Nikon Coolpix S8000 Review
Nikon Coolpix S8000 Overview
After having just tested the Nikon Coolpix L110, the 14-megapixel Nikon Coolpix S8000 was a cool breeze of relief. Both cameras shared a lot in common in terms of controls and shooting features, but the Coolpix S8000 offered a stellar color station that allowed us to add significant life to our pictures that many other cameras couldn’t match. We also got a 10x optical zoom wide-angle lens, rear control ring, and sleek, sexy architecture. Although image and video quality was on par with the Coolpix L110, it was the S8000’s color options that really made it our favorite compact to shoot with during our batch testing with the Nikon Coolpix L110, Fujifilm Finepix F80EXR, and Fujifilm Finepix Z700EXR.
Shooting with the Nikon Coolpix S8000
Because the Nikon Coolpix S8000 has a beautiful 921,000-dot three-inch LCD, we found ourselves boosting the color in our shots every chance we got. The results were truly impressive for a point-and-shoot, and this is something that every camera in this class should have-a slider for Exposure, Vivedness (Saturation), and Hue (Warm and Cool White Balance parameters)-bundles into one set of three sliders. Like the Coolpix L110, Manual Controls were nearly extinct, save White Balance, Exposure, and ISO-but that was okay, given the bounty of Scene Modes and the Coolpix S8000’s target audience, most of who will only shoot in Auto mode.
We were never able to figure out the Subject Tracking on the Nikon Coolpix S8000, and the Smart Portrait mode just made our portraits look slightly out of focus. The Panorama mode worked excellently, especially when we fused our shots together with Panorama Maker 5, part of the included software from Nikon. The Nikon Coolpix S8000 was a quick shooter and Auto Focuser, and we loved shooting in Multishot 16, which provided 16 separate action sequence shots fused together in one frame.
Nikon Coolpix S8000 Still Image Quality
If it wasn’t for the Color station, we’d be as disappointed with the Nikon Coolpix S8000 as we were with the Nikon Coolpix L110, but that and the fact that the Coolpix S8000 has a 14-megapixel sensor vs. the L110’s 12-megapixel CCD might have been just enough to win us over. We’re not saying the S8000’s image quality was better because it had more megapixels-we all know big megapixels are marketing hype. However, the combination of processing and chip size might have favored more resolution, coupled with the camera’s ability to finetune tones and colors. The bottom line is we were happier with the Nikon Coolpix S8000 in the image quality department. Be sure to compare both reviews, as nearly all image samples were taken in identical shooting environments.
