Nikon Coolpix S1200pj Review

November 10, 2011 | Mark Goldstein | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star

Introduction

The Nikon Coolpix S1200pj is the world's third camera with an integrated projector, replacing last year's S1100pj model. The new S1200pj has a 40 percent brighter internal projector and three times greater projection contrast than its predecessor thanks to the new three-lamp (red, green and blue LEDs) system which can reproduce the entire sRGB gamut and has a contrast ratio of 200:1. Other improvements include connectivity to an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch via a dedicated cable, a 3 inch, 460k-dot TFT LCD monitor, 18 scene modes and a range of special effects and digital filters. The S1200pj's lens is a 28-140mm equivalent, 5x zoom with Vibration Reduction and an aperture range of f/3.9-5.8, while the sensor is a 1/2.3-inch CCD with a total pixel count of 14.48 million. The Nikon Coolpix S1200pj is available now in black and pink priced at $429.95 / €464.00 / £399.99.

Ease of Use

The new Nikon Coolpix S1200pj has a lot of similarities to its predecessor, the S1100pj, in terms of its form and function, so some of the comments that we made in our review of that model apply equally to the S1200pj.

The main difference between the Nikon Coolpix S1200pj and a normal compact camera becomes obvious as soon as you take a look at the front. That's because the S1200pj has not one, but two lenses - one for taking photos, and another one for projecting them onto a plain wall or canvas.

The former is in the top-right corner when viewed front on, shielded by a sliding lens cover when the camera is turned off. The latter is in a more central position below the slimline flash unit, which is now protected by a large vertically sliding switch helpfully labelled "Projector" and which even more helpfully also protects the projector and turns it on and off. There are also two tiny holes either side of the flash for the camera's speakers, an infrared receiver for the supplied ML-L4 remote control unit, and the shared self-timer/AF-assist/movie light lamp.

On the top plate there is a large shutter release button surrounded by the responsive zoom rocker switch, a small and recessed power button and one other control that's not normally found on a camera, a dial that you use to manually focus the projector lens.

The rest of the S1200pj looks more like a normal compact. The rear panel now features a 3-inch TFT LCD screen in place of the touchscreen variety that the S1100pj had. It still has a pleasingly high resolution of 460k dots though. The S1200pj's user interface no longer relies touchscreen interface of its predecessor, opting instead for a much more conventional button-driven system. So alongside the screen are more buttons than before, with the Movie Record, Shooting Mode and Playback controls joined by a traditional navigation wheel with an OK button and Menu and Delete buttons. The flash indicator lamp and a useful second infrared receiver are also found on the back. Some of the more frequently used buttons on the rear of the camera are illuminated during projection, making it easier to use them in the dark.

The Nikon S1200pj runs on a dedicated Lithium-ion battery, and records images as well as videos on SD / SDHC / SDXC cards. The battery and card share a common compartment, whose door is found on the bottom of the camera. The number of images that can be captured on a single charge is a rather average 220, though the actual figure may vary with the amount of flash and zoom usage.

There's a rudimentary but effective built-in stand for projection on the S1200pj, tilting the camera back and keeping it stable on a level surface. The tripod socket is located right next to the stand and battery compartment, so changing batteries or cards is not possible while the S1200pj is mounted on a tripod. The A/V / USB terminal is found on the right-hand side of the camera (if viewed from the back), now accompanied by a socket that connects the S1200pj to an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch via a dedicated cable (supplied in the box).

Nikon Coolpix S1200pj Nikon Coolpix S1200pj
Front

Back

There are some limitations to this connectivity though - you have to playback still images as part of a slideshow, rather than individually, you have to run the Apple device in NTSC and widescreen, and the documentation ominously states "if you upgrade the software or firmware of you Apple device, the camera may not project properly". Needless to say my iPhone running iOS 5 failed to project any images via the S1200pj.

The S1200pj's shooting lens is identical to its predecessor's - a 5x zoom of the internally stacked variety, so it does not extend upon power-up or zooming. In 35mm equivalency, it spans focal lengths ranging from 28mm to 140mm. Aperture-wise it is not particularly fast, its brightness being f/3.9 at the wide end and f/5.8 at full telephoto. Like most small-sensor digicams, the Nikon Coolpix S1200pj lacks an iris diaphragm. In very strong daylight it employs a built-in neutral density filter to avoid overexposure, but this obviously has no effect on depth of field, as the physical size of the aperture does not change.

The S1200pj has Nikon's Vibration Reduction (VR) feature on board to prevent blurring from camera shake. You won't notice anything unusual except you can take sharp photos at shutter speeds that are critically slow for the focal length used. Note that Nikon recommends to turn off the VR function when the camera is mounted on a tripod.

