent oversharpening, and 1441 lw/ph vertically with 0.1 percent oversharpening. It's good the camera doesn’t oversharpen too much, but these numbers are still not very impressive. The images are also a bit blurred on the edges and are subject to slight purple fringing. The S510 improves slightly on its predecessor, the Nikon Coolpix S500, but limits your options if you plan to print or view your photos large.  

Noise – Manual ISO (5.42)
Most digital cameras have an option of increasing sensitivity to light, called ISO speed, to allow for shots in dimly lit scenes with fast shutter speeds. The downside to increasing ISO speed is that image “noise” creeps into photos and becomes more apparent the higher the speed. Noise refers to the ugly grainy or splotchy effect that often covers digital photos taken in low light. We test noise levels by photographing our test chart under bright, even studio lights at all ISO speeds a camera offers. We run the photos through Imatest, which measures noise in terms of the percentage of image detail it drowns out.


The S510 keeps noise levels low at ISO 64, but noise becomes apparent at any ISO speed above 200. The camera clearly applies automatic noise smoothing (which lessens noise but destroys image detail), but it also can’t keep noise levels low. Images at high ISO speeds have the worst of both worlds; high noise levels and lots of smoothing. The noise itself is overwhelmingly grainy and shows hints of color splotches behind the grains. Photos taken at ISO 1600 and 2000 have so much noise that they look like they were taken in a blizzard. You have to hunt through the snow just to see the image you were trying to capture. Keep this camera set to low ISO speeds as much as possible.



Noise – Auto ISO (1.54)
We also measure noise levels with cameras set to Auto ISO. Under the same bright lights used in the Manual ISO test, the S510 chooses ISO 400, yielding a high amount of noise. This is disappointing, and shows you can’t always trust the Auto mode to take great photos.

Still Life Sequences
Click to view the high resolution images

Still Life Scene
ISO 64	ISO 64
ISO 100	ISO 100
ISO 200	ISO 200
ISO 400	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 800
ISO 1600	ISO 1600
ISO 2000	ISO 2000

White Balance (9.00)
Good color accuracy means nothing if a camera cannot properly white balance. We test white balance accuracy by photographing the ColorChecker test chart under four types of light: flash, fluorescent, outdoor shade, and tungsten. We test the Auto white balance setting as well as the appropriate white balance presets.

Auto (7.48)
With the white balance set to Auto, the S510 is very accurate under outdoor shade and flash, but poorly accurate under fluorescent and tungsten lights. In other words, you can leave the white balance on Auto when shooting outside, but will want to use the presets indoors.

Auto WB - Flash Illumination

Auto WB - Fluorescent Illumination

Auto WB - Shade Illumination

Auto WB - Tungsten Illumination

Preset (10.52)
Using the appropriate white balance presets, the camera is very accurate under all four light sources, and especially using the flash.  If you’re using Auto white balance and you get a color cast you don’t like, simply switch to the appropriate white balance preset.

Flash WB - Flash Illumination

Fluorescent WB - Fluorescent Illumination

Shade WB - Shade Illumination

Tungsten WB - Tungsten Illumination

Low Light (5.20)
We showed how the S510 renders color and handles noise under bright studio lights, but how does it do in less-than-ideal shooting conditions? We test color accuracy and noise levels in low light by photographing the ColorChecker test chart at light levels of 60, 30, 15, and 5 lux. Sixty lux corresponds to the amount of light in a room lit softly by two table lamps, 30 lux corresponds to a room lit only by a 40-watt bulb, 15 lux is about as bright as a room lit only by a television, and 5 lux is very dim light that tests the limits of the sensor. All shots are taken at ISO 1600.

Low Light Tests
60 Lux	30 Lux
15 Lux	5 Lux

At ISO 1600, the S510 is able to properly expose at all light levels, but the image noise is off the charts. Almost 5 percent of the detail in each image is destroyed because of the abundant sandy noise. Color accuracy is also hurt by the high noise levels.

We also test long exposures in low light, this time at ISO 400, but the S510 can only expose up to 1 second at this ISO speed. In Night Landscape mode it can only expose as long as 4 seconds. There isn’t much room to experiment with long exposure photos on this camera.

Dynamic Range (5.45)
Dynamic range is a measure of a camera’s tonal range. In other words, it tells how many shades of gray a camera can discern, which is particularly important in high contrast scenes. A wedding photo, for example, can contain both a white dress and a black tux, and a camera should be able to show detail in both in the same photo. We test dynamic range by photographing a backlit Stouffer test chart, which consists of a long row of gray rectangles, ranging from brightest white to darkest black. The more rectangles a camera can distinguish, the better its dynamic range.


The S510 has very good dynamic range from ISO 64 to 200, but then falls off quickly at higher ISO speeds. The dynamic range at ISO 1600 and 2000 is almost useless. Overall, the S510 has average dynamic range for a digital point-and-shoot, and doesn’t improve much on its predecessor, the S500.


Speed/Timing – All speed tests were conducted using a Kingston Ultimate 120X 2GB SD Card, with the camera set to highest resolution and best quality, unless otherwise noted.

Startup to First Shot (8.1)
The S510 takes 1.9 seconds to turn on and fire a shot. This is quite fast, allowing shooters to capture unexpected photos.

Shot-to-Shot (9.1)
The S510 has four multi-shot modes: Continuous, BSS, Multi-Shot 16, and Interval Timer shooting. In Continuous mode, the camera takes three shots 0.9 seconds apart, and then fires shots sporadically approximately every 2 seconds. In BSS mode, the camera takes 10 quick shots, but only saves the sharpest one. In Multi-16 mode, it fires 16 shots every 0.6 seconds and collages them into one photo. This is a fun mode to play around with, though rather limited.

Shutter-to-Shot (9.0)
The S510 has no measurable lag when the shutter is held down halfway and prefocused, but has a substantial lag of 0.7 seconds when not prefocused.

Processing (5.8)
The S510 takes 2.1 seconds to process one 2.4 MB full-resolution best quality photo taken at ISO 100.

Video Performance (3.42)
Bright Indoor Light – 3000 lux
With our studio lights set to precisely 3000 lux, we capture footage of our video charts to see how the S510 handles color accuracy and noise in Movie mode. Under these bright lights, the camera has significant color error, but not any more than most digital cameras. However, it does have more noise in bright light than most camera Movie modes.

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Nikon Coolpix S510 Digital Camera Review Navigation
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