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  Nikon Coolpix S9

  Sudeep Naik, Feb 22, 2007 1800 hrs IST

  I know, it's nothing new, but Nikon has added one more to its s-series, Coolpix S9, yet again. Let's check it out.

  Design, Compact, Build quality, Easy to use interface.

  Slow operation, Red eye reduction systems fail most of the times, Below average picture quality, Bad low light performance, Images appear fuzzy most of the times.

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Page 1 - Introduction Page 2 - Specifications Page 3 - Features Page 4 - Performance, Battery Life & Conclusion Page 5 - Sample Pictures 1 Page 6 - Sample Pictures 2

Performance

The design is something we've talked a lot about; the slim and compact body, wavy design is a hit with everyone while the menus and controls are just a thumb away.
The high-quality Nikkor ED lens gives the flexibility to zoom out for beautiful landscapes, zoom in for tightly-composed portraits.

The picture quality though is a huge let down. The images were not as sharp as one would expect them to be. The only good part here is the color reproduction which, if I may say so, is above average. Overall, the images appear quite blurred. The camera takes a long to start up and even longer to display the captured pictures on the LCD screen. The LCD quality is mediocre at best.

Sometimes, it takes around 5-7 seconds for the S9 to display a picture on the LCD after it has been shot. Pretty lousy, I say, and it becomes worse if you use flash. Which reminds me, I did read something about the S9 being equipped with a Red-Eye Reduction system, but I think it got lost somewhere on the way here. Obviously, the S9 was meant for leisurely shooting, literally.

The images shot in daylight from the Nikon S9 appear to be decent enough, but the moment you switch to a location with low light the image quality just takes a dive to hell. Noise creeps up from all possible parts of the image and it's so high on higher ISO settings that you could actually hear it (pun intended.)

We tried recording video in all modes (with and without sound) and, although the sound could have been better, the results were all well average but nothing exceptional.

Battery Life

The S9 comes bundled with a proprietary rechargeable Li-Ion EN-EL8 battery, which lasts for around 150 shots (if you have the patience to click so many) with minimal surfing between shots and around 130 shots with some fiddling around with options and image surfing, which is decent enough.

But I must say, having a fully charged spare battery always helps no matter what camera you use.

Conclusion

The Nikon Coolpix S9 sells for Rs. 17,750 (officially) with a one-year warranty but you can pick it up from JJMehta for Rs. 11,000 without bill and 3 month warranty.

It is 'supposedly' the budget version in their S-series and they sure have cut some corners to get it in the market. Overall, the camera looks like an S-series member, but surely doesn't behave like one. I'm sure you can give slip to this one. Ciao.

Test Unit Sourced from: J. J. Mehta, Mumbai

Page 1 - Introduction Page 2 - Specifications Page 3 - Features Page 4 - Performance, Battery Life & Conclusion Page 5 - Sample Pictures 1 Page 6 - Sample Pictures 2

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