Nikon Coolpix S630 The Nikon Coolpix S630 is a good choice for minimalists who want a compact camera with a powerful optical zoom, but photographers looking for the basics may be disappointed by the lacking feature set.

Nikon Coolpix S630

  • Pros

    Fast 7x optical zoom lens. Solid wide-angle image quality. Comfortable, ergonomic design. Negligible shutter lag. Low noise at high ISOs (up to ISO 800).

  • Cons

    Images are soft and color fringing occurs when zoomed in. Sluggish face detection. Underwhelming user interface.

  • Bottom Line


the 12-megapixel nikon coolpix s630 ($279.95 list) packs a whopping 7x optical zoom lens into its compact body, while other cameras in this size range typically offer only 3x or 5x zoom. but the extra zoom comes at a price—the s630 lacks key features found on comparably priced models, such as high-definition video capture and advanced face detection. and other cameras offer more consistent image quality.

with an attractive design available in five colors, the 5.6-ounce s630 measures a diminutive 2.3 by 3.8 by 1.0 (hwd) inches and sports a top-notch build with a brushed metal casing and easy-to-use controls. the camera features a zoom slider for fast, accurate zooming; a big shutter release button; and a scroll wheel to quickly navigate through menus. the right side of the camera is slightly curved and has a grip area on the back for your thumb, which makes it comfortable to hold.

the 2.7-inch, 230k-dot lcd is sharp and attractive. cameras like the sony cyber-shot dsc-w230 ($199.99 direct) offer 230k-dots on a 3-inch lcd; but in the case of the sony, bigger doesn't mean better—the w230's lcd shows plenty of motion blur. while generally not an issue when playing back photos, images leave trails when you're framing shots or zooming in or out. motion blur isn't a problem on the s630, however, which is important considering its long optically stabilized zoom lens, which has a focal length of 37mm to 260mm (35mm equivalent) with maximum f-stops at f/3.5 and f/5.3.

once you get used to it, the s630's interface is usable, but it's neither attractive nor especially intuitive. i've seen much more polished menu implementations from other camera manufacturers—sony does a great job of guiding users through the menu options on its point-and-shoot cameras, and canon's ui on its powershots, like thesd970 is is also exceptional.

Nikon Coolpix S630 Benchmark Chart

while shot-to-shot times are sluggish, the s630 can capture a single image very quickly. the camera can power on, focus, and grab its first image in an average 2.63 seconds, but between shots, you have to wait an average of 3.59 seconds. the less-expensive $200 canon powershot a1100 is shaves off a little more than a second of wait time, with an average of 2.26 seconds between shots. using the shutter lag test, the s630 averaged just .44 seconds of shutter lag, which is very fast for a compact camera. in my experience testing point-and-shoot models, only the speedy casio exilim ex-fc100, which can capture 30 images in one second, is faster.

in my imatest lab tests, i found that the s630 offers good image quality from its wide-angle lens position, but as you get closer to the telephoto position, sharpness drops by 20 percent and chromatic aberration becomes extremely noticeable. i didn't see a lot of noise in images up to and including iso 800, which is a plus if you'll be shooting in low light without a flash. though, as with all cameras, images become less sharp as the iso increases.

at iso 100, the s630 captured an average of 1902 lines per picture height in the center of the frame and dropped by 34 percent in the outer regions, which is within the acceptable range. but many cameras i've reviewed in the past few months have scored well above 2000, and have produced more detailed images. the cyber-shot dsc-w230, for example, averaged 2532 lines, the kodak easyshare m1093 is ($159.95 direct) averaged 2482, and the samsung sl820 ($279.99 street) averaged 2521 lines, all of which offer at least a 30 percent sharper picture in the center of the frame.

there were also some performance issues in my real-world tests. while the face detection feature works, it's slow to recognize faces, taking a few seconds to lock, and quickly losing the lock if the subject turns their head. the s630 also had a very difficult time initially identifying faces from the side, while cameras like the canon powershot sd970 is had no trouble at all. zooming was a pleasure, however, and moving from one lens position to another was the fastest on any compact camera i've ever used. overall, outside the lab, shots were acceptable, but images captured closer to the telephoto lens position were soft and showed some color fringing.

video capture isn't the s630's strong suit. you can record standard-definition vga video at 30 fps, which is fine, but you can't zoom while recording. also disappointing is the lack of high-definition video capture—there are a handful of comparably priced and less-expensive cameras that offer hd recording, including the kodak m1093 and the same-price samsung sl820 and canon powershot sd780 is.

if all you need is a lot of zoom power in a small, attractive camera, the nikon coolpix s630 delivers. but if you're looking for a more well-rounded feature set, consider the editors' choice kodak easyshare m1093 is. with a 3x lens, you'll lose zoom, but you gain hd video capture, better face-detection implementation, and higher image quality—all for a lot less money ($160).

benchmark test results: check out the test scores for the nikon coolpix s630

compare the digital cameras mentioned above side by side.

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