In addition, there are a range of other functions and modes that also help to prevent camera shake. High ISO light sensitivity up to ISO 6400 reduces the risk of blurred images, while the Motion Detection option automatically detects and compensates for both camera and subject movement. The Best Shot Selector (BSS) mode automatically selects the sharpest of up to 10 sequential shots.

The Night Portrait mode takes consecutive shots which expose the portrait subject and background separately, then immediately combines the exposures to create a blur-free portrait. The Night Landscape mode combines a series of five consecutive shots taken at a fast shutter speed into a single image with reduced noise, useful when taking handheld shots. The Backlighting mode offers an in-camera high dynamic range (HDR) function, merging several images of the same scene to achieve a single image with a broad range of tonal detail. All of these options and the Vibration Reduction system can be used at the same time if so desired.

There are four main shooting modes on the Nikon Coolpix S1200pj, accessible via a dedicated button marked with a green camera icon, which include Easy Auto, Scene, the new Special Effects mode , Smart Portrait and finally Auto. Somewhat confusingly, Auto is the mode that gives you the most control over the shooting process. You don't get to set shutter speed or aperture directly - the latter would be impossible given the lack of a diaphragm anyway - but you can set the ISO speed manually, which is something you cannot do in the other modes. Functions and features accessible in this mode include the self-timer, flash mode, image quality setting, exposure compensation, macro, drive mode, white balance, and zoom. New to the S6200 is the Effects mode, which shoots both still images or movies using a special effect, such as Soft Focus and Nostalgic Sepia.

Nikon Coolpix S1200pj Nikon Coolpix S1200pj
Side Front

The Easy Auto mode is similar to Auto, identifying the type of subject and automatically applying the optimum scene mode, but with less user control options provided. The camera also has 17 pre-programmed scene modes as well as a Scene Auto Selector. The scene modes on offer include Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night Portrait, Party/Indoor, Beach, Snow, Sunset, Dusk/Dawn, Night Landscape, Close-up, Food, Museum, Fireworks Show, Black and White Copy, Backlighting, Panorama Assist and Pet Portrait. The accessibility and behaviour of the various shooting functions (such as flash mode or autofocus area selection) depends on which shooting mode you are in. By enabling the Scene Auto Selector, you entrust the camera with picking the right scene mode at its own discretion. In this case, it can only choose from Portrait, Landscape, Night Portrait, Night Landscape, Close-Up and Backlighting.

In the Smart Portrait mode, the face priority and smile timer functions are activated. In other words, the camera hunts for human faces, keeps track of them, and if it detects a smile, it even fires off the shutter for you. The S1200pj can detect up to three faces, but it will always focus on the one closest to the centre of the frame and will only take a shot if a smile appears on that particular face. You have no way of telling the camera to focus on and monitor a different face within the frame. You can, however, take a picture any time you want to, by pressing the shutter release button as normal.

In Smart Portrait Mode, you can also have the camera digitally soften the skin of people automatically after capture. The level of skin softening can be specified by the user. The default is Normal, with a High and a Low option also available. Skin softening can also be turned off. Furthermore, the S1200pj has a blink-proof mode, in which two shots are taken in rapid succession, and if the subject's eyes happen to be closed in one of them, the camera discards that photo, while keeping the other one. The flash is disabled in blink-proof mode, as it cannot recycle fast enough.

The Nikon Coolpix S1200pj features a 720p HD video mode. The video features are rather basic: you can choose from single or full-time autofocusing, turn the movie light on or off, switch the macro mode on or off, turn wind reduction on or off, set enhanced resolution to Auto or off, and set the movie quality (1280x720p, 960x540 or 640x480 all at 30fps). You cannot manually set white balance, gain or exposure compensation, neither is there an AE lock function. The 5x optical zoom can thankfully be used while filming but the sound is still mono. The clips are compressed using the Quicktime codec and stored in a MOV container.

Once you've captured a photo or a movie clip, you can enter Playback mode via its dedicated button. The user can choose from a number of viewing modes, including full frame, magnified view, and index views of 4, 9 or 16 thumbnails. A calendar display is also available. Quite surprisingly, the camera does not display any meaningful exposure data along with the photo you are viewing; nor does it provide a histogram to judge exposure (there is no live histogram in record mode, either).

On the other hand, there are quite a few post-capture image modification / retouching functions, including D-lighting, stretching, perspective control, six creative effects - Color, Soft, Selective Color, Cross Screen, Fisheye and Miniature - plus Glamor Retouch, which applies adjustments only to faces in an image. You can also set the print order, view a slideshow with music, protect certain images, rotate and downsize them for Web resolution, add a voice memo and copy them to or from the internal memory or memory card.

