Nikon S1 review

The S1 is an impressively stylish camera, with looks that would inspire envy in most other compacts. Its dimensions - roughly those of a credit card, only slightly thicker - make it truly pocket sized.

Most of the camera's rear is taken up by a 2.5in LCD screen. Unfortunately, it seems Nikon ran out of space for an optical viewfinder. Although the screen is clearly visible under most conditions, there are still times when a viewfinder helps to get a clearer idea of composition, especially in bright sunlight. A recessed 3x optical zoom lens with a retractable cover adds to the camera's overall sleekness. The LCD viewing screen is also recessed, but is still prone to fingerprints and scratches - you'll soon want to invest in a case, as there isn't one supplied.

Once we'd disabled Nikon's irritating animated 'welcome' screen, it was quick to start up - a couple of seconds and you're ready to go. The camera's Auto mode produces impressively well balanced exposures, even in high contrast scenes with bright highlights and deep shadows.

When reviewing images, a 'D lighting' option is available that enables you to improve the brightness and contrast of underexposed images. It unfortunately adds an obvious layer of speckled digital 'noise' to pictures - and doesn't accomplish anything that can't be done better using the bundled photo editing software.

Colour is generally good, although some outdoor shots appear slightly oversaturated. This isn't always a bad thing, though, as it does make for vibrant photos.

When using Auto mode, you only need to get to grips with a few essential controls, ranging from resolution to exposure and colour balance. These are easy to adjust. Tweaking exposure, for instance, is simply accomplished by using plus and minus controls to make the image brighter or darker. Our only real niggle about using the Nikon as a point-and-click camera is the time it takes to recover between shots. At around five seconds, this isn't terribly slow - but it is still enough to annoy; more so if you need flash - as you'll be waiting more than 10 seconds before your next shot.

Scene mode offers a range of common shooting presets, designed for shots such as portraits or landscapes. Each preset comes with submenus offering specific adjustments. Again, each of these works well. The Dusk preset realistically preserved and enhanced the colours in sunsets. The camera's Macro facility allows you to focus very close, and reveals impressive clarity even in fine details such as hair.

As with most digital cameras, purple colour fringing is evident along areas of high contrast in harshly backlit scenes, but picture quality is above average for a compact.

Getting creative with this camera could present some problems, though. Disabling the flash and relying on natural light often results in blurry pictures, as there's no option to prioritise shutter speed. That said, a 'blur' warning flashes up to ensure you reshoot.

A choice of aperture or shutter speed priority would have been extremely useful for more experienced photographers, to provide finer control over exposure.

The Nikon's built-in battery is recharged using the CoolStation dock supplied, which also allows you to transfer photos to your PC.

The Nikon has 12MB of memory built in - only enough for only 10 shots at its maximum 5-megapixel resolution. You'll definitely want to budget another £20 or so on top of the camera's £225 selling price to pay for an SD memory card.

The dinky Nikon S1 is a reasonable 5-megapixel point-and-shoot camera, with a decent optical zoom. But there are considerably cheaper options out there -many of which, such as Fuji's £117 Finepix E500, provide more flexible controls. What the S1 offers in exchange is simplicity and style. If, like legions of Apple iPod users, you'd rather pay extra for good looks and solid construction, then the S1 is still a contender. For sheer value for money, we'd stick with the Fuji.