Nikon Coolpix S700 Review
Review Date: May 15th 2007
Author: Gavin Stoker
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Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were captured using
the 12M (4000 x 3000) JPEG setting producing
a file that is between 3.5-4.5Mb.
Noise
The Nikon Coolpix S700 has 8 ISO settings. Up to and including ISO 400 noise is well under control, becoming immediately obvious at ISO 800, and increasing notably at ISO 1600 and 2000 but not to such a degree that the image becomes throwaway. If noise appears less of a problem at ISO 3200, that's only because the camera's resolution has significantly dropped to five megapixels to compensate, detail smoothed out and lost in the process. Stick to ISO 400 and below and you'll be OK. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise
levels for each ISO setting.
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 at the
default setting are just a little on the soft side and benefit
from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop.
Alternatively you can change the in-camera sharpening level
if you don't like the default results.
Chromatic Aberrations
The Nikon Coolpix S700 handled chromatic aberrations very well during the review. Some limited purple
green fringing was present around the edges of objects only in high-contrast
situations and at the edges of the frame, as shown in the examples below.
Macro
The Nikon Coolpix S700 offers a Macro setting that allows
you to focus on a subject that is 6cms away from the camera.
The first image shows how close you can get to the subject
in Macro mode (in this case a compact flash card). The second
image is a 100% crop.
Flash
The flash settings on the Nikon Coolpix S700 are Forced flash, Auto
with Red-Eye Reduction, Anytime Flash,
Flash Cancel, Redeye reduction with slow sync, and Slow sync. These shots of a white coloured
wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.
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Auto Flash - Telephoto (111mm) |
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And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, both the
Flash On setting and the Red-Eye Reduction option caused a
small amount of red-eye.
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Flash On (100% Crop) |
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Flash - Red-Eye Reduction (100%
Crop) |
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Night Shot
The Nikon Coolpix S700 maximum shutter speed is 4 seconds, which is not very good news if you're
interested in night photography. The shot below was taken
using a shutter speed of 0.5 second, aperture of f/2.8 at ISO
800. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the
quality is like.
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Night Shot (100% Crop) |
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Overall Image Quality
The Nikon Coolpix S700 looks beautiful, sure, but the images it takes lack punch and appear rather flat straight out of the camera – colours are on occasion a little wishy-washy when the S700 is left to its default devices. Luckily there is a vivid colour option to provide a little more of a kick in-camera. Though the level of detail captured is more than respectable, its results don't appear all that different to those provided by an 8 megapixel sensor. Still, metering is accurate and exposures are commendably even, while any pixel fringing is well disguised. The softening effect of camera shake is also notably absent for the most part, which is undoubtedly another plus. As for noise levels when shooting interiors without flash – up to and including ISO 400 it's well under control, becoming immediately obvious at ISO 800, and increasing notably at ISO 1600 and 2000 but not to such a degree that the image becomes throwaway. If noise appears less of a problem at ISO 3200, that's only because the camera's resolution has significantly dropped to five megapixels to compensate, detail smoothed out and lost in the process. Stick to ISO 400 and below and you'll be OK. So overall the image quality from the Nikon Coolpix S700 is about what we'd expect from this class of camera – nothing more, nothing less, and there's little to really take issue with.
 PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the Nikon Coolpix S700 have
been submitted to DIWA
for comparison with test results for different samples of
the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
member sites.
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