Physical Tour

Front The front of the camera looks very flat, but the side with the lens in it is actually thicker than the rest of the body. The Coolpix S7c has a wave design that keeps the left edge slightly thicker and the immediate body inside thinner. The wave then crests again near the lens. The top left side of the front has a Nikon logo. The center of the right side has a Coolpix S7c logo. On the far right edge are a set of specs for the lens that are vertically aligned: "Zoom Nikkor ED 5.8-17.4, 1:2.8-5.0 VR." In the top right corner is a combination of features that look almost like one element. The built-in flash is on the left of the lens, with its window running into the side of the lens rim. The lens rim is awfully tiny, as is the window to the actual glass lens. The lens never extends from the camera. To the right of the lens is a small auto focus assist lamp. Back****

The back side of the Nikon Coolpix S7c is almost completely flat. The large LCD screen on the left is just slightly raised but doesn’t protrude enough to catch on pockets or create any discomfort when stashing in a small space. There is about an inch of space to the right of the big screen that is filled with controls. At the bottom of this strip is the multi-selector, which consists of a central OK button surrounded by a rotating dial. The top of the multi-selector does double duty by selecting the flash mode. The left side chooses the self-timer and the bottom activates the macro mode. There are icons to the side of the dial that indicate that the OK button transfers images and activates the vibration reduction mode. Above the multi-selector are two buttons aligned horizontally: the Menu button is on the left and the Delete button is on the right. In the top right corner is a curved thumb divot with bumps to aid in grip. To the left of the divot are two more buttons aligned vertically: the top switches the camera from recording to playback mode, and the bottom button changes exposure modes. ****Left Side **The left side of the S7c is a shiny polished chrome that bulges outward at the top where the WiFi antenna is housed. There is a WiFi logo on this side, near the top, along with an LED below it to indicate when the camera is connected.

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**Right Side **The right side is completely plain except for a wrist strap eyelet in the center of this side. 

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Top **The top of the Nikon S7c shows off the wave design with the crest of the wave on the left side where the lens is housed. The left edge of the top has a chrome cap on it, mainly for decoration. The skinny one-touch portrait button is also on that side. To the right of the button are four holes that make up the microphone. On the right side of the top is a chrome oval that encases three features. The tiny circular power button sits on the left edge of the chrome with a green LED next to it. The larger oval shutter release button is in the center, and a tiny zoom switch sits on the right edge of top. The zoom switch moves side to side and is tiny enough that fingernails will need to be long to make any adjustments with the lens.  **

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BottomThe bottom of the Nikon Coolpix S7c has a battery compartment door on the left side that slides toward the back and springs open on a wide hinge. The skinny battery and SD card fit into slots in here. There is a port in the center of the bottom; this connects to the included CoolStation camera dock. To the right of the port is a metal tripod socket, which is the standard quarter-inch size. The serial numbers and other information are on the right side.  

Components

 **Viewfinder There is no optical viewfinder on this digital camera, but no one will miss it with the large LCD monitor. The live view can be seen at almost any angle and its 100 percent coverage is better than any optical viewfinder anyway. The screen has great resolution making for a smooth picture. In the setup menu, users can change the info displayed on the screen in the Monitor Settings option: Show Info, Auto Info, Hide Info, and Framing Grid. I wish this was a bit more accessible but it’s better than nothing at all. The information on the screen does not show the shutter speeds or apertures, but does show basic info such as how many pictures are left on the memory, what the ISO and image size are, whether the burst is activated, etc. The LCD works great as a viewfinder with one exception. After a picture is taken, there is a blackout time that lasts anywhere from a half to a full second. LCD Screen **The Nikon S7c has a 3-inch LCD monitor with ample resolution of 230,000 pixels. The resolution provides a smoother view of images whether recording or in playback mode. The LCD has a wide viewing angle too at 170 degrees. This wide view extends both horizontally and vertically, so users can shoot from the hip or above the head or at arm’s length and still be able to see what’s on the screen. I couldn’t take the camera outside of the convention obviously, so I can’t tell you what the screen is like in daylight. However, it does have a brightness adjustment in the setup menu that brightens the screen with 5 levels. The top level looks like it’d be adequate for shooting outdoors, but once again we won’t be able to tell that until we get a model for a full review. Overall, the Coolpix S7c’s LCD screen looks like a winner with its large size and great resolution. 

