Nikon Coolpix S51

Opinion: Jusy picked this up for an amazing $150 at Bset Buy and for a pocket point and shoot it serves me well! I have a D80 that I use for serious photography but for a quick "gotta get it" opportunity this camera meet my expectations. Is it the best camera in the world NO but having already owned a Nikon S6 and getting mediocre pics due to not having image stabilixation this is a breath of fresh air with the addition of VR technology!

Opinion: I bought the CoolPix S51 a few days ago because I needed a compact camera for
sneak shots and video. I normally shoot RAW files with high end digital SLRs. I've
been getting great sharp photos from this camera so far in my test (set at the
highest resolution) with very actuate color. The close-up shots are razor sharp
where as the landscape or distance shots the focus of distance objects isn't perfect
but the color is good. Considering the size of the lens compared to the high end
lenses of my Nikon DSLR I'd say the CoolPix S51 does a very nice job. I set the ISO
to 100, some of the photos are grainy when the camera is set in the auto ISO
mode. The auto focus is razor sharp. I'm having fun with the cameras video and
getting nice little videos with it set to the highest resolution. Over all I'm very
impressed with this camera for the money.

Opinion: I have to agree with prob, I bought this camera for my wife to replace a Fuji Finepix S5000. I thought the idea of having a camera that would fit in her purse would be great. Not so, the images were not at all what I expected from Nikon. I felt he colors were off, I just was not happy with the quality. I then left it up to her to decide because it was her Mothers day gift, right when they came out I got it, well she ended up returning it and now has a Canon S3 IS.

Opinion: Honestly, I think "prob" is being overly critical.

I too bought the S51 on Black Friday. I wanted a compact point and shoot for my wife: something that would take good pictures without having to fiddle with a ton of settings.

The S51 is delivering that beautifully.

Both the flash and non-flash pictures we've been taking look fine.

Are they "noisy"? Well, that depends. At ISO 400 they seem about as noisy as my DSLR (Olympus E-510) is at ISO 800. However, they're LESS noisy than my other PS (A Panasonic Lumix FZ-10) at ISO 200.

That seems acceptable to me.

If people are looking to get noiseless images out of a compact camera with 1/2.5" 8MP sensor at ISO 800+ they're kidding themselves ... laws of physics say it can't be done. But compared to the 1/2.5" 4MP sensor in the Panasonic, this little camera is doing quite well.

The build on the S51 is solid, the vibration reduction works well (a nice feature on a $199 camera) and it comes with a 3x optical zoom in a credit card sized package. I'd say that's not bad.

If you want something with a lot of manual controls that takes RAW images and gives you full control over the creative process, look elsewhere. If you want a credit card sized point-n-shoot that you can keep in your pocket / purse at all times that will deliver good point and shoot quality photos, you'll enjoy this camera.

Opinion: Final conculsion, the camera is going back. Purchased the camera on black friday weekend and had it delivered. spent the last week plus taking a wide variety of pictures from close ups to landscape. inside, outside and mix lighting. while the camera is easy to use I have found the picture quality extremely poor. I have retuned the camera and was given a replacement (just to be sure it wasn't a bad unit). I've yet to be satisfied with any of the pictures. comparisions with my easy share DX4330 reveal hands down, my tired 3M pix kodak out performs this high-tech slimline.

Opinion: First impression: what a jewel! Second: I'm probably not geting the best out of it. My pictures (some at http://www.pbase.com/akimbo/s51) so far are worse than others I've seen, only marginally meeting my expectations. It's probably me, though.

The camera seems well built, solid with the exception of the door.

Opinion: Nice camera, pretty responsive, but a bit noisy and a bit pricey.