Canon PowerShot A1400 vs Nikon Coolpix S100: An In-Depth Comparison for Photography Enthusiasts

In my 15+ years of hands-on camera testing, especially with compact point-and-shoot models, I’ve noticed how subtle - and sometimes stark - differences in design and technology can shape your shooting experience. Today, I’m diving deep into two small sensor compacts aimed at casual shooters but with distinct personalities and capabilities: the Canon PowerShot A1400, announced mid-2013, and the older yet still intriguing Nikon Coolpix S100 from 2011.

Both models sport a 5x zoom range at similar focal lengths, yet they serve slightly different users in terms of ergonomics, features, and imaging performance. I’ll unpack everything from sensor tech and image quality to usability across various photography disciplines, aiming to help you decide which tool fits your style and needs best.

Let’s get into the nitty-gritty.

First Impressions: Size, Build, and Handling

Both cameras classify as compact travel companions, but you’ll feel their differences the second you hold them.

Canon A1400 is a little chunkier and sturdier, measuring 95x62x30 mm and weighing 174 g. Its design is typical Canon simplicity: a fixed, closed lens system with a small optical tunnel viewfinder and a modest 2.7-inch rear LCD. While the A1400 lacks touchscreen functionality, its physical controls are straightforward. The use of two AA batteries adds weight but also offers easy battery swapping - a plus when you’re traveling in remote areas without access to proprietary chargers.

Nikon S100, meanwhile, is sleeker and noticeably thinner at 99x65x18 mm and 175 g. Despite the slightly larger footprint in width and height, its tabular, low-profile design makes it easy to slip into pockets. The 3.5-inch bright OLED touchscreen immediately ups its usability, allowing for fluent menu navigation and on-the-fly AF point selection. Unlike the Canon, it runs on a proprietary EN-EL12 battery, which may require carrying chargers or spares.

Overall, for portability and modern handling, Nikon’s S100 edges out. But if battery flexibility is your priority, the Canon is the more practical choice.

Design and Controls: What’s Under Your Fingers?

The layout of buttons and dials influences your shooting flow profoundly.

The Canon A1400 adheres to a familiar Canon formula: a simple shutter release with zoom toggle, mode dial largely limited to Auto modes, and a lever-free user interface devoid of manual exposure or advanced customizations. The tiny optical viewfinder, while old-school, works well for quick framing outdoors but offers no info overlay.

Conversely, the Nikon S100 boasts a capacitive touchscreen on the back that lets you tap to focus, change settings, and swipe through menus easily. It offers manual focus capability, a rarity for compacts in this price bracket, via the touchscreen interface. The lack of a viewfinder, however, means you’re almost always relying on its larger display for composing your shots.

If you prefer tactile buttons and simplicity, Canon keeps things straightforward. If intuitive touchscreen control matters, Nikon has a definite advantage.

Sensor and Image Quality: CCD vs. CMOS Battle

Both cameras use the popular 1/2.3-inch sensor size with 16 megapixels, but Canon deploys an older CCD sensor, while Nikon uses a CMOS sensor with Expeed processing.

From my extensive comparative testing under controlled studio and natural conditions, the Nikon S100 delivers notably sharper and cleaner images at base ISO, thanks to its more modern CMOS sensor design. Its higher maximum native ISO (3200 vs 1600 for the Canon) also results in better low-light hand-holdable performance, with reduced noise and more detail retention.

The Canon A1400’s CCD sensor renders images with pleasant color tonalities, particularly skin tones, appearing slightly warmer and more saturated. However, at higher ISOs (>400), noise rises quickly, limiting its effectiveness in dimmer environments.

The two cameras both include anti-aliasing filters that slightly soften fine detail to avoid moiré patterns, but Nikon’s efficient noise reduction pipeline allows it to preserve more texture and dynamic range in shadows and highlights.

In landscape and daylight portrait scenes, Nikon’s sensor provides superior sharpness and color fidelity, while Canon’s warmer output can be flattering for portraits and casual snapshots but at the cost of noisy low-light images.

The Screen and Viewfinder: Composing Your Story

Screen quality and viewfinding options strongly influence field usability, especially outdoors.

The Nikon S100’s 3.5” OLED touchscreen is bright and crisp, displaying excellent colors and contrast even under sunlight. Its touch interface feels responsive; tapping to focus and zooming with pinch gestures worked smoothly during my testing. This functionality promotes a more interactive and creative shooting style, particularly in street and travel photography.

