Digital Home Thoughts: The Nikon Coolpix S700: Small with Plenty of Options

My Point and Shoot Background
Nikon Canada sent me a Nikon Coolpix S700 to take a look at, and it was just in time for my Microsoft Mobius 2007 trip to Amsterdam - so I took it along for the journey. This is a fast look at what the S700 offers, and what it was like using it for a week in Amsterdam. A bit of background: I was a Canon digital camera owner for years, and rarely used anything else. After I outgrew my first-generation digital Rebel, I naturally looked to Canon for my next DSLR...but when I laid my hands on the Nikon D200 with a 18-200mm lens, it was love at first sight. I haven't looked back since, and am an unabashed Nikon DSLR fan. When it comes to smaller, point and shoot (P&S) cameras, I still tend to buy Canon: I've owned an SD110, SD400, SD800, and now an SD870. I've been an all Canon P&S guy, with the exception of a brief and regrettable fling with two Casio Exilims. I'd never seriously looked at Nikon's P&S cameras, so I figured it was time I check out one of their high-end models: the Coolpix S700.

Getting to Know the Coolpix S700
Let me quickly go through the list of notable features on the S700: 12.1 megapixel resolution from a 1/1.72-in. CCD sensor, a metallic body with great fit and finish, the new EXPEED™ image processing engine reduces noise, 3x Optical Zoom-Nikkor f/2.8-5.4 lens (equivalent to 37-111mm in the 35mm world), 2.7-inch 230K pixel LCD monitor with wide-angle and vertical viewing, Image Sensor Shift Vibration Reduction (VR), high-Sensitivity mode (auto), and manual up to ISO 3200, face-priority AF with 12-face detection, in-Camera Red-Eye Fix, and "D-Lighting" which is Nikon's name for shadow elimination (dynamic lighting boost). You can check out the rest of the specs over on Nikon Canada's site. The camera takes images in a variety of resolutions, including 4000 x 3000 (12M), 3264 x 2448 (8M), 2592 x 1944 (5M), 2048 x 1536 (3M), 1024×768 (PC), 640×480 (TV), 3968 x 2232 (16:9).

Physically, the camera is very well-built. It's slightly smaller and lighter than my Canon SD870, so the S700 was easy to carry. It's not as slim as some cameras out there, such as the Casio Exilim line, but I decided about two years ago that I was willing to put up with a bulkier P&S camera in order to get quality pictures. The screen is about average, no crazy high resolution display here, about the same as most. The controls are easy to understand and use - the 360 degree rotating pad took me a bit to get used to, but once you use it to quickly go through all your images, every other system seems a bit archaic. And speaking of going through your images, there's a great calendar mode that people who keep images on their camera for a long time will appreciate. Though if you're one such person, I'd strongly encourage you to back up your images onto your computer rather than leaving them on the memory card for months and months.

A Lot of Options for a P&S Camera
Movie options offered are 640 x 480, 320 x 240, 160 x 120, a time-lapse movie, and a stop motion movie (with options for 5fps, 10fps, and 15 fps). That's an impressive list, and more options than many P&S cameras offer (including my Canon SD870). Interval timed shooting is also offered, with settings including 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, and 60 minutes. There's also a one-button voice recording that allows you to record a separate audio file up to 20 seconds long (in WAV format - here's a sample) that matches the file name of the image you just took. Unfortunately it only works in playback mode - it would be great to be able to press the record button right after taking the picture without having to switch modes. The S700 has a lot of flexibility with ISO and exposure settings: ISO can be set to auto, or anything from 64 to 3200. Pressing right on the control pad brings up the exposure compensation, which allows you to go +2 or -2 stops. Pressing up allows you to control the flash, pressing left brings up the self-timer, and pressing down controls the macro setting. It's a very fast, efficient way of accessing commonly used controls.

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Tags: Nikon S700, point and shoot

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