Nikon Coolpix S1200pj Nikon Coolpix S1200pj
Memory Card Slot Battery Compartment

So far the S1200pj sounds like a pretty run-of-the-mill compact - but let us not forget that it has one big trick up its sleeve: the integrated projector. As mentioned earlier, you activate the projector by sliding the protective cover open on the front of the camera. Then you move the S1200pj closer to, or further from, the wall or canvas in order to achieve the desired image size. Finally, adjust focus using the circular dial on top of the camera.

The throw distance can be set from 26cm to 3.1m, while the longer dimension of the projected picture can vary between 5 and 60 inches. The apparent brightness and contrast of the image obviously depends a lot on the ambient light and the distance between the camera and the wall/canvas.

The output resolution is only 640x480 pixels - so you have a 14-megapixel camera that projects a 0.3-megapixel image. That said we didn't notice any obvious pixelation. The 20-lumen internal projector is a marked improvement on the S1100pj 14-lumen model. while the switch from a single-lamp projection system to a three-lamp (red, green and blue LEDs) system means that the S1200pj is capable of projecting roughly the entire sRGB gamut with a contrast ratio of 200:1, producing a much more vivid image than its predecessor.

Nikon have also retained the ability to project any data that is stored on a PC and being viewed on the computer screen via its USB connector, instantly making the S1200pj viable as a relatively inexpensive and portable device for business users - a clever move on their part which should widen this camera's user base.

Although the Nikon Coolpix S1200pj has a small built-in projector stand, it's a much better idea to mount it on a tripod instead when possible. That's because pictures are projected at a slight upward angle when the stand is deployed, which causes a keystoning effect. It is also recommended to use the supplied remote control unit when using the S1200pj as a projector. Finally, be reminded that the projector is rather power-hungry - it will deplete a freshly charged battery in about an hour. Purchasing the separately sold AC adapter is therefore a good idea for extended use.

The camera comes with a comprehensive manual that is also downloadable as a PDF from the Nikon website. It is quite thorough and very well cross-referenced. Nikon supplies a Software Suite CD that includes Nikon Transfer, Nikon View NX and Panorama Maker. The first two are standard Nikon camera / imaging applications, while the latter is used to stitch together images shot in the Panorama Assist scene mode.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 14 megapixel High JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 5.5Mb.

The Nikon Coolpix S1200pj produced images of above average quality during the review period. The 1/2.33 inch, 14 megapixel sensor used in the S1200pj suffers from noisy images even at the relatively slow speed of ISO 200. ISO 400 exhibits quite visible noise and colour desaturation, and ISO 800 is even noisier, although still usable for small prints. ISO 1600 is best avoided altogether, while the fastest settings of ISO 3200 and 6400 are reduced to just 3 megapixels.

The Coolpix S1200pj dealt fairly well with chromatic aberrations, with some purple fringing effects appearing mostly in high contrast situations. The flash worked fairly well indoors, with a little red-eye and adequate exposure, except in the corners of the frame at the wide-angle setting. The night photograph was poor, with the maximum shutter speed of 4 seconds not allowing you to capture enough light.

Macro performance is very good, only allowing you to focus as close as 3cms away from the subject. The images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpening setting and ideally require further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, as you can't change the in-camera setting if you don't like the default results. Anti-shake is a feature that works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range.

Noise

There are 8 ISO settings available on the Nikon Coolpix S1200pj.  Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting. Note that ISO 3200 and ISO 6400 are only available at a reduced resolution of 3 megapixels.

ISO 80 (100% Crop)

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The Nikon Coolpix S1200pj's 5x zoom lens offers a fairly versatile focal range, as illustrated by these examples:

28mm

140mm

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting. You can't change the in-camera sharpening level if you don't like the default look.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

   

File Quality

There are two JPEG quality settings available at full resolution, Normal and High. On the camera, the latter is denoted with an asterisk next to the megapixel count. The Coolpix S1200pj doesn't shoot RAW. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options.

14M High (5.29Mb) (100% Crop) 14M Normal (3.05Mb) (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

For a camera with an internally stacked zoom, the Nikon Coolpix S1200pj handled chromatic aberrations well. Here are a couple of 100% crops that show what you can expect in the worst case.

