Nikon Coolpix S7c First Impressions Review - Nikon Point and Shoot and Non-DSLR

The camera starts up in the automatic mode, also called the Shooting Mode on the camera. This is the only mode available other than the scene modes, so it also happens to be the most manually oriented mode on the camera. It allows users to adjust ISO, white balance, AF area, and other options. Have no fear, point-and-shooters. The S7c can reset to its default settings in the setup menu. Otherwise it remembers the settings from the last time the mode was accessed.

Shooting video is quite simple on the Nikon Coolpix S7c, but the quality of the video isn’t great. Clips can be recorded at 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 pixels at a frame rate of 30 or 15 fps. There is also a smaller 160 x 120-pixel size that shoots at 15 fps for easy emailing. Pictmotion movies can be created too, but they are shot at 320 x 240 pixels at 15 fps so they look choppy and don’t have great resolution. The camera has an electronic vibration reduction system that can be activated with the OK button in the center of the rotary dial. The camera records audio most of the time, but does not when recording a time lapse or stop-motion movie. The time lapse feature works like the interval timer shooting feature, but strings all the pictures into a movie that moves at 30 fps. The stop-motion movie feature is brand new on the S7c. This mode lets users take pictures on their own time rather than regimented, scheduled intervals; it also provides an overlay similar to the panorama assist overlay that helps users line up the previous shot with the next shot. This is designed with budding claymation artists in mind. The QuickTime movies can be played back within the camera, but there are no editing features to change the files. Before recording, there aren’t that many options either. Users can change the auto focus mode from single to full-time. During recording, users can zoom digitally 2x. Overall, the video didn’t look very good. There were purple streaks that appeared with bright lights and the colors didn’t look very accurate at all.

The camera’s burst mode is disappointing. It is found in the shooting menu under the Continuous heading with the following choices: Single, Continuous, Multi-shot 16, and Interval Timer Shooting. The continuous burst mode snaps 1.4 fps and can do so for about 10 shots before sputtering another 2 and finally taking 7 seconds to record (to the internal memory). The shots weren’t taken very evenly either; the time between shots varied but came out to an average of 1.4 fps. The Multi-shot 16 mode snaps at only a slightly faster 1.6 fps rate even though all of its 16 images are stitched into a relatively small 5-megapixel image file. The Interval Timer Shooting feature lets users track the progress of a construction project or other slow-moving subject with intervals of 30 seconds to 60 minutes. A self-timer can be activated from the left side of the multi-selector that delays for 3 or 10 seconds before taking the picture.

The playback mode is entered with the button at the top of the back. Once in playback, there is a host of viewing options available through the Mode button. The Mode button reveals these options that can be scrolled to with the rotary dial: Playback, Pictmotion by muvee, Calendar, List by Date, Audio Playback, and Setup. In the true Playback mode, pictures can be viewed individually or in index screens of 4, 9, 16, or 25. From the Mode dial, pictures can be viewed in a calendar format or listed as thumbnails horizontally with the date. Of note is the Audio Playback feature as well to complement the voice recording function on the camera.

Voice memos can be added to pictures in the playback mode by holding the shutter release button down continuously for up to 20 seconds. The audio isn’t very good though; it sounds very jumbled even when subjects are close. There is a Delete button that deletes pictures one by one. To delete all the pictures, users must enter the playback menu. From there, users can also rotate, protect, resize, copy, and add to a print order.

The camera has another editing option, but it isn’t available from the menu. The one-touch portrait button can be pressed in the playback mode to activate the D-Lighting compensation function. This displays a before and after picture side by side, then allows users to confirm whether to save a separate file with the automatically fixed exposure. Slide shows can also be played with the pictures showing up for 2-10 seconds each and the show having a loop turned on or off.

The slide show function isn’t as exciting as the Pictmotion by muvee feature though. It lets users choose from 5 transition effects (Motion, Moody, Pro-Slow, Pro-Fast, Classic) for Pictmotion movies or up to 30 images – as long as users have a separate SD card (the function doesn’t work on the internal memory). The effects are then played to a soundtrack. There are five soundtracks preloaded on the camera (High Speed, Emotional, Neutral, Up-Tempo, Relaxed), and users can add another five with the included PictureProject software – if they have a Windows operating system. Unfortunately, the music loading system doesn’t work with Macintosh computers. There are a few other options to create these shows too. Users can choose the order the images are played in: Random or Play in Order. Users can choose whether the pictures or music is played on a loop. And users can select 10, 20, or 30 images for the show.

The one-touch portrait button has other functions when in the recording mode. It activates Nikon’s face-priority auto focus mode and the digital red-eye fix function. The other scene modes can be found in the virtual Mode dial under the Scene position. There are four modes with “assists” as Nikon calls them. These provide yellow brackets and circles to help users frame their subjects properly. Portrait, Night Portrait, Landscape, and Sports all have the “assists.” The other scene modes are as follows: Party/Indoor, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Night Landscape, Museum, Fireworks Show, Close Up, Copy, Back Light, Panorama Assist, and Dawn/Dusk. The Panorama Assist mode is different from other cameras’ similar modes in that the Nikon’s allows users to change the direction of the assist to up, down, left, or right. Most cameras only shoot right to left or vice versa. From the Mode dial, there is also a High Sensitivity mode that uses the top ISO 1600 setting to capture subjects without the flash in low light. Pushing the OK button also activates the camera’s Anti-Shake mode, which uses high ISO and electronic vibration reduction in conjunction with the Best Shot Selector. This mode snaps shots as long as the shutter is held down, and then saves only the one it thinks is sharpest. This mode doesn’t work very well though because the screen blacks out after taking the first shot and doesn’t return a live view again until the button is released. In all of the scene modes, only the image size and exposure compensation can be adjusted. Overall, the scene mode selection is decent but it would be more intuitive if they were all placed in the same menu.

External Reviews
Imaging Resource Nikon Coolpix S7C ePhotoZine Nikon S7C Digital Camera R... DigitalCameraReview.com Nikon S7C Digital Camera R... Popular Photography Camera Review: Nikon Coolp... PC Mag Nikon Coolpix S7c More

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Nikon Coolpix S7C

First Impressions Review