Nikon CoolPix S10 vs. S4

I got interested in a small superzoom (x10) with sweavelable LCD. Hence
my interest in Nikon S10. I could pick up cheaper a refurbished
previous model, S4. It has the same sensor and the same lens. Only, S10
has image stabilisation. How important is it to have an image
stabilisation ?

I am going to take pictures at telephoto end inside of the building
which can be moderately or well lit.

Thanks for info.

"minnesøtti" wrote in message
oups.com...
I got interested in a small superzoom (x10) with sweavelable LCD. Hence
my interest in Nikon S10. I could pick up cheaper a refurbished
previous model, S4. It has the same sensor and the same lens. Only, S10
has image stabilisation. How important is it to have an image
stabilisation ?

I am going to take pictures at telephoto end inside of the building
which can be moderately or well lit.

Thanks for info.

For any superzoom and especially a relatively small one, Vibration Reduction
(as Nikon calls its image stabilization) should be enormously important. I
was somewhat interested in the S4 when it first came out, but never
seriously considered it because of its lack of VR. I just cannot imagine
that hand holding a camera with a 380mm (equivalent) lens at the long end
would deliver satisfactorily sharp images except perhaps under the very
brightest conditions. To me, the S4 was seriously missing something by not
having VR.

Now that the S10 is here and with VR, I'm very interested in it myself.
Since you're planning on indoor photography with the lens at the long end,
no matter how well lit the indoor situation is I'd definitely, absolutely,
positively go for the S10 rather than the S4 -- no matter how much cheaper
the refurbished S4 is.

Neil

Neil Harrington wrote:
"minnesøtti" wrote in message
oups.com...
I got interested in a small superzoom (x10) with sweavelable LCD. Hence
my interest in Nikon S10. I could pick up cheaper a refurbished
previous model, S4. It has the same sensor and the same lens. Only, S10
has image stabilisation. How important is it to have an image
stabilisation ?

I am going to take pictures at telephoto end inside of the building
which can be moderately or well lit.

Thanks for info.

For any superzoom and especially a relatively small one, Vibration Reduction
(as Nikon calls its image stabilization) should be enormously important. I
was somewhat interested in the S4 when it first came out, but never
seriously considered it because of its lack of VR. I just cannot imagine
that hand holding a camera with a 380mm (equivalent) lens at the long end
would deliver satisfactorily sharp images except perhaps under the very
brightest conditions. To me, the S4 was seriously missing something by not
having VR.

Now that the S10 is here and with VR, I'm very interested in it myself.
Since you're planning on indoor photography with the lens at the long end,
no matter how well lit the indoor situation is I'd definitely, absolutely,
positively go for the S10 rather than the S4 -- no matter how much cheaper
the refurbished S4 is.

My workplace have a professional photographer. I asked him if it is
important for a superzoom to have image stabilisation (IS). He is not a
talkative chap. But he said if the telephoto images are taken outside
(in a brightly lit environment), then IS is not necessary. If I take
telephoto pictures indoor, then a tripod is necessary anyway (i.e.,
regardless IS or no IS).

M-M wrote:
In article .com,
"minnesøtti" wrote:

My workplace have a professional photographer. I asked him if it is
important for a superzoom to have image stabilisation (IS). He is not a
talkative chap. But he said if the telephoto images are taken outside
(in a brightly lit environment), then IS is not necessary. If I take
telephoto pictures indoor, then a tripod is necessary anyway (i.e.,
regardless IS or no IS).


I'll bet he never used IS.

Today I went to the shop. and checked out both S4 and S10. Indeed, at
the maximum magnification (x10), the picture on the LCD preview screen
moves because of the hand shaking. If I want to shoot the pictures in
the rather dim light (e.g. indoor) and have the sharp pictures most of
the time than not, than I definetely need IS (a.k.a. VR). The question
is closed.

The other difference of S10 from S4 is that it has twice as many pixels
in the 2.5" preview screen (230k vs 110k). While it is a pleasant
addition, it is not neccesary from my point of view for shooting the
pictures. The increased resolution will become necessary only if one
wants to demonstrate the captured pictures on the LCD screen. But I do
not necessarily want to do it; I have a PC for doing that.

S4 appealed to me because it was simple and sturdy, and had AA
batteries. That's the kind of camera I want. S10 has a proprietary
Li-Ion battery... the camera lost its simplicity appeal because now I
would have to worry about keeping another proprietary battery charged
on a country or overseas trip. And I would have to worry about somehow
getting a replacement battery in 1-2-3 years.

"minnesøtti" wrote in message
ups.com...

M-M wrote:
In article .com,
"minnesøtti" wrote:

My workplace have a professional photographer. I asked him if it is
important for a superzoom to have image stabilisation (IS). He is not a
talkative chap. But he said if the telephoto images are taken outside
(in a brightly lit environment), then IS is not necessary. If I take
telephoto pictures indoor, then a tripod is necessary anyway (i.e.,
regardless IS or no IS).


I'll bet he never used IS.

Today I went to the shop. and checked out both S4 and S10. Indeed, at
the maximum magnification (x10), the picture on the LCD preview screen
moves because of the hand shaking. If I want to shoot the pictures in
the rather dim light (e.g. indoor) and have the sharp pictures most of
the time than not, than I definetely need IS (a.k.a. VR). The question
is closed.

