Nikon COOLPIX S640 review

The latest Coolpix offers super-quick focusing

Let’s be honest here, the Coolpix S640 is an unremarkable-looking camera. However, appearances can be deceptive – under the skin, the S640 packs a lot of technology. Indeed, Nikon makes the bold claim that this innocuous camera is its fastest-focussing compact ever.

But first, back to the styling. Our test camera is finished in what Nikon calls Calm Black which is classy but a bit dull, despite the gold highlights. However, choose another colour and we reckon the S640 will come alive.

The camera is a conventional box shape but small and slim enough to carry in a pocket. It’s pleasant enough to hold but the glossy surfaces do make it slippery; the only nod to ergonomics being a half-hearted thumb grip on the top right back.

Actually, there seems to have been little thought gone into the ergonomics of the controls, either. The zoom lever is small and made from slippery metal, while the scroll wheel on the back is smaller than it needs to be, stands proud of the body and is plain ugly.

That said, the scroll wheel, together with the four buttons around it, allow you to access the various menu items on the screen quickly and easily. Which is a good job because you even have use it to set the shooting mode; after first pressing the mode button. Fiddly if, say, you want quickly to switch to video mode. What’s more, to access some of the subject settings you have to delve further into a submenu. Oddly, though, some lesser-used functions, such as the macro setting and exposure compensation can be accessed directly and quickly by pressing an edge of the scroll wheel.

The S640 is turned on by a small, depressed button on the top plate. The lens pops out and the LCD screen comes on immediately but then there’s a four-second wait for all the systems to come online ready for use. From then on, though, there’s no more waiting. The autofocus is remarkably fast – almost up to DSLR standards – at all focal lengths and at all subject distances. Even in low light, focusing is swift and accurate, thanks to the bright focus-assist lamp.

We enjoyed using the camera in its fully automatic focus mode, where the camera selects from nine focus areas. Delve into the menu options and you can also choose to select the focus area yourself; by using the scroll wheel to move a square around the LCD. There’s also the usual tracking AF which following a moving subject. The last focus option is the clever Face Priority which recognises a face and insures it’s sharp.

Speaking of faces, a neat feature is Smart Portrait mode. When this is selected (again by scrolling through menus), you don’t even have to press the shutter to take a photo. Simply point the camera at a person and, when a face (or up to three) is recognised, a yellow border will appear around it in the LCD and, when the person then smiles, the shutter will automatically fire. Brilliant! Smart Portrait also softens the skin tones (the amount can be preset) and there’s a Blink Proof setting which takes two shots in quick succession to help avoid closed eyes (although this disables the flash, so it’s no use in low light).

In other respects, the S640 performs as you’d expect, if not better. The optical zoom action is fast and smooth, while the digital zoom at the top end of the scale is slightly less smooth. Image quality across the optical zoom range is also good but it does start to struggle at the top end of the digital zoom where, not unexpectedly, pixilation becomes apparent, even in good light.

Speaking of light, the S640 has an ISO range from 100 up to a heady 6400 and, unless you set it to do otherwise, the camera will set a suitable ISO. In good light and for flash it usually sticks to ISO 100 to ensure optimal image quality and even in low light, it rarely ventures over ISO 400. The ISO 6400 is, to be honest, of limited use as images shot at that speed suffer from excessive and not very attractive noise. Still, it’s rare that you’d need it, especially as the built-in image stabilisation helps ensure sharp hand-held photos, even at ¼ second.

Overall, then, the Nikon Coolpix S640 delivers what you’d expect of a quality compact, and more besides. Sure, some of the settings are fiddly to access but, let’s face it, most people using this camera are going to leave it in the full auto mode which, as we discovered, ensures great results most of the time. Also, if you’re used to the fast focusing of a DSLR, you won’t be frustrated by the S640’s snappy autofocus. All in a package small and light enough to carry with you at all times.