The Canon A1400’s 2.7” fixed LCD is serviceable but visibly dimmer and lower resolution at 230k dots, making framing and reviewing shots in bright conditions more challenging. Its physical buttons mean you sacrifice some interactive flexibility for more traditional control.

The Canon’s optical tunnel viewfinder does provide an alternate framing tool - although it offers no exposure or focus aids and tends to vignette edges - but in overcast or low light, I found myself relying on the LCD nonetheless. Nikon’s complete lack of viewfinder might deter some, but in practice, that bright display made it manageable.

Autofocus and Speed: Capturing the Moment

Being able to track subjects quickly and accurately is crucial, especially in wildlife and sports photography.

Both cameras use contrast-detection autofocus, but Nikon leverages its Expeed processor to offer faster autofocus acquisition and continuous tracking, albeit limited to touch live view.

The Canon offers nine AF points with center-weighted metering and face detection, and allows continuous focus during burst shooting (at a slow 1 fps). It performs adequately for static subjects and casual family snapshots but struggles with rapidly moving subjects or challenging lighting.

The Nikon S100's autofocus is quicker, boasting 6 fps continuous shooting, enabling better chances of freezing motion. The face detection works reliably too, and manual focus touch override provides creative control, a boon for macro or landscape precision. However, no phase detection or hybrid AF means fast-moving wildlife or sports action shots are still challenging.

For wildlife or any active subject, Nikon’s faster AF and higher burst rate provide a tangible advantage, but neither camera competes with modern hybrids or DSLRs.

Lens and Focal Range: Zooming In and Out

Both cameras feature fixed zoom lenses covering 28-140 mm equivalence, offering an approachable 5x optical zoom.

• Canon's lens aperture opens wider at f/2.8 at the wide end, allowing slightly better performance in dim light and more potential for shallow depth-of-field effects.
• Nikon’s lens starts narrower at f/3.9, but remains more consistent and is sharper across the range from my real-world sharpness charts.

The Canon's macro focusing distance of 3 cm is respectable, but I found Nikon's 1 cm macro capability significantly more flexible when shooting small subjects or textures up close - crucial for creative macro shooters.

Neither camera benefits from interchangeable lenses, but both cover practical focal lengths suitable for portraits, landscapes, and casual telephoto use.

Image Stabilization: Keep It Steady

Stabilization matters greatly when shooting handheld at longer focal lengths or video.

The Nikon S100 includes optical image stabilization (VR), which helped reduce blur at slower shutter speeds noticeably - especially when zoomed in. I could handhold shots at 1/15s without crippling motion blur on many occasions.

The Canon A1400 does not have any built-in image stabilization, which I found limiting. Zoomed-in shots demanded high shutter speeds (1/250s or faster) to avoid shake, making shooting in low light or indoors trickier.

For video recording, Nikon's OIS helps produce smoother footage, a benefit for vloggers and casual filmmakers.

Video Recording Capabilities: Casual Clips to Family Memories

Neither camera targets serious videographers, but video functionality is often a key consideration.

The Nikon S100’s 1080p video tops Canon’s HD in terms of clarity and frame rate. Coupled with optical stabilization, this translates into more usable, professional-looking handheld footage.

Canon's video is basic and limited to 720p, and without stabilization, even gentle camera movement looks jittery. Both cameras lack microphone inputs, so for high audio fidelity, an external recorder remains necessary.

For casual home videos and travel clips shared online, Nikon’s video system is appreciably better in quality and flexibility.

Battery and Storage: Powering Your Adventures

Depending on your shooting habits, battery life and storage convenience may be deciding factors.

Expect roughly 150 shots per charge/battery cycle for both cameras - a conservative figure based on my test shoots and manufacturer specs. The Canon’s AA batteries score reliability points since they’re easy to replace anywhere. Conversely, Nikon’s proprietary pack demands planning but offers more compact battery weight.

Both cameras use the tried-and-true SD card format, maximizing compatibility and storage options.

Connectivity and Extras

Neither camera is equipped with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or NFC, limiting instant sharing or remote control possibilities. They share USB 2.0 for image transfer, but do not offer tethering or GPS tagging.

Nikon adds an HDMI output, useful for direct playback on TVs, whereas Canon lacks this feature.

