Say hello to the Nikon COOLPIX S80, Nikon’s latest addition to its COOLPIX lineup targeted at the fashion-conscious photographer looking for performance without compromising on looks.

Packing a 3.5-inch (8.7cm) OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) touch screen, 5x optical zoom, and 14.1 megapixels, the ultra-sleek, matt-chrome-finished 16.5 mm-thick camera is also available in red and black.

Design


Aesthetically, the Nikon COOLPIX S80 is a step-up from its predecessor, the Nikon COOLPIX S70. The latter had a boxy, old-school look that looked a tad too backward in design in comparison to other sleeker compact cameras like the Fujifilm FinePix Z800EXR or the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX9. This time, the pocket-sized Nikon COOLPIX S80 is slimmer, sexier and more sophisticated.

What remains the same, however, is the high-resolution, 3.5-inch screen that provides high contrast in dark areas of photographs taken. The only difference is the 180° wide-angle viewing that allows you to view the screen from almost every angle, without the screen reflecting into your eyes.

The large dimensions of the screen and the quick-touch swipe function makes viewing photographs and videos a pleasure.  However, the touchscreen is a fingerprint magnet, so UrbanWire recommends using a screen protector to preserve that pristine out-of-the-box look.

Navigation of the features takes some getting used to, especially the video-recording function, which is not visible at first glance. A button at the top of the camera to switch to video mode quickly would have been ideal.

Video quality was decent for a compact camera and the sound wasn’t fuzzy, but there’s nothing special here.

Shooting modes

ISO settings go up to ISO6400 on manual mode and there is the added bonus of 6 filters in the Retouch function, which allows you to edit and apply the filters to your photographs on the camera itself.

2 such filters are the Fisheye and Miniature effect. Fisheye filters are commonly known but the miniature effect is just a term for tilt-shift photography, a method of taking photographs or video that makes the landscape and people look like miniature models. The UrbanWire finds the Fisheye and Miniature effects a little gimmicky and the images don’t turn out convincing after you edit them.

Performance and Image Quality


Colours are sharp in images and light is balanced.

Start-up time takes approximately 2 seconds, but like most touch-screen cameras, the functions lag and response time is slower than compacts with dial buttons at the side. This poses as an inconvenience when toggling in-between video and scene modes.

When it comes to picture quality, the Nikon COOLPIX S80 doesn’t disappoint. Colours turn out brilliant and images are sharp and clear, even after zooming in to the max. Focusing and framing your shot is made easy with the tap function,  simply double tap the faces or object to snap. Pictures turned out bright and balanced even when taken in a dark area with sunlight coming through the windows. The built-in flash, however, was a disappointment, appearing harsh in photographs.

Overall, the Nikon COOLPIX S80 is a stylish camera that delivers great photo quality, but the sluggish interface leaves room for improvement. But for the fashion-conscious shutterbugs who are just interested in quick, fuss-free snaps and don’t require frequent toggling in-between features, this camera is for you.

Liked:

Stylish good looks
Fast start-up time
Portable and lightweight
Crystal-clear OLED screen
HD video-recording

Disliked:

Unresponsiveness of the camera when switching in between modes
No + – buttons to zoom in or out quickly
Unintuitive interface that makes it hard to navigate
Unresponsiveness of the screen, which was frustrating
Needing to click icons several times before the function will launch
Painfully slow