Nikon COOLPIX S630 review

One of four new S-Series launches from Nikon, the S630 focus is on style and simplicity, but we cut through the sass to see if it's a solid buy or a useless piece of eye-candy…

The Coolpix, the compact species of the well-established Nikon brand. But unlike the solid reputation its top-flight DSLR range exudes, the manufacturer has struggled to replicate the same level of success in the point and shoot branch of its operation. Plagued with lens errors, exposure and stabilisation issue, traditionally members of Coolpix range have been out-classed by many of its market competitors, deriving from brands less established and often cheaper than the Nikon fledglings. So does one of its latest launches break the mould?

The Coolpix S630 hit shelves in March with three other S-series siblings. The quartet of new-comers join the series pitched as status seekers looking for a device exuding style, speed and simplicity. Furthermore it is a ‘style’ feature which has been employed to set the S630 apart from its launch stable-mates, sporting an unusual inward curvature of the right side, offering a slightly thicker end, known as the ‘Sure grip’ aimed at providing a more comfortable finger-fit. Elsewhere the aesthetics are much more traditional. The top-ledge hosts on/off button and zoom dial. A 2.7” LCD screen, featuring a market-average 230,000 pixels, shares the rear panel with the afore mentioned grip as well as a Rotary Multi Selector (spinning D-Pad), and buttons for shoot mode, playback, Menu and delete. Nikon claims the product is available in Black or Ruby Red, but having road tested the latter in various lighting conditions, we can opine that the hue is more akin to pink. Connections and battery-cum-card compartment are securely tucked away. On the whole a pleasingly stylish bit of kit, but one small niggle is the positioning of the exp comp symbol which has been relegated onto the right edge of the device as if a misplaced after thought.

It’s feature-set certainly makes for interesting reading and can claim to offer more than many of its peers: 12MP CCD sensor when competitors in this price range hover around 10MP, 7x optical zoom NIKKOR lens (usual for the price point is 5x) with a wider aperture range than most (f3.5-5.3). It offers one of the highest ISO capabilities we’ve seen for its stature (6400), white balance can be affected through five preset options (daylight, incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy and flash) and slow sync is included in the flash palette. What is more the internal memory of 44MB will accommodate a handful more shots than the market-standard 24MB, and users may need the extra room as the camera can power out up to 10fps in Sports Continuous Mode, where others struggle to reach 7. The kit also features image-sensor shift VR technology, a pleasing addition as stabilisation issues resulting in blurred shots have crippled many in the Coolpix clan.

On paper the S630 makes for an exciting read but given the inconsistency of the Coolpix range in terms of performance, we weren’t expecting a thoroughbred. However we have to declare we were very impressed by the S630. Operating the device was as simple as the brand makes out. The scene mode is easy to navigate to and use, and inputting your own choice of commands such as white balance, exposure comp and flash are a doddle. More advanced photographers may lament at the restriction of auto but there are ways of using the scene feature-set for a more creative end.

The image results of the S630 were equally surprising. On 90% of occasion the compact excelled punching out shots with little lag, that resonated bright life-like colours, rich blacks, crisp details and strong in texture. There was little in the way of exposure qualms when using Scene mode, however in auto there was a tendency for overexposure. On the whole metering was fantastic and certainly above and beyond our expectations. Flash was strong but marginally diluted skin tones and flattened textures, but without it we noticed the blur that we had expected finally crept in during low light shooting so a tripod or some method of support is recommended at all times once the light fades, however in well-lit environments this was not an issue and the stabilisation technology was a real boon for macro shots in particular. Chromatic aberrations occurred in some instances mainly on overcast days or in low light. Noise was uncomfortably visible at ISO 800 and above and featured in the shadows at 400 and above, and finally results at full zoom housed a significant amount of noise with subjects blocky and distorted, the results of which are quite unusable.