Review: Nikon Coolpix S33
Not everyone wants a digital SLR, or a camera that is insanely complicated. Many people just want a simple camera that takes pictures easily. Perhaps they would also like a camera that is capable of taking a bit of abuse as well. If that’s you, then Nikon has the camera for you in the form of the Coolpix S33. It has three key features:
- It is waterproof up to 10M. One note that I have is that it doesn’t float. Thus I recommend that you get this strap to keep you from losing this camera in a lake or some other deep body of water. The reason why I am pointing this out is that I accidentally dropped this in water that was a few meters deep and I had to dive in and hunt around under the water to find the camera. Nikon will be happy to know that I found it and they will get it back in the next day or two in a fully functional state.
- It is shockproof from heights of 1.5M
- It is freezeproof
Translation, it can take a fair amount of abuse. Here’s what it looks like:
It comes in white and blue and looks very simple unlike some of these cameras that look like they’re designed for the SAS or JTF2.
It has separate controls to take still pictures as well as take 1080p video which makes it easy for those who own the camera. 
The LCD is bright and unless you’re in really bright sunlight, it is clear. The controls are simple and clear to the user. Of note, the four buttons on the left can be used for multiple purposes that get displayed not the LCD. All of this makes shooting with the S33 simple. You pick it up, turn it on, and start shooting. Done. It doesn’t get any simpler than that.
The USB and mini HDMI ports are inside the battery compartment so that the camera can stay waterproof.
In terms of specs, it is pretty simple. It shoots 1080p video and does 13.2 Megapixel stills. It has 15 different scene modes ranging from fireworks, underwater, macro, soft to less common modes like mirror, neon effect, and interval shooting. It also has a underwater face framing mode, which will automatically focus in on faces while underwater.
This all sounds really cool, but the question is, how well does all of this work? To find out, my wife and I spent the weekend in a cottage that was on the shore of Raven Lake which is three hours north of Toronto near Algonquin Provincial Park. The idea was to use the camera in an environment that would highlight its feature set. I took a variety of stills while hiking and boating in a canoe and on a pontoon boat and in a variety of lighting conditions. Here’s some examples of what I was able to get with the S33. Click to see them at full size:
Clearly this camera is capable of taking great looking pictures in all conditions. I also took a couple of videos. The first one are some chipmunks having a meal while the humans talk about what sort of cell service they were getting. Set the videos to full screen and 1080p:
The video and sound quality is very very good. The next day we went on a pontoon boat and came across some water skiers:
The wind overwhelmed the microphone. That’s understandable as I was in a boat that was going at full speed.
On the way back to the city, my wife and I stopped off at the famous Weber’s burger joint on highway 11:
It’s popular on weekends, so be prepared to line up:
But trust me, it’s worth it as the burgers are outstanding. But I digress. This is a camera review.
If your kids want a camera that will actually survive a day or you want a camera with some amount of durability, but in either case is easy to use, you should strongly consider the Nikon Coolpix S33. It retails for $150 which makes it a great value.
September 1, 2017 at 4:01 pm
[…] survive being under water for depths up to 30 m for 60 minutes. Though I would suggest based on this experience with another Nikon camera that you acquire this strap that gives the camera the ability to float if […]