Nikon Coolpix S630 Digital Camera Review

The Nikon Coolpix S630, is an easy-to-use point-and-shoot, with a decent zoom and good still image quality, though light on the manual controls. It shoots 12-megapixel images, has a 7x zoom lens in a compact body, but is stuck with standard definition for video mode as the competition moves to high def. It's available for $280.

One of the most immediately apparent features of the S630 is its distinctive curved design, which gives it a touch of visual flair, but retains an enlarged grip to make for easy handling. It also incorporates a scroll wheel on the back of the camera, which lets you go through menus, or browse images, incredibly fast, and is far less cumbersome than relying only on a four-way pad.

While there weren't a huge number of manual controls on the S630, it did have some nice features. The ISO range of 64-1600 at full resolution and up to 6400 at reduced size was particularly appealing. Nikon's interval timer can provide for some interesting shots, and the ability to significantly boost the camera's burst speed by reducing image size is also handy. There are also many scene modes and in-camera editing tools, which makes this camera handy for people who don't want to fiddle with manual controls, or edit on a computer.

Performance (read in-depth performance coverage at DigitalCameraInfo.com)

In our lab testing, the S630's strong point was its still image quality. It had very low image noise, above average color accuracy, and the lens distortion was better than just about any other point-and-shoot we've seen. In terms of sharpness and chromatic aberration, it was on par with most other cameras.

The S630's troubles were mostly in its video mode. It can only shoot in standard definition, which is increasingly rare in modern cameras. The other major problem was that while in video mode, the Nikon loses almost all of its image controls, including white balance. Combine the two factors, and the camera had very low video sharpness and highly inaccurate video color, two black marks against the camera. It also performed below average in image stabilization and shot to shot speed, though the last was slightly compensated for by being able to bump up the speed at the cost of image size.

Comparisons (read in-depth comparisons at DigitalCameraInfo.com)

We compared the Nikon Coolpix S630 to the pocket-sized and low-on-controls Canon PowerShot SD780 IS and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T900, as well as the comparatively full-featured Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX580.

The Canon SD780 is a much slimmer camera that offers HD video, but only a 3x zoom to the Nikon's 7x. In still image performance, the Nikon outperformed the Canon in color, noise and some areas of resolution. The Canon, on the other hand, was marginally faster for burst mode, and had much better video quality. Both cameras had similar levels of control, but the Canon's small size lends it more for something you can just throw in your pocket and have constantly, while the Nikon's big zoom makes it larger, but more flexible.

The Panasonic is a very different beast to the Nikon. It's around $100 more expensive, and includes a full suite of manual controls. People who like to be able to set every detail of their camera will love its ability to shoot in manual, shutter priority and aperture priority modes. However, in every test except video, it scored lower than the Nikon, often substantially. The differences in color accuracy and noise are particularly notable.

The Sony T900 is another camera designed for easy, pick up and play, use. It's slim on the controls and even slimmer in size. One of the T900's major selling point is its 920,000-dot touch screen, which is used for just about every task on the camera. While it looks gorgeous, it felt inaccurate, and was frustrating to use. In terms of comparative performance, the Nikon only won out in resolution and image noise. The Sony had more accurate color, much better image stabilization, faster burst rate, and a far better video mode.

For a more in-depth review, visit the Nikon Coolpix S630 Review at our partner DigitalCameraInfo.com