Nikon Coolpix S520 Digital Camera

Posted on May 16, 2008
Filed Under Digital Camera Reviews |

The eight-megapixel Nikon Coolpix S520 features an aluminium shell and a good feature set. It has a 35-105mm optical zoom, complete with optical image stabilisation (VR in Nikon speak) to combat the shakes, as well as sensor sensitivity up to a pretty loft ISO 2000 (at full resolution).

Features include an auto ISO range from ISO 64-1600, a new food scene pre-set with handy five-step white-balance option and a customizable favourite scene mode. The latter allows up to three most used scene modes to be held in the camera’s menu for easy access.

Although the S520 is pocket friendly, it has an elongated body and no rear selector dial. Otherwise, it has the usual clutch of controls which, unfortunately, are rather slow. In our opinion that’s rather a step backwards for the manufacturer which has produced zippier control.

Face Detection - Nikon calls it face-priority AF, but the handy system work in the same way as rivals, focusing on faces and improving exposure accuracy.

D-Lighting - Only available during playback, the D-Lighting feature automatically makes a copy of the original image and lightens dark areas, revealing detail.

Red-eye Fix - A series of pre-flashes us used to reduce the unsightly effects of red-eye, but is can mean the subject isn’t expecting the main flash leading to unexpected results.

Memory - Like most compacts, the Coolpix S520 boasts 23MB of internal memory as well as support for SD and SDHC memory cards.

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