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Flash **The built-in flash looks like it’s growing outward from the tiny lens on the front of the camera. It extends to the left side of the lens when viewing from the front. The flash’s published specs claim it can reach from 1-24.6 ft in wide and 1-13.1 ft in telephoto, although the ISO was not listed in the specs. I suspect that this is the flash’s range when using the higher ISO sensitivities because using the ISO auto setting, the flash certainly did not reach that far. It hardly lit up 10 ft in front of me. I couldn’t tell what the coverage was like because there was awkward lighting over the Nikon booth, but when shooting a few portraits some foreheads and hair were bright white. There is no way to tone down the flash’s output either. Here are the flash modes that can be changed with the top of the multi-selector: Auto, Auto with Red-eye Reduction, Off, On, and Anytime Flash and Slow Sync. The designated red-eye reduction mode uses the digital red-eye reduction technology that is also included with the one-touch portrait button. When the flash was forced on, it fired a pre-flash too like a standard red-eye reduction mode. Overall, the flash doesn’t look like it reaches very far and its options aren’t fantastic but if subjects are at the right distance (about 6 ft away) they will turn out illuminated without blowing out highlights. ****Zoom Lens**This Nikon has a 3x Zoom-Nikkor ED all-glass lens that remains inside the camera body at all times. When the camera is powered off, a metal plate snaps over the glass lens to keep it from getting scratched while floating in a purse or pocket. The plate snaps open quickly when starting up too. The lens itself is constructed from 12 elements in 10 groups and measures 5.8-17.4 mm. In the more familiar 35 mm format, this is equivalent to a 35-105 mm zoom. The zoom is controlled by one of the tiniest zoom switches I’ve ever seen. It is about half a centimeter at its longest measurement and hardly wider than a fingernail. It isn’t fragile – it won’t break like a fingernail. However, the switch has a peaked middle that is a bit sharp and quite uncomfortable to move. It doesn’t move far either, so fingers will have to exercise serious control on the switch. That will be hard too because the switch is not very sensitive. It stops at six focal lengths in the 3x range, so you won’t always be able to get the desired crop. When you move the switch, a horizontal bar appears on the screen that shows the ‘W’ on the left and the ‘T’ on the right. There is a live in between that shows where the optical zoom stops and where the 4x digital zoom begins; users must push the switch again to cross that line. The lens is placed in the top corner of the front, very near to where the left fingers wander. I took plenty of pictures of my ring and pinky fingers – accidentally. The Nikon Coolpix S7c has an electronic vibration reduction system that is activated with the OK button in the center of the multi-selector. It doesn’t appear to do very much; I couldn’t tell the difference between shots taken with and without it. Overall, the lens isn’t very impressive. 

Design / Layout

 **Model Design / Appearance**The Nikon S7c comes in a sleek black body that is made almost exclusively from very thin metal. The metal material makes it sound very durable, but bouncing it wouldn’t be a very good idea – especially with the large LCD screen on the back. The camera is designed much like the Coolpix S6 with its wavy figure and is very consistent in the entire ultra-slim S-series.** ****Size / Portability**The wave design allows for a relatively thin body in places while still giving the thickness the camera needs to fit the 3x lens internally. The 3.9 x 2.4 x 0.8-inch camera is built from metal but is quite light considering. Its 4.9 oz. weight does not include the card and battery, but both are very skinny and light and don’t add much to that number. There is an eyelet on the right side allowing for attachment of the included wrist strap. The ultra-slim wave design moves nicely into a pocket and there aren’t any protrusions to catch on anything as it slides in. Overall, the portability and size of the Nikon Coolpix S7c are its best assets. **

