Nikon S7c Performance

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Nikon Coolpix S7c Performance

Timing and Performance

Good to just average speed for a consumer camera, with slow continuous modes.

Startup/Shutdown
Power on to first shot	2.1 seconds	Time it takes for LCD to turn on and lens to deploy.
Shutdown	1.5 seconds	How long it takes to retract lens and stow in your pocket.
Buffer clearing time	2 seconds	Worst case buffer clearing time. This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't retract their lenses and shut down until the buffer is cleared.
Mode switching
Play to Record, first shot	1.0 seconds	Time until first shot is captured
Record to play	4.1 seconds	Time to display a large/fine file immediately after capture
Display recorded image	0.9 second	Time to display a large/fine file already on the memory card.
Shutter response (Lag Time):
Full Autofocus Wide	0.37 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position.
Full Autofocus Tele	0.49 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at telephoto position.
Continuous Autofocus	0.61 second	Typically no advantage to Continuous AF mode, and we have no way of reliably measuring performance with moving ones.
Manual Focus	0.59 second	Usually a bit faster than AF. In the case of the H5, brings telephoto shutter lag times down to the same level as wide angle ones.
Prefocused	0.012 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.
Cycle time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode Large Fine JPEG	2.36 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Single Shot mode 640x480 JPEG	2.00 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Early shutter penalty?	No; Yes with flash	Some cameras refuse to snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.
Continuous mode Large Fine JPEG	1.15 second (0.87 frames per second); 2 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.
Continuous mode 640x480 JPEG	0.92 second (1.09 frames per second); 2 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.
Flash recycling	4 seconds	Flash at maximum output.
Download speed
Windows Computer, USB 2.0	328 KBytes/sec	Typical Values: Less than 600=USB 1.1; 600-769=USB 2.0 Low; Above 770=USB 2.0 High
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a Kingston Ultimate 133x SD memory card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode.

The Nikon Coolpix S7c's performance is just average to pretty good overall, as its normal cycle times and continuous mode speeds are lacking. Start-up time is on the slower side at 2.1 seconds, but shutter lag at wide angle and telephoto zoom settings is quite good. "Prefocus" times (half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure) are blazingly fast, with a shutter delay of only 0.012 second. Shot-to-shot cycle times are a little slow, at about 2.36 seconds for large/fine JPEGs, but the camera captures frames continuously at this rate. Continuous-mode speed is on the slower side, at only 0.87 frame/second, for large/fine JPEGs, though the camera does capture continuously at this rate. The flash is quite fast to recycle, however, at four seconds after a full-power shot. Connected to a computer, download speeds are very slow, and you might consider a card reader for quicker transfers. Bottom line, the Nikon Coolpix S7c is fairly responsive for normal shooting, though it's shutter lag and continuous speeds may not the best for fast action. Overall, though the Coolpix S7c is good for general snapshots.

Battery and Storage Capacity

Battery
Moderate battery life with the LiIon rechargeable battery pack.

Operating Mode	Number of Shots
LiIon Rechargeable Battery	200

The Nikon Coolpix S7c uses a custom rechargeable LiIon battery pack for power, and a charger is included with the camera. With its modest runtime, I strongly recommend picking up a spare battery and keeping it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage
The Nikon Coolpix S7c accepts SD/MMC cards, though no card is included; 14MB RAM is built into the camera.

Image Capacity with 14MB Internal Memory		Fine	Normal
3,072 x 2,304	Images	4	8
3,072 x 2,304	File Size	3.7MB	1.9MB
2,592 x 1,944	Images	-	11
2,592 x 1,944	File Size	-	1.4MB
2,048 x 1,536	Images	-	17
2,048 x 1,536	File Size	-	864KB
1,024 x 768	Images	-	59
1,024 x 768	File Size	-	254KB
640 x 480	Images	-	112
640 x 480	File Size	-	136KB

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity SD/MMC memory card at least a 512 MB card, preferably a 1 GB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)