Nikon 1 S2 Review

July 14, 2014 | Mark Goldstein | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star

Introduction

The Nikon 1 S2 is a new compact system camera featuring a 14-megapixel "CX" format sensor with no low-pass filter and the Nikon 1 lens mount. Boasting continuous shooting speeds of 20fps with continuous autofocus and 60fps with fixed-point autofocus, Full HD 60p video capture, an improved hybrid auto-focus system, Best Moment Capture and the unique Motion Snapshot Mode, the Nikon S2 also offers more conventional shooting modes like Programmed Auto, Aperture and Shutter Priority, as well as Metered Manual. Also on-board is a 3-inch LCD display with 460k-dots, an electronic shutter, a sensitivity range of ISO 200-12,800, latest EXPEED 4A image-processing engine, and a built-in pop-up flash. The Nikon 1 S2 is available in white, black, red and yellow. The Nikon 1 S2 retails for $450 / £380 with the 11-27.5mm f/3.5-5.6 standard zoom lens, or $700 / £430 with the 11-27.5mm standard zoom and 30-110mm telezoom lenses.

Ease of Use

The Nikon 1 S2 is mostly made out of plastic, weighing in at a mere 190g for the body only, 7g less than the previous S1model. It feels better made than the official product shots would have you believe. With an essentially grip-less design, the Nikon S2 is very much a two-handed affair that requires you to hold the camera's weight in the left hand, clutching the lens, and use your right hand for balance and operating the controls.

The Nikon 1 S2 has a clean, minimalist front plate that's dominated by the Nikon 1 lens mount. Instead of being a scaled-down version of the good old F mount, it's a completely new design that provides 100% electronic communication between the attached lens and the camera body, courtesy of a dozen contacts. Just like on the manufacturer's F-mount SLR cameras, there is a white dot for easy lens alignment, although it has moved from the 2 o'clock position (when viewed front on) to the top of the mount. The lenses themselves feature a short silver ridge on the lens barrel, which needs to be in alignment with said dot in order for you to be able to attach the lens to the camera. While this may require a bit of getting used to, it actually makes changing lenses quicker and easier.

With no lens attached, you can see the sensor sitting right behind the plane of the bayonet mount. The S2's sensor is the same 14 megapixel imager as previously used by the older J3 model. Measuring 13.2x8.8mm this "CX" format imaging chip has double the surface area of the biggest imagers used in compact and bridge cameras like the Fujifilm X20 and S200FS, but only about half the area of a standard Four Thirds sensor. In linear terms, a Four Thirds chip has a 1.36x longer diagonal than the Nikon CX imager. Given that Four Thirds has a 2x focal length multiplier, the CX "crop factor" works out to about 2.72, meaning that a 10mm lens has approximately the same angle of view as a 27.2mm lens on an FX or 35mm film camera. The Nikon 1 Nikkor 11-27.5mm standard zoom is thus equivalent to a 29.9-74.8mm (or, practically speaking, 30-75mm) FX lens in terms of its angle-of-view range.

The rest of the Nikon S2's faceplate is almost empty, featuring only the lens release button and an AF assist/self-timer lamp. There's no grip at all on the glossy smooth front of the Nikon 1 S2.

Nikon 1 S2 Nikon 1 S2
Front Rear

There are two ways of powering on the Nikon 1 S2. You can either use the on/off button sitting next to the shutter release or, if you have a collapsible-barrel zoom lens attached such as the supplied 11-27.5mm kit lens, you can simply press the unlocking button on the lens barrel and turn the zoom ring to unlock the lens, an act that causes the camera to switch on automatically. This is an ingenious solution as you need to unlock the lens for shooting anyway. Start-up takes just over a second - nothing to write home about but still decent and entirely adequate.

You can frame your shots using the rear screen - there's no optical or electronic viewfinder. The LCD screen is the same three-inch, 460,000-dot display as on the previous model, which boasts wide viewing angles, good definition and accurate colours and improved visibility in strong daylight. We missed an EVF when using the S2, as holding the camera up to eye-level helps to stabilise the lens and avoid camera shake.

