Nikon CoolPix S640 review

With its 12-megapixel sensor, 5x zoom lens and 2.7in screen, the S640 risks blending in with countless other mid-price compact cameras. Not every compact claims start-up and autofocus performance to rival a digital SLR, though.

We measured a fraction over one second between switching on and capturing a photo. SLRs often manage half that, but it’s still a fine achievement. Autofocus times were even more impressive, with just 0.2 to 0.4 seconds at the wide-angle end of the zoom. It took up to a second at the telephoto end in low light, but this is undoubtedly an extremely responsive camera.

Our admiration wore off when we tried to take quick successions of shots. There was around 2.3 seconds between frames, but sometimes the camera kept us waiting for up to seven seconds. Continuous shooting ran at a pedestrian 0.8fps. This is a fast camera for those who like to snap on the spur of the moment, but not for those who like to take lots of photos quickly and pick the best one later.

Otherwise, there’s very little to distinguish the S640 from other 12-megapixel ultra-compacts, many of which cost around £40 less. We like how the navigation pad doubles as a wheel for quickly adjusting settings, but the controls are limited, with no manual exposure or focus options. Video capture is poor, with a basic 640×480 resolution, no optical zoom function and terrible sound quality.

Our image quality tests revealed sharp focus and reasonable colour reproduction, although sunlit faces came out rather pink. Noise made subtle details appear a little scrappy in outdoor shots and obliterated all details in low light shots. We also found that the speed of the autofocus sometimes came at the expense of accuracy, with a few shots coming out slightly softer than the lens was capable of.

The S640’s responsive performance is welcome, but for image quality there’s no contest between this and Fujifilm’s F200EXR.