Nikon Coolpix S550 10 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Graphite Black)

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Nikon Coolpix S550 10 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Graphite Black)
From Nikon

Editorial Reviews

Manufacturer Description

Smart, fast, and blessed with long reach. Packing stylish elegance, high performance and advanced functions into the smallest body among competing compact digital cameras, the 10-megapixel Coolpix S550 fits comfortably in the hand and offers simplified operation.

Coolpix S550 Highlights

10.0 megapixels of pure imaging power That’s plenty of sharp resolution to capture the finest details, crop creatively and produce beautiful enlargements. Optimizing performance and color reproduction is an advanced new image-processing engine.

5x Zoom-Nikkor lens Exceptional image quality with greater creative freedom distinguishes the 5x Zoom-Nikkor lens (35mm format equivalent) for the Coolpix S550. Employing four aspherical elements and delivering telescopic reach of up to 180mm, its quality Nikkor optics also allow macro shooting from as close as 10 cm from your subject.

VR image stabilization Compensating for the effects of camera shake to realize sharper results, electronic VR image stabilization frees you to enjoy capturing special moments without worrying about slight hand movements, particularly in lower light conditions.

Smile mode and Blink warning Smile mode and blink warning both help in faithfully recording precious smiles in the brief instants they appear. Smile mode automatically releases the shutter when the selected subject smiles, helping to ensure smiles on the faces of loved ones. The Smile indicator, activated via Portrait mode, displays a gauge that changes when a smile is detected. Blink warning alerts you when it suspects that a subject has blinked, and allows you to immediately retake the shot.

Coolpix Premium Features

Coolpix in-camera technologies give you the edge when it comes to taking beautiful pictures more easily and with greater enjoyment. Included are innovative functions that increase shooting opportunities in a broader range of situations, help to optimize images, and add a new dimension of fun to sharing those results.

VR image stabilization Nikon Coolpix cameras offer an array of VR technologies that produce blur-free images when shooting in unsteady conditions or at slower shutter speeds. Selected models are equipped with one of two types of Optical VR, Lens Shift VR, which delivers sharp and steady images effective for shooting and faster framing with the LCD, or Image Sensor Shift VR, which moves the image sensor to accurately compensate for camera shake. Other models offer Electronic VR which applies movement data to image processing to turn blurred images into beautifully clear results.

Better pictures in lower light Selected Coolpix models offer ISO capability beyond the range of conventional digital compacts. An exciting advantage that greatly increases photographic possibilities, high ISO capability delivers excellent exposure in challenging conditions, broadens the scope of possible subjects and allows scenes to be captured beautifully without compromising natural light.

Face-priority AF Available only with Nikon Coolpix cameras, the clever Face-priority AF function helps ensure satisfyingly crisp portraits no matter where the subject is in the shot. By automatically detecting people's faces in the frame, the photographer is free to press the shutter for sharp portraits with focus exactly where it's wanted.

D-Lighting Only Nikon delivers the advantage of D-Lighting, a unique technology with the ability to rescue underexposed images or shots taken with excessive backlight. Accessible in Playback mode, this innovative feature automatically creates a copy of the image, adding light and detail added where necessary, while leaving correctly-exposed areas untouched. As a result, images are significantly improved in a manner that is much more natural looking.

In-camera red-eye fix Coolpix cameras offer refined red-eye reduction capability that surpasses other digital compacts. First, a series of pre-flashes stimulate the subject’s pupils, causing them to constrict. The camera then analyzes the captured image for the remaining presence of red eyes, automatically correcting them in-camera before saving the image to memory.

Customer Reviews

Alas, a Disappointment2
I have been a HUGE fan of Nikon cameras over the years, especially their digital line. I bought their first DLSR and that has served me well.

I bought the S550 for my wife so she'd have something small to put in her purse. She was out of town recently and came back with a ton of pictures, almost all of which were somewhat grainy or blurry. I thought it must be the diminutive camera size and that my wife might've been experiencing a slight bit of camera shake (the S550 is a bit tricky to hold completely steady and compose a picture). But camera shake would explain blur, but not grainy.

Well, I took the camera and took shots of this and that and then compared it to my Canon Powershot A610 (5 Megapixels). I took shots of the same items with both cameras and was...well...shocked! The clarity on the A610 was significantly better.

Wish I had performed this experiment when I first purchased the camera. Would've returned it.

Why did I give it 2 stars instead of 1? Well, it's cute, 5X optical is a great feature, it's got video and it fits in my shirt pocket. But add 'em all up and they pale when picture quality suffers.

Has some drawbacks3
I bought this camera because I had a Nikon film camera I paid nothing for in 1990 and it took incredible pictures. I have always admired Nikon lenses.

Has no one else experienced the MIRROR that the LCD screen becomes in bright sunlight? My other digital camera "grays out" in bright sun but this one is a MIRROR....there is no way to even guess at what you are pointing the lens at. A viewfinder would not just be for nostalgia, it would be USEFUL for this camera.

Product Listing has incorrect features!1
I bought this camera assuming the detailed description of included features was accurate but it isn't- at least in one regard which was the selling point for me: the 'stop-motion movie' mode which it lists in the final paragraph description.
This was the one I spotted, but there could be others. For this, and all other cameras and electronic equipment listed on Amazon I will be double-checking the manufacturers website in the future.
In this case, here's the link to Nikon's own page on the S550:
http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Product/Digital-Camera/26108/COOLPIX-S550.html

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Nikon Coolpix S550 10 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Graphite Black)

 
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