A few more creative modes are lurking in the camera's 'Effects' selection, available by way of the mode dial: a 'Selective color' option that lets you isolate a single color in a black-and-white photo, a 'High-contrast monochrome' effect that makes images look a bit like newsprint, and 'High key' and 'Low key' effects for boosting and muting colors, respectively.

Some of the best features of this camera include its post-shot editing tools, which let you apply filters and quick fixes to copies of your photos while retaining the source image. Highlights include the aforementioned D-Lighting and Quick Retouch functions, which almost always improve the look and detail of images, and Fisheye and Miniature Effect filters, which let you mimic the look of different lenses. Alas, all those extra goodies are available only in still-image mode; you can't apply any of the effects to videos.

The Coolpix S9100 turned in some of the best scores we've seen across the board for a point-and-shoot camera in PCWorld Labs subjective testing for image quality. Its aggregate score for all four of our image-testing categories (exposure quality, color accuracy, sharpness, and lack of distortion) was the highest of any camera we've tested in the last year, meaning that this is a well-balanced camera that performs nicely in most shooting situations.

Set to its basic Auto mode, the Coolpix S9100 earned scores of Very Good for color accuracy, exposure quality, and lack of distortion. In the sharpness category, it received a score of Good. Like many cameras these days, it has a tendency to make colors appear more vivid than they do in the real world, which results in brighter, warm-looking photos.