Handling Ability**The S7c’s wave design not only helps it to slip into pockets, but aids in handling too. The wave is thickest at the lens and is thicker on the edge where the right hand grips the camera. The thinnest point is where the fingers rest. Besides the wavy design, the Coolpix has a thumb divot on the back with bumps in it to aid in handling. These features go a long way, but there isn’t much else besides that. The tiny zoom control doesn’t help in comfortable handling either; it is tiny and doesn’t move far so fingers will be cramped and sore if taking more than four or five pictures at a time. The other problem with the handling is that the left fingers are likely to wander in the path of the lens, leaving pictures with a close-up shot of your fingers. **Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size The camera’s major controls are decently placed and sized. The one-touch portrait button, though, is quite thin and small along with the power button. The shutter release button is not enormous but is enough to do the job. I’ve discussed the zoom control before; once again, it is incredibly tiny and makes adjusting the zoom an uncomfortable process. On the back of the camera, the buttons are properly sized, spaced, and labeled. The navigational control is unique with its OK button in the center, a rotary dial surrounding it, and an outer ring that can be pushed like a traditional multi-selector. This is an inverse of the navigational control on the Canon PowerShot G7, which places the multi-selector on the inner ring and the rotary dial on the outside. The problem with the Nikon setup is that the outer ring is very thin, so it is hard to push with a finger to scroll through menu options. To scroll through images quickly, users need only to turn the rotary dial. That way, 10 pictures can flip by every second. I would prefer a thicker multi-selector ring to make navigating a bit more comfortable. Overall though, the controls are average for an ultra-slim model. Menu**There are no tabs or organizational features in the menu system because each menu must be accessed from its own particular mode. For instance, users must be in the shooting mode to enter that menu which is shown below.   The selected item in the menu is highlighted with a yellow background. The font is large and very readable, which is nice on the eyes. The menu’s interface can be changed to display either icons or text within the setup menu, which is found by pushing the Mode button and scrolling around the electronic mode dial to the Setup icon.   There is a Help function available in the bottom right corner of the LCD monitor. In the playback mode, the menu is as follows.   Overall, the menu system isn’t tough to figure out even though it is different than the tabbed organized menus on other manufacturers’ cameras. Navigating is the biggest trouble with the skinny multi-selector ring. Users can move up and down through menus with the rotary dial, but the multi-selector is required to move horizontally. There is a Help function that can be accessed to explain all the different features and options; it is found by pushing the zoom switch toward the right. **Ease of Use **The Nikon Coolpix S7c is fairly easy to use, although it is very different from other digital cameras in its interface. It is different because of its rotary dial and mode button that accesses an on-screen virtual mode dial. The on-screen mode dial sounds a bit strange, but it isn’t tough to figure out. Nikon tries to make the camera easier to use with options to change the menu interface from icons to text and to activate features such as a one-touch portrait button. There is also a help function that explains features and modes available from the zoom control. 