The control layout is rather peculiar. The Nikon 1 S2 doesn't have a shooting mode dial - instead you have to dive into the rather long-winded and not entirely logical menu to find them. The S2's mode menu has five settings, Motion Snapshot, Best Moment Capture, Auto for beginners, the Creative mode, and Advanced Movie. The Creative mode in turn contains the PASM and a variety of scene modes.

The four-way controller on the rear also has four functions mapped onto its Up, Right, Down and Left buttons; including the "F" function, exposure compensation, flash mode and self-timer, respectively. Although this isn't a bad choice of functions, the fact that there is no ISO button will doubtlessly cause a lot of photographers interested in buying the Nikon S2 to be unhappy.

Nikon 1 S2 Nikon 1 S2
Front Side

The F button now opens a mini GUI with aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focus mode, metering, picture control white balance all available at the touch of a button, a big improvement on the S1's more limited implementation. The S2 has a a scroll wheel around the four-way pad which is used to set the shutter speed in Manual and Shutter Priority modes (once you've found them in the menu, that is). Last but not least, there are three small buttons around the navigation pad, flush against the rear panel of the camera, including Playback, Menu and Delete.

The Auto shooting mode is for beginners, with a much reduced set of options on offer (image quality, image size and continuous). The Nikon S2's Scene Auto Selector is a smart auto mode in which the camera analyses the scene in front of its lens and picks what it thinks is the right mode for that particular scene. The Creative Mode is where you will want to be most of the time. With the mode dial set to this position, you can pick your desired exposure mode from the menu. You can also choose one of the conventional PASM modes, which give you full menu access and the ability to manually set the aperture, shutter speed, or both (Program AE Shift is available in P mode). ISO and white balance can also be manually selected, but only from the menu, as already mentioned.

Of course there's AWB and auto ISO as well, with the latter coming in three flavours (Auto 100-800, 100-3200 or 100-6400) allowing you to specify how high you want the camera to go when the light gets low. You can also choose from three AF Area modes, including Auto Area, in which the camera takes control of what it focuses on (this isn't a great mode to have as your default as the camera obviously can't read your mind and may focus on something else than your actual subject); Single Point, in which you can pick one of 135 AF points by first hitting OK and then moving the active AF point around the frame using the four-way pad; and Subject Tracking, in which you pick your subject, press OK and allow the camera to track that subject as it moves around, as long as it doesn't leave the frame of course.

Nikon 1 S2 Nikon 1 S2
Pop-up Flash Top

The Nikon 1 S2 has an intriguing hybrid auto-focus system that combines contrast- and phase-difference detection in a similar fashion as the Fujifilm F300EXR did. This allows the Nikon 1 S2 to focus extremely quickly in good light, even on a moving subject. The company claims the Nikon 1 system cameras are the fastest-focusing machines in the world, and this matches our experience - as long as there's enough light. When light levels drop, the camera switches to contrast-detect AF which, though faster than on most cameras, isn't nearly as fast as the other method. It's always the camera that decides which AF method to use - the user has no influence on this.

Generally speaking, the S2 will usually only resort to contrast detection when light levels are low. In good light, we were able to take sharp photos of fast-moving subjects. The Nikon S2 certainly does not disappoint here. Manual focusing is also possible, although the Nikon 1 lenses do not have focus rings. If you want to focus manually, you first have to hit the AF button, choose MF, press OK and then use the scroll wheel to adjust focus. To assist you with this, the Nikon S2 magnifies the central part of the image and displays a rudimentary focus scale along the right side of the frame - but those are the only focusing aids you get. There's still no peaking function available as on some rival models..

The S2 has an electronic shutter (the top-of-the-range V3 also has a mechanical shutter). It's completely silent (the focus confirmation beep can be disabled from the menu) and allows the use of shutter speeds as fast as 1/16,000th of a second and, with the Electronic Hi setting selected, lets you shoot full-resolution stills at 60 frames per second. Note however that while this is a major achievement, it's limited by a buffer that can only hold 40 raw files. Additionally, the use of this mode precludes AF tracking - you have to lower the frame rate to a still very fast 20fps if you want that - and the viewfinder goes blank while the pictures are being taken. About the only application we can think of where shooting full-resolution stills at 60fps could really come in handy is AE bracketing for HDR imaging. At this rate, a series of 5 bracketed shots could be taken in less than 0.1 second, rendering small movements that can otherwise pose alignment problems - like leaves being blown in the wind - a non-issue. Alas, the Nikon S2 still doesn't offer such a feature - in fact it does not offer autoexposure bracketing at all, something that was also missing in the S1.

