Nikon Coolpix S4150 Digital Camera Review

Features
Handling
Performance
Verdict
Specification


Nikon Coolpix S4150 Lens Extended

The Nikon Coolpix S4150 was released in August 2011 alongside the S6150. It is available for £108.99 in five colours: violet, bronze, black, silver and red.

Nikon Coolpix S4150 Front

Nikon Coolpix S4150 Features

The S4150 features a 14 megapixel sensor and a 5x optical zoom lens which is a 35mm equivalent of 26 - 130mm. On the rear of the camera is a 3 inch touch screen allowing you to control the camera and select your point of focus.

To make picture taking easy Scene Auto Selector selects the optimum Scene mode for popular photographic situations and the user is also able to choose from 19 scene modes. Subject Tracking AF keeps the camera focused on a subject even when it is moving.

The camera has a number of ways to help you take the sharpest pictures possible. Lens-shift Vibration Reduction helps reduce the effect of camera shake and high ISO (up to 3200) reduces the risk of blurred images with fast-moving subjects or in low-light. Motion detection compensates for camera and subject movement, with Best Shot Selector (BSS) automatically selects the sharpest of up to 10 sequential shots.

There is also a range of features which are suitable for taking people pictures. Smile Timer takes a picture when your subject smiles and Blink Proof alerts you when someone has closed their eyes. Skin softening will adjust uneven skins tones, with in-camera Red-eye Fix correcting false eye colour caused by the flash.

The S4150 has a retouch menu which enables you to edit and enhance images in the camera. Filter effects available include Selective Colour, which converts your image to monochrome then adds a splash of colour to an area of your choice and Cross Screen, which adds a starry effect to bright objects.

Videos are recorded in 720p HD with stereo sound. Optical zoom is also available during recording. To view your videos the camera has a built-in HDMI connector for output to a HDTV.


Nikon Coolpix S4150 Top

Key Features

• 14 megapixel CCD image sensor
• 5x optical zoom lens (35mm equivalent: 26-130mm)
• 3 inch 460K-dot touch screen
• 720p HD movie recording with stereo sound
• Electronic VR (Vibration Reduction)
• ISO 80 - 3200
• Motion detection
• Best Shot Selector (BSS)
• Smart portrait system
• Smile Timer
• Blink Proof
• Skin softening
• In-camera Red-eye Fix
• Scene Auto Selector
• 19 scene modes
• Subject Tracking AF
• Retouch Menu
• Available in a range of exciting colours

Nikon Coolpix S4150 Screen

Nikon Coolpix S4150 Handling

The S4150 has a very small body, ideal for carrying around in your pocket. The 3 inch LCD touch screen is used to control most of the settings on the camera and is responsive. Even with the touch screen there are still five buttons, including on/off, shutter, movie, scene and playback buttons. On the rear of the camera is a small ridge for your right thumb to grip it. The camera menus are easy to navigate with a large amount of settings available at the touch of the button via the touch screen, such as ISO, white-balance, self-timer amongst others. Some of the writing which indicates what the buttons are for has worn away quickly during testing.

The camera is ready to take pictures within a couple of seconds of switching on and is quick to focus. The battery has a CIPA rating of 190, which is fairly low, so if you take a lot of pictures when out shooting for a day you may like to consider carrying a spare. In continuous shooting mode the camera is capable of shooting full sized 14 megapixel images at 0.9 fps.


Nikon Coolpix S4150 Battery

Nikon Coolpix S4150 Performance

The S4150 is able to take well exposed images with good colour reproduction. Detail is OK in the centre of the images but round the edges and corners they look blurry. With a minimum focusing distance of 10cm it is difficult to get close enough to take really detailed macro images. More pictures can be seen in the Equipment Database.

Nikon Coolpix S4150 Lens test images

There isn't any issue with noise at ISO 80 and ISO 100 but there is a little more noise at ISO 200, with a sharp image still produced. At ISO 400 images are a touch softer. Noise has a big impact on image quality at ISO 800, ISO 1600 and ISO 3200, with these settings best used when shooting images that are to be resized for web use.

Nikon Coolpix S4150 ISO test images

Landscape mode creates images with excellent blues and greens. You can change the amount of colour in images, from vivid to black and white, examples of which can be seen lower down. Portraits have excellent skin tones, with just a hint of red-eye.

Nikon Coolpix S4150 Scene modes

Under our incandescent lights the AWB presets gives an orange cast to the image, with the incandescent preset taking the better shot. It is the other way round under the fluorescent lights, with the AWB taking the best image, with an orange cast when shooting with the fluorescent preset.

Nikon Coolpix S4150 White-balance test images

Although no filter effects can be added when shooting, during playback you can enter the Retouch Menu, where you can add filters such as selective colour, soft focus, miniature and many more. Examples of some of these are below. Other options available are Glamour Retouch, D-Lighting, Stretch, Perspective Control and more.

Nikon Coolpix S4150 Digital filters

Video Mode

Below is a a video shot at 720p. The camera records with stereo sound and also allows the use of optical zoom during recording, an example of which can be seen on the ePHOTOzine Youtube page.

Value For Money

The Nikon Coolpix S4150 is available for £108.99. There is a huge range of cameras available with a similar specification (5x optical zoom, 14 megapixel sensor) to choose from, such as: Olympus VG-130, Nikon Coolpix S3100, Pentax Optio S1, Fujifilm FinePix Z90, Canon PowerShot A3200 IS and Samsung SH100.

Nikon Coolpix S4150 Verdict

In comparison with the recently reviewed Coolpix S6150 and considering they are available for a very similar price (as of 30th November 2011) there is little reason to suggest buying this model. The S4150 is smaller but the S6150 is only slighter bigger and has much better image quality, more megapixels and more optical zoom. The S4150 can take a good picture but will suit those who prefer to share images on social networking sites rather than printing their images in a large format.

Nikon Coolpix S4150 Pros

Extremely compact
Keenly priced
Good colour reproduction
Responsive touch-screen
Available in a range of colours

Nikon Coolpix S4150 Cons

10cm minimum focus distance for macro shots
CIPA rating for battery is fairly low
Noise significant from ISO 400 upwards

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
OVERALL

Nikon Coolpix S4150 Specifications

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