LITTLE ROCK — Camera phones are giving compact digital cameras a push toward oblivion. One camera company is pushing back.
It’s very easy to just grab the phone to take pictures. Most phones nowadays have digital cameras with 5 to 8 megapixels, which create decent pictures and, in some cases, high-definition video.
But cell-phone cameras aren’t perfect. Some of them lack zoom, and if they have it, it isn’t very good. It’s also easy to clutter up a phone’s memory with a ton of photos. Then again, most point-and shoot cameras are bulky in the pocket, especially if there’s already a phone there.
Nikon has the perfect solution with the new Coolpix S01. It’s a 10.1-megapixel camera, complete with a 3x zoom and nearly 8GB of built-in memory. It’s also a lot smaller than a camera phone. A LOT smaller - try 3 inches by 2 inches.
Yes, this camera literally fits in the palm of your hand. Heck, it even fits in the palm of my dinky hand.
Don’t be fooled by its size - the S01 packs quite a punch for such a small camera.
The S01 comes in silver, red, pink and white. It has a shutter and zoom lever on top, along with the power button and the playback button, which lets you review your photos. Most of the back is taken up with the touchscreen, which not only displays the photos and lets you see to shoot the picture, it also displays menus that are triggered by touch. A Home button to the bottom right of the screen helps you to navigate the menus easier. Finally,a small port on the bottom is used to connect the USB cable that transfers photos to a computer and charges the camera.
This is not a complicated camera. It’s very simple, very basic. There are no scene settings, no white balance settings, no ISO light sensitivity settings - the camera decides all of that for you. It does have a couple of shooting modes, for those who like sepia or black-and-white photography. It also has a few fun filters to apply to the photos once they’re taken. You also can adjust the flash to auto, fill or turn it off. That’s about it.
The S01 doesn’t need batteries, because it has an internal, rechargeable battery that gives you two to three hours of shooting time per charge. It doesn’t need memory cards because it includes about 7.3GB of built-in memory, which holds almost 200 photos. For most people, that’s enough for a fun afternoon out and about.
I must say, the camera makes good decisions overall. I tested this camera indoors and outdoors. A lot of compact cameras tend to do well in one environment or another, but rarely both. The S01 is a delightful exception.
I started by shooting a couple of shots indoors, with and without a flash. The camera isn’t perfect in low light, and you probably will get a few blurry shots. But that’s typical for nearly every compact camera I’ve seen. Turn on the flash, and the S01 provides nice photos with great color. I have sample images available on the “Tech Spotlight” Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/Tech-Spotlightcolumn/143770982301273. All of the photos are unedited and straight from the camera.
I also shot photos of a Christmas tree indoors, both with and without flash. As expected, the photo without flash comes out heavily red and yellow, because the camera was compensating for the low light and the light on the tree. However, I still got the colors of the Christmas lights, and the photo was sharp enough to be usable. The photo with the flash really surprised me. Ordinarily, the flash kills the brightness and color of the Christmas lights. With the S01, the lights still shine.
I took the S01 outside during some of the best light for photography - sunset. The camera really caught the golden light of the setting sun in some of the shots and gave the photo the warmth I was seeking. In others, however, it overcompensated for the yellow of the sunset and made the photo look slightly too blue. However, it wasn’t extreme and easily could be corrected in almost any photo editor.
My biggest surprise with this camera was the smallest shots. The macro setting on this little point-and-shoot was incredible. I took a couple of photos of leaves, and the camera displayed every vein of each leaf. I find that hard to get with my full-size digital SLR camera without using my macro lens.
The Nikon Coolpix is a foolproof camera that is ideal for anyone who wants to carry around more than just the camera in a cellular phone. It’s basic enough for anyone to use, yet intuitive enough to produce fantastic photos time and again. It’s perfect as a Christmas gift, yet small enough to be a great stocking stuffer.
The compact camera isn’t done yet. Take that, camera phones.
Melissa L. Jones can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].
Where it’s @
The Nikon Coolpix S01 requires a computer with a USB port. It also requires the ViewNX 2 software, which can be downloaded from Nikon’s website. The camera retails for $179. More information is available at www.nikonusa.com.
Business, Pages 21 on 12/03/2012