Projector in a camera

Compact Digicam Review: Nikon S1100pj

by Sim Cheng Kai

05:55 AM Nov 12, 2010

If you love sharing photo slideshows and videos with friends and family on the go, but often can't find time to edit them on the computer, or have a big enough display to do your captured moments justice, then the Nikon Coolpix S1100pj ($569) - which has an integrated pico (pocket-sized) projector - may just be the right compact digicam for you.

The S1100pj is only the second digicam to feature an integrated projector - the first being its predecessor, the S1000pj. And while pico projectors are nothing new, they are often stand-alone or found on the back of certain mobile handsets. None of these devices so far can match the S1100pj's 14.1-megapixel sensor or 5x wide optical zoom.

Picture quality is on par with other digicams of a similar price range.

Noise performance is decent - signs of grain only began showing when I shot night pictures at ISO 800, although you can technically go all the way to ISO 6400.

Don't expect extensive camera controls like shutter speed or aperture adjustment here.

There is an Easy-Auto mode that decides everything for you, an Auto mode where you can tweak ISO, white balance and exposure, Scene Selection modes with presets for various scenarios like Portraits, and a Face Detection mode that tries to keep all your subjects' faces in focus and automatically snaps a picture when they're all smiles.

There are just six buttons on the S1100pj - on/off, shutter button with zoom slider, projector button with focus dial, video recording, scene selection, and playback mode. All other functions are rendered from the camera's three-inch resistive touchscreen.

Switching between modes and fine-tuning settings is rather slow - you have to wait for the screen to respond. But on the up side, there is tap-to-focus and tap-to-shoot.

You can do HD video recording at 720p with sound, zoom and auto-focus. Oddly enough, tap-to-focus does not work while filming.

When projecting photos and videos, there are simple slideshow settings that you can tweak, such as four transition animations and the option to add any of three music tracks.

When projecting, a tiny tilt-stand at the bottom of the unit holds it in place, and audio comes out from the S1100pj's speaker. An infra-red remote gives you control away from the touchscreen.

The best feature on the digicam has to be the ability to project PowerPoint presentations without connecting it to a computer. Simply save the presentation as a JPEG file, conform to the camera's naming conventions, and load it on a memory card. If you do hook up a laptop, you can also project just about everything on the screen if you've installed the bundled software.

Though this is great for presentations, it's not ideal for intensive tasks like video playback or gaming - the maximum frame rate is 24 frames per second and the projection brightness rating is 14 lumens.

Nikon says that you can project an image of 47 inches from a throw distance of 2.4m. On a white wall in a dark room, images are sharp and details are amazingly clear if you're projecting from around 2m and closer. SIM CHENG KAI

Source: www.todayonline.com