I am very particular when it comes to small (pocketable) cameras and I wanted to find out how good (or bad) the top of the line Coolpix S8100 really is. I ignored the P7000 because it is in a different category – I wanted to see what a “real” point and shoot Nikon camera is all about. A natural choice for my comparison was the Canon S95 which is the top of the line compact camera currently offered by Canon. I know this is not fair fight since the Canon S95 can shoot RAW, has manual mode and costs $100 more. I hope with the next Coolpix announcement on February 9th Nikon will address those issues in the upcoming 24-100mm f/1.8 compact camera the way Olympus did with their new ZX-1.
The Coolpix S8100 and Canon have very similar design with almost identical location of all major buttons and dials. The only difference is that the S95 has a rotating ring on the lens that can be assigned for different functions like zooming, aperture, ISO, WB, manual focus, etc. Nikon will also release a new Coolpix camera with a similar lens ring. Canon S95 is lighter and smaller in size.
Nikon’s menu is clean, with only few options. The three main tabs are: “shooting menu”, “movie” and “set up”. Each of them has only few settings. The “shooting menu” lets you set the image mode, WB, metering, ISO, AF area and AF mode:
This is how Canon’s menu looks:
In addition, the S95 has a separate functional settings menu that depends on the mode you are currently using:
I noticed that the S8100 has a slightly faster AF compared to the S95. The Coolpix has a direct video recording button and can be charged via USB while the Canon has a conventional battery charger:
I did a quick and simple comparison between both cameras by setting them in auto mode. Here are the results (click on images for larger view) – even in daylight, the Canon S95 provides better colors and flare resistance:
| Nikon Coolpix S8100 | Canon S95 |
The big advantage of Canon’s S95 comes in low light – almost all S95 samples were significantly better than one taken with the Coolpix S8100:
| Nikon Coolpix S8100 | Canon S95 |
One area where the Coolpix is superior to the Canon S95 is the macro mode – you can take images much closer with the Nikon S8100:
| Nikon Coolpix S8100 | Canon S95 |
Update: I uploaded the full size jpg files on flickr. I also added few more S8100 samples.
Specifications comparison (green color indicates the better specs):
| Nikon Coolpix S8100 | Canon S95 | |
| Pixels | 12.1 MP | 10 MP |
| Sensor size | 1/2.3 in. | 1/1.7 in. |
| Sensor type | BSI CMOS | CCD |
| ISO range | 100-3200 | 80-3200 |
| Lens aperture | f/3.5-5.6 | f/2-4.9 |
| Lens zoom | 30-300 mm | 28-105 mm |
| Screen | 3″ TFT | 3″ TFT |
| Video mode | 1920×1080 at 30fps | 1280×720 at 24fps |
| Max shutter | 1/4000 sec | 1/1600 sec |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 4.1 x 2.4 x 1.2 in. | 3.93 x 2.3 x 1.16 in. |
| Weight | 0.46 lbs | 0.35 lbs |
| Price | $299.95 (rebate available) | $399.95 (check latest) |
The S8100 simply doesn’t cut it to be a serious compact camera. Nikon has a hole in the Coolpix line between the S8100 and the P7000 and I think this is what they will be targeting with their next product announcement. Almost all major manufacturers have a model in that category. RAW shooting, manual mode, AMOLED screens, f/1.8 aperture, hot shoe, improved direct manual controls can quickly lead Nikon to the top of the serious compacts category. Let’s see what will be announced next week.
