Nikon Coolpix S610 Samples

The crops below show the performance of the Nikon Coolpix S610 next to the same ISO for the Fuji Finepix F100fd. These cameras have a large sensitivity range, starting at ISO 100 and going up to ISO 3200 at full resolution. The F100 also has higher sensitivities at reduced resolutions. This required a scene with very low-lighting which made taking the shots an exercise in tricking the cameras. As can be seen below, such low-lit scene could not always be properly exposed at all ISO settings. Outside of camera testing, this is not really an issue as you only need to get the right exposure at a reasonable ISO.

All crops below are 100% from their respective camera taken at the highest image quality setting available. Aside for the scene-mode used for the Fuji's ISO 100 shot, all other settings were left on automatic or on their default values. These crops help determine which ISO settings can be acceptably used on these cameras. As noise increases, most cameras compensate with noise reduction which introduces softness. The point at which a print become unacceptably noisy is a matter of personal taste.

Nikon Coolpix S610	Fuji Finepix F100fd
ISO 100	ISO 100 (Night scene-mode)
ISO 200	ISO 200 (Underexposed)
ISO 400	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 800
ISO 1600	ISO 1600
ISO 3200	ISO 3200

Here the Fuji Finepix F100fd consistently shows superior image quality than the Nikon Coolpix S610. On the S610 we can see noise starting at the ISO 200 shot and both cameras lose details as ISO increases. The F100 shows a much finer noise-pattern which preserves details and edges better.