Nikon COOLPIX S9100 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 18x NIKKOR ED Wide-Angle Optical Zoom Lens and

Folks, this purchase came after 3 solid days of research using everything from Amazon, CNet, Infosyncworld, to YouTube. You are here, reading reviews, as I was at the beginning of my search for a great quality digital camera that was neither high-end nor cheap. Let me begin by saying that I just purchased this camera and have not gone over extensive testing myself, but rest assured that you should NOT take Amazon.com reviews for digital cameras (and a lot of other things for that matter) as the gospel. Why? Because too many people come on here, bashing good equipment when the vast majority of the time it is user error. Please, do yourself a favor and do research using professional analysis by people that test these things out and that take pictures and video that you can see for YOURSELF.

I ignored all of the reviews that didn't specifically point towards any sort of systematic malfunction and that solely complained about image quality or other things that are easily altered and messed up using settings. And also reviews that complained about their camera breaking -yeah I don't care HOW far you think you dropped it from...dropping electronics and it breaking then giving it a negative review is absurd. After narrowing my search down to the Canon S95, the Canon SX230, the Nikon s8100 and the Nikon s9100, I chose the Nikon S9100.

WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR:

1. a compact camera...not too small, not too big

2. advanced enough to get my feet wet in the world of digital photography

3. offers 1080 HD video

4. optical zoom of at LEAST 10X

5. Under $450 as I'm not ready to purchase a dSLR

6. utmost picture quality offered by a point & shoot (to include low-light performance)

WHAT MY RESEARCH TOLD ME:

1. professional review websites, not amazon reviewers, know what they are talking about when it comes to digital camera picture/video quality and they back it up with samples

2. not to rely on a handful of negative reviews to sway my decision

3. Nikon and Canon were the 2 most reliable brands offering products that met my requirements

4. cameras are going to offer stuff I don't need, won't use

5. pretty much all of the cameras are battery hogs

6. the memory card can influence camera performance/speed (wonder how many negative reviewers trashed the Nikon for their lack of putting a quality card in it eh)

MY FINAL 2 CHOICES:

1. Nikon s9100

Why over the s8100?

-well, the image quality is virtually identical DESPITE what some of the Amazon reviewers are saying because they pretty much use the same imaging system.

-s9100 has slight upgrades to scene modes, video, etc...

-s9100 is the newer model and has just dropped to a reasonable price as compared to the s8100

2. Canon sx230

Why over the S95?

-the s95 didn't shoot 1080 video (it is a 2010 model)

-the s95 had a lot of manual controls I am not ready for at this point and that I'd probably not use (this is a PRO for a lot of people)

-the s95 would likely be upgraded in the near future with a 2011 model

-the s95 cost roughly $50 more and didn't really give me anything the sx230 wouldn't at my usage level

So, How'd I decide on the Nikon S9100 over the Canon SX230:

Menu System: Canon I really liked the canon menu system and it was really fast to navigate. However, the Nikon menu was just as fast, just not as fancy or "pretty" as the Canon.

Image Quality: Tie; I found pictures taken at the store to be the same, and reviews online touted both cameras as being excellent in both low-light and bright light.

Video Quality: Tie

Picture/Video Stabilization: Picture: Tie; Video: Canon

Zoom: Nikon

Effects: Tie however the Nikon approaches some of the effects a little bit different. Canon does offer a few effects the Nikon didn't like a miniature video effect.

Audio: Tie however you will hear the zoom in your videos if you use it while recording.

Form Factor: Canon the Canon was more sleek and curvy

Comfortability: Nikon the Nikon just fit my hand better

Price: Nikon the Nikon was roughly $40 less.

In the end I REALLY liked both cameras. I'm no pro photographer, but I didn't want a battery operated purse toy either. So I don't think I would have gone wrong either way, however I just couldn't justify spending $40 more for the Canon when it really didn't offer me anything more features (that I'd use) over the Nikon. I wouldn't use the GPS function on the Canon...it is a battery hog anyway, EVEN when the camera is off unless you turn the feature off. I wouldn't really use a few of the extra effects the Canon had, and the Nikon had the better zoom. Despite Nikon's menus not being as pretty, nor the back of the camera being as pretty. I liked it's LCD screen better and was able to understand the menus just fine. In the end it was the price point and the fact the Canon had features I didn't want that led me to purchasing the Nikon.

So there it is folks (if you made it this far). Please do research and compare yourself before making a purchase based on consumer reviews. I would take a lot of these reviews with a grain of salt unless you see systematic issues EVERYONE is having with mechanical failures or hardware issues. Check out the resources I listed at the top of this article and you can't go wrong. But if you do, just be aware of the return policy and take comfort in knowing you can return.

