Nikon Coolpix S1000pj review

In an impressive show of innovation, the S1000pj is the first camera to have an integrated projector. It manages this feat without adding too much bulk to the body either; at 96 x 24 x 63mm (WDH) and weighing 175g, it’s smaller and lighter than the Samsung WB500.

The big news is the projector really does work. It doesn’t have much in the way of power, with 10-lumens output compared to the 3,000 or so for a standard desktop projector. But that’s enough to project a usefully bright image of up to about 10in diagonal in any situation except full daylight. In a truly dark room it’s bright enough to project images about 4ft across onto a light-coloured wall, and it will even project movies.

The lens has been displaced into the top-right corner of the body to accommodate the projector, and it isn’t the most sophisticated ever. At full wide-angle there’s significant distortion and drop-off in edge focus. Aside from that, though, it puts in a show on par with the rest here.

The big issue, of course, is the price. For the money, we’d expect image quality to rival the best. But that doesn’t stop us loving the idea and hoping it’s the first of many projector cameras.

Author: David Fearon