Nikon Coolpix P6000 Review

The Nikon Coolpix P6000 is one of the most advanced compact, digital cameras you can buy. Many of its features can be found on Digital SLR cameras. It has 13.5 megapixels and a 4x wide angle lens. The camera also includes GPS for geo tagging your photos, a hotshoe and a RAW mode.

The Coolpix P6000 will appeal to someone who is looking for a compact camera that has similar functionality to a Digital SLR. People may also wish to use this camera as a second camera for when a Digital SLR is not convenient. Considering the amount of features it has it is also very easy to use. It also has a pleasingly sturdy feel.

Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
Looking at the first test picture I can immediately see the quality the Coolpix P6000 offers. Whereas other digital cameras struggle with the lightest areas of this shot and lose detail the Coolpix P6000 handles the problem caused by sun glare very well indeed. It also manages to produce far greater colour accuracy in these conditions than many cameras manage. Overall picture sharpness is also impressive.

Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
The most noticeable point for me about this picture is the amount of light the camera manages to capture. This makes for a much lighter a more pleasing photo that is often the case. Sharpness in this photo is above average.

Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
This is another bright photo. I like the way the light and the colours combine to create vivid scenes. With the lens fully zoomed in sharpness is very good.

Outdoor 4 (Building)
My final outdoor test confirms most of my earlier findings. This is another attractive photo. Again the lighting plays a key role. The brickwork in the building is in sharp focus and the lens does well retaining sharpness as you move out towards the edges of the shot.

Outdoor Portrait
I like this photo. The colours are just right. Sharpness is very good indeed. All in all this suggests that the camera should produce great portrait shots in natural light.

Indoor Portrait with Flash
There is plenty of detail in this shot. The colours in the shot are generally good, but some extra pink has been added around the nose.

Indoor Portrait without Flash
The Coolpix P6000 manages to focus better than most cameras do. Although the end result is darker than it should be the picture as a whole is still much better than the majority of cameras manage.

Colours
As you can see from the comments I have made I am very happy with the colours the Coolpix P6000 produces. The main plus point is the balance of the colours. They are vivid with out being overbearing.

Macro
Nikon have used a high quality lens with this camera. Therefore it is not surprising it manages to produces one of the better macro shots. You should be able to produce some excellent close up shots with the Coolpix P6000.

ISO 400 and ISO 1600
The Coolpix P6000 performs well at ISO 400. There is less noise in the shot than I am used to seeing. By the time ISO is pushed up to ISO 1600 noise is a much bigger problem.

Overall
The Coolpix P6000 offers extra quality when compared to standard digital cameras. There is nothing in particular that really stands out, but you get that bit better all round quality.

If there was one area where I was disappointed it was with the results of my shutter lag tests. A single photo took 0.53 seconds while five took 10.39 seconds. With flash turned on times increased to 1.75 seconds for a single shot and 26.95 seconds for five.

To turn the camera on and take the first shot took 3.95 seconds. Anyone who is used to the performance of a Digital SLR camera will be disappointed in these times.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

I liked the feel of this camera as soon as I picked it up. The build quality appears to be very good and the controls have a solid feel. As with similar digital cameras the Coolpix P6000 looks a little like a mini SLR camera.

65.5 x 107 x 42mm

240g

Lithium ion (EN-EL5). Nikon estimate the battery should take up to 260 shots between charges. A battery and adapter for charging are supplied as standard.

48mb of storage have been built into the Coolpix P6000. In my tests I was able to take 16 shots before the storage was full. To increase storage you can use SD and SDHC memory cards.

Click here to save money on SD cards..

Very Good. Considering the features it has Nikon have done an excellent job when it comes to ease of use. You can set up your own quick access menu with your top six, most used features. There is also a selection wheel to speed up the process of selecting settings. The menus are well laid out and it will be hard to find an advanced digital camera that is any easier to use.

Ease of use, features, build quality, picture quality

Shutter lag and start up times are poor

The Coolpix P6000 is the first of the latest batch of advanced digital cameras for me to review. I will be adding a review of the Canon Powershot G10 in December 2008. Until then take a look at the review of the Canon Powershot G9.

The Nikon Coolpix P6000 is an impressive camera. It has a great set of features. These have been put together in a clever way that makes the camera as easy as it can be to use when taking all the features into account. Picture quality is very good indeed. The downside comes with the shutter delay times. These are very disappointing for a camera of this quality.

Front View

Back View

Top View

Sample Menu

	GBP 269.99
Click a flag for prices from other countries:

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Nikon Coolpix P6000