Nikon COOLPIX S3 Digital Camera

This review will cover what the typical consumer will need to know about the Nikon S3. Lists of features and statistics are available on technical testing sites.

The S3 is a very small camera, much smaller in your hand than it appears on paper. My initial impression was that it was too tiny. When I actually handled it and found that it is made of metal and is surprisingly heavy, and that it is entirely filled with important things, I came to appreciate the promise that the small size presented.

This goes for the exterior as well so you have to be careful on how you hold it to keep your fingers away from the lens and screen. It is easy to drop, so get in the habit of using the little wrist strap. The S3 is not a cheap throwaway and you don't want to break it.

The S3 has a multitude of modes and menus. You have to decide if you want to study the manual and practice using and understanding these settings, or to just stay on automatic and let the camera figure things out.

There are good reasons to choose automatic. Most importantly, you can concentrate on your shot rather than trying to find a mode through a menu. A great composition or rare photo opportunity is more important than technical perfection. Also, many changes can be made later in Photoshop, etc. There is as lot of science in the settings the camera applies and they are just fine for most photography.

Nikon also spent a lot of time working out the settings each mode. For example, the portrait mode modifies the way the S3 applies focus, depth of field, sharpness and color so that portraits of people are optimized. If you took two photos, one using the portrait setting and the other on automatic, and you asked your vain supermodel which one was better, the specialized portrait mode would be chosen most often. The differences can be subtle and appreciated mostly on side by side comparison. Same for supermodels.

There are modes for unusual subjects like fireworks and common ones like scenery. I have tried almost all of them and can say that there are definite differences and usually the specialized modes have the advantage.

Sometimes, though, there are surprises. Last week I hiked high into the local hills and photographed a dramatic scene of green hills, snow-capped peaks and stormy clouds. The auto mode shot was actually better than the scenic one. Each photo is unique and that the classic elements of a photo, the lighting, composition, subject, etc. are more important than modes and menus.

Learn and practice all the modes and settings so that they are second nature to you and you can access them quickly. You will get better results and, after all, you did pay for all of these features. I still have to remind myself that this is digital and the shots are free and they can be deleted. This allows for lots of practice and experimentation.

I usually keep my S3 on automatic so I can quickly get that first photo, an opportunity that may never repeat itself. Then, I try other modes and keep shooting in an attempt to improve on that. In this way I use every resource the camera offers and give myself the chance to come up with the best possible result.

There are limitations to all compact cameras. The S3 has no optical viewfinder and its screen, as on all cameras, can be hard to use if light is glaring off it. The recommended stick-on screen protectors don't help. The S3 has an excellent macro mode, but it is easier to use macro with a single lens reflex camera with manual focus capability.

Little cameras have little, small aperture lenses. They can be just as sharp as the bigger ones, but under many conditions require slow shutter speeds to get enough light to the sensor. Hand-held shots with slow shutter speeds result in blurring. Users of compact cameras do sometimes complain about this. I suspect that future S3 models will feature vibration reduction. There is a little warning light that lights up in shaky situations.

We are used to seeing big cameras on tripods and little ones being waved about in the hands of people that aren't still for a second. Actually, the compacts really thrive on a tripod, especially when using the self timer to eliminate any vibration. However, I just cannot bring myself to carry around a tripod with such a teeny camera mounted on it. It jus' don't seem right.

Photo editing programs can fix many problems, but not blurring and bad focus, so do whatever is necessary to stay sharp and focused. As always.

Well, what about the results? How good are the photos? I am very pleased with the prints I have made from my best photos. These have been printed on my inexpensive Canon iP5200 1-picoliter printer, and at Costco, iPhoto and independent labs all using their hugely expensive dedicated photo printers. The results have all been better than the 35mm prints I used to get back from various labs.

This isn't the place for a detailed discussion of film v. digital. I can say that the very finest lenses, the slowest and most detailed film processed on the best equipment by top professionals will produce mighty fine results from film, but that is a lot of time and money to dedicate for arguably better results. Again, I never got those kind of results in my 35mm days.

I think 6mp cameras are perfect for 4X6 prints as a default and up to 8X10 on some subjects. I do not agree with those that say big blowups from film or digital are sharp. They are not, really.

Well, what about pixels and sensors and such? 6mp in such a small camera is very good. More is, of course, almost always better, but there are differences in technical features and implementation. It takes a zillion more pixels to really improve a print. And there is a limit to how many bits you want to deal with on your computer.

To get the best results, fill your frame when you shoot to avoid having to crop your images later and search the internet about how to save JPEGs properly so there is no degradation. Be careful about using sharpening and other filters and effects in Photoshop. This is just like film: work cleanly and don't mess up a good shot with excessive or uninformed processing.

Digital cameras and photo processing programs can apply different degrees of sharpening to images. The camera manufacturers all have their own unique default sharpness settings. Some apply a heavy dose so that the images initially pop out at the consumer and others apply a more modest amount and expect the photographer to use their computer to set their own levels later.

Nikon traditionally has gone for the more "professional" low-level sharpening formula. This is a complex and subjective subject and knowledgeable photographers all have their own opinions. The technical merits of various camera systems are discussed vociferously on the www, complete with lies and trolls and all sorts of bad science. For this and other reasons, there are Canon people, Nikon people, etc. Take a look at a lot of it to get an idea of what you should believe.


Now, why is the S3 "most likely to get the good shot"? Because there is a good chance the S3 will be in your car, pocket or purse and it will be available to use. Your $30K Hasselblad system will be locked up somewhere safe and the film in your 35mm is two years old and you gave up carrying it around a long time ago anyway. The first step in taking a photo is actually having a camera with you.

To help you reach photographic perfection, the S3 turns on quickly, takes shots in rapid succession, holds many images if you get a decent sized compact card and the battery seems to last a long time. These features may not seem so exciting to those with modern cameras, but those of us used to years-old digital cameras are really thrilled

Some people dislike the idea of having to drag the little charging/download dock around with them on vacations and such, but the S3 is just too small to accommodate all those cords and connectors.

The S3 connects to my old iBook with OS10X and downloads without any problems. Nikon software is usually pretty good on all platforms and I am not aware of any real issues hooking up with other systems.

There are many really interesting and capable compact digital cameras available in today's very competitive market. I was interested in several different models, but I am very happy with my S3 and really don't think I could have done better.

One factor that is important to me is durability. There is no way to know how a new product will perform in the future, but I trust the Nikon brand and my buying decision was influenced by that.