Nikon Coolpix S51c Digital Camera Review

by Emily Raymond
Published on December 28, 2007

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Navigation
Intro	Testing/Performance
Components	Design / Layout
Modes	Control Options
Image Parameters	Connectivity / Extras
Overall Impressions	Conclusion
Sample Photos	Photo Gallery
Specs / Ratings

Connectivity
Software (7.0)
The S51c comes with a Nikon Coolpix software suite CD-ROM that includes Nikon Transfer software, QuickTime, ArcSoft PanoramaMaker 4, and Kodak EasyShare Software. Yes, you read that right. Apparently Kodak’s software is now coming with Nikon’s digital cameras. We can’t offer any explanation for that move. We’re baffled, too.

The transfer software isn’t very exciting and is made for computers that come with absolutely nothing on them. Most computers come preinstalled with some form of image-fetching program that grabs pictures off digital cameras. In case yours doesn’t, Nikon included this extremely basic program for you. It uploads images only: no viewing, browsing, editing, etc. Save that for Kodak.

The Kodak EasyShare Software doesn’t automatically load images every time the camera is connected to the computer. Images and folders must be loaded manually. Once there, images can be viewed as thumbnails or as lists of details. The size of the thumbnails can be adjusted and all of the images can be selected to create albums, slide shows, CDs, or DVDs.

There are easily-accessible buttons for these functions across the top of the window. There are also easy buttons to add pictures and edit them. Editing features include cropping, rotating, eliminating red eyes, enhancing, color balancing, and a few other effects. There is an option called “scene balance” that is similar to color balance but has simpler preset terms. Scene effects and fun effects are also available.

There are links from the software to print at home, e-mail, make creative projects (mugs and such – a direct marketing ploy to use Kodak’s online services), and order prints online. Overall, the Kodak EasyShare Software is good for casual photographers but won’t suffice for anyone who wants to do more than crop pictures.

Jacks, ports, plugs (4.0)
The Nikon Coolpix S51c has a single port on its bottom that connects to just about everything. The camera comes with an octopus-like cable that has AV-out and USB jacks on it. The AV-out function can be set to NTSC or PAL standards. The USB can be set to MTP or PTP. The high-speed USB transfer is – in my opinion – preferable to the slow wireless transfer. The Wi-Fi might be good to transfer one or two images to a Smartphone every once in awhile, but the USB cable will be handy for large batches of images and videos. The port on the bottom of the camera has a flaw: its placement makes it necessary to place it on its side to be hooked up. This leaves the LCD and metal sheen vulnerable to scratching. The multi-connector port on the bottom is there for a reason, though: the camera can connect directly to ImageLink printers. The camera even comes with a plastic insert that sits atop ImageLink printers so the S51c fits just right.

Direct Print Options (8.0)
Images can be printed directly from the camera via the USB cable. The Nikon S51c is PictBridge and ImageLink compatible, and it comes with a plastic insert and a port on its bottom to hook directly to an ImageLink printer. DPOF print orders can be created in the Playback menu. The date and time can be imprinted onto images, as selected in the Setup menu. The Wi-Fi feature can print images indirectly. You can load images to my Picturetown, Nikon’s photo sharing website, and then print the pictures with an online service.

Battery (3.25)
The Nikon Coolpix S51c comes with an EN-EL8 rechargeable lithium-ion battery. It is incredibly thin and its size is telling of its battery life: weak. It can only snap about 150 shots before needing a charge. This is not impressive. The wireless-enabled Canon SD430 also has a disappointing 150-shot lithium-ion battery, but the li-ion battery in the Panasonic TZ3 gets 270 shots per charge.

The S51c’s battery takes two hours to charge. It charges while in the camera body; the camera comes with a power adapter that plugs into the bottom. This can be a problem because the camera has to rest on its side, which leaves the smooth front or the glassy back vulnerable to scratching.

Memory (2.0)
The Nikon Coolpix S51c comes with 13 MB of internal memory, enough to hold only four full-resolution images. This seems skimpy when compared to other Nikon digital cameras such as the Coolpix P50 and P5100: they have 52 MB of internal memory. All of these are dwarfed by the wireless-enabled Sony G1, which has a whopping 2 GB of internal memory. The Nikon S51c has a slot in its battery compartment that accepts SD and/or SDHC memory cards. This is the most common and most inexpensive form of memory. In the Playback menu, users can move files from the internal memory to the memory card and vice versa.

Other features (7.75)
Built-in Wi-Fi – This is the feature that distinguishes the S51c from its sister model, the S51. Nikon placed a flashing blue LED on the camera’s left side to make it a more visible feature; the LED lights up when the Wi-Fi is being accessed. Nikon also includes a “picture mail” button on the top that resizes images to 1600 x 1200 pixels and saves them to Nikon’s my Picturetown online sharing site. It also sends out an e-mail to specified recipients with a link to the album. The resizing is unfortunate, as users will have to transfer the full-resolution images for printing anyway. Users can transfer images to smartphones, e-mail albums to family members, and send images directly to Flickr accounts straight from the camera. Early adopters also have an advantage: they can store up to 20 GB of images until March 2, 2008 with a Gold Account. After March, up to 2 GB of storage space is free on Nikon’s servers for your images. Every Nikon S51c comes with a complimentary six-month subscription to T-Mobile HotSpot Wi-Fi service, something the older S50c didn’t come with. The Nikon S51c uses an IEEE 802.11b/g connection to transfer images without lugging out the wires. This isn’t flawless technology, though: it takes almost a minute for each image to transfer. It is good for a small handful of images, but is still so much faster when wired. There isn’t much setup involved in the Wi-Fi feature – although users do need to know their WEP key – but users must register with Nikon’s new photo sharing site, my Picturetown, to e-mail albums and store images.

Best Shot Selector – The shooting menu has a BSS item with on and off options. This feature snaps a string of up to 10 photos, but only saves one. The camera automatically chooses the sharpest shot and deletes the rest. This feature is automatically activated in the Museum scene mode, so watch out for disappearing pictures.