Nikon Coolpix S1 Review posted
By
Dave Etchells
(Tuesday, June 14, 2005 - 18:46 EDT)
Nikon's Coolpix line of consumer digicams has always been well-received, appreciated for their image quality and ease of use.
The Nikon Coolpix S1 starts a new design trend for the company, packing a lot of features, a 5.1-megapixel CCD with 3x zoom lens, and a surprisingly large 2.5-inch LCD into a very small, attractive package. The Nikon S1 shares some common limitations with other tiny subcompact models, in the form of limited battery life and a tendency to produce soft corners in its images, but these shortcomings seem to be more or less universal tradeoffs required by the tiny form factor.
Image-wise, the Nikon Coolpix S1 delivers very bright, snappy-looking photos with vibrant, hue-accurate color and plenty of detail for making large prints. The S1's color is indeed very bright: This will appeal to a majority of consumers, who have again and again shown a strong preference for bright color, but may be a bit too "hot" for those accustomed to the more restrained color of higher-end and professional digital camera models.
The Nikon S1 is intended as a take-anywhere "pocket" camera, rather than a bells-and-whistles/ultimate image quality mainstay for the photo enthusiast, and does quite well at the task for which it was intended. For the those willing to delve just slightly deeper than "just pushing the button," The Nikon S1's extensive scene modes and unique framing-assist options greatly extend its capabilities, making it easy to bring back good-looking shots of what might otherwise be difficult subjects. All in all, a nice little subcompact digicam, worthy to be called a "Dave's Pick."
Read our review of the Nikon Coolpix S1 for all the details!
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