Designed for automatic shooting, the S200 provides 15 scene modes, including a “One-Touch Portrait” option that activates face-detection autofocus. The implementation of face detection however, isn’t the quickest or most effective I’ve seen.

The camera’s 3X zoom lens is also a bit of a disappointment. With a 35mm-equivalent focal-length range of 38mm to 114mm and a maximum aperture of f/3.1 on the wide end to f/5.9 zoomed in, it offers neither an especially wide angle setting nor a very long telephoto reach. It also suffers from noticeable barrel distortion on the wide end is well as slight pin cushioning on the long end-something of a rarity these days.

In the labs, the S200 turned in an unimpressive performance on our resolution test, averaging 1,350 lines of resolution, which is low for a 7.1MP camera. On the bright side, in both daylight and flash shots, images were well exposed and displayed realistic color. Thanks to quick autofocus and negligible shutter delay. I was able to capture excellent action shots.

If pocketability, simplicity, and reliability are important, the S200 should fill the bill.

Price range
Nikon Coolpix S200: $139.00 - $175.00

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