Nikon Coolpix S51c

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Wi-Fi networking is getting built in to all sorts of devices nowadays, including digital cameras. As well as being able to upload pictures from your camera to your PC via a cable, the Nikon Coolpix S51c lets you use the Wi-Fi connection to upload your photos to Nikon’s photo-sharing site and email the link to your friends and family. They could be looking at the snaps of your holiday before you’ve even made it home.

Features
Looking at the case, you’d be hard pushed to suspect there was anything out of the ordinary about this camera. It’s a pocket-sized device, can shoot up to 8.1 megapixels and has a 3x optical zoom. The back is mostly taken up by a 3in screen and it has a function to reduce camera shake. What makes it different from the average camera is a Wi-Fi option, compatible with 802.11b and 802.11g networks. Unfortunately, this doesn’t let you upload pictures to your computer wirelessly, but you can send pics to Nikon’s online photo service (www.mypicturetown.com), which itself features a one-click transfer to Flickr (www.flickr.com), and email links to your uploaded photos direct from the camera.

Performance
The test photos we took came out pretty well and there are plenty of features which can be used to optimise the quality, from image stabilisation to high-sensitivity light settings (to get technical, it has a high ISO equivalent setting of up to 1600). Then you can either opt for one of the many automatic override settings specifically programmed to do things like take portraits, sunsets, close-ups, shots in low light and the like, or you can go fully manual (presuming you know what you’re doing), and fiddle with the settings yourself.

We were disappointed, however, with the overly sensitive power switch, which has a tendency to switch on when you’re not expecting it to, like if you’re carrying the camera around in your pocket. Given the size of the camera, it’s the obvious place to keep it handy.

Ease of use
As with most digital cameras, you can take this out of the box, charge up the rechargeable battery and start taking pictures straight away. The settings are automatic and mostly sensible and it’s reasonably easy to change modes, though we occasionally got lost in a maze of menus and had to press various buttons to work our way out again. However, if you’re a good and thorough reader of manuals, you’ll probably avoid getting into this kind of pickle.

Even setting up the Wi-Fi, which is done on the camera, is straightforward. Entering email addresses using the dial on the back is a little tedious but, fortunately, you only have to do this once for each email address.

The software is functional and well integrated into Windows, despite being not much to look at. However, if you want a low-fuss approach to getting your photos onto your computer so you can then fiddle with them in your favourite image processor, you shouldn’t be disappointed.

Value for money
You are paying a bit of a premium for the Wi-Fi connection so be absolutely certain that you really want it. Even so, the camera does represent good value for money and it’s a genuinely handy way of getting your shots onto the web super-quick, if that’s what you’re after.