The Nikon Coolpix S8000 is a compact camera that manages to do something others don’t – pack a 10x zoom into a compact chassis.
At just 3cm thick, the S8000 is the thinnest 10x zoom compact camera on the planet.
The problem with long zooms in compact cameras is obvious – squeezing all that glass into a slim, pocketable body is extremely difficult, which is why most non-DSLRs with a 10x zoom or longer tend to be DSLR-style “bridge” cameras.
Bridge cameras, while ideal for those looking to improve their photography without splashing out on a DSLR, are bulky, heavy and generally more expensive than their compact brethren.
Not the S8000. It comes packing a massive lens into a body less than 30mm thick. It’s a true telephoto lens, as well. Converted to 35mm, it measures from wide-angle, at 30mm, to a length many sports photographers would be happy with, at 300mm.
There’s plenty else that appeals too.
In its fastest mode, the S8000 has a claimed top speed of 3fps; significantly quicker than most compact cameras and a reasonable speed for basic wildlife or sports photography.
Alternatively, it’s a powerful 720p video camera, recording 24fps footage for up to half an hour.
Consider the 3-inch, 920,000-pixel screen, all-metal construction and very high resolution (14.2 megapixels) and the S8000, on paper, could be one of the very best compact cameras money can buy.
The S8000 handles nicely. The bulge around the lens means there’s plenty to hold on to, and zooming in and out doesn’t change the camera’s centre of gravity too much.
The all-metal construction feels fairly tough and accident-resistant, if not quite as bulletproof as the Canon G11.
The 3-inch screen on the back works beautifully – it’s easy to read, even in direct sunlight, and is crisp and bright. The high resolution means that zooming in and checking an image’s focus is straightforward.
With no manual mode there are only a few controls, and while we’d prefer that the buttons were a little larger and more pronounced from the body for ease of access, as you don’t change too many settings between shots life isn’t made too complicated.
Our only complaint as far as the S8000′s performance is concerned is the amount of time it takes to start up.
As the lens protrudes so far from the body, leaving it turned on in a bag or pocket isn’t an option. But although the lens is out of the body in under a second, the S8000 wasn’t ready to shoot for another five, making for a rather long start-up of time of just under six seconds.
That isn’t much use if something happens in front of you and you want your camera ready to go quickly.
The standard continuous mode performed at 0.8fps in our tests, while the sports continuous mode shot at a more impressive 3.6fps – over half a frame per second quicker than Nikon’s claim.
That’s great for creating action sequences for the web or smaller prints, but otherwise you might find that the 3-megapixel limit in this mode, creating 2,048 x 1,536 pixel prints, is a bit restrictive.
See sample video in HD at Youtube
There all kinds of pitfalls for a camera with such a long lens – the more glass elements inside a lens the more opportunities there are for distortion and chromatic aberrations to appear.
The S8000 takes generally excellent pictures, though. The lens doesn’t distort significantly and there’s a real benefit to having such a long zoom available.
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Colours are captured vibrantly and, although there’s no dedicated manual mode for controlling shutter speed or aperture size, the S8000 was generally on the money when it came to exposing our shots. For those times that it isn’t, scene modes such as Beach/Snow and Fireworks should see you right.
We did occasionally feel that chromatic aberrations were an issue – these were particularly evident on wide-angle shots.
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Strongly backlit subjects – such as tree branches photographed against a bright sky – turned a fairly noticeable shade of purple. The in-camera sharpening occasionally cost us a little detail too.
In general, though, if you can avoid cropping your images too severely, the S8000′s minor foibles are easily overlooked or avoided.
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It’s a shame, as the 14.2-megapixel sensor should make heavy cropping a real possibility, but, as ever, it’s best to frame the shot right at the time rather than relying on editing it later.
Noise is controlled all the way up to ISO 1600. Between ISOs 100 and 400 image quality is virtually indistinguishable, and ISOs 800 and 1600, while suffering from a little softness and distinctly un-film like noise, will still produce usable shots.
Using Zoom…
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The maximum setting in every-day use is ISO 3200. At this point we saw a marked reduction in the amount of detail captured, as well as reduced contrast and rather heavy noise.
There is a further stop of ISO available, but 6400 is only an option if the S8000 is set to Sport Continuous mode, which reduces the available image size to 3 megapixels.
Using zoom…
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The movie mode is good. The stereo microphones proved adept at picking up sounds clearly, while the image stabiliser – more or less a given on most compact cameras these days – was more than a match for our shaky hands, even with the lens zoomed all the way in.
Frequent visitors to wildlife parks will love the S8000. The long reach of the lens easily counterbalances our concerns about image quality, and a 300mm lens that fits in the pocket is truly convenient.
It’s also well made and competitively priced at £250 at its launch.
It won’t be for everyone – if you don’t think you’ll really use the S8000′s long reach, you should save yourself around £100 and buy a compact with a more modest, ‘normal’ zoom lens such as the Canon Ixus 105.
We liked:
The long lens is a real talking point, and it works really well. Image quality is generally fine and although the ordinary continuous mode doesn’t exactly blaze a trail, the optional sports mode works well. The S8000 is also very well made and easy to use.
We disliked:
Look too closely and images can be a bit soft – the best way to avoid this is to keep your crops to a minimum. The long start-up time is a bit of a drag as well. Finally, the S8000 is a little expensive if you’re not going to make use of the 300mm lens.
Verdict:
For those who want plenty of power and resolution without resigning themselves to needing a dedicated bag for their camera, the S8000 is a great compact.
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