Performance is on the slow side for the S630. It takes just shy of 4 seconds from power on to first shot. Its shot-to-shot time is 3.1 seconds; using the flash adds 0.3 second to that time. Shutter lag is OK at 0.5 second in bright conditions and 0.8 in dimly lit situations. In its regular continuous shooting mode at full resolution, the camera can capture 0.8 frames per second.
The S630's photo quality is good. If you're viewing photos primarily on a computer monitor, digital photo frame, or making prints up to 10x13 inches, you likely won't be disappointed. Viewed at full size, however, offer-center subjects can look over-processed and soft, where you'll also see an increase in purple fringing and ghosting. Center sharpness and fine detail are very good, though, as is color. Typical for its class, the lower ISOs are best on this camera, which is why it's nice to see the inclusion of an ISO limiter in Auto mode for keeping sensitivity below ISO 200 or ISO 400. Noise suppression starts making things soft and smudgy at ISO 400, but you still can get a decent photo at ISO 800--good enough for small prints or Web use at least.
If you were considering an average compact point-and-shoot with a more typical 3x zoom, the Nikon Coolpix S630 is a nice (there's that word again) step up. It's not particularly fast and the photos are merely good, but it is an excellent design, has a very good feature set, and it's easy to use.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
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Time to first shot | |
Typical shot-to-shot time (flash) | |
Typical shot-to-shot time | |
Shutter lag (dim) | |
Shutter lag (typical) |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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