The Nikon 1 S2 can be set to shoot Full HD video footage, and you get to choose from 1080p at 60fps or 30fps or 1080i at 60fps, a step-up from the S1's 60i mode. If you don't need Full HD, there's also 720p at 60fps, which is really smooth and still counts as high definition. Secondly, you now get full manual control over exposure in video mode. This is an option; you don't have to shoot in M mode but you can if that's what you need. Thirdly, you get fast, continuous AF in video mode, and it works well, especially in good light. Movies are compressed using the H.264 codec and stored as MOV files.

There are separate shutter release buttons for stills and video, and thanks to this - as well as the massive processing power of the Nikon S2 - you can take multiple full-resolution stills even while recording HD video. This works in the other way round too - you can capture a movie clip even when the mode dial is in the Still Image position, simply by pressing the red movie shutter release. We found that in this case the camera will invariably record the video at 720p/60fps. New to the S2 is the Auto Image Capture mode, which analyses every video frame and automatically records a still image when conditions are best, while the addition of Fast Motion, Jump Cut, and 4-Second Movie modes extend the S2's video versatility even further.

Nikon 1 S2 Nikon 1 S2
Memory Card Slot Battery Compartment

In addition to being capable of shooting regular movies in HD quality, the Nikon 1 S2 can also shoot video at 400fps for slow-motion playback. The resolution is lower and the aspect ratio is an ultra-widescreen 2.67:1, but the quality is adequate for YouTube, Vimeo and the like. These videos are played back at 30fps, which is more than 13x slower than the capture speed of 400fps, allowing you to get creative and show the world an array of interesting phenomena that happen too quickly to observe in real time. The Nikon S2 goes even further by offering a 1200fps video mode, but the resolution and overall quality is too poor for that to be genuinely useful.

The Nikon 1 S2 can shoot both RAW and JPEG files, but annoyingly there's still no Raw + JPEG option, a rather surprising omission that perhaps reflects Nikon targeting this camera firmly to the beginner end of the market. Still, at least the S2 hasn't dispensed with RAW format support altogether.

There are now three Best Moment Capture modes. Smart Photo Selector allows the camera to capture no less than 20 photos at a single press of the shutter release, including some that were taken before fully depressing the button. The S2 analyses the individual pictures in the series and discards 15 of them, keeping only the five that it thinks are best in terms of sharpness and composition. This feature can be genuinely useful when photographing fast action and fleeting moments. The new Active Selection mode takes up to 40 full-resolution shots in less than a second and lets you choose the one to keep. The Slow View mode captures up to 40 full-resolution continuous shots and displays them in slow motion on the LCD screen, making it easier for you to select the exact moment that you want to keep from the burst sequence.

The new Creative Palette is available in the camera’s Creative Mode and effectively allows you to adjust the brightness, saturation simply by sliding your finger around the ring on the touchscreen or by rotating the multi selector dial, with a live preview before the picture is taken. In the innovative Motion Snapshot mode the S2 records a brief high-definition movie - whose buffering starts at a half-press of the shutter release, so again includes events that had happened before the button was fully depressed - and also takes a still photograph. The movie and the still image are now saved in a single MOV file, making them much easier to share than on the older S1.

The Nikon S2 now stores photos and videos on microSD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards, seemingly a consequence of the camera's reduction in size. The camera runs on a smaller EN-EL22 battery to its V3 big brother, and is consequently capable of producing considerably less shots on a single charge, managing around 230, although it does help to make the camera body more compact. This also means that changing batteries or cards is not possible while the S2 is mounted on a tripod, as the hinges of the battery/card compartment door are too close to the tripod mount.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 14 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 7Mb.