Example 1 (100% Crop)

Example 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Nikon Coolpix S1200pj has a very good macro mode. The minimum focus distance is 3cm, and optimum results are achieved with the lens zoomed in a little. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject. The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot

100% Crop

Flash

The flash settings on the Nikon Coolpix S1200pj are Auto, Flash On, Red-eye Reduction, Slow Synchro and Off. These shots of a white ceiling were taken at a subject distance of 1.5m. It is obvious that the flash struggles to evenly illuminate the entire subject at the wide end of the zoom range, but the flash coverage issue is much less severe at the maximum telephoto setting. In the photos taken without flash, we can also see a bit of light fall-off in the corners.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (28mm)

Flash On - Wide Angle (28mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64
   

Flash Off - Telephoto (140mm)

Flash On - Telephoto (140mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64

And here are some portrait shots. The flash has a red-eye reduction setting, though in this test there was not much of a redeye effect to begin with.

Flash On

Flash On (100% Crop)
   

Red-eye Reduction

Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Nikon Coolpix S1200pj's maximum shutter speed is 4 seconds in the Fireworks scene mode, which is not great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 4 seconds at ISO 80. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.

Night Shot

Night Shot (100% Crop)

Night Landscape

The Nikon S1200pj has a Night Landscape mode that increases the ISO to produce sharper results, although at the expense of greater noise.

Night Landscape

Night Landscape (100% Crop)

Vibration Reduction

Vibration Reduction is Nikon's name for anti-shake, which in the Coolpix S1200pj works via a sensor-shift mechanism. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here are some 100% crops of the images to show the results. As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with anti shake turned off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length

Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)

Anti Shake On (100% Crop)

1/10th / 28mm
     
0.5 sec / 140mm

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Nikon Coolpix S1200pj camera, which were all taken using the 14 megapixel High JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 1280x720 pixels at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 15 second movie is 17.1Mb in size.

Product Images

Nikon Coolpix S1200pj

Front of the Camera

 
Nikon Coolpix S1200pj

Front of the Camera / Lens Opened

 
Nikon Coolpix S1200pj

Front of the Camera / Projector On

 
Nikon Coolpix S1200pj

Isometric View

 
Nikon Coolpix S1200pj

Isometric View

 
Nikon Coolpix S1200pj

Rear of the Camera

 
Nikon Coolpix S1200pj

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

 
Nikon Coolpix S1200pj

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

 
Nikon Coolpix S1200pj

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

 

Nikon Coolpix S1200pj

Rear of the Camera / Projector On

 
Nikon Coolpix S1200pj
Top of the Camera
 
Nikon Coolpix S1200pj
Bottom of the Camera
 
Nikon Coolpix S1200pj
Side of the Camera
 
Nikon Coolpix S1200pj
Side of the Camera
 
Nikon Coolpix S1200pj
Front of the Camera
 
Nikon Coolpix S1200pj
Front of the Camera
 
Nikon Coolpix S1200pj
Memory Card Slot
 
Nikon Coolpix S1200pj
Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The thrid-generation Nikon Coolpix S1200pj is still the only camera with a built-in projector on the market, further refining last year's model mainly by signifcantly improving the projector unit and ditching the S1100pj's touch-screen interface. The camera element of the S1200pj is virtually identical, though, producing the same so-so image quality and being geared more towards point-and-shoot users.

The projector is much brighter, more vivid and can create a bigger projection than before. It can also now display images from a compatible Apple device using the supplied Belkin cable, although we can't actually vouch for its effectiveness as the S1200pj wouldn't play ball with out iOS 5 iPhone. Still, in theory at least it widens the camera's appeal even further, maybe even beyond its core business users.

Unfortunately similar improvements haven't been made to the S1200pj's picture quality. Noise at slow ISO speeds, light fall-off and inconsistent sharpness at the edge of the frame, and a poor night mode contribute to merely adequate photographs. Video performance is better thanks to the 720p mode, the ability to use the optical zoom during recording and the economical MOV format, although the video features on offer are still somewhat basic.

The S1200pj's user interface has been radically tweaked, now employing a conventional button-driven system rather than its predecessors more cutting-edge touch-screen LCD. We don't actually mind this more simplistic approach, as in use it proves to be faster and more reliable, aided in part by the new sliding cover for turning the projector on and off and the clever illumination of certain key controls. The slightly slimmer dimensions and more rounded appearance are also easier on the eye.

The more powerful projector and included Apple connection cable may go some way to explaining the significant increase in the price of the S1200pj, up some $80 / £50 from last year's model. A full retail cost of $429.95 / £399.99 is really going to test how much you want or need the built-in projector, as there are better camera's around for half the price of the S1200pj. Still, as Nikon still have this admittedly small area of the market to themselves, we can just about recommend the Nikon Coolpix S1200pj as an all-in-one device that can take pictures and also display them both from itself and a variety of external sources.

