Review: Nikon Coolpix S550

Before you even take it out of the box the Nikon Coolpix S550 looks cool (mine looks especially cool being “cool blue” coloured). But while looking good is nice the important thing is how it performs. Nikon give very simple instructions for getting started with your camera, step one in the quick start guide is, no joke, “remove the camera from the box”! This might give you the impression that this camera is only for first time photographers and people who frequently try to use electronic devices without removing the packaging. Whilst the S550 would be a good camera for both of those consumer groups I’ve been testing it out as someone with a reasonable amount of digital photography experience and so far, to borrow a phrase from McDonalds, I’m lovin’ it.

Using the S550 on the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC.

It is fantastic to have a camera that fits in my pocket! Nikon markets the S550 as having the “smallest body among competing compact cameras” and it certainly is small for a camera with so many awesome features. First off it’s easy to put it in a fully automatic “scene”

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Review: Nikkor 18-200 G f/3.5-5.6 ED-IF AF-S VR DX

This “do everything” 18-200 super zoom from Nikon is a much sought after lens. It’s still out of stock almost everywhere even though it was released months ago and people are paying way too much for it. With all those initials after the name it must be good, right? But my advice is wait and don’t overpay. There’s nothing magical about this (admittedly nice) lens and when Nikon gets the supply worked out there will be plenty to go around.

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