| | |  | DJ, Electronic Music & Karaoke | Home » » » Nikon Coolpix S630 12MP Digital Camera with 7x Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Jet Black) | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | 12-megapixel effective recording * 7X optical zoom (4X digital/28X total zoom) * optical image stabilization * 2-11/16" LCD screen with 5-level brightness adjustment and an anti-reflection coating * 35mm equivalent focal length: 37-260mm * top JPEG resolution: 4000 x 3000 * continuous sports mode lets you shoot up to 20 three-megapixel frames at up to 11 frames per second * automatic scene selector identifies your shooting environment and adjusts camera settings to suit * face priority autofocus finds and focuses on up to 12 people in a group portrait * smile mode delays shutter response until your subject smiles * blink mode alerts you to your subject's closed eyes * in-camera automatic red-eye correction * variable ISO (film speed equivalent) settings, including a high sensitivity mode for better low-light and flash-free shooting * D-Lighting mode brightens dark areas of recorded images * | | | Features: | |
• 12.0-megapixel resolution for photo-quality prints up to 16 x 20 inches
• 7x optical Zoom-Nikkor (37-260mm) glass lens; 4-way VR image stabilization
• 2.7-inch high-resolution LCD screen; Scene Auto Selector
• Nikon's Smart Portrait System; Red-eye Fix, Face Priority AE and more
• Capture images to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 3.8 inches | | Product Width:
| 2.3 inches | | Product Height:
| 1.0 inches | | Product Weight:
| 2.05 pounds | | Package Length:
| 8.0 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.8 inches | | Package Height:
| 3.4 inches | | Package Weight:
| 2.05 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 26 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
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2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 best digital camera i've owned so far!Nov 04, 2009
i don't buy many cameras. here's my 20-year photo history: this nikon replaces a panasonic lumix FS5, which met an untimely end two weeks ago. that camera replaced an older digital sony point-and-shoot, and that in turn replaced a very basic-model canon 35mm SLR (which i very likely never used to its full potential).
i've now owned the nikon for 3 whole days, and it has provided the most fun i've had with a camera since i had my old 35mm, but without the hassle of film development (and the accompanying crapshoot of "how will the pics turn out?"). i've drained three batteries so far and taken i can't remember how many hundreds of sample pics without any real problems to report.
i'm not a HUGE camera nerd or photography snob, but i like to think i can take a decent picture now and then. i'm probably close to the definition of "casual photographer." here, then, are my impressions of the nikon S630, beginning right out of the box:
the design is great. i'm an above-average-sized guy, with pretty big hands, yet the controls are easily placed and i have yet to mash the wrong button (or combo of them) with any of my giant thumbs. my girlfriend uses a small kodak digital, and the shutter and power buttons are so close on that camera that i turn the thing off as often as i snap a successful pic. not so with my new nikon, i'm happy to report, yet the case is small enough and the controls placed so that a person with normal-sized hands should find it just as easy and comfortable as i do.
battery and memory card are both a standard design, no brand-specific special purchases required. hooray for that!
the controls are well placed (the dial, or at least the ribs on it could be a tiny bit larger for my own ease of use, but that's not a real problem), and their use as well as the menu options they lead to are reassuringly and happily clear and easy to follow (definitely unlike my experience with my last panasonic). i find that i actually LIKE tinkering with the settings while using this camera! i'm also one of those annoying people who don't like to read the manuals that come with their gadgets, and have been able to figure out pretty much everything i've wanted to without having to crack a page. that says something positive about the camera, right?
shutter speed is GREAT. the autofocus is very fast, with only minimal hesitation or fluctuation - even when the zoom is fully extended (the sony and panasonic both took AGES to focus themselves). the zoom itself is great: at 7x, closeups are REALLY close, and the clarity of menu options has so far meant that the closeups i've taken are nice and clear, not grainy or blurred half the time like with previous cameras. the burst feature is much better engineered than on my panasonic (the slight loss of image quality when using this feature is acceptable - ya gotta make the occasional sacrifice for speed). i haven't done much with the movie or voice options, just a little sampling with each, but they seem fine as well.
image quality has been great so far. my panasonic may have had a slight edge here (which may just be the result of having used it longer and been more familiar with it), but the pixellation and off-color problems i've read about in other reviews have not occurred thus far. low-light shots have turned out just fine, too (another problem i've read about others having).
i can't say much for the durability or longevity of this unit, or for nikon's customer service, as i've only had it a very short time. fingers crossed that i don't have to amend this review on either of those scores.
this camera seems to have received more mixed reviews than any other i checked out before buying. i'm not sure where the problems these other folks are having are coming from. it's a pocket camera, really, and meant for the casual photographer as opposed to the professional - do they expect it to make their morning coffee too? for my purposes (family, pets, vacation & nature shots, car shows, the occasional sports event, still lifes of stuff to sell on the 'net), and for those of people with similar needs, it ought to work just fine.
i may not know enough about them to be a full-fledged camera snob, but i am fairly picky about my gadgets and toys. so far, the nikon S630 has been a joy to work with. unless it explodes or catches fire while i'm using it the day after the warranty expires, i'm sold!
