For years I've been a fan of small compact cameras with large zoom range, and now I own several of them. Among these, the Nikon S9700 has the strongest super zoom lens.
1. Product (What's this, what's missing?)
The bare necessities is: Lithium battery and charger (for in-camera battery charging via the USB port), data cable and wrist strap. A Quick Start Guide is a detailed instruction manual ("Reference Guide") can be downloaded from the PDF Nikon website. What you still need a lot, is a fast SD card (or SDHC card / SDXC card). Although I use a Class10 SDHC card, the image after shooting is not always immediately ready for viewing.
A spare battery is not urgently needed, but at long photo tours you're on the safe side. In addition, the camera is unusable during the internal charging of the batteries. For that reason I use a second battery to change. Thus, the camera remains usable during battery charging, I bought me an inexpensive external Patona charger.
2. Who is the camera?
The camera speaks to users who want a powerful camera, but does not want to burden a lot of effort. Even photographic beginners can cope with it.
But who knows about photography, which are many features for advanced users.
Because of their versatility and relatively small, lightweight enclosure (239 grams with battery and memory card) it is suitable as a travel camera.
3. Best feature: The super zoom lens
The outstanding feature, with which it is advertised by Nikon, is their huge zoom range: 30-times optical zoom (25-750 mm focal length equivalent to small format). The push is designed so that you quickly back to the selector lever between wide angle and extreme telephoto and forth can.
The image quality is absolutely fantastic. It's unbelievable what details you can zoom back from a great distance without a tripod. The sophisticated image stabilization that actually works well in practice helps.
(See. To zoom the photos that I have set as customer images above in the gallery.)
4. Overall impression
The housing of the camera is made of plastic. When she holds in her hand, she makes a valued, stable impression. The controls are neatly placed, the access to the individual functions is simple, there are no endless scrolling through menus as the early Nikon digital cameras.
Particularly frequently used functions can be accessed with a single touch of a button, eg. As exposure compensation, flash, close-up. This is good news practically solved.
Most lightning much criticism is directed in other reviews because it slides out when needed at the top left of the case. But with a superzoom the flash must be extended because of the long lens would shade him otherwise. And elsewhere in the body is not a place for it.
5. Other equipment
(Programs, compass, GPS, WIFI, HD video function with stereo sound, etc.)
Anyone wishing to use the camera without photographic knowledge, can choose the fully automatic setting or the SCENE setting (= Motif Mode), or the Programmed Auto (P). This will not succeed each image, but essentially you can thus leave the camera work.
For experienced photographers, the camera also aperture priority and shutter priority to, also full manual exposure control, supported by an exposure level that is displayed in the margin.
My personal standard setting is the Program AE P with target setting "center". Considering this, it is easy to achieve an optimal image with rapid corrections. For example, access to exposure compensation, ISO setting and the white balance or program shift is an effortless process.
The camera is richly equipped, z. B. It has an electronic compass. This allows you the direction from which the object was photographed store. Or with the GPS module the geographical coordinates. After activating this option, the current position is found almost instantly outdoors, indoors, it may be difficult or even impossible. The status can be seen on the display. Unlike other metadata the compass direction as you scroll through the stored images are displayed and the GPS coordinates of the recording location of each image can be localized at an in-camera map. This internal card can also "Points of Interest" show, so you'll actually find such sites, museums or other advertised localities located in a smartphone such. As near.
The display is very good and rich in contrast and can be read outdoors satisfactory, even in bright sunlight.
A feature that I use often, is the WiFi connection. The WiFi module can display recorded images on other devices such as smartphone or tablet or copy there and then immediately transferred into the grid when needed, or the camera itself can be controlled remotely over (zoom function and trigger).
Videos can be recorded in HD quality with stereo sound. During the video recording can also shoot with the shutter frames.
The camera has a number of internal image processing programs that can be applied retrospectively to the stored images can be partially select when recording or. Most often I use it, the D-Lighting function, with which you can brighten dark areas in high contrast shots.
6. Defects
Unfortunately, the control of the recording data is missing. That bothers me to the camera programming the most is that you have no way to check the main shooting information in the image control. At the very least, what I expect in a stored image, the words with which speed, aperture and ISO speed it was recorded.
During recording the time and aperture value used is displayed, but the ISO value either.
All other cameras can be better.
Missing Manual Focus: In this camera, the focus can not be adjusted manually. For example, when shooting through a window, sitting on the raindrops, the camera is always focusing on the disc, never behind in the countryside. Without manual focus, the photographer has no way to influence.
Imprecise focus in AF "middle": If "center" selected as the measurement field, the auto focus is not always precisely the drawn measurement field at long focal lengths. The focus is then perhaps at an object further forward or back, in the vicinity of the center measuring field. With short focal lengths that does not stand out because of the greater depth of field.
Error ISO setting "Automatic": The Auto ISO has an error in the program. It does not use the full range of possibilities, but is limited to a maximum of 800 ISO. Anyone wishing to use higher ISO values, you must manually select. (The ISO control is made more difficult because in "automatic" setting the current value is not shown on the display.)
Spontaneous trailer: Not often, but annoying if it corrupts good snapshot opportunities. Every now and then it happens that the camera refuses switch on or switch from viewing mode to shooting mode, especially if they had previously to process larger amounts of data directly. Then helps only wait until they can be switched off again or wait until they can be turned on. In fact, I have the impression that the processor is not the fastest.
(Initially had my camera a mechanical error at the Blitzarretierung, the lightning jumped again out unnecessarily and uncontrollably. This has been fixed by the repair service and is now in order.)
7. Summary
The Nikon Coolpix S9700 is a powerful all-round camera in your pocket, which is located between entry-Cam and bridge camera.
The huge zoom range allows, together with the effective image stabilization to capture distant subjects well. Because it is small and relatively easy, it is a good travel camera.
The image quality is very good. The built-in image processing possibilities are only partially useful, but push yourself quite intrusive into view.
But then but just the basic display shooting information in the stored images is missing.
Conclusion: a high quality, highly recommended camera.
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