The Nikon 1 S2 captured images of very high quality, especially if you consider the size of its sensor. Noise is kept to a minimum, and only becomes disturbing at ISO 3200 in very low light, although the much noisier RAW files indicate just how much noise-reduction the J4 applies to the JPEGs. Colours are perhaps somewhat muted for a consumer camera but you can easily add a little punch by switching to the Vivid picture control. The Nikon 1 Nikkor 11-27.5mm f/3.5-5.6 lens performed admirably, with good sharpness throughout the frame and negligible purple fringing. The close-up performance of the 11-27.5mm optic is also pretty good, although there's no Vibration Reduction feature on this kit lens. The night shot came out well even with long-exposure noise reduction switched off.

Noise

The base sensitivity of the Nikon 1 S2 is ISO 100 and the highest setting is ISO 6400. The 100% crops below show what the quality is like at each setting for JPEG and RAW formats.

JPEG RAW

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

iso200.jpg iso200raw.jpg
   

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

iso400.jpg iso400raw.jpg
   

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

iso800.jpg iso800raw.jpg
   

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

iso1600.jpg iso1600raw.jpg
   

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

iso3200.jpg iso3200raw.jpg
   

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

iso6400.jpg iso6400raw.jpg
   

ISO 12800 (100% Crop)

ISO 12800 (100% Crop)

iso12800.jpg iso12800raw.jpg

Sharpening

The out-of-camera JPEGs are quite sharp but still benefit from a little sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

sharpen1.jpg sharpen1a.jpg
   
sharpen2.jpg sharpen2a.jpg

File Quality

The JPEG quality settings available on the Nikon S2 include Normal and Fine. The camera can also save photos in Nikon’s proprietary raw file format, NEF.

Fine (5.94Mb) (100% Crop)

Normal (3.84Mb) (100% Crop)

quality_fine.jpg quality_normal.jpg
   

RAW (13.7Mb) (100% Crop)

 
quality_raw.jpg  

Flash

The flash settings on the Nikon 1 S2 are Auto, Auto with Red-eye reduction, Slow Sync, Slow Sync with red-eye reduction, Rear-curtain Sync and Flash Off. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m. Some vignetting and barrel distortion is apparent at the 30mm wide-angle setting.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (30mm)

Flash On - Wide Angle (30mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64
   

Flash Off - Telephoto (74mm)

Flash On - Telephoto (74mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64

And here are a couple of portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Auto or the Auto with red-eye reduction options caused any amount of red-eye.

Flash On

Flash On (100% Crop)
flash_on.jpg flash_on1.jpg
   

Red Eye Reduction

Red Eye Reduction (100% Crop)

flash_redeye.jpg flash_redeye1.jpg

Night

The Nikon S2 has a minimum shutter speed of 30 seconds, with a Bulb setting also available for really long exposures. The shot below was captured at a shutter speed of 20 seconds at ISO 100.

Night

Night (100% Crop)

night1.jpg night1a.jpg

Active D-Lighting

Active D-lighting is Nikon’s dynamic range optimisation tool that attempts to squeeze the full dynamic range of the sensor into JPEGs. On the Nikon 1 S2, the strength of the effect cannot be modified by the user. The only available settings are on and off.

Off

On

dlighting_off.jpg dlighting_on.jpg

Picture Controls

Nikon’s Picture Controls, similarly to Canon’s Picture Styles, are preset combinations of different contrast and saturation settings. The available Picture Controls are Standard, Vivid, Neutral, Monochrome, Portrait and Landscape. The following series demonstrates the differences across these settings.

Standard

Neutral

picture_control_01.jpg picture_control_02.jpg
   

Vivid

Monochrome

picture_control_03.jpg picture_control_04.jpg
   

Portrait

Landscape

picture_control_05.jpg picture_control_06.jpg

Creative Modes

The Nikon 1 S2 offers a number of creative shooting modes to help spice up your images.

