Product Listing

Preview: Nikon COOLPIX S52c - Unwired Freedom

By Seow Tein Hee - 10 Apr 2008

Initial Results & Closing Remarks

Snapping Away

With all the highlights of the camera's physique and design, how does the S52c fare on its primary function as a compact digital camera? As a point-and-shoot digital camera, the S52c provides you with three main shooting modes which includes Shooting Modes for more control on your shots, HiISO which increases ISO sensitivity for darker surroundings or fast moving subjects and Scene which factors in a myriad of possible scenes such as Fireworks, Museum, Night Shots, Close-up and many more for easier photo taking. In our tests, we figured the Shooting mode is the essential choice for normal users, with the freedom to alter your white balance and ISO with ease. Nonetheless, the HiISO and Scene modes were substantially useful for darker lighting conditions or specific situations that would otherwise require us to tinker with the settings for quite a bit before we got it right. Overall, images turned out pretty decent, aided in part by Nikon's right-angle optical lens shift VR (Vibration Reduction) and the bump up with a 9-megapixel imaging sensor and increased ISO sensitivity of up to 3200 (as compared to its predecessor). However, as with various other cameras that supports high ISO settings, noise levels become substantially higher on higher values.

A crucial factor that determines the usability of a digital camera during roadtrips is the battery stamina. While in our trials, we managed less than the 200 shots stated in the technical specifications of the S52c, but we realized that the added Wi-Fi capability also impacted the battery drain. Of course, we spent some time tinkering with the Wi-Fi settings before we finally got it working. So once you are familiar with the device, the strain on the battery life will be substantially reduced.

We put the Nikon S52c through a series of standard tests that analyzes the imaging quality of the device on various ISO settings, specifically on its resolution and color rendition. While we would love to share with you the test results with actual images, Nikon was unfortunately not ready to our full scrutiny on the pre-production model we've got, thus no imaging shots in this preview. However, we can still comment on what we've tried. On lower ISO settings from 100 to 400, the lines were sharp on the resolution chart, with noise levels increasing proportionately as we pushed the ISO settings from 800 to 1600 and 3200. Color rendition on the S52c, on the other hand, was very well contrasting from ISO100 up to ISO3200, with noise levels notably higher from ISO1600 onwards. Quite reasonable for a compact camera.


You've Got Picture!

Undoubtedly, Nikon's wireless direction found itself very welcomed on the S51c, and thus feature made its way on the successor as well. As mentioned earlier, the Send button situated at the top of the device allows you to send snapped images to a specified e-mail address, as long as you are connected to a Wi-Fi connection.

Alternatively, by clicking the Play button and clicking Mode, you can select Picture Bank which allows you to upload your images onto my Picturetown, a centralized server hosted by Nikon to store your images for free, up to 2GB in storage. Currently, my Picturetown is available only to the United States and Japan, with Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia following suit in the very near future. With the growing ease of Wi-Fi access in the region, the effects of my Picturetown will definitely be positive, giving consumers the option to upload their images on-the-fly during lengthy trips, thus reducing the need to tug along multiple memory cards for storage purposes.


Closing Remarks

While there are other digital compact cameras that include integrated wireless communication, none have been as active as Nikon with its introduction of Wi-Fi enabled cameras. Though the Nikon S52c is an upgrade of the S51c's imaging sensor and ISO sensitivity, the possibility of uploading multiple images onto a central portal for synchronized storage gives it a strong edge over similar devices. Whilst we did not manage to have a full run at Nikon's my Picturetown service, our initial impressions are leaning positively towards it, and a possible new trend that comes with it in the near future.

Join HWZ's Telegram channel here and catch all the latest tech news!
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.