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Nikon CoolPix S630 Review

Author	Cliff Smith
Published	13th Mar 2009
Manufacturer	Nikon
Price	£217.39 (Exc VAT)
as reviewed	£250.00 (Inc VAT)
Latest Price

Build Quality
Features
Image Quality
Value
Overall

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In moments of uncontrolled vanity, I sometimes delude myself into believing that what I say about camera design in my reviews somehow has an effect on the people who actually design them. One thing I have droned on about at some length is the idea that cameras need to be comfortable and secure to hold. There's no point having a tiny camera crammed with all the latest gizmos if it slips out of your fingers like a bar of soap every time you try to take a picture.

Well perhaps Nikon's designers were listening after all, because the new CoolPix S630 compact has an unusual curved shape with a large textured thumbgrip area on the back, and is one of the most comfortable-to-hold compact cameras on the market.

The specifications are pretty impressive as well. It has a 12-megapixel CCD with sensor-shift image stabilisation, a 7x zoom f/3.5 - f/5.3 lens equivalent to 37-260mm, a 2.7-inch 230k LCD monitor and a strong half-metal, half-plastic body, available in a range of colours, although in the UK it's only black or red. Overall build quality although the zoom control is a bit jerky.

The S630 is a pretty expensive camera, currently selling for around £250, which puts it on the same high shelf as other luxury compacts such as the new Canon IXUS 990 IS (12.1MP, 5x zoom, £379), or the Sony Cyber-shot W270 (12.1MP, 5x zoom, £299). While its longer zoom range and lower price might make the S630 look like good value by comparison, bear in mind that both of those rival models feature HD video recording, while the Nikon is limited to VGA at 30fps.

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Isaac Sarayiah said on 14th March 2009

Hi. Can you do a review of Nikon's P90 which has just been released?

jeff Falco said on 17th March 2009

so zenereffect what do you think about its competitor the olympus Stylus 7000

techcafe said on 22nd May 2009

small & black, sleek & stylish, lovely curves, easy to use...
very sexy camera baby, yeah!

HOWEVER, it shoots rather mediocre pictures. i was quite ... more

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