Modes

 **Auto Mode The camera starts up in the automatic mode, also called the Shooting Mode on the camera. This is the only mode available other than the scene modes, so it also happens to be the most manually oriented mode on the camera. It allows users to adjust ISO, white balance, AF area, and other options. Have no fear, point-and-shooters. The S7c can reset to its default settings in the setup menu. Otherwise it remembers the settings from the last time the mode was accessed. Movie Mode**Shooting video is quite simple on the Nikon Coolpix S7c, but the quality of the video isn’t great. Clips can be recorded at 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 pixels at a frame rate of 30 or 15 fps. There is also a smaller 160 x 120-pixel size that shoots at 15 fps for easy emailing. Pictmotion movies can be created too, but they are shot at 320 x 240 pixels at 15 fps so they look choppy and don’t have great resolution. The camera has an electronic vibration reduction system that can be activated with the OK button in the center of the rotary dial. The camera records audio most of the time, but does not when recording a time lapse or stop-motion movie. The time lapse feature works like the interval timer shooting feature, but strings all the pictures into a movie that moves at 30 fps. The stop-motion movie feature is brand new on the S7c. This mode lets users take pictures on their own time rather than regimented, scheduled intervals; it also provides an overlay similar to the panorama assist overlay that helps users line up the previous shot with the next shot. This is designed with budding claymation artists in mind. The QuickTime movies can be played back within the camera, but there are no editing features to change the files. Before recording, there aren’t that many options either. Users can change the auto focus mode from single to full-time. During recording, users can zoom digitally 2x. Overall, the video didn’t look very good. There were purple streaks that appeared with bright lights and the colors didn’t look very accurate at all. **Drive / Burst Mode**The camera’s burst mode is disappointing. It is found in the shooting menu under the Continuous heading with the following choices: Single, Continuous, Multi-shot 16, and Interval Timer Shooting. The continuous burst mode snaps 1.4 fps and can do so for about 10 shots before sputtering another 2 and finally taking 7 seconds to record (to the internal memory). The shots weren’t taken very evenly either; the time between shots varied but came out to an average of 1.4 fps. The Multi-shot 16 mode snaps at only a slightly faster 1.6 fps rate even though all of its 16 images are stitched into a relatively small 5-megapixel image file. The Interval Timer Shooting feature lets users track the progress of a construction project or other slow-moving subject with intervals of 30 seconds to 60 minutes. A self-timer can be activated from the left side of the multi-selector that delays for 3 or 10 seconds before taking the picture. **Playback Mode The playback mode is entered with the button at the top of the back. Once in playback, there is a host of viewing options available through the Mode button. The Mode button reveals these options that can be scrolled to with the rotary dial: Playback, Pictmotion by muvee, Calendar, List by Date, Audio Playback, and Setup. In the true Playback mode, pictures can be viewed individually or in index screens of 4, 9, 16, or 25. From the Mode dial, pictures can be viewed in a calendar format or listed as thumbnails horizontally with the date. Of note is the Audio Playback feature as well to complement the voice recording function on the camera. Voice memos can be added to pictures in the playback mode by holding the shutter release button down continuously for up to 20 seconds. The audio isn’t very good though; it sounds very jumbled even when subjects are close. There is a Delete button that deletes pictures one by one. To delete all the pictures, users must enter the playback menu. From there, users can also rotate, protect, resize, copy, and add to a print order. The camera has another editing option, but it isn’t available from the menu. The one-touch portrait button can be pressed in the playback mode to activate the D-Lighting compensation function. This displays a before and after picture side by side, then allows users to confirm whether to save a separate file with the automatically fixed exposure. Slide shows can also be played with the pictures showing up for 2-10 seconds each and the show having a loop turned on or off. The slide show function isn’t as exciting as the Pictmotion by muvee feature though. It lets users choose from 5 transition effects (Motion, Moody, Pro-Slow, Pro-Fast, Classic) for Pictmotion movies or up to 30 images – as long as users have a separate SD card (the function doesn’t work on the internal memory). The effects are then played to a soundtrack. There are five soundtracks preloaded on the camera (High Speed, Emotional, Neutral, Up-Tempo, Relaxed), and users can add another five with the included PictureProject software – if they have a Windows operating system. Unfortunately, the music loading system doesn’t work with Macintosh computers. There are a few other options to create these shows too. Users can choose the order the images are played in: Random or Play in Order. Users can choose whether the pictures or music is played on a loop. And users can select 10, 20, or 30 images for the show. Movies can be played back on the camera, rewound, and fast forwarded. There are no fabulous editing options for movies though. Custom Image Presets**The one-touch portrait button has other functions when in the recording mode. It activates Nikon’s face-priority auto focus mode and the digital red-eye fix function. The other scene modes can be found in the virtual Mode dial under the Scene position. There are four modes with "assists" as Nikon calls them. These provide yellow brackets and circles to help users frame their subjects properly. Portrait, Night Portrait, Landscape, and Sports all have the "assists." The other scene modes are as follows: Party/Indoor, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Night Landscape, Museum, Fireworks Show, Close Up, Copy, Back Light, Panorama Assist, and Dawn/Dusk. The Panorama Assist mode is different from other cameras’ similar modes in that the Nikon’s allows users to change the direction of the assist to up, down, left, or right. Most cameras only shoot right to left or vice versa. From the Mode dial, there is also a High Sensitivity mode that uses the top ISO 1600 setting to capture subjects without the flash in low light. Pushing the OK button also activates the camera’s Anti-Shake mode, which uses high ISO and electronic vibration reduction in conjunction with the Best Shot Selector. This mode snaps shots as long as the shutter is held down, and then saves only the one it thinks is sharpest. This mode doesn’t work very well though because the screen blacks out after taking the first shot and doesn’t return a live view again until the button is released. In all of the scene modes, only the image size and exposure compensation can be adjusted. Overall, the scene mode selection is decent but it would be more intuitive if they were all placed in the same menu. 

