Sample photos: Nikon Coolpix S570

Check out an examination of sample photos taken with the Nikon Coolpix S570.

Joshua Goldman

Managing Editor Josh Goldman is a laptop expert and has been writing about and reviewing them since built-in Wi-Fi was an optional feature. He also covers almost anything connected to a PC, including keyboards, mice, USB-C docks and PC gaming accessories. In addition, he writes about cameras, including action cams and drones. And while he doesn't consider himself a gamer, he spends entirely too much time playing them.

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Joshua Goldman

Oct. 7, 2009 3:20 p.m. PT

1 of 6 Matthew Fitzgerald/CNET

Overall image quality produced by the S570 is very good and is actually one of the better recent Coolpix cameras I've tested. The camera lets you limit the auto ISO to either 80-400 or 80-800. If you're shooting outdoors or in a brightly lit room, I recommed putting it at 80-400. The S570 did perform well up to ISO 800 with minimal color shift and most fine detail intact, but it's at its best below ISO 400.

It can shoot at full resolution up to and including a sensitivity of ISO 3,200. However, both it and the step below, ISO 1,600, don't look good because of color shifting and yellow blotching. So while you can, in fact, keep shooting in low-light conditions, I can't say you'll be thrilled by the results.

2 of 6 Joshua Goldman/CNET

While many of my test shots benefited from a little light sharpening, the S570 is capable of taking reasonably sharp photos with excellent fine detail, particularly in macro.

3 of 6 Joshua Goldman/CNET

This shot was taken at ISO 400 using Nikon's Best Shot Selector, which takes up to 10 shots and stores the sharpest one. Printed at 25 percent its size, the photo actually looks pretty good and there is no blur, which is nice. At 100 percent, you can clearly see it's less than ideal: soft with some visible fringing around his white shorts and well, good luck picking out individual blades of grass. So if you're doing a lot of action shooting, you'll probably want to think twice about getting this camera; it performs much better with still subjects.

4 of 6 Joshua Goldman/CNET

For a 28mm-equivalent wide-angle lens, the S570 has little in the way of barrel distortion (top) and has no discernible pincushion distortion when the lens is fully extended (bottom).

5 of 6 Joshua Goldman/CNET

I don't usually go in for the specialty portrait modes available on some point-and-shoot cameras, because they typically don't help things. For some reason I really liked Nikon's Smart Portrait System that receives a dedicated spot in the S570's shooting modes.

6 of 6 Joshua Goldman/CNET

Colors are not accurate from the S570, but I can't say I'm disappointed with the results. Everything turned out nice and bright and reasonably natural looking.

The picture of the Flat Iron Building in the lower right was adjusted using Nikon's D-Lighting option in Playback mode, bringing out details lost in the shadows of the left side of the building.