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Would really like to have a dock.Oct 18, 2009
---At this point, I'm still trying to get use to my new camera. But, it's not as easy as I thought
it would be. Without the dock to use when not in use, makes it harder to use continuously. If it wasn't for the extra battery I bought to go along with it, the evening pictures I took wouldn't have been here from our last camping trip. It's disapointing to have to change batteries every 8 hours when a dock would have kept the camera ready for use for longer time.
---It's also disappointing for me to not be able to take more pictures before having to change the battery. But, for the price I paid, that will have to be something I'll have to get use to. Let me explain!! When you are riding on a back of a motorcycle, you must have a camera that will react to the movement and the shots that you are taking. Sometimes you will go longer than 8 hours and other times it
could be a 300 mile trip and take more than 220 pictures at a time. But if the battery goes dead before that it's a bit hard to change the battery as you move down the highway. My other camera I had for 3 years got broke. Spent money to get it fixed, it came back and was terrible.Don't have any idea what I was doing wrong. So this was my next choice and it's really going to take patiences to get it to do what I want it to do and when. When you switch like this from one to another, you will lose something and what I lost was something I came to expect. Which is what I wanted this camera to do.
---As for the camera itself, I love it. Traveling as we do, it fits in my hand quite nicely and can take some great shots moving or sitting still. I can't say that I'm disapoointed in that part of it at all. I don't take pictures of just one thing and it falls right in there with what I'm doing at the time. I'm not a pro, but some of my pictures could be used as such, that I have gotten from this camera. It's light weight and has the settings that are needed to accomplish what ever you are wanting to do.
---As for the other - it will take time to get use to and I will conquer that as I go along. Then, I'll be a happy biker and photgrapher again!!
Great Point and Shoot, Minor InconveniencesOct 14, 2009
The camera actually feels pretty solid in my hands, you can tell it's plastic but it doesn't feel cheap overall. The pictures I took came out great, everything was clear even on most of the 7x zoom shots (more zoom = you need to move less). I am very happy with the quality of the lens and the layout. Nikon really gave it some extras such as using a zoom ring and a comfortable thumb rest while shooting (portrait and landscape modes). I am pleased with the shooting response time (from powering on to taking a picture) and have not experienced any shutter lag (I know that it IS slower than others, but really if you're getting a small point and shoot you have to give up something when the camera is $225.) I did play around with some of the features such as messing with the AUTO settings and the automatic smile mode. I didn't find the auto smile mode (it shoots when it senses a smile) to be that worthwhile. There are a lot of scene modes which can be overwhelming, but the auto scene selector works great! I have not done enough testing to see how the color really turns out under different settings.
I gave this 4 stars and not a full 5 for a few reasons that are more personal annoyances than performance issues. The first is that the little dial on the back feels cheap. I would have rather this been metal. It doesn't affect performance, but it does take away from the experience when you feel it. The second problem is that the menu is terrible. Nikon needs to put some R&D into making a menu that is very intuitive and user friendly. A nice GUI would really go a long way - this looks like a theme from DOS when you perform certain actions (such as format the card). Another thing is while looking at the thumbnails it is a pain to zoom back out. There is no quick way to get back to the picture in original size. Instead you have to zoom out .2x each time. Yow can hold it down, but then it goes to the view where you can see multiple thumbnails on the screen. A .5 or 1 second delay would help this out. The smallest complaint is that the charger does not have a flip out plug, you have to take the charging unit AND the (long) cord with you when you travel.
All in all these are tiny complaints for such a great camera. I recommend getting a case and screen protector for it and of course a large SDHC card and extra battery (from experience). Really this is a great camera for a little over $220 (at the time of this review). As with anything make sure you do research and try to get a hands on demo before buying it.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 I am not sureOct 08, 2009
I am really not sure if it is the camera or my expectations of a camera that has disappointed me in this purchase. The camera is well constructed, easy to use, easy to carry around. It has easy settings depending on what you want to use the camera for. The unfortunate part for me is that the pictures are often blurry. I would say 1 out of every 10 pictures comes out really well.
We purchased this camera because it was small and lightweight and easy to bring on backpacking trips. My daughter has a Nikon point and shoot and it takes great pictures. I also figured since it is a Nikon that the name would mean automatically it was a great camera. I am used to using my Canon 30D SLR so maybe my expectations are skewed but neither me or my husband are all that thrilled with the quality of the pictures.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
coolpix s630Sep 30, 2009
Great little camera with very good picture quality--surprised that it comes with only enough memory for 14 pictures. You must purchase memory cards separately but with only the 4gb card you get over a thousand pictures in memory and you can purchase up to a 16gb one if you wish. The zoom is very strong and works best if used outside.
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