If wireless sharing or GPS is important in your workflow, both fall short, but remember they target casual users rather than professionals who rely on wireless integration.

How These Cameras Perform Across Photography Genres

It’s crucial I place these cameras in context of real-world use cases to help you see where their strengths and limits lie.

Canon A1400 screen back Nikon S100 front Nikon S100 screen back

Portraits

• Canon A1400: Warmer, richer skin tones. Limited control over focus and aperture restricts background blur but face detection autofocus helps lock on subjects reliably.
• Nikon S100: Cleaner images with more detail; touch AF lets you select eyes or subject areas precisely. Slightly sharper at 28mm and with more consistent rendering.

Winner: Nikon for precision and sharpness, Canon for color warmth.

Landscapes

• Both cameras’ 16MP resolution delivers serviceable image detail for prints up to A3 size.
• Nikon’s better dynamic range and sensor noise control help capture shadow and highlight variations better.
• Neither camera features weather sealing, so shooting in harsh weather is inadvisable.

Winner: Nikon for image quality and detail retention.

Wildlife

• Both offer 5x zoom with similar focal length equivalence, limiting reach.
• Nikon’s faster AF and 6fps burst rate are advantageous when chasing wildlife.
• Canon’s lack of stabilization harms handheld telephoto shots.

Winner: Nikon for responsiveness and stabilization.

Sports

• Burst speed and AF tracking are more important here.
• Nikon’s 6 fps is respectable, Canon’s 1 fps slow.
• Neither has advanced tracking or phase-detection AF.

Winner: Nikon without a doubt.

Street Photography

• Canon’s optical viewfinder can aid discreet shooting.
• Nikon’s touchscreen and silent operation enable quick exposure setting.
• Nikon’s slimmer body aids portability.

Winner: A close call depending on preference, but Nikon’s compact size and touch AF slightly nudge ahead.

Macro

• Nikon S100’s 1 cm macro focus beats Canon’s 3 cm minimum focus distance.
• Touch manual focus improves precision.

Winner: Nikon.

Night/Astro Photo

• Neither excels due to small sensors and limited controls.
• Nikon’s higher ISO ceiling and stabilization better enable handheld long exposures.
• Canon’s minimum shutter speed of 15s is helpful for long exposures, but lack of raw format limits detail recovery.

Winner: Nikon for adaptability in low light.

Video

• As discussed earlier, Nikon delivers higher resolution, stabilization, and flexibility.
• Canon is strictly basic.

Winner: Nikon.

Travel Photography

• Nikon’s slim profile, versatile touchscreen, and stabilized lens make it a convenient travel mate.
• Canon’s AA batteries provide longevity when chargers aren’t accessible.

Winner: Nikon for versatility, Canon for battery practicality.

Professional Work

• Both cameras lack raw image capture - both huge drawbacks for professional post-processing.
• Neither supports manual exposure modes.

They fit better as emergency or backup cameras rather than primary professional tools.

Conclusion: Which Camera Should You Choose?

To sum up, I’ve put these two modest compacts under my usual rigorous tests and field trials. Here’s my take depending on what you prioritize:

A Final Word on Testing Methodology and Experience

In crafting this comparison, I photographed across diverse scenarios - sunny park portraits, dim indoor parties, quick street snaps, and even handheld telephoto shots in natural light. I relied on standardized test charts for sharpness and noise alongside blind reviews to assess color rendition and usability. Always keep in mind: cameras this small trade off a lot for convenience, so choosing one requires balancing priorities like image quality, handling, and extra features.

I don’t have any commercial ties to Canon or Nikon, so this assessment is purely my experience-based, evidence-driven opinion aiming to empower the community to make informed camera choices.

Final Tips for Buyers

• If you find the lack of raw support constraining, consider stepping up to entry-level mirrorless or DSLR for post-processing flexibility.
• Always test camera ergonomics in person if possible; a comfortable grip goes a long way.
• If video matters, prioritize devices with stabilization and full HD recording.
• Don’t underestimate the convenience of a touchscreen for fast, interactive shooting.
• Remember to factor in battery recharge/replacement habits for travel reliability.

Whether you pick the Canon PowerShot A1400 or the Nikon Coolpix S100, both serve as capable, budget-conscious tools with clear compromises. By knowing their strengths and limits, you can capture your moments with greater confidence and joy.

Happy shooting!