There was a time when £100 wouldn’t buy you that much of a compact camera. Due to production costs, manufacturers had to cut down on specification to meet the price point, with this often affecting the performance of the compacts.

However, in recent times the circa-£100 market has seen the addition of a host of models that have offered specifications and performance belying their price-tag. Nikon’s S-range of COOLPIX cameras offers a host of models around this price-point, with the S2500 being the most recent – but what exactly can you get from Nikon for around the magical £100 price tag?

Nikon COOLPIX S2500 review – Features

The times when one had to compromise in getting a compact under £100 are long gone, and this can be seen in the specification of the COOLPIX S2500. The model features a 1/2.3in CCD sensor with a 12MP resolution, while a 4x optical zoom also features covering a 27-108mm focal range in 35mm equivalent terms, even complete with electronic vibration reduction. The model also features an LCD screen with a resolution befitting it’s price tag – a 2.7in, 230k-dot is hardly going to set the world alight, but it’s more than adequate for review and composing images.

A lot of the camera’s functionality is aimed at those who are either new to photography or want the camera to do the work, with this once again being a common feature of compacts around the £100 price tag. The S2500 features a ‘Smart Portrait’ capture system – the mode features Smile Timer, Blink Proof and Skin Softening features which all combine to help take better portraits. The camera also features Scene Auto Selection technology, whereby the camera will address the scene and choose the right scene mode for the best image from one of 17 different modes.

The COOLPIX S2500 also features Subject Tracking Auto-Focus mode, which is perfect for a moving subject and a relatively high-end feature, while the model also benefits from built-in anti-blur technology, assisting in sharp subjects using four different methods.