Nikon Coolpix S10

Reviewed January 2007

Test Photos

STILL LIFE PHOTO

This subject is photographed in a room that has a mix of fluorescent and incandescent light, but which is not brightly lit. The camera's flash is used to add fill light. The backdrop is 1.95 m (6.5 ft) from the camera.

With the zoom at the wide angle end, and the camera set to its default settings and the Auto shooting mode, the Coolpix S10 yields a photo that is a touch too dark. To brighten up the image, flash exposure compensation is adjusted to +0.7 EV producing a much better image that is evenly lit and which shows no loss of brightness in the corners.

ZOOM PHOTO

Now we zoom in on a specific area. The intent is to test the sharpness of the image at the zoom's maximum setting. The camera remains at the same distance as with the preceding photo.

At the maximum telephoto setting of the zoom, the camera only frames a small section of the subject. The level of detail the lens can capture is high enough that the texture of the old photographic paper envelope is visible, as is the printing screen.

The colours the S10 produces are very natural, even under this mix of lighting sources, and compare well with those it captured with the zoom at the widest angle.

Used in Macro mode — be it by selecting the Macro focus or by using the Close Up mode — the Coolpix S10 allows a minimum focus distance of 4 cm (1.6 inch) from the subject to the front element of the lens as long as the macro indicator on the monitor remains green. This Macro focal length range extends to approximately 80 mm (35 mm equivalent). At this minimum distance, the width of the field of view that the camera captures is approximately 4.4 cm (1.76 inch).

BUILDING PHOTO

This image is our outdoor test. The architecture of the building, in particular the angled girders, immediately show the presence of jaggies. The shadowed entrance can also often reveal the quality of the exposure.

The colours the Coolpix S10 captures are very natural, without any excessive saturation, and the Matrix metering yields a perfect exposure.

As noted earlier, with the zoom at the wide angle end, sharpness is a bit soft in comparison to telephoto shots when the image is inspected at 100% on a monitor. There is no chromatic aberration at this focal length; and while nearby subjects can reveal barrel distortion, it is not noticeable with a subject such as this.

ZOOM PHOTO

Zooming in on the entrance of the building, the shadowed entrance takes on a greater importance for the metering and can cause an overexposure of sections that are directly lit.

This image illustrates the value of a real optical stabilization system such as the one available with the Coolpix S10. At the maximum magnification of the zoom, the slightest movement of the photographer is amplified and can result in an image blurred by camera shake. But, helped by the optical stabilization system, this image turns out sharp as can be seen in the image below, cropped from the full-size image. The small sign on the door is perfectly legible, although the shot was captured hand-held. Moreover, the exposure is perfect, revealing detail in the directly lit areas and in the shadows.

NIGHT PHOTO

Since this camera offers a Night Scene mode, so a photo taken at night is included here.

The Coolpix S10, although it offers a Night Landscape mode, is not really ideal for night photography. The mode has a maximum exposure time of 2 seconds, for which the camera compensates by increasing sensitivity up to 400 ISO, and adjusts the white balance automatically.

The results obtained with this mode were less than stellar, the images containing a lot of noise, while colours were thrown off by the artificial lighting of the subject.

Using the Auto Shooting mode, and setting the white balance to Incandescent and the sensitivity to 200 ISO, produced better images.

Although the image does not reveal any more detail than can be perceived with the naked eye, at 200 ISO the level of noise remains acceptable, and the incandescent setting for the white balance allows the camera to record colours that are close to reality. (Worth noting, the halos visible around the lights are due to the presence of fog, common at this time of year, and not to the camera.)