Advantages and Disadvantages of Nikon Coolpix S70 (Review & Specs)
Posted on | January 16, 2010 | No Comments
The Nikon Coolpix S70 is a slim, 12.1 megapixel camera featuring a large 3.5 inch touch responsive display. It’s also equipped with a 5x Nikkor lens, 720p HD video recording, and Nikon’s 5-Way VR Image Stabilization system. Nikon has released a few different touch screen point and shoot digital cameras, but the Coolpix S70 is their first with an OLED screen (288k dot resolution, 3.5 inch touch panel OLED) instead of the typical liquid crystal display. Being that the S70 has only one button on the entire body (an optional shutter button on the top), it relies exclusively on hand gestures to control every other feature.
Nikon Coolpix S70 Specs
CoolPix S70 Black and Black 12.1 MP 5X Zoom Digital Camera (26174)
There are plenty of features we liked about the Nikon S70, including the Touch Shutter, 720p HD video capture, great image sharpness, compact and sleek design, and power conserving OLED with great functionality any lighting condition. But these positives just don’t outweigh some of its issues, like lack of manual control, price tag, over-exposed images, and a somewhat unreliable touch screen that isn’t supplemented with physical buttons.
It is a great idea, in theory, to throw in an OLED instead of a common LCD as a touch viewfinder/display. It certainly out-performs a standard LCD in bright sunlight, but it doesn’t really shine against the competition because its resolution is only average.
What the Coolpix S70 offers is minimal user input and a touch-only interface. There’s a certain audience for that kind of camera, and the S70 isn’t necessarily a bad choice for that demographic. An expansive touch display and faux-leather grip scream style, and the technology has a lot of potential. But for your $250-300, you’d be much better served by a camera that’s more focused on practical usability.
Advantages of Nikon Coolpix S70:
* Small, lightweight and attractive
* HD video capture
* OLED viewfinder/display is a good idea
* OLED provides power saving functionality
* Touch Shutter
Disadvantages of Nikon Coolpix S70 :
* Image quality is inconsistent
* Touch screen can be difficult to use
* Over-exposed images
* Little manual control options
* OLED has too small of a resolution
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