NIKON COOLPIX S8000 Review
Tuesday, July 27 2010
For speed and convenience, little beats this Nikon point-and-shot…
Billed as the world’s slimmest 10x optical zoom camera, the 14-megapixel S8000 sits at the pinnacle of Nikon’s oddly unstylish Style range.
The 30-300mm zoom is smooth and quick to focus-speed is something of a theme with this camera- at wide and maximum zoom. Lens-shift vibration reduction helps quell camera shake exaggerated by the long zoom.
You get 16 scene modes, including Auto Select, which choose the right one for you and Sport which reels off 45 shots at 3fps. An effective Auto mode lets you adjust white balance, metering and sensitivity.
Pictures are detailed and quite sharp, although if you look very closely, edges aren’t as razor-like as on Panasonic’s big-zoom rival. Wide-angle results are excellent, while macro mode impresses focusing 1cm away. We did notice more purple fringing though.
With a lightening-fast start-up time of little more than a second and a similarly speedy shutter, the S8000 is a nippy device. It’s comfortable to hold, although with such a long zoom when shooting HD video would also have been useful.
With its intuitive menus, navigated at speed via a scroll dial, the S8000 is the most user friendly camera on test, while the three-inch screen has the highest resolution, although it’s prone to smearing.
All told, the S8000 is very high quality, point-and-shoot snapper. Novices and anyone who values ease of use will love it, even if it’s not quite as classy as the Panasonic TZ8 or canon S90. the tired, satin-finish looks belie a cutting-edge camera.
Details
- Lens 10x (20-300mm)
- Megapixels 14
- Video 1280×720, 24fps
- Battery 210 shots
- Storage 32MB + SD/SDHC
- Screen 3 inches, 921.000 pixels, anti-reflective
- Anti-Shake YES, lens based
- Face Detection YES
- Max ISO 3200
- Connections USB,HDMI
- Price £220
Love – Fast to fire up and shoot. great, 10x optical zoom. Intuitive controls
Hate – No shutter or aperture modes. Some purple fringing at telephoto. Smeary screen. Dull looks
We Say - A well built, intuitive camera with a great lens. Perfect for anyone who wants a reliable point-and-shoot
Currently on sale through this link on Amazon
