Nikon Coolpix S5 review

Verdict:

Review Date: 23 May 2006

Price when reviewed: inc VAT

Reviewed By: Ben Pitt

Our Rating 3 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

Nikon's S5 is an extremely thin yet curvaceous camera. It uses the same chassis as the S6, which Kate Moss is currently advertising, but drops the WiFi and costs £40 less.

It's quick to use, taking two seconds between shots and just three with the flash. A continuous mode captured 31 photos in 30 seconds, although these came in erratic bursts. The options and controls are typical for a compact digital camera, and the five-way pad doubles as a wheel for quick adjustments. The li-ion battery lasted for 263 shots from a single charge.

The 230,000-pixel, 21/2" screen makes reviewing shots a real pleasure, and there's a slideshow function that pans and zooms across pictures, complete with dreadful musical accompaniment. Taking photos is a pleasant experience, although we'd prefer to have a readout of the shutter speed before taking a shot; even though you can't adjust this directly, knowing its value can help you avoid blur from camera shake. A Face Priority mode identifies faces to focus on and works well, but selecting it makes various other settings such as ISO and white balance unavailable.

Image quality was mostly excellent in our tests, with warm, vibrant colours and sharp detail, though it wasn't up the standard of Pentax's M10. There was little noise at ISO 400, but the camera tended to use long exposure times rather than high ISO speeds in low light, producing shots that were well exposed but blurred. The flash performed well in close proximity but badly when attempting to illuminate large subjects.

This is a highly desirable camera, but its stylish looks don't justify the £100 price disparity with Pentax's equally capable Optio M10.

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