Thumbs Up:

Nikon Coolpix S640 is easy to use and has a nice ultra-compact design with wide-angle lens. The camera gives impressive photo quality up to ISO 200. There are good improvements in auto-focus, start-up and shooting performance.

Thumbs Down:

The photo quality is not good at high ISO levels. The camera does not have HD-quality movie mode.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Digital ultra-compact Nikon Coolpix S640 is 12.2-megapixels camera with CCD optical sensor. The supported light sensitivity levels are ISO Auto(100-1600), ISO Auto(100-800), ISO Auto(100-400), ISO 3200, ISO 1600, ISO 800, ISO 400, ISO 200 and ISO 100.  The camera has 4x digital zoom with optical image stabilizer. The shooting mode is Frame movie mode and the shooting programs include Blink proof, Blink warning, Smile shutter and Soft skin. The exposure metering is face-priority and exposure modes are Program and Automatic.

2.7-inch LCD display has a resolution of 230,000 pixels. Nikon Coolpix S640 has inbuilt mono-mode microphone. The white balance presets include Incandescent, Fluorescent, Daylight, Flash and Cloudy. The S640 has built-in flash with five modes: Red-eye reduction, Flash OFF mode, Slow synchro, Fill-in mode and Auto mode. Moreover, the camera flash has a feature of AF illuminator.

Nikkor manufactured lens has a focal length of 5mm to 25mm with an aperture of F/2.7-6.6. TTL contrast detection is there for Auto focus. The focal length equivalent to 35mm camera is 28-140mm. The focus adjustment is automatic. Lens provides 5x optical zoom with motorized drive zoom adjustment. The minimum focus range is 17.7-inch and macro focus range is 2-cm. The lens has inbuilt lens-shield.

Nikon Coolpix S640 captures images of JPEG format. It also captures video in 640×480 VGA mode. The supported image resolution options are JPEG 640×480, JPEG 1024×768, JPEG 2048×1536, JPEG 3968×2232, JPEG 2592×1944, JPEG 3264×2448 and JPEG 4000×3000. The camera has inbuilt 45MB Flash memory and it also has a SD card slot.

The additional features are Motion Detection Technology, Smile Detection Technology, Scene Detection Technology, Display brightness control, Blink Detection Technology, Face-priority AF function, In-camera red-eye fix, USB 2.0 compatibility, PictBridge support, Ex-if Print support, Built-in speaker, Date/time stamp, Audio recording, Face detection, USB charging and self timer.

Nikon Coolpix S640 has two connectors: 1×compsoite audio/video output and 1×USB. The S640 has lithium ion Nikon EN-EL 12 battery.

Razzle Dazzle:

Nikon Coolpix S640 measures 2.2-inch tall, 3.6-inch wide and 0.8-inch deep. The S640 weighs 3.9 ounces and comes in black, red, pink and white colors. The camera is so slim and lightweight that it can easily fit in a small bag or pants pocket. The S640 has metal body and feels sturdy while taking in hand.

Inside Dope:

Nikon Coolpix S640 is priced at $239.95 that is $50 more than the price of S570. The S640 offers optical image stabilization, improved performance and extra options for shooting. The Coolpix S640 continues to have same 5x zoom similar to its predecessors. The S640 is an ultra-compact camera with 28mm equivalent wide-angle lens. However, the camera does not have HD-quality video mode. We recommend Nikon Coolpix S640 if you need an ultra-compact camera with good basic features.

Despite having wide-angle lens, its aperture comes down to f6.6 on zooming out that makes the low-light shots iffy. This is acceptable on S570 because of the low price, but we won’t accept the Nikon Coolpix S640. The flash bulb is located on top left side and you will have to take care while positioning you finger, or else you may block it.

Nikon Coolpix S640 has standard controls, which are easy to get used to. The shutter release buttons, zoom control and power button are located on the top. Whereas, buttons for playing/editing images; accessing video, photo and settings menu; changing shooting options and deleting pictures are located to right side of LCD on the back. A dial for moving through photos and setting is also there. This dial works as directional-pad for setting exposure, macro, timer, flash and navigation. The dial moves freely and works straightforward; however, you can feel some stops while using it.

Nikon four-way VR Image Stabilization is included in Nikon Coolpix S640 as optical image stabilization. The camera uses high ISO level settings and adjustments for shutter sped with motion-detection to work with motion blur and handshake. The Coolpix S640 can also be charged with USB cable connected to computer.

Nikon Coolpix S640 has 15 scene modes with Nikon Scene Auto Selector – automatic scene recognition mode. Moreover, the shooting mode menu has an option Nikon Smart Portrait System that combines all features into one mode and add Skin Softening component. The feature set combined in this Portrait System include Face Priority AF, D-Lighting, Red Eye Fix In-Camera, Smile Shutter and Blink Warning. This type mode is also available in other camera from different manufacturers, but the implementation is very fast in Nikon S640 that works well with a balance of softening and sharpness. You will get most of the controls including auto focus, color options, ISO, light metering and white balance in Program mode, which is called Auto mode in S640. The camera has Subject Tracking mode to focus on moving objects. S640 has basic VGA quality movie mode without optical zoom.

The shooting performance of the S640 is better than expected from a Nikon Coolpix camera. The camera takes one-second to power on and to capture first shot. The shot-to-shot average waiting time is of 2.4 seconds and 2.7 seconds with flash. The shutter lag is 0.4 second in bright conditions and 0.8 second in dim light, which is good. The full resolution continuous shooting speed is one frame per second. This performance is an improvement for Nikon. However, the shutter lag is less than that of Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W290. The S640’s shooting performance is an average for the cameras of this class. However, Nikon has to improve the shooting image quality for moving objects.
The resulting photo quality is nice.

Nikon Coolpix S640 delivers good photo quality up to ISO 200 like other cameras in the same range. The S640 is also good up to ISO 400, but the images have increased softness and visible noise. The auto ISO level ranges from ISO 100 to ISO 1600. Moreover, S640 gives passable performance to ISO 800; however, it increases noise, artifacts and softness. We recommend you for using ISO 100 to 400 in daylight or bright environment. The camera can shoot up to ISO 1600 with full resolution, but the photos do not look nice due to color shifting, yellow blotching and absence of image detail.

The image colors from Nikon Coolpix S640 are not accurate as blues and reds are a bit pumped-up, but the overall image result is quite pleasing. Everything is natural looking, bright and nice. The image highlights always tend to blow out in the compact cameras, but we thank Nikon for its D-Lighting system to bring up shadow detail. The S640 has a bit barrel distortion and no pincushion distortion even when lens is extended fully. However, there is little purple fringe in high contrast areas.

Nilkon Coolpix S640 is a bit more than a standard basic ultra-compact camera. Coolpix S640 is good one but not excellent. The shooting performance is better than previous Coolpix cameras. It takes good photos up to ISO 400. Nikon has made this Coolpix S640 for easy to use. If you do not need HD-quality video capture, then Nikon S640 is fine with wide-angle lens and 5x zoom.

Nitty Gritty:

Nikon Coolpix S640 is easy to use. If you are looking for an ultra-compact camera with wide-angle lens, 4x digital zoom and 5x optical zoom, and other features, then Coolpix S640 is for you.

Popularity: 8% [?]