HDR

Soft

creative_01.jpg creative_02.jpg
   

Miniature Effect

Selective Color

creative_03.jpg creative_04.jpg
   

Cross Process

Toy Camera Effect

creative_05.jpg creative_06.jpg

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Nikon 1 S2 camera, which were all taken using the 14 megapixel Fine 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 1920x1080 at 60 frames per second. Please note that this 16 second movie is 74.9Mb in size.

Product Images

Nikon 1 S2

Front of the Camera / Lens Removed

 
Nikon 1 S2

Front of the Camera / Lens Fitted

 
Nikon 1 S2

Front of the Camera / Lens Extended

 
Nikon 1 S2

Front of the Camera / Pop-up Flash

 
Nikon 1 S2

Side of the Camera

 
Nikon 1 S2

Side of the Camera

 
Nikon 1 S2

Side of the Camera

 
Nikon 1 S2

Side of the Camera

 
Nikon 1 S2

Side of the Camera

 

Nikon 1 S2

Side of the Camera

 
Nikon 1 S2

Rear of the Camera

 
Nikon 1 S2

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

 
Nikon 1 S2

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

 
Nikon 1 S2

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

 
Nikon 1 S2

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

 
Nikon 1 S2

Rear of the Camera / F Menu

 
Nikon 1 S2

Top of the Camera

 
Nikon 1 S2

Bottom of the Camera

 
Nikon 1 S2

Side of the Camera

 
Nikon 1 S2

Side of the Camera

 
Nikon 1 S2

Front of the Camera

 
Nikon 1 S2

Front of the Camera

 
Nikon 1 S2

Memory Card Slot

 
Nikon 1 S2

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Nikon 1 S2 is the new entry-level model in Nikon's compact system camera range, but it's actually a very capable camera that offers most of the same features as the mid-range J4 model at around £100 / $200 cheaper.

There are a few key differences between the two models, though, most notably the all-plastic construction, lower-resolution LCD screen, older auto-focus system, no wi-fi connectivity and more crucially the non-stabilised 11-27.5mm kit lens - the more expensive J4 has a metal body, touchscreen LCD, more AF points, built-in wi-fi and ships with the better 10-30mm lens with vibration reduction. Still, people looking to trade up to a mirrorless interchangeable camera from a simpler compact or smartphone probably won't mind those difference too much, especially as we actually prefer the image quality from the Nikon 1 S2's 14 megapixel sensor over the J4 and even the range-topping V3, although the lack of wi-fi makes sharing more difficult.

If you're looking to dip your toe more seriously into the world of photography, then the Nikon 1 S2 certainly makes for a high-performing and affordable starting point that's particularly well-suited to beginners.

4 stars

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

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Nikon 1 S2.

Canon EOS M

The Canon EOS M is a new compact system camera that boasts 18 megapixels, full 1080p high-definition videos with continuous auto-focusing, and a touch-screen interface. Other key features of the EOS M include a 3-inch LCD screen with 1,040k dot resolution, ISO range of 100-25,600, and a flash hotshoe. Is Canon's new mirrorless model a real contender? Read our Canon EOS M review to find out...

Fujifilm X-A1

The Fujifilm X-A1 is a new entry-level compact system camera. The retro-styled X-A1 offers a 16 megapixel APS-C sensor, built-in flash and hotshoe, wi-fi connectivity, 5.6fps burst shooting, tilting LCD screen and Full HD video recording. Read our in-depth Fujifilm X-A1 review now...

Nikon 1 J4

The Nikon 1 J4 is the latest mid-range model in Nikon's compact system camera line-up. The J4 offers 18 megapixels, 20fps burst shooting with continuous autofocusing, Full HD 60p video capture and built-in Wi-Fi connectivity. Read our in-depth Nikon 1 J4 review now...

Olympus E-PL5

The Olympus E-PL5 is a new compact system camera that offers a lot more than first meets the eye. Also known as the PEN Lite, the EPL5 has exactly the same image sensor and processing engine as the flagship OM-D E-M5. It also boasts the World's fastest autofocus system, a 3 inch tilting LCD display, full 1080p HD movies, and an extensive range of creative filters. Read our in-depth Olympus E-PL5 review to find out if it's a true bargain or not...

