Nikon Coolpix S10 review

We saw almost no noise at the camera's lowest sensitivity setting of ISO 50. A very slight, very fine layer of noise crept in at ISO 100, though it was visible only on our monitor and wouldn't show up in prints. It increased slightly again at ISO 200, though again was minimised by printing and wasn't very distracting on our monitors. We did notice that there was some loss of finer detail, though we could still distinguish the individual hash marks on our test scene's measuring tape.

At ISO 400, noise was noticeable on our monitor, and the hash marks on the measuring tape now blurred together completely, though prints were still usable, especially at smaller sizes. By ISO 800, noise was rampant, lots of detail was lost and images weren't really usable for prints beyond 100x150mm (4x6-inches), though we'd shy away from boosting the sensitivity this high if at all possible.

Nikon does some things right with the Coolpix S10, most notably the lens and the versatile twist design, but its noise performance could definitely improve and we'd like to see it include some more advanced controls. With significant improvements in these two areas alone, Nikon's swivel-cams might be able to reclaim the status they once had, as some of the most innovative and desirable compact cameras around. As they are now, you may as well spend a little extra cash and look to Canon's S3 IS. With its swivelling LCD, it'll give you all of the Nikon Coolpix S10's versatility along with more powerful controls and better noise performance.

Shooting speed
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Typical shot-to-shot time

Time to first shot

Shutter lag (typical)

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H2

1.5 

2.6 

0.4 

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

1.7 

1.5 

0.4 

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ4

1.1 

2.8 

0.5 

Kodak EasyShare P850

1.7 

4.0 

0.6 

Nikon Coolpix S10

1.9 

1.7 

0.6