Nikon Coolpix S700

 
Manual Control Options      
This digital camera won’t impress photography enthusiasts because it hardly has any manual controls. It has a few – white balance and ISO – but not enough to attract true photographers.

Focus
Autofocus (7.5)
Speed is an issue on this digital camera and it came into play in this area. The autofocus system isn’t as slow as some. We measured a shutter lag of 0.3 seconds on the S700 but the high-end P5100 had an awful 0.7-second lag. The slow autofocus system is far from DSLR quality but isn’t as bad as most competitors.

The Nikon S700 has four autofocus modes: face priority, 9-area, center, and manual. The face priority mode is a big step up from the scary smiley version included on previous models. The S700 is much faster and can detect up to 12 faces instead of just one. The 9-area autofocus works well - although not incredibly speedily. The center and manual focus options are fastest because the camera doesn’t have to search for the subject. The manual mode allows users to move the autofocus point to 99 areas around the frame.

The S700’s contrast detection system can focus as close as 1 foot, 7.7 inches (50 cm) normally or 2.4 inches (6 cm) in the macro mode. Because the system uses contrast detection, it can have a hard time in low light or with low contrast subjects. The orange autofocus assist beam is there to help; it can be turned on in the Setup menu.

Overall, the Nikon Coolpix S700 has a decent autofocus system that isn’t incredibly fast but is quicker than some others on the market. Its face priority autofocus mode is quick and fairly reliable too.

Manual Focus (0.0)
 The S700 doesn’t have a manual focus mode.

ISO (8.25)
The Nikon Coolpix S700 has a wide range of ISO options: 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 2000, and 3200. The manual settings up to 2000 are available at full resolution but the top ISO 3200 setting is only available when the image size is set to 5 megapixels or less.

The automatic ISO setting tops off at ISO 1000, which is more of a range than offered by most digital cameras. Many compact cameras’ auto ISO modes truncate the range to fit under ISO 400, although there are a few recent models offering higher auto ISO ranges.

The S700 has a new Expeed image processor that promises lower noise output in relation to its ISO sensitivity. There are more details in the Testing/Performance section, but the camera was only partially successful at this. The S700 did perform better than the S510 in this area, but the S700 reduced noise with the help of an overzealous noise reduction system that also smoothed over details in images. The smoothing is visible all the time but worsens beyond ISO 400. While the Nikon S700 has a healthy ISO range, it is best to use its upper end sparingly.

White Balance (7.0)   
This Coolpix has the same white balance settings as previous models. It includes Auto, Preset manual, Daylight, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy, and Flash. The manual mode can easily be set with the sub-menu and its cancel and measure options. There is a live preview of the white balance behind the menu but the view is obstructed by the menu text.

In general, the white balance presets performed better than the automatic setting; there are more details about this in the Testing/Performance section.

Exposure (7.25)
This digital camera provides similar exposure control as other compact digital cameras. It doesn’t allow users to adjust the shutter speed and aperture individually but it does allow users to tweak the exposure compensation on a +/-2 scale in steps of a third. The exposure compensation may be hard to find. It isn’t in the menus; it is located on the multi-selector. Its icon on the right side can hardly be seen though because it wraps around the side, making it hard to see from the back. 

If the exposure isn’t desirable, users can employ the D-lighting option in the Playback menu for a quick exposure fix. There is no hope for overexposed images, but it fixes underexposed images and does a decent job.

Metering (5.5)
The Nikon Coolpix S700 has a 256-matrix metering system, but it cannot be controlled. Most digital cameras have multi, center, and spot options, but the S700 doesn’t even have an option in the menu. Judging from its performance, it appears to be a center-weighted default.

Shutter Speed (0.0)
The S700 has a mechanical and charge-coupled electronic shutter that offers the typical compact digital camera shutter speed range. The shutter speed slows down to 4 seconds and goes as fast as 1/2000th of a second. The shutter speed cannot be manually chosen; it is selected by the camera depending upon the metering system and the selected exposure mode.

Aperture (0.0)
The Nikon Coolpix S700 has an electronically controlled aperture that moves between f/2.8 to f/8 when the lens is zoomed wide, and f/5.4 to f/8 in telephoto. The aperture is automatically selected by the camera.