4 stars

Ratings (out of 5)
Design 4
Features 4.5
Ease-of-use 4.5
Image quality 3.5
Value for money 3

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Nikon Coolpix S1200pj.

Nikon Coolpix S1100pj

The Nikon Coolpix S1100pj is the World's second digital camera to feature a built-in projector, ideal for sharing your photos, videos and business documents quickly and easily with friends and colleagues. The S1100pj also offers 14 megapixels, a 5x zoom with 28mm wide-angle setting, 720p HD movies and a 3 inch LCD screen. Cheaper than last year's model, read our expert review of the Nikon Coolpix S1100pj projector camera.

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Nikon Coolpix S1200pj from around the web.

ephotozine.com »

Nikon released the first camera with a projector when they announced the Coolpix S1000pj and have released annual updates with the S1100pj and the S1200pj which we are looking at here. It is available in two colours, pink and black, and carries an RRP of £349.95.
Read the full review »

technobuffalo.com »

The Nikon Coolpix S1200pj digital camera is breed of its own, migrating a 20-lumen projector into its compact point-and-shoot body. Believe it or not, this is Nikon’s third projector cam, and after a full testing phase, I can safely report that the S1200pj features the company’s best projector to date. The projector’s throw has been increased to 10 ft. (a 3 ft. boost from the S1100pj), the LED light has been upgraded to individual RGB channels (last year’s was a single white LED) and the screen size cap has been stretched to 60 in. (last year’s was a 47 in. maximum).
Read the full review »

reviews.cnet.co.uk »

The S1200pj's projector is a neat feature, but still we find the asking price too high. Despite being a good camera at heart, it's let down by a little too much variation in brightness in some pictures. We'd rather lose the projector and, with it, lose a few pounds.
Read the full review »

Specifications

*1 Not compatible with Multi Media Card (MMC)
*2 Based on CIPA Standards for measuring life of batteries
*3 Based on CIPA Guidelines, DCG-005-2009

Effective pixels 14.1 megapixels
Image sensor 1/2.3 type RGB CCD sensor
Lens Optical 5x zoom, NIKKOR lens; Focal length: 5.0-25.0 mm (35mm [135] format equivalent to 28-140 mm); Aperture: f/3.9-5.8; Lens construction: 13 elements in 9 groups
Digital zoom Maximum 4x (35mm [135] format equivalent to approx. 560 mm)
Focus range (from lens) Approx. 30 cm (1 ft.) to infinity (at wide-angle setting), approx. 50 cm (1 ft. 8 in.) to infinity (at telephoto setting), Macro mode: approx. 3 cm (1.2 in.) to infinity (at wide-angle setting), approx. 50 cm (1 ft. 8 in.) to infinity (at telephoto setting)
Vibration Reduction (VR) Lens-shift type + electronic type (for still images), lens-shift type (for movies)
ISO sensitivity (Standard output sensitivity) ISO 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 (2048 x 1536), 6400 (2048 x 1536), Auto (ISO 80 to 800), Fixed range auto (ISO 80 to 200, 80 to 400)
LCD monitor 7.5 cm (3-in.), approx. 460k-dot, TFT LCD monitor (HVGA), clear color panel, anti-reflection coating, brightness adjustment
Storage media Internal memory (approx. 94MB) SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card1
Movie 720p: 1280 x 720 (30 fps), iFrame 540: 960 x 540 (30 fps), VGA: 640 x 480 (30 fps)
Interface/Direct print compatibility Hi-Speed USB/PictBridge/External input connector (for iPhone)
Projector Three-light, single-plate, color sequential systemBrightness: Up to 20 lumens, image size: 5 to 60 in., throw distance: approx. 0.26 to 3.1 m, endurance (battery life): approx. 1 hour with EN-EL12, resolution (output): VGA equivalent
Power sources Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL12 (1050 mAh), AC Adapter EH-62F (option)
Number of shots per charge2 (battery life) Approx. 220 frames with EN-EL12
Dimensions (width × height × depth) Approx. 107.0 x 63.4 x 22.6 mm (4.3 x 2.9 x 0.9 in.)
Weight3 Approx. 186g / 6.6 oz.
Supplied accessories Camera Strap AN-CP19 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL12 Charging AC Adapter EH-69P UC-E6 (ViewNX 2 CD-ROM and also PC-PJ Transfer ? Document-JPEG )Converter CD-ROM)
Optional Accessories Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL12 Battery Charger MH-65 AC Adapter EH-62F EG-CP16 EG-CP18

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