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Nikon Coolpix S550 Digital Camera Review

The Nikon Coolpix S550 is a 10 megapixel digital camera with a 5x optical zoom lens. It is small enough to slip into most pockets.

Why Buy the Nikon Coolpix S550?
If you like the idea of a smaller camera, but would like a bit more zoom power than many pocket compacts offer then the Coolpix S550 may fit the bill. It also scores well for ease of use and comes with many of the more popular features such as image stabilisation and face detection for sharper portraits.

Image Quality Nikon Coolpix S550 test shots

Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
One point I like about Nikon digital cameras is the combination of colour and brightness. This helps to produce vibrant photos as seen in my first test shot. There is a small amount of detail lost from the boats towards the right of the picture. This problem is only likely to become an issue if you plan to make larger prints.

Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
This is another decent effort. Again, I like the colours in the shot. Owing to the distant scene, this is a tough shot for focusing, but the Coolpix S550 handles the scene well enough.

Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
With the zoom lens fully utilized focusing is not as sharp as in the first two photos. The photo is noticeably softer as you move towards the edges. This is particularly evident in the trees and bushes on the right hand side of the photo.

Outdoor 4 (Building)
For my outdoor scenic shots I have an issue with the focusing options offered by Nikon digital cameras. Most other cameras give you an option to select multi point focusing. This means the camera will select a large number of points right across the photo and check they are in focus. My belief is that this helps to produce landscape type shots where focusing is strong for the majority of the photo. Nikon do not normally provide this option and instead use an automatic focusing mode where the camera decides the areas it wishes to focus on.

In this shot, focusing again drifts, especially on the right hand side. This may or may not be a problem for you. It will depend on the type of photographs you plan to take and whether or not you plan to make prints larger than the standard snapshot sizes.

Outdoor Portrait
Working closer to the subject all the focusing issues has gone away. There is plenty of colour in the skin tones and this suggests the Coolpix S550 is able to producing pleasing family snapshots for your album.

Indoor Portrait without Flash
This is a good effort. It possible could have been a shade brighter, but overall the photo works well.

Indoor Portrait with Flash
With flash, the photo is not surprisingly a lot brighter. Despite the flash being used, the Coolpix S550 has managed to retain plenty of colour in the photo.

Colours
As mentioned earlier I like the colours produced by the Coolpix S550. In fact, when it comes to reproducing colours in photos, Nikon is one of my favourite brands.

Macro
I have no problems with the quality of the macro photo, but you need to take into account that this Nikon digital camera can only focus once it is 10cm away from the subject. This may not sound a lot, but it means that most close up shots will need to be cropped to achieve a true close in effect.

ISO 400 and 1600
The Coolpix S550 handles noise quite well at ISO 400. It is only in more shady areas where the problem becomes apparent. As ISO 1600, noise can be seen throughout the photo.

Overall
If I could have achieved better focusing results with some of more distant test shots, I would have been very happy with the Coolpix S550.

Shutter Lag
A single photo was on the slow side (0.59 seconds without flash, 1.72 seconds with flash). Reeling off a few consecutive shots was better (9.83 seconds for 5 shots without flash, 12.20 seconds for 5 shots with flash).

It took 2.62 seconds to turn the camera on and take a photo.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

Style: The Coolpix S550 is a straightforward, no nonsense digital camera. It is a pretty standard rectangular shape. It is available in blue, black and plumb.

Dimensions: 51 x 88 x 22mm

Weight: 120g

Batteries: Lithium Ion. Both a battery and charger are supplied with the camera. Nikon estimates you should be able to take around 220 shots in between charges.

Memory cards: Nikon have built a generous 52mb of storage into the Coolpix S500. This is plenty to give the camera a thorough test. I was able to take 31 photos before the memory was full. To enhance the camera’s storage capacity you will need to pick up an SD or SDHC memory card.

Ease of use rating: Very Good. As with Nikon digital cameras in general it should not take you long to find your way around. The menu design is simple and clear.

Points I like: Ease of use
Where it could improve:
Soft focusing on scenic shots

Alternatives
Another straightforward, pocket sized camera with 10 megapixels and a 5x optical zoom is the Sony DSC W170.

Verdict:
The Nikon Coolpix S550 is an effective, pocket sized digital camera. It takes bright, colourful photos. I would like to have seen greater sharpness in my scenic test shots, but aside from that I have no real complaints. The Coolpix S550 also scores well for ease of use.

Front View

Verdict:
The Nikon Coolpix S550 is an effective, pocket sized digital camera. It takes bright, colourful photos. I would like to have seen greater sharpness in my scenic test shots, but aside from that I have no real complaints. The Coolpix S550 also scores well for ease of use.

Back View

Verdict:
The Nikon Coolpix S550 is an effective, pocket sized digital camera. It takes bright, colourful photos. I would like to have seen greater sharpness in my scenic test shots, but aside from that I have no real complaints. The Coolpix S550 also scores well for ease of use.

Top View

Verdict:
The Nikon Coolpix S550 is an effective, pocket sized digital camera. It takes bright, colourful photos. I would like to have seen greater sharpness in my scenic test shots, but aside from that I have no real complaints. The Coolpix S550 also scores well for ease of use.

Sample Menus

About the Author

Nikon Digital Camera Reviews

Cameras.co.uk

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