Nikon Coolpix S8200

Measuring just 32.7mm thick, key features of the S8200 include a 16.1 megapixel back-illuminated CMOS sensor, high resolution 3 inch LCD screen, full 1080p high-definition movies with stereo sound, lens-shift Vibration Reduction, 1cm macro mode, shooting mode dial and a fast auto-focus system, shutter-lag and startup time.

Other shooting options include several burst shooting options, including 120fps and 60fps bursts that capture up to 60 shots at VGA and 1-megapixel resolution, respectively, and an HDR (high dynamic range) mode that combines photos taken at different exposures to help bring out highlight and shadow detail.

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6Mb.

I'd argue that while the lens is nice, the extra megapixels are not important.

These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m. Forced Off - Wide Angle (25mm).

The lens has a fairly fast maximum aperture of f/3.3 at the wide-angle end but a rather slow f/5.9 at full telephoto.

Indeed, according to the specifications (pg 6) the aperture has only 2 positions f3.3 and f6.6 (at the widest zoom), although you don't have a choice even there.

The only people who might not like this camera are those who want to fiddle with their own f-stops, etc. to override the auto settings and do everything manually, or those who truly want just point-and-shoot and nothing else.

While I love the idea of the P300s fast 1.8 lens, the P300s zoom range is around 24-100mm, whereas this camera's is 25-300mm, and I really need the zoom more than the fast lens.

The S8200 has such a sensitive sensor and such effective image stabilization that hand-held long-telephoto photos can be sharp.

I'm still amazed at the quality and the cool features packed into this sweet little camera.

The camera has a great size, weight, and feel.