By: Joshua Tan

Camera users really are in a time of rejoicing. Digital SLR technology is improving at lightning pace and features like high-ISOs with noise reduction and high-resolution continuous shutter mode trickling down to lower-end cameras for the everyday user.

Enter 2 more competitors into this area: the Nikon COOLPIX S8000 and P100, and the variety means that everyone can be (or at least feel like) a photographer.

Nikon COOLPIX S8000: Bringing sexy back

This high-end compact camera is definitely a looker in terms of specs.

The 14.2-megapixel CCD sensor processes the images from a 35mm equivalent 30 – 300mm 10x zoom vibration reduction lens, and displays them on a high-resolution 921k dots screen. It even does 10fps continuous sport mode at full resolution. All in a 183-gram body.

This camera is seriously sexy. From the slightly protruding lens (when closed) to the dual-function click and scroll wheel on the back, you’d be proud to carry this on the street.

Then there’s the AF illuminator just to the right of the lens, which isn’t red or orange like most cameras, it’s green.

I could go on and on about its looks but aesthetics aside, this is a very handy little camera.

Straight from the box, the camera is easy to use and menus are simple to navigate, though you will notice that some menus change with the shooting mode.

Image quality is pretty decent at low ISOs, and with all things considered, leaving the camera fully auto is the best idea, also given you don’t have the option to change shutter speed or aperture.

What you can change is the ISO, but pumping it up so you don’t have to use the in-built flash (more on that later) results in noticeably noisy images above ISO400 if in a dark or slightly dim environment. In fact, noise is visible even at the lower ISO100 and 200 in poorer lit areas.

This camera also features nifty 720p HD video mode at 30fps. Quality is fair enough for most purposes but if you try to zoom, the camera’s microphone, which is at the top close to the focus tab, will pick up the sound of you releasing the tab when you’re done zooming.

Beyond that, the image can be slow to refocus after zooming, and generally video quality is better with the lens zoomed out. You also won’t be able to use optical zoom when taking videos.

Then there are the tiny inconveniences that can be a tad annoying, like the flash, which pops up where the fingers on your left hand will hold the camera, resulting in an error message and you having to reposition your fingers in an unnatural position.

Images you just took also take a while to record and stop functionality while doing so, making shot-to-shot time longer even if you don’t want to review your images before your next shot. Start up time on our test model was slow as well.

Regardless, these issues are easily accepted if you aren’t using it for times when you need quick response from a camera.

Final say: The Nikon COOLPIX S8000 produces decent images and videos in an eye-catching and stylish body as long as you’re tolerant of low-light noise or mostly shoot in broad daylight. If you tend to shoot in dim environments though, a more professional DSLR would be a better choice.

Nikon COOLPIX P100: Megazoom mini-DSLR

Making a commitment to step up to a DSLR is a big investment and let’s face it – not everyone’s willing to make it.

In this gap stands a creation that’s got more features than a point and shoot, yet isn’t quite a DSLR, and this is where the Nikon COOLPIX P100 sits with its 26x zoom lens, 10.3-megapixel backlit CMOS sensor and 1080p HD video.

What this means though, is that it’s in a bigger package that isn’t as pretty as any compact camera can be.

Still, it feels solid and well built, and has a comfortable grip even for my big hands. Controls are fairly comfortably located, and it even has a click wheel on the back for you to easily change values in the manual and semi-manual modes. Thoughtful.

Also included is the electronic viewfinder, which offers a more old-school camera feel. It also fulfills another role by allowing you to get the camera closer to your body so as to minimise camera shake when the lens is zoomed fully out. Handheld with the screen as a gauge, the manic zoom is virtually pointless.

Move inside though, and the picture is much less rosy. Literally.

While exposure is pretty bang on most of the time, picture quality, especially when zoomed into 100%, isn’t great. The sharpness just isn’t there, and even the smaller, more compact S8000 reviewed above produced better images.

In terms of the manual and semi-manual modes (which is the reason you would get one of these anyway), the exposure management took a little bit of getting used to, mostly because the scale is flipped so that the indicator of overexposed is on the left and underexposed on the right.

Fortunately, there you can tell the camera where you want to focus so as to get the best exposure. Even though it’s not going to be very fast if you’re going to be changing the focus point after every shot, but at least there’s the flexibility.

HD video quality at 30fps 1080p is fair, but the added option of QVGA 240fps video results in poor video quality. In the latter mode, zooming is disabled but even in HD mode, you don’t want to be videoing anything only reachable by 678mm because even with a tripod, it’s extremely difficult to capture.

The microphone at the top also picks up zooming and focusing sounds, and there isn’t a place to plug in an external mic to compensate for that.


One thing this camera does very well though is control noise, courtesy of the backlit CMOS sensor. Even images at ISO1600 are very usable, and fairly clean of noise, while those at ISO3200 can be hit and miss. Kudos to Nikon on this one.

This is also by and large a pretty quick camera both in terms of start up and shot-to-shot times so you certainly won’t be missing anything if your favourite Korean pop star came to town and you wanted to take a billion pictures of him.

Continuous shutter modes come in a variety of forms, from 10fps full res to 60fps 2-megapixel and even 120fps 1-megapixel images. Naturally, image quality is duely traded away.

Final say: There really is quite a lot to like about this camera, and in truth the features list is long and impressive. However, image and video quality are hardly up to expectation as far as a mini-DSLR is concerned. But if you can overlook the quality and focus on things like low-light ISO capability and quickness, this could be for you.

All images and videos recorded on SanDisk 2GB SDHC memory cards