The other difference of S10 from S4 is that it has twice as many pixels
in the 2.5" preview screen (230k vs 110k). While it is a pleasant
addition, it is not neccesary from my point of view for shooting the
pictures. The increased resolution will become necessary only if one
wants to demonstrate the captured pictures on the LCD screen. But I do
not necessarily want to do it; I have a PC for doing that.

S4 appealed to me because it was simple and sturdy, and had AA
batteries. That's the kind of camera I want. S10 has a proprietary
Li-Ion battery... the camera lost its simplicity appeal because now I
would have to worry about keeping another proprietary battery charged
on a country or overseas trip. And I would have to worry about somehow
getting a replacement battery in 1-2-3 years.

______________________

Note however that for the S4 you would still want to get NiMH rechargeable
AA cells and a charger for them (you would not want to keep buying
alkalines), which you would have to buy since they're not supplied with the
camera. The S10 does have a proprietary Li-Ion battery, but it comes with
the camera along with its charger. They charge pretty fast (typically two
hours or less), and you can buy replacement batteries quite cheap on eBay,
Buy.com, etc. -- not necessarily Nikon brand, but I've used off-brand
batteries in my own Nikons and never yet had any problem. I haven't had a
Li-Ion battery fail so far, after several years of using a lot of them. (I
have had NiMH rechargeables fail several times.) Even if one does fail after
a few years, so what? It'd still be a lot cheaper than buying all those
alkalines. And recharging overseas shouldn't be a problem if you get an
adapter for the charger.

And finally, as far as that refurbished S4 is concerned -- refurbs in my
experience are a mixed bag. You might be perfectly satisfied with it and get
a real bargain. Or you might not, and have the cost, wasted time and bother
of returning it for replacement or refund. "Refurbished" can mean almost
anything.

Neil

Neil Harrington wrote:
"minnesøtti" wrote in message
ups.com...

M-M wrote:
In article .com,
"minnesøtti" wrote:

My workplace have a professional photographer. I asked him if it is
important for a superzoom to have image stabilisation (IS). He is not a
talkative chap. But he said if the telephoto images are taken outside
(in a brightly lit environment), then IS is not necessary. If I take
telephoto pictures indoor, then a tripod is necessary anyway (i.e.,
regardless IS or no IS).


I'll bet he never used IS.

Today I went to the shop. and checked out both S4 and S10. Indeed, at
the maximum magnification (x10), the picture on the LCD preview screen
moves because of the hand shaking. If I want to shoot the pictures in
the rather dim light (e.g. indoor) and have the sharp pictures most of
the time than not, than I definetely need IS (a.k.a. VR). The question
is closed.

The other difference of S10 from S4 is that it has twice as many pixels
in the 2.5" preview screen (230k vs 110k). While it is a pleasant
addition, it is not neccesary from my point of view for shooting the
pictures. The increased resolution will become necessary only if one
wants to demonstrate the captured pictures on the LCD screen. But I do
not necessarily want to do it; I have a PC for doing that.

S4 appealed to me because it was simple and sturdy, and had AA
batteries. That's the kind of camera I want. S10 has a proprietary
Li-Ion battery... the camera lost its simplicity appeal because now I
would have to worry about keeping another proprietary battery charged
on a country or overseas trip. And I would have to worry about somehow
getting a replacement battery in 1-2-3 years.

______________________

Note however that for the S4 you would still want to get NiMH rechargeable
AA cells and a charger for them (you would not want to keep buying
alkalines), which you would have to buy since they're not supplied with the
camera. The S10 does have a proprietary Li-Ion battery, but it comes with
the camera along with its charger. They charge pretty fast (typically two
hours or less), and you can buy replacement batteries quite cheap on eBay,
Buy.com, etc. -- not necessarily Nikon brand, but I've used off-brand
batteries in my own Nikons and never yet had any problem. I haven't had a
Li-Ion battery fail so far, after several years of using a lot of them. (I
have had NiMH rechargeables fail several times.) Even if one does fail after
a few years, so what? It'd still be a lot cheaper than buying all those
alkalines. And recharging overseas shouldn't be a problem if you get an
adapter for the charger.

And finally, as far as that refurbished S4 is concerned -- refurbs in my
experience are a mixed bag. You might be perfectly satisfied with it and get
a real bargain. Or you might not, and have the cost, wasted time and bother
of returning it for replacement or refund. "Refurbished" can mean almost
anything.

I wish I could get a camera similar to Nikon S10 (i.e. with swivelable
lens) but with a better low-light imaging capability. Either they need
to come up with a sensor similar to Fuji's Super CCD, or they need to
put a larger sensor. As far as I know there is no superzoom compact
with an APC-S sized sensor.

minnesøtti wrote:
[]
I wish I could get a camera similar to Nikon S10 (i.e. with swivelable
lens) but with a better low-light imaging capability. Either they need
to come up with a sensor similar to Fuji's Super CCD, or they need to
put a larger sensor. As far as I know there is no superzoom compact
with an APC-S sized sensor.

Why? Look at the Sony DSC-R1 - with only a 120mm f/4.8 lens it ends up
being a large and heavy "brute" of a camera. Now imagine it with a lens
of over three times the focal length! No-one would buy it.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscr1/

David