When Nikon sent me their new camera to try I hesitated.

I have a Nikon camera already.

I own the Nikon D80 DSLR camera. It’s fancy and big and intimidating. It takes great pictures but I find it mostly sits on my shelf because there’s nothing that says “not fancy” than a ballgown with a honking DSLR camera around your neck.

And so I’ve been in the market for something smaller. Something that doesn’t scream “Tourist” and might still take a good shot.

This camera did a lot of that.

Ish in repose

Ish

But it’s best feature (to me) –  it’s also a projector! A projector in my purse! I imagined the possibilities. Downloading photos from a trip while we’re on the trip and then suddenly we’re reliving the best moments on the wall of our hotel room. Love it. And truth be told even after testing it out, it remained my favourite feature. As for the camera itself, the size was perfect and the pictures were good. The 3-inch screen is clear and easy to see and an accurate portrayal of what the picture eventually looked like. The one-touch HD 720p movie recording function with projection playback was also fun.

karate champs

karate champs

What I didn’t love? The touchscreen controls. I found it tough to manage and it lacked the precision I needed (fat fingers maybe?) which led to frustration. I wish I could figure that out though because there were a ton of great built-in features that I never really got a chance to explore: a built-in slide show function (with music!), a “paint” function which allows you to write and draw on projected images in real time and a host of retouch options (including Fisheye effect and Makeup Effect) that let the users play with photos without having to connect to a computer first.  Another downer for me was the fact that the camera works off of a recharegeable Li-ion battery which means when its down you need to recharge and find a plug which can be tough on the road. Not a dealbreaker but I’d prefer something that uses AA’s if possible.

The Verdict: Great camera for some, not the foolproof camera I need.

 

The geeky facts:

* 14-lumen internal projector complete with a built-in stand

*14.1 megapixels , optical 5x zoom, 3 inch LCD monitor

* Suggested retail price: $349.95

All photos in this post taken with the Nikon Coolpix S1100pj