Nikon COOLPIX S3000
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Written by Gordon Laing
Quality
Nikon COOLPIX S3000 vs Canon IXUS 105 / PowerShot SD1300 IS vs Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W310
Nikon COOLPIX S3000 results: Real-life resolution / High ISO Noise
Nikon COOLPIX S3000 |
Canon IXUS 105 / SD1300 IS |
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W310 | ||
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f3.2, 80 ISO |
f8, 80 ISO |
f4.3, 100 ISO | ||
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f3.2, 80 ISO |
f8, 80 ISO |
f4.3, 100 ISO | ||
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f3.2, 80 ISO |
f8, 80 ISO |
f4.3, 100 ISO | ||
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f3.2, 80 ISO |
f8, 80 ISO |
f4.3, 100 ISO |
Nikon COOLPIX S3000 results: Real-life resolution / High ISO Noise
The above image was taken with the Nikon COOLPIX S3000 in Auto mode. The lens was set to 4.9mm (27mm equivalent) and the metering selected an exposure of 1/1250th of a second at f3.2 with an ISO setting of 80. The original 4000×3000 pixel image had a file size of 5.29MB. Overall the pictures from the Nikon COOLPIX S3000 were excellent. Our outdoor test shot was perfectly exposed, had good contrast and well-saturated natural-looking colours. Taking a look at the crops there are no obvious flaws. The lens resolves fine detail pretty well and there’s little evidence of over-processing of the JPEG files. Within the confines of what you’d expect to see from a 12 Megapixel sensor of this size in a compact in the S3000’s price bracket, this is about as good as it gets. If we were looking hard for something to be critical about, we could point to the purple fringing caused by chromatic aberration at the extreme edges of the frame and the slight overall softness of the images. Compared with the Canon IXUS 105 / SD1300 IS, the significantly less expensive COOLPIX S3000 is surprisingly good. It matches the Canon in terms of image detail and what’s more its resolving power is more consistent across the frame. Take a look at the second crop with the lighthouse and we think you’ll agree that the COOLPIX S3000 does a better job of rendering the detail in the rooftops and window frames of the houses in the foreground. The only crop where the IXUS outperforms the COOLPIX S3000 is the last one from the centre of the frame, where the COOLPIX S3000 has lost some of the finer detail. The Cyber-shot DSC-W310 also produced a pleasing overall result, but in our view it doesn’t match either the COOLPIX S3000 or the IXUS 105 / SD1300 IS for sharpness and resolution. Detail in the crops is softer, the foreground in the lighthouse shot in particular looks smeared, and there’s a bittiness to the image that looks like evidence of in-camera processing. Now let’s check out how they compare at higher sensitivities in our High ISO Noise results. |
Nikon COOLPIX S3000 vs Canon IXUS 105 / SD1300 IS vs Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W310 High ISO Noise
Nikon COOLPIX S3000 results: Real-life resolution / High ISO Noise
Nikon COOLPIX S3000 results: Real-life resolution / High ISO Noise
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To compare noise levels under real-life conditions we shot this scene with the Nikon COOLPIX S3000, Canon IXUS 105 / SD1300 IS, and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W310. The lenses on all three cameras were set to approximate the same field of view and ISO was manually set. |
The above shot was taken with the the Nikon COOLPIX S3000 in Auto mode with the lens at a wide angle setting of 4.9mm (27mm). The exposure was 0.8 of a second at f3.2. The crops are taken from the area marked with the red square and presented below at 100%.
The COOLPIX S3000’s high ISO noise performance is overall, quite average. At the lower sensitivity settings of 80 and 100 ISO the crops look quite good. The shadow detail is looking clean with little evidence of colour noise. There’s a slight watershed at the 200 ISO mark where the image detail starts to look a little clumpier obscuring some of the image detail. Notice how the vertical lines in the wood panelling are starting to disappear.
This trend gets progressively worse from 400 ISO upwards and the 800 ISO and upward settings display a level of noise and processing artefacts that make them useful only for must-have shots that you can’t get any other way. To sum up then, 80-100 ISO good, 200 ISO struggling, 400-3200 ISO poor. The Nikon COOLPIX S3000’s high ISO performance is commendable in one respect though, the white balance remains rock steady throughout the ISO range.
Compared with the Nikon COOLPIX S3000, the IXUS 105 / SD1300 IS produces better results at every ISO setting, though the difference gets more obvious the higher you go.The COOLPIX crops start softer and end clumpier with less detail as you move through the ISO range.
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W310 fares little better, but the overriding problem here is white balance. While it’s common for white balance to waver at higher ISO settings, the Cyber-shot DSC-W310 got it badly wrong right from the off with images at every ISO setting displaying a strong blue cast.
Now head over to our Nikon COOLPIX S3000 sample images gallery to see some more real-life shots in a variety of conditions.
Nikon COOLPIX S3000 |
Canon IXUS 105 / SD1300 IS |
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W3100 | ||
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80 ISO |
80 ISO |
80 ISO not available | ||
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100 ISO |
100 ISO |
100 ISO | ||
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200 ISO |
200 ISO |
200 ISO | ||
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400 ISO |
400 ISO |
400 ISO | ||
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800 ISO |
800 ISO |
800 ISO | ||
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1600 ISO |
1600 ISO |
1600 ISO | ||
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3200 ISO |
1600 ISO (Low Light scene mode) |
3200 ISO |
