Nikon Coolpix S6300 Review

Overview

The Nikon Coolpix S6300 gives you some extra zoom power at a lower price. It has 16 megapixels and a 10x zoom lens. It is aimed at someone who is looking for a relatively straightforward, point and shoot camera. It is small enough to fit into most pockets.

Other features that stand out are Full High Definition Movies and stereo sound.

Compared with other digital cameras at this price point the Coolpix S6300 has the following:

Plus Points

• Long lens (10x zoom)
• Full HD Movies
• Stereo sound
• 3D photo mode

Negative Points

• 10cm macro mode
• 2.7 inch LCD screen

Why Buy the Nikon Coolpix S6300

One of the biggest attractions of the Coolpix S6300 is the movie mode. There are not many cameras around at this price offering Full HD with stereo sound.

Features

Megapixels and Zoom

The Coolpix S6300 has 16 megapixels and a 10x zoom lens. The focal length of the lens is equivalent to 25 - 250mm in 35mm format. What this means to you is that the camera is capable of squeezing in wide scenes as well as being able to zoom in on more distant subjects.

Memory Cards

You can store images on SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards.

Batteries

A lithium ion battery provides the power. Nikon supplies a battery and charger with the camera. They estimate you should be able to take around 230 shots before the battery runs down.

Movie Mode

Movie options are very impressive for a camera at this price point. You can shoot Full High Definition Movies. These have a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The top recording speed is 30 frames per second. Stereo sound can be recorded with your movie clips. You can also shoot movies in iFrame format for playback on Apple products.

LCD Screen

The LCD screen is 2.7 inches in size.

Scene Modes

Nikon have equipped the Coolpix S6300 with plenty of scene modes. The advantage of using scene modes for your pictures is that they tell the camera the type of picture you are about to take. The camera will then adjust the settings to give you what it considers to be the best result. The scene modes are: Back Light, Beach, Close Up, Copy, Dusk/Dawn, Easy Panorama, Fireworks Show, Food, Landscape, Museum, Night Landscape, Night Portrait, Party/Indoor, Pet Portrait, Portrait, Snow, Sports, Sunset and 3D Photography.

Macro Mode

For close up shots the Coolpix S6300 can focus from 10cm away from your subject.

Image Stabilisation

Nikon have added in Image Stabilisation. This compensates for any small movements of the camera while you are taking a picture. This should help you to produce sharper looking images.

3D Photos

If you would like to try something different the Coolpix S6300 has a special mode for producing images in 3D.

Image Quality

Picture Quality Summary

The Coolpix S6300 is not perfect, but most of the issues are fairly minor and will only show up if you make large sized prints.

Outdoor Scenic Shot 1

Looking at the first test shot you can see some subtle differences between the Coolpix S6300 and what is on offer from other brands. To start with the colours are a little softer. Next up this camera does well in the darker and shadier areas of the shot. It manages to show slightly more detail in those areas than a lot of other cameras do. Where it is not quite so strong is in the lightest areas with slightly less detail showing there. It should be pointed out that the differences in the amount of detail you can see are fairly minor and are only like to start showing up in larger prints.

Outdoor Scenic Shot 2

The centre of this shot is in sharp focus, but as you move away from the middle sharpness begins to fall away. Again, this may not be something obvious in smaller prints or if you are sharing photos on the Internet, but if you are planning to make larger prints it could be an issue.

Outdoor Scenic Shot 3

Pushing the lens to the other extreme results in a photo that lacks the extra clarity that the best cameras at this price point manage to produce.

Outdoor Building

With the lens not being pushed to its limits quality is noticeably better. This shot is sharp from edge to edge. The Coolpix S6300 is able to lock focus onto the building without any problems.

Outdoor Portrait

This is a bog standard outdoor portrait. It is quite bright and skin tones look about right. At this distance the Coolpix S6300 is able to focus properly and the result is a sharp looking portrait shot.

Indoor Portrait With Flash

As with other Nikon digital cameras the Coolpix S6300 is able to show some extra colour in the face compared to most digital cameras. This is a big plus point as pictures taken with other digital cameras can look a bit washed out alongside this one.

Indoor Portrait Without Flash

With flash not being used this picture was taken with the room lights switched on. This has left the picture with a slight blue tint as the camera does not quite get to grips with the artificial lighting.

Macro

You can see a big difference between this shot and the macro shots taken with other digital cameras. The 10cm focusing distance is a lot farther away that you would be with most cameras. This is not the ideal camera if you are planning to take close up shots. If you are planning to stick more with general snapshots this is unlikely to matter much to you.

Colours

Nikon digital cameras tend to produce colours that are somewhat lighter than some other brands. What this means is that the blue skies are not quite as blue as other cameras make them look. You may feel this gives your photos a more natural look or you may prefer colours with more punch to them.

Noise

With the Coolpix S6300 performing well in darker and more shady areas you are unlikely to be troubled by noise unless you are in very poor light.

Top Rated Cameras in this Category

Nikon Coolpix S9300 Rating 86/100

For a camera that is small enough to take anywhere the Nikon Coolpix S9300 has a lot of features packed into it. If you are planning to take a holiday GPS tracking will tell you where you were when a picture was taken. The length of the zoom lens also gives you plenty