Panasonic Lumix GF6

The Panasonic Lumix GF6 is a new entry-level compact system camera that offers a lot of cutting-edge features for not a lot of money. The diminutive GF6 has a tilting LCD screen, built-in wireless and NFC connectivity, fast 0.09 second auto-focusing, a 16 megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor, 1080i HD video, and a touchscreen interface. Read our Panasonic Lumix GF6 review, complete with full-size JPEG and RAW sample images...

Pentax Q7

The new Pentax Q7 is the smallest compact system camera on the market. Offering a new 1/1.7"-type back-illuminated CMOS sensor, improved low-light auto focus and an upgraded Shake Reduction mechanism, can the Q7 compete with its bigger rivals? Read our Pentax Q7 review to find out...

Samsung NX2000

The Samsung NX2000 is a new entry-level compact system camera with a lot of bells and whistles. Featuring a 20 megapixel APS-C sensor, full 1080p video, ISO 100-25,600, a 3.7-inch touchscreen, 8.6fps continuous shooting and Wi-fi / NFC connectivity, is this the best budget mirrorless camera? Read our Samsung NX2000 review to find out...

Sony NEX-3N

The NEX-3N is Sony's new entry-level compact system camera for 2013. Billed as the "world’s smallest, lightest interchangeable lens camera", the NEX-3N is also one of the cheapest mirrorless cameras on the market. It features a 16 megapixel APS-C sensor, 1080i HD movies, 3 inch tilting screen and built-in flash. Read our in-depth Sony NEX-3N review, complete with sample JPEGs, RAW files and movies.