Control Options

 **Manual Control Options       There are a few manual controls, but they’re nothing to get too excited about. This digital camera just isn’t about manual control. The Nikon Coolpix S7c is more about good looks, portability, and ease of use. This way, users can stash the camera in a pocket and grab it for a quick picture at the company luncheon or the community park. Focus***Auto Focus – The Nikon Coolpix S7c doesn’t have much control over its auto focus system, but the area can be selected to Center or Multi. Normally, the camera focuses from 12 inches to infinity but in the macro mode it can shoot as close as 1.6 inches. There is a face-priority auto focus mode, but it can only be used when the one-touch portrait button is pushed. The face-priority auto focus mode is very touchy. It takes a long time to recognize faces, and sometimes it recognizes a face one second and can’t find it again the next. In the end, it’s unreliable and certainly slower than using the Center focus mode yourself. The auto focus system in general is a bit on the slow side, but isn’t as pedestrian as many other compact models. *Manual Focus – *There is no manual focus on the Nikon S7c. *ISO**The Nikon Coolpix S7c offers more sensitivity than any other Coolpix digital camera. Previous models ignored the higher sensitivities, but the S7c offers manual ISO settings of 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600. There is no live view when scrolling through these choices in the menu. I magnified images taken in each of the ISO settings and there is noticeable noise in and above ISO 400. Not only does the image become speckled with noise, but details around hair and fabric are lost. **White Balance            The white balance menu does provide live views, which makes it much easier to select one that will fit. Auto, Preset White Balance (manual), Daylight, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy, and Flash are available. The manual mode is simple to set as it shows a small box where plain white must be framed. Users measure the white balance by selecting "Measure" and pushing the OK button in. The Auto white balance seemed to exaggerate colors a bit in the strange lighting of the convention center, and the Manual white balance setting made them look a bit duller than reality. Exposure An exposure compensation range can be accessed that brightens or darkens the image with the standard +/- 2 EV range. Scrolling through these in the menu gives users a live view. In the menu, users can also find the Best Shot Selector which supposedly helps poor beginners automatically grab the "best shot." An exposure best shot mode lets users select Highlight, Shadow, and Histogram preferences to pick the "best shot." My main beef with this mode is that users have very little control over which shot gets chosen. My other complaint is that the LCD screen blacks out the entire time users push the shutter release button down in this mode so it is impossible to see if your subject is even still in the frame. There are easier ways of fixing the exposure. In the playback mode, the D-lighting compensation function can be accessed with the one-touch portrait button. It works very well in lightening pictures up to look properly exposed. It also lets users choose whether they’d like to save it or not – something the Best Shot Selector does not do. ****Metering The Nikon Coolpix S7c does not offer any manual metering options, but does have a Back Light scene mode that acts as a sort of Spot metering mode. Otherwise, the lighting in the image is averaged. Shutter Speed The Nikon Coolpix S7c has an incredibly truncated shutter speed range of 2-1/500^th of a second. This will do fine for optimal lighting, but will leave night shots dark and action photography blurred. Aperture **The 3x optical zoom lens on the Coolpix S7c has maximum apertures of f/2.8-5.0. This is typical for an ultra-slim 3x zoom lens. 

Image Parameters

 **Picture Quality****/ Size Options**The following image sizes are available in the shooting menu, all with Normal compression except the top resolution that is in Fine and Normal. 

Pictures can also be resized in the playback menu to 640 x 480, 320 x 240, and 160 x 120 pixels for faster emailing (which could be helpful as this camera does have wireless connectivity). **Picture Effects Mode**The following Color Options are available from the recording menu: Standard Color, Vivid Color, Black & White, Sepia, and Cyanotype. No picture effects can be added in the playback menu. Users will have to wait until pictures are uploaded to the software to do anything more. 

