Nikon Coolpix S7c First Impressions Review

by Emily Raymond
Published on September 29, 2006

Navigation
Intro	Physical Tour
Components	Design / Layout
Modes	Control Options
Image Parameters	Connectivity / Extras
Overall Impressions	Conclusion

 

There are a few manual controls, but they’re nothing to get too excited about. This digital camera just isn’t about manual control. The Nikon Coolpix S7c is more about good looks, portability, and ease of use. This way, users can stash the camera in a pocket and grab it for a quick picture at the company luncheon or the community park.

 

Auto Focus – The Nikon Coolpix S7c doesn’t have much control over its auto focus system, but the area can be selected to Center or Multi. Normally, the camera focuses from 12 inches to infinity but in the macro mode it can shoot as close as 1.6 inches. There is a face-priority auto focus mode, but it can only be used when the one-touch portrait button is pushed. The face-priority auto focus mode is very touchy. It takes a long time to recognize faces, and sometimes it recognizes a face one second and can’t find it again the next. In the end, it’s unreliable and certainly slower than using the Center focus mode yourself. The auto focus system in general is a bit on the slow side, but isn’t as pedestrian as many other compact models.

 

Manual Focus – There is no manual focus on the Nikon S7c.

 

ISO

The Nikon Coolpix S7c offers more sensitivity than any other Coolpix digital camera. Previous models ignored the higher sensitivities, but the S7c offers manual ISO settings of 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600. There is no live view when scrolling through these choices in the menu. I magnified images taken in each of the ISO settings and there is noticeable noise in and above ISO 400. Not only does the image become speckled with noise, but details around hair and fabric are lost.

 

The white balance menu does provide live views, which makes it much easier to select one that will fit. Auto, Preset White Balance (manual), Daylight, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy, and Flash are available. The manual mode is simple to set as it shows a small box where plain white must be framed. Users measure the white balance by selecting “Measure” and pushing the OK button in. The Auto white balance seemed to exaggerate colors a bit in the strange lighting of the convention center, and the Manual white balance setting made them look a bit duller than reality.

 

An exposure compensation range can be accessed that brightens or darkens the image with the standard +/- 2 EV range. Scrolling through these in the menu gives users a live view. In the menu, users can also find the Best Shot Selector which supposedly helps poor beginners automatically grab the “best shot.” An exposure best shot mode lets users select Highlight, Shadow, and Histogram preferences to pick the “best shot.” My main beef with this mode is that users have very little control over which shot gets chosen. My other complaint is that the LCD screen blacks out the entire time users push the shutter release button down in this mode so it is impossible to see if your subject is even still in the frame. There are easier ways of fixing the exposure. In the playback mode, the D-lighting compensation function can be accessed with the one-touch portrait button. It works very well in lightening pictures up to look properly exposed. It also lets users choose whether they’d like to save it or not – something the Best Shot Selector does not do.

The Nikon Coolpix S7c does not offer any manual metering options, but does have a Back Light scene mode that acts as a sort of Spot metering mode. Otherwise, the lighting in the image is averaged.

 

The Nikon Coolpix S7c has an incredibly truncated shutter speed range of 2-1/500^th of a second. This will do fine for optimal lighting, but will leave night shots dark and action photography blurred.

 

The 3x optical zoom lens on the Coolpix S7c has maximum apertures of f/2.8-5.0. This is typical for an ultra-slim 3x zoom lens.