Nikon Coolpix S70: Total touch control

By Joshua Goldman on 04 August 2009, 10:44am

A refresh of the Nikon Coolpix S60, the S70 is improved in almost every way, changing a decent first effort of a touchscreen camera into something entirely usable.

Like its predecessor, the 12-megapixel S70 is almost entirely controlled with the touchscreen, including the 5x f3.9-5.8 28-140mm-equivalent zoom lens -- and even the shutter if you wish. Fortunately, it's much more responsive than last time. In fact, the entire interface is improved as is the the screen itself -- an 89mm (3.5-inch) OLED panel. The display and interface has a few new functions too, including a tap shutter release and multitouch commands in Playback mode.

It also has optical and electronic image stabilisation, 16 scene modes, macro shooting down to 30mm and a slick design available in four colour combinations: red on red, black on black, champagne and light brown, and champagne and beige.

Based on the few minutes we played with one, it's definitely an improvement over the S60 -- at least from the touchscreen aspect. Photo quality and performance is a big fat question mark till we get one in for review. And while the 5x and 28mm is good stuff, the f3.9 is something of a concern. The S70 should go on sale in the UK this autumn, although pricing has yet to be announced.