Nikon Coolpix S7c Review

Review Date: November 24th 2006

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Page 1
Introduction / Features
Page 2
Ease of Use
Page 3
Image Quality
Page 4
Sample Images
Page 5
Design
Page 6
Specifications
Page 7
Conclusion

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 7M Fine mode, which gives an average image size of around 1.5-2Mb.

Noise

There are 6 ISO settings available on the Nikon Coolpix S7c which you can select at any time if the camera is in the normal shooting mode. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting. There is virtually no discernible noise at the slowest settings of ISO 50 and 100, and ISO 200 isn't too bad at all. ISO 400 has more obvious noise but is still quite usable. ISO 800 is significantly more noisy and blurred but is fine if you are only making small sized prints. The fastest setting of ISO 1600 is extremely noisy and best avoided if possible.

ISO 50 (100% crop)

ISO 100 (100% crop)

   

ISO 200 (100% crop)

ISO 400 (100% crop)

   

ISO 800 (100% crop)

ISO 1600 (100% crop)

   

High Sensitivity Mode

The Nikon Coolpix S7c has a new High Sensitivity scene mode which promises to reduce blurry images, particularly of moving subjects indoors, by raising the ISO speed to a maximum of 1600 and therefore allowing for a faster shutter speed. This mode allows you to handhold the camera without using the flash and get more natural results, whilst at the same time freezing subject movement more successfully. There are some obvious drawbacks with this special mode, notably a significant increase in noise and graininess as shown below. You also need to select the mode and therefore have some idea about when it is applicable to your subject. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels.

Original

(100% crop)
   
   

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 and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. Unfortunately you can't change the in-camera sharpening level.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

   
   

File Quality

The Nikon Coolpix S7c has 2 different image quality settings available, with High being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

7M High (1.97Mb) (100% Crop)
7M Normal (1.24Mb) (100% Crop)
   

Chromatic Aberrations

The Nikon Coolpix S7c handled chromatic aberrations well during the review, with limited purple fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast situations, particularly in the corners of the photograph. The test images also revealed that the S7c is not very sharp in the corners at the 35mm wide-angle lens setting, as also shown in the examples below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)
Example 2 (100% Crop)
 

Macro

The Nikon Coolpix S7c offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 4cms away from the camera when the lens is set to tele-photo. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot

Macro Shot (100% Crop)

   

Flash

The flash settings on the Nikon Coolpix S7c are Auto, Auto with Red-eye Reduction, Flash Cancel, Anytime Flash and Slow Sync. These shots of a magnolia coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m. As you can see, there is notable vignetting at the wide-angle lens setting.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (35mm)

Auto Flash - Wide Angle (35mm)

ISO 64
ISO 64
   

Flash Off - Telephoto (105mm)

Auto Flash - Telephoto (105mm)
ISO 64
ISO 64
   

And here are some shots of yours truly. As you can see, both the Flash On setting and the Red-Eye Reduction option caused a tiny amount of red-eye.

Flash On

Flash On (100% Crop)
   

Flash - Red-Eye Reduction

Flash - Red-Eye Reduction (100% Crop)
   

Night Shot

The Nikon Coolpix S7c's maximum shutter speed is just 2 seconds, which is not good news if you're seriously interested in night photography. Also you can't set the aperture or ISO speed in this scene mode, and the S7c always seems to set a large aperture and fast ISO speed to get the fastest shutter speed possible, which isn't well suited to landscape photos. The shot below was taken in the Night Landscape mode using a shutter speed of 0.5 seconds at f/5 at ISO 400. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like (pretty terrible!).

Night Shot

Night Shot (100% Crop)
   

D-Lighting

D-Lighting lightens under-exposed parts of the image whilst ensuring that correctly exposed parts remain the same (and are not also lightened). This basically balances the shadows and highlights in a high-contrast image, for example a scene that includes deep black shadows and a bright white sky. D-Lighting is selected by pressing the One Touch Portrait button when an image is played back, so it is applied after the image has been recorded. The Nikon Coolpix S7c processes a copy of the image (which takes around 10 seconds) so that some areas of the photograph are lightened and some are left as they are. Here are some examples which show the effects of using the D-Lighting feature, showing that it works well, although there is extra noise in the images that have had D-Lighting applied to them.

D-Lighting - Off

D-Lighting - On
D-Lighting
D-Lighting
   
D-Lighting - Off D-Lighting - On
D-Lighting D-Lighting
   

Electronic Vibration Reduction

The Nikon Coolpix S7c has an Electronic Vibration Reduction mode, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took a handheld shot of the same subject with the ISO speed set to 50. The first shot was taken with Electronic Vibration Reduction turned off, the second with it turned on. Here is a 100% crop of the image to show the results. As you can see, with Electronic Vibration Reduction turned on, the images are sharper than with this feature turned off, although it's still not perfect. This feature does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.

Electronic Vibration Reduction Off (100% crop)

Electronic Vibration Reduction On (100% crop)
1/5th sec, f5, 105mm 1/5th sec, f5, 105mm
   

Overall Image Quality

The Nikon Coolpix S7c produced images of above average quality during the review period. The 7 megapixel images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpening setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop. The Nikon Coolpix S7c dealt well with chromatic aberrations, with limited purple fringing appearing only in high contrast situations and at the edge of the frame. Macro performance is about average, allowing you to focus as close as 4cms away from the subject. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with a tiny amount of red-eye and slight under-exposure. The night photograph was a weak point, with the maximum shutter speed of 2 seconds ruling out most photography after dark. The D-Lighting feature works very well with the right images, balancing out the shadow and highlight areas nicely, although at the expense of introducing extra noise. The Nikon Coolpix S7c handled noise well. The 1/2.5 inch, 7 megapixel sensor used in the Nikon Coolpix S7c produces noise-free images at ISO 50 and ISO 100, with ISO 200 and 400 looking fine and even ISO 800 proving quite usable for smaller prints. The new Electronic Vibration Reduction mode allows you to take sharper photos at slower shutter speeds than normal, although it isn't quite as effective as a true optical-based system. The lens is perhaps the weak-point of this camera, displaying noticeable vignetting and softness at the 35mm wide-angle setting (which isn't really that wide).

Page 1
Introduction / Features
Page 2
Ease of Use
Page 3
Image Quality
Page 4
Sample Images
Page 5
Design
Page 6
Specifications
Page 7
Conclusion

DIWAPhotographyBLOG is a member of the DIWA organisation. Our test results for the Nikon Coolpix S7c 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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