Connectivity / Extras

 **Connectivity***Software*The Nikon Coolpix S7c comes packaged with PictureProject software. The program runs on Macintosh and Windows platforms, but the portion of the program that uploads music to the camera only works with Windows. *Jacks, ports, plugs*This digital camera comes with a CoolStation MV-15, which is a tiny camera dock with a PV-11 plastic insert and an AC adapter. The camera sits in the dock with the port on its bottom and can output images and movies through the dock’s jacks. AV-out and USB jacks are there, with a DC-in cable to keep the station powered as well as simultaneously charge the battery. *Direct Print Options*The S7c is PictBridge and ImageLink compatible and can even transfer images wirelessly to a printer with an optional PD-10 printer adapter. If users are within 65 ft, pictures can be taken and sent directly to the printer. Ideally, users could pick up a print seconds after taking the picture. Print orders can be created from the playback mode, where users can choose the number of each print from 1-9. Print orders can be deleted from here too. *Battery**

The lithium-ion Nikon EN-EL8 battery is very skinny and charges up in the included camera dock. It will need to rest in the camera dock often, as the battery life only goes as long as 200 shots per charge. *Memory*The 7.1-megapixel digital camera has 14 MB of internal memory and accepts SD cards. Users will want to get more memory. Not only does the internal memory only hold up to 6 top-res pictures, but the Pictmotion mode is not even accessible without a card. *Other features***WiFi Support* – The camera’s wireless mode can be accessed from the virtual Mode dial. Once it is selected, the S7c automatically detects the wireless networks within range. The camera then leads users through a step-by-step process that lets them select images, size of images, email addresses (from an internal address book of up to 30 entries), and finally the WEP key. The problem with having the key at the end is that if users don’t remember it or don’t have it, all the steps beforehand are lost. That is a bit frustrating. The S7c uses 802.11 b/g wireless transfer protocol to transfer images to computers and printers without wires – as long as users are within 65 ft. / 20 m of the computer or printer. The S7c is the first Coolpix digital camera to come with the new Nikon Coolpix Connect program, a service that emails pictures directly to recipients after being taken. The service includes an online album that allows users to store up to 50 MB of images for up to two weeks. The service emails recipients a thumbnail of the picture with an option to download the full-res image from the page. Each Nikon Coolpix S7c comes with a free one-year membership to T-Mobile’s WiFi service, which has more than 7,000 hot spots in the United States. 

Overall Impressions

 **Value**The price of wireless cameras has obviously gone down. Even last year, similar models were selling for $499. Now the Nikon Coolpix S7c is retailing for $349. The S7c has lucrative features like a skinny portable body and its wireless connectivity. It has an interesting one-touch portrait button that accesses cool technology and comes with the usual gamut of automatic and scene modes. At $349, this Coolpix is fairly priced. **Who It’s For***Point-and-Shooters* – These consumers will love the wave design that allows comfortable storage in a pocket so they can go anywhere and take pictures. They will also appreciate the automated modes and the simple interface. *Budget Consumers* – For $349, the S7c is a decent price considering it has wireless technology. The camera is ultra-slim and users pay for the convenience too. This is a decent price, but some budget consumers may have to pass up the wireless technology and aim for a similar camera without the frilly WiFi. *Gadget Freaks* – Gadget freaks will appreciate the time lapse photography and stop-motion movies and will perhaps be intrigued by the wireless technology, but will otherwise be bored with the automated modes and limited settings. *Manual Control Freaks* – These consumers will shun the Nikon Coolpix S7c because it only allows access to automated modes and offers limited access to manual functions. *Pros/ Serious Hobbyists* – Not even a glance will be granted from pros or serious hobbyists. The automated options aren’t great, and neither are the pictures. 

Conclusion

  

 **Conclusion**Succeeding a very popular Coolpix digital camera is the Nikon S7c, which replaces the S6 with its introduction in September. The 7.1-megapixel digital camera has wireless connectivity like its predecessor but adds the new Nikon Connect function that streamlines the emailing process straight from the camera body. The body itself is slim and sleek and consistent with the sexy metallic design we’ve seen in previous S-series cameras. The S7c has an internal 3x optical zoom lens that isn’t very impressive and a 3-inch LCD screen that is very impressive. With this camera, it looks like much of the features will be this way: you win some, you lose some. Users will enjoy the ultra-slim camera and its portability, but will curse it when their fingers ache from pushing around the zoom control. Users will enjoy getting proper exposures in low light with the new higher ISO sensitivities, but will be disappointed when they print the pictures and they’re speckled. The Nikon Coolpix S7c retails for $349 and will most likely be another popular sell for Nikon with its trendy form, WiFi connectivity, and Pictmotion shows.