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Nikon Coolpix S700 Performance


Timing and Performance

Good to average speed for a consumer camera.

Startup/Shutdown

Power on
to ready

 2.5 seconds

Time it takes for LCD to turn on and lens to deploy.

Shutdown

 1.1 seconds

How long it takes to retract lens.

Buffer clearing time

 3.5 seconds
(3.5 seconds buffer clearing in LF JPEG)

Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't retract their lenses and shut down until the buffer is cleared.

The Nikon Coolpix S700's performance ranges from good to about average, depending on what you're trying to do. It starts up a little slowly, at 2.5 seconds to turn on and deploy the lens.

 

Mode switching

Play to Record,
first shot

 1.9 seconds

Time until first shot is captured.

Record to play

 0.9 second

Time to display a large/fine file immediately after capture.

Display
recorded image

 0.6 second

Time to display a large/fine file already on the memory card.

Mode switching times are a bit on the slow side of average.

 

Shutter response (Lag Time)

Full Autofocus Wide

 0.61 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position.

Full Autofocus Tele

 0.77 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at telephoto position.

Prefocused

 0.009 second

Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

Shutter response is pretty good at both wide angle and telephoto, at 0.61s and 0.77s respectively. "Prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure results in an impressive lag time of only 0.009 second (among the fastest on the market).

 

Cycle time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode
Large Fine JPEG
 2.36 seconds

Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.

Single Shot mode
640x480 JPEG

 1.67 seconds

Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.

Early shutter
penalty?

 No

Some cameras don't snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.

Continuous mode
Large Fine JPEG

 1.40 seconds (0.71 frames per second);
3 frames total;
3.5 seconds to clear

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.

Continuous mode
640x480 JPEG

 0.75 second (1.33 frames per second);
20+ frames total;
1.5 seconds to clear

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.

Flash recycling

 5.62 seconds

Flash at maximum output.

*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a Kingston Ultimate 133x SD memory card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity also affects cycle times and burst mode performance, with higher ISOs generally increasing cycle times and reducing burst performance.

Shot-to-shot cycle times are slightly slower than average, at about 2.36 seconds for large/fine JPEGs, and the camera appears to capture shots continuously in single-shot mode without having to stop and clear the buffer. Continuous mode is a little slower than average, at 0.71 frames-per-second for 3 large/fine JPEG frames before slowing down, but a little better at the lower resolution setting at 1.33 frames per second for over 20 frames. The flash takes 5.62 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is about average.

 

Download speed

Windows Computer, USB 2.0

 680 KBytes/sec

Typical Values:
Less than 600=USB 1.1;
600-769=USB 2.0 Low;
Above 770=USB 2.0 High

Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, download speeds are slower than most digital cameras on the market today.

 

Overall, the Coolpix S700 is about average in terms of speed, but fast enough for most family and travel photo opportunities. It is not recommended for fast action shots.

Battery and Storage Capacity

Battery
Lower than average battery life for a lithium-ion design.

Operating Mode Number of Shots
Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery,
(CIPA standard)
150

The Nikon Coolpix S700 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Since battery life is below average, we recommend you pick up a spare battery and keep it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on either a fresh set of disposable batteries or a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage
The Nikon Coolpix S700 accepts SDHC/SD/MMC memory cards, and includes about 52MB of internal memory.

Image Capacity with
52MB Internal Memory		 Fine Normal
4,000 x 3,000
Images
8
16
File Size
6.3 MB
3.1 MB
3,264 x 2,448
Images
24
-
File Size
2.1 MB
-
2,592 x 1,944
Images
38
-
File Size
1.3 MB
-
2,048 x 1,536
Images
60
-
File Size
864 KB
-
1,024 x 768
Images
204
-
File Size
254 KB
-
640 x 480
Images
383
-
File Size
136 KB
-

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity SDHC or SD memory card at least a 1GB card, preferably a 4GB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings and video. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)

 

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