Specifications

Type Digital camera with support for interchangeable lenses
Lens mount Nikon 1 mount
Effective angle of view Approx. 2.7x lens focal length (35 mm format equivalent)
Image sensor CX, CMOS, 13.1 mm x 8.8 mm
Effective pixels 14.2 million
Storage - Image size (pixels) Still images taken in auto, creative, and best moment capture modes (aspect ratio 3 : 2), (L) 4592 x 3072, (M) 3440 x 2296, (S) 2288 x 1528. Still images taken during movie recording (aspect ratio 3 : 2) 4592 x 3072 (1080/60p, 1080/30p) 1280 x 856 (720/60p, 720/30p). Motion Snapshots (photo portion, aspect ratio 16 : 9) 4592 x 2576
Storage file formats NEF (RAW): 12-bit, compressed, JPEG: JPEG-Baseline compliant with fine (approx. 1 : 4), normal (approx. 1 : 8) compression
Picture Control System Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, Landscape; selected Picture Control can be modified; storage for custom Picture Controls
Storage media microSD (micro Secure Digital), microSDHC, microSDXC
File system DCF 2.0, DPOF, Exif 2.3, PictBridge
Depth-of-field preview Yes
Shooting modes Auto; creative, with a choice of the following options: P, S, A, M, creative palette, HDR, soft, miniature effect, selective color, cross process, and toy camera effect; best moment capture (Active Selection and Smart Photo Selector); advanced movie (HD movie, slow motion, jump cut, fast motion and 4-second movie), Motion Snapshot
Shutter type Electronic
Shutter speed 1/16,000 to 30 s, in steps of 1/3 EV; Bulb. Note: Bulb ends automatically after approximately 2 minutes
Flash sync speed Synchronizes with shutter at X=1/60 s or slower
Release mode S (single frame), Continuous, Self-timer
Frame advance rate Approx. 5, 10, 20, 30, or 60 fps
Self-timer 2 s, 10 s
Exposure metering TTL metering using image sensor
Metering method Matrix: Center-weighted: Meters 4.5 mm circle in center of frame. Spot: Meters 2 mm circle centered on selected focus area
Mode P: programmed auto with flexible program; S: shutter-priority auto; A: aperture-priority auto; M: manual; scene auto selector
Exposure compensation –3 to +3EV, in steps of 1/3EV
Exposure lock Luminosity locked at metered value when shutter-release button is pressed halfway
ISO sensitivity 200 to 12800, in steps of 1EV, 12800 (NR); auto ISO sensitivity control (ISO 200–6400, 200–3200, 200–800) available (user controlled in P, S, A, and M modes)
Active D-Lighting On, off
Autofocus Hybrid autofocus (phase-detection/contrast-detect AF); AF-assist illuminator
Lens servo Auto AF-S/AF-C selection (AF-A), Full-time AF (AF-F), Single AF (AF-S), Continuous AF (AF-C), Manual focus (MF)
AF-area mode Single-point AF: 135 focus areas; the center 73 areas support phase-detection AF Auto-area AF: 41 focus areas
AF-area mode Single-point, auto-area, subject tracking
Focus lock Focus can be locked by pressing shutter-release button halfway (single AF)
Built-in flash Auto; Soft, Miniature effect, Selective color, Cross process, Toy camera effect (Creative mode): Flash pops up automatically and fires as required; P programmed auto, S shutter-priority auto, A aperture-priority auto, M manual (Creative mode): Manual pop-up
Guide Number Approx. 5/16 (m/ft, ISO 100, 20 °C/68 °F; at ISO 200, Guide Number is approx. 7/23)
Flash control i-TTL flash control using image sensor
Flash modes Auto, auto + red-eye reduction, fill flash, fill flash + slow sync, red-eye reduction, red-eye reduction + slow sync, rear-curtain sync, rear curtain + slow sync, off
Flash compensation -3 to +1 EV in steps of 1/3 EV
Flash-ready indicator Lights when built-in flash unit is fully charged
White balance Auto, incandescent, fluorescent, direct sunlight, flash, cloudy, shade, underwater, preset manual, all except preset manual with fine tuning
Movie - metering TTL exposure metering using main image sensor, TTL metering using image sensor
Movie - metering method Matrix: Center-weighted: Meters 4.5 mm circle in center of frame Spot: Meters 2 mm circle centered on selected focus area
Movie - frame size (pixels) and frame rate HD movies (aspect ratio 16 : 9) 1920 x 1080/60p (59.94 fps) 1920 x 1080/30p (29.97 fps) 1280 x 720/60p (59.94 fps) 1280 x 720/30p (29.97 fps). Slow-motion movies (aspect ratio 8 : 3) 640 x 240/400 fps (plays at 30p/29.97 fps) 320 x 120/1200 fps (plays at 30p/29.97 fps). Fast-motion, jump-cut, and 4-second movies (aspect ratio 16 : 9) 1920 x 1080/30p (29.97 fps). Motion Snapshots (movie portion, aspect ratio 16 : 9) 1280 x 720/60p (59.94 fps) (plays at 24p/23.976 fps)
Movie - file format MOV
Movie - video compression H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding
Movie - audio recording format PCM
Movie - audio recording device Built-in stereo microphone; sensitivity adjustable
Monitor Size: 7.5 cm (3 in.) diagonal. Resolution: Approx.460k-dot. Type: TFT LCD with brightness adjustment
Playback Full-frame and thumbnail (4, 9, or 16 images or calendar) playback with playback zoom, movie playback, slide show, histogram display, auto image rotation, and rating option
USB Hi-Speed USB
HDMI output Type D HDMI connector
Supported languages Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Marathi, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (European and Brazilian), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese
Battery One rechargeable Li-ion EN-EL22 battery
AC adapter EH-5b AC adapter; requires EP-5E power connector (available separately)
Tripod socket 1/4 in. (ISO 1222)
Dimensions (W x H x D) Approx.101.0 x 60.8 x 29.4 mm (4.0 x 2.4 x 1.2 in.), excluding projections
Weight Approx.230g (8.1 oz), with battery and memory card but without body cap; approx. 190 g (6.7 oz), camera body only
Operating environment - temperature 0 °C – 40 °C (32 °F – 104 °F)
Operating environment - humidity 85% or less (no condensation)
Supplied accessories Body Cap BF-N1000, Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL22 (with terminal cover), Battery Charger MH-29 (AC wall adapter supplied in countries or regions where required; shape depends on country of sale), lens (supplied only if lens kit is purchased with camera), Strap AN-N1000, ViewNX 2 CD, USB Cable UC-E16

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