Nikon Coolpix S230 review

Although it's faster than its predecessor, the S210, the S230 is still fairly slow, as is much of its competition. This is most noticeable in the time to first shot: 3.5 seconds. The S230's shot-to-shot time averages 3 seconds without flash and gets only slightly longer with flash, at 3.3 seconds. Oddly enough, it has a very good burst speed, at 1.6 frames per second. However, its shutter lag is at the high end of our acceptable range, at 0.5 seconds in bright conditions and 1 second in dim.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Time to first shot

Typical shot-to-shot time (flash)

Typical shot-to-shot time

Shutter lag (dim)

Shutter lag (typical)

Casio Exilim EX-Z250

2.8 

3.7 

3 

0.5 

0.3 

Canon PowerShot SD880 IS

1.2 

3.2 

1.9 

0.8 

0.4 

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W150

1.9 

3.7 

1.5 

0.9 

0.4 

Nikon Coolpix S230

3.5 

3.3 

3 

1 

0.5 

Nikon Coolpix S210

2 

3.4 

3.1 

1.5 

0.9 

Conclusion
The Nikon Coolpix S230 is a decent, good-looking, ultra-compact point-and-shoot camera that happens to have the convenience of an intuitive touchscreen interface. If you're very critical of photo quality or need something very fast, this probably isn't the camera for you. But, if you're looking for a camera to keep with you at all times for snapshots, the S230 is a worthy contender.

Additional editing by Charles Kloet