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UPDATE 5/26/11

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Now that I've owned the camera for a little bit longer I thought I'd post another update to answer a few more questions folks might have or like to know about. I initially gave this 5 starts without owning it very long based on my initial experience with the camera and the feature set it had based on what I needed/wanted and the price point. My review is still excellent, but now I'd give it 4.5 stars due to the way it chargers and the necessity to purchase additional equip for the type of functionality I'm used to. I've been an exclusive Canon owner in the past, but this Nikon is a gem.

1. Picture Quality: Crystal clear. I have no issues with blur. Make sure you take good care of the camera and keep the lens clean.

2. Zoom: Incredible. Such a high zoom for the price point. Probably the best zoom you will find on a point & shoot.

3. Battery: Battery life is as expected. You will need to purchase at least 1 more EN12 battery as backup.

4. Charging: This camera charges with the battery inside. You charge the camera via USB into your computer or into a wall outlet. If you want to charge the battery separately you will need to purchase a separate wall mount battery charger (~$25-35 bucks). This is one reason I am lowering my review to 4.5 stars is because I feel the battery charger should have come with the camera. Charging is a big deal and we all like to be able to charge a battery AND still use the camera. You can't do that with this camera unless you buy a separate battery and the wall mount charger. That being said, it IS nice to be able to charge this camera via USB into your computer.

5. Compatibility: I have a MAC and I have zero issues. You can use iPhoto, or Picasa (from Google) or whatever else and it works fine. Also, it uses the same batteries as the S8100 and a few other models so if you are upgrading you can use your same batteries.

6. Flash: The flash works great. It has plenty of power and turns any photos in a completely dark area into a crisp colorful bright photo.

7. Size: The size is just about right. For a point & shoot, this is just about as big as you get before entering the DSLR realm. It is not pocket friendly, but is purse/bag friendly. The reason this camera is a bit bigger is to accommodate the awesome zoom as well as the larger LCD screen and flash.

8. LCD Screen: Perfect size LCD screen to view. Consider investing ~7-8 bucks into a plastic screen protector so it won't get scratched.

9. Controls: As I previously reviewed, the back of the Nikon is not as sleek or ergonomic as the Canon model(s), but nevertheless the design works fine for my hands (medium sized male hands). I am able to cleanly press all buttons and functions with no problem and I don't feel them to be cheap or to be faulty in any way.

10. Video: Great video, but stabilization will be an issue, especially at high zooms. But I knew this going in. Consider getting a tripod for serious video shooting, or prepare to film at a low zoom.

11. Effects/Modes: I love the effects and modes in this camera. You can create a lot of artistic effects without needing to use Photoshop or other expensive programs. IE. black and white photos that specifically highlight/target a single color palette illuminating a single color in your shot resulting in dramatic and beautiful shots. (by far my fav effect).

All-in-all, I'm very happy with my purchase. I just noticed the price dropped again making this camera even more of a great value. If you are looking for a small ultra portable purse camera for dinner and whatnot, look elsewhere. This one is inbetween the small point & shoots and the DSLRs. If you are looking for a high quality, yet compact enough to carry around and produce amazing shots, this is your camera. I'd say for the best review check out Infosyncworld's video review on their website or on YouTube for a closer look at it's size and capabilities.

Now I'm no professional photographer, but I am picky about how my pictures look. I have a good eye, and can be very anal about details in my photos. I've seen this camera get some bad reviews lately, and I am really perplexed by this. I looked at lots of other cameras. some costing more and some less. This was by far the best point and shoot pocket-able mega zoom out there, I thought. I read some negative reviews about sluggish focus and blurred images from here and from Best Buy's web site. I don't know if a bad batch of cameras went out? I did have some focus issues right out of the box when I started using the camera; but after inspecting the camera I noticed a nice big greasy finger print right on the lens. I'm pretty sure it wasn't from me, but I wouldn't bet my life on it though. After cleaning the lens, I have had no focus issues. The only thing I can say about the focus is that when indoors, sometimes you need to take a step back and use more zoom to get focus lock, and sometimes you might need to take a step forward and use less zoom to achieve focus lock. This happens rarely though. Most of the time my S9100 focuses fast and true. Low light shots are great indoors and out. Auto mode works pretty good for about 90% of my shots, and the rest I use the various setting or scene modes to capture the shot I want. Now I'm not saying every shot I take is perfect and clear. As with any camera digital or film. You have to expect a few bad shots. That's why I always try to take more that one shot when possible. the lcd is gorgeous. I find that if the pictures look good on the camera, they will look good on my computer. Of course different computers will yield different results. On my laptop the pictures look a bit drab or dull, but on my desk top with a high res monitor the pictures are real vivid and pleasing to the eye. I've had the camera now for almost two weeks and I love it. The long zoom is great, but even with image stabilizing enabled you will need a steady hand for clear shots at higher zoom levels. The video from the camera plays nice and smooth on my computer when I use windows media player; but when I tried quick time the video was choppy. In video mode you can take pics while recording, which is nice. There is no shutter sound when you take the picture, therefore no shutter sound in the video. You will however hear the zoom lens in your videos under quiet situations. It's not very loud, but it is noticeable. The camera starts up quick with little delay from shot to shot. I do recommend a class 6 or higher memory card. It made a big difference for me in burst mode. The camera can fire off 5 shots at a rate of 9.5 fps, but write times with a class 4 were painfully slow. I had to wait a good 9 to 10 seconds before my next shot. I am now using a class 10 and that time has been cut down to about 3 to 4 seconds. A bit of advice on memory cards. Make sure you look at the minimum and maximum write times. Not all class tens or sixes are equal. I saw a lot of class 10 cards with the same write speeds as higher end class 6 cards. I did upload a bunch of pictures so everyone can judge for themselves on quality. I guess the best advice I can give is try some test shots using various scene modes for other than there intended purpose. That's what I try to do when possible. I'll take a few pictures of the same shot using different settings. Then I view them on the computer later to see what looks best. Some other things I would like to touch on. A complaint I heard a lot about on the S8100 is the battery level wasn't displayed until the camera needed charging. It is now displayed always on the S9100. Another complaint was about flash placement on the S8100. It's in the same place for this one, but for me there is still enough room behind the flash for my finger. The flash no longer pops up automatically. It now pops up by activating a little switch on the side of the camera. This I actually like. I never cared for auto pop up flashes. Some people have complained about placement of the shutter button. That of course is an individual preference and shouldn't effect a rating. I like where it is on this camera, no problems at all. The other buttons and dials all seem to be good places and easy to activate or use. The camera itself is pretty easy to use. The interface is simple and clean. Settings are easy to get to and not buried under five or six sub menus. All in all, this is a great little camera.

Buy Nikon COOLPIX S9100 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 18x NIKKOR ED Wide-Angle Optical Zoom Lens and Now

The specs for the S9100 looked promising but it produced fuzzy and often out of focus still pictures making it unacceptable. In the end, I found the Nikon S8100 to have superior picture quality.

I started by taking 50 or so pictures in a variety of setting using the S9100's default settings. The results looked ok on the camera's 3" screen but once loaded to my PC, poor focusing & fuzzy/soft edges were evident in almost every photo. I wasn't ready to give up on the S9100 so I spent the next couple of days reading the manual and even buying my second choice (Nikon's S8100) for a direct comparison. I am upgrading from a Sony DSC-P200 (3x zoom, 7.2 MP) which produces good pictures but has a small field of view, only a 3X zoom and only does so so in low light. So my final comparison was between all 3 cameras.

After reading the S9100's manual I adjusted some of the default settings in the hope it would improve the photo quality:

* Auto Focus (AF) mode: I selected Center mode instead of the default. This tells the camera to focus on the center of the screen instead of the default. The default attempts to guess at what you want to focus on which in my experience was the closest object.

* ISO Setting: I changed the default to limit the ISO range to 400 max (Suggested in some other/similar Nikon camera reviews).

* Auto vs. Scene modes: For indoor photos I selected the indoor scene mode.

Of the 3 changes to the default setting above, only the AF Center change seemed to impact my test photos. I was able to tell the camera what object I wanted to focus on but even then focus was hit or miss.

With the S9100 settings tweaked I again took the same 50 or so photos I took earlier using the factory default setting and compared them to the same shots taken with the Nikon S8100 and Sony DSC-P200. The results:

Even when the S9100 appeared to focus on the proper object the photos were still fuzzy/soft when views on my pc. The more I zoomed in on the photos on my PC the more I could see the flaws. When I viewed the same photos taken on the Nikon S8100 and Sony DSC-P200 for the most part they were superior/crisper than the S9100 though the Sony could not zoom in nearly as close as the S9100 or S8100. The test photos were not particularly challenging... Indoors with lights on and Outdoors in midday daylight With/without flash, wide/ zoomed, Auto/ indoor scene modes and focusing on various objects only some of which should challenge the AF. If the S9100 can't handle these basic shots there's no point testing more challenging tasks like low light, fast action or HD video.

Conclusion: The S8100 has superior (But by no means prefect) picture quality in these basic everyday situations and has the zoom upgrade I was looking for, it's a keeper. The S9100's poor picture quality is a show stopper, it's going back.

Considering the specs how could this be? I'm no expert but one possible cause is the image stabilization process... The S8100 uses Lens shift and S9100 uses Senor shift. Of course perhaps I happened to get a defective camera.

For those of you who are wonder what I mean by Fuzzy/Soft. A picture of a couch with patterns in the pillows... the edge of the pillow with a wall in behind it looked fuzzy and the pattern on the pillow looking as if the lines in the patterns were blended/feathered with the S9100 but sharper/crisper with the S8100. Pictures that involved text, whether it be a birthday card on a hutch or the lighting instructions on my grill, were clear and easily read in the s8100 photos but blurred/fuzzy to the point where I could only guess what the words were with the S9100.

Read Best Reviews of Nikon COOLPIX S9100 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 18x NIKKOR ED Wide-Angle Optical Zoom Lens and Here

I usually use a cumbersome system consisting of a Nikon D300 and

numerous accessories. Naturally I don't carry this gear with me all

the time, and I wanted a small camera as a constant companion and as a

backup. I ordered the Nikon S9100 before it was reviewed. While I was

waiting to receive it the first reviews came out, and I admit I

was worried by the negative comments describing the S9100's purported

poor focusing ability. Perhaps, as one reviewer remarked, there is a

bad batch out there, but I am pleased to say that my copy of the 9100

has no trouble focusing. In fact it does everything I wanted it to,

and I'm very pleased with it. You don't have the control you have with a

full blown DSLR but this marvel of technology fits amazing abilities into a

very small package. In fact it has some abilities that my D300

doesn't have, specifically the easy panorama facility, and the option to

take videos (of up to half an hour in length). The one feature that

sold me on this particular point and shoot is its incredible zoom

range. I would recommend the S9100 to anybody who wants to combine

maximum portability with extreme ability.

Want Nikon COOLPIX S9100 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 18x NIKKOR ED Wide-Angle Optical Zoom Lens and Discount?

When I went to Best Buy, it was only to play with the SLR camera's. I couldn't decide between the Nikon D3100, or the Canon Rebel. After getting a new job as a food photographer, I wanted to upgrade from my current camera, the Kodak Z981, to something with a few more options. I've ALWAYS used only Kodak cameras because of their user friendly operation and editing software. Unfortunately, after only 10 minutes with the SLR's, I realized it was WAAAAAY more camera than I was ever going to use...and I couldn't operate it if my life depended on it. I was getting ready to leave when I figured I'd check out what was new in the world of regular digital cameras. That's when I ran into this little guy.

I talked with a very knowledgeable Best Buy associate who, after explaining exactly what I want and need in a camera, pointed me to this camera, and the Nikon Coolpix P500. After playing with both of them and finding them very similar (the only major difference being the P500 has a 35X zoom, which I don't need), I really liked the size of this camera. I never thought in a million years I would go this small when purchasing a new camera, but I absolutely love it.

I've taken numerous photos with this camera (mainly of food, since that's what I do), and they are stunning (I've shared some above)! There's actually a 'Food' setting under scene mode, but I prefer the 'Close-up' setting...makes the colors seem a bit more vivid IMO. I've taken pictures of my son playing outside using both Auto Mode and Sports Mode, and they came out crisp and clear...no blurry hands and legs!

This camera is super easy to use and you can jump right into taking pictures with ease. I only needed to consult the user manual about a couple things, like how to delete multiple photos at once. If you're a Nikon veteran though, you probably already know how to do this on one of their cameras. I didn't download the software that came with this, the ViewNX 2 program. When I plugged the camera into my computer I was able to send my photos to my Kodak EasyShare Program. I'm just not ready to part with my photo editing software yet, so I'll keep Kodak around for that purpose.

Overall, I ABSOLUTELY recommend this camera. If I could change anything about it, it would two things. I would love to switch the Mode Dial and the Shutter Release Button around. I think the shutter button is just a bit too far in towards the middle of the camera. The ideal place for it would be on the far right edge of the top of the camera, where the mode dial currently is. Also, the little door on the bottom of the camera that opens to reveal the USB port is a little flimsy and annoying. It's a rubbery flap you have to pop open then spin around out of the way so you can plug the cord in. It's a cumbersome design since this port gets so much use...it's not only how you get pics onto your computer (unless you take your memory card out and do it that way), but it's also how you charge the battery. OH...and THAT is awesome! To charge your battery, just plug the camera into the wall or your computer...no buying new batteries or having to remove them from the camera to put them in a charger (my Kodak was like that...4 AA batteries that have to be removed and placed in a wall charger...VERY aggravating to have to remember to bring the charger with us on vacations. Even more aggravating when I forget).

Well, I think that about covers it. This is a great little camera, but don't be fooled by it's small size. It has TONS of features, settings, editing options right on the camera itself (my favorite is Miniature Mode), and an 18X zoom! I'm a little sad to be ending my lifelong relationship with Kodak cameras but, judging by how great this Nikon has been in the few short weeks I've had it, I think I'll get over it.

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