You might be tempted to call the Nikon CoolPix s52c the super-hero of point-and-shoot digital cameras thanks to it’s wifi ability. That is one heckuva super-power, isn’t it? Say you’re on vacation, shooting some amazing shots of the ocean, the mountains, the landmarks, or anything else, but you still have to waste valuable time sitting at home on your computer uploading those pictures to your favorite image-sharing website.
That was the big omission when digital cameras became the rage. The only way to share these new-fangled pics was by taking the time to “develop” them yourself by printing them out or keeping your laptop with you. Sure, with the advent of digital picture frames and gadgets like the iPod and other portable picture viewers, it’s a little easier, but sharing snapshots with friends and families in other cities requires that online element. The Nikon s52c has that online element covered. Apparently, it’s capable of uploading to the web directly from the camera. No PC required. That just sounds like crazy talk, doesn’t it?
The thing is, there’s more…
What’s more, is bad, unfortunately. According to the s52c’s official product page at Nikon.com, the site appears to only work with Nikon’s own picture-sharing website PictureTown.com. Also, there’s an odd little requirement that the s52c needs to be plugged into a wall outlet before it will look for an open wifi signal to connect with. Yeah, that wall-socket thing does sound odd, doesn’t it? Also, that open network will be a pain since most networks aren’t open these days. The only good news here is that T-Mobile is giving away six months of their wifi HotSpot service to users of the s52c.
Beyond the somewhat hobbled wifi capabilities, it’s a pretty reasonable camera. 9 megapixels, built-in red-eye fixing, SDHC compatible, image stabilizing and, of course, it shoots “TV-quality” video. That means 640×480 resolution to you and me. Of course, while these other features make it a perfectly reasonable camera, the price makes it a bit unreasonable. It’s listing at the Nikon website for a bitter-tasting $300.
That wifi feature is nice, but for $100 you can go pick up the Eye-Fi wifi-enabled SD card and turn any SD-card-reading camera into a super-hero. (Though if some of the reviews of the Eye-Fi on Buy.com are to be trusted, it isn’t perfect either–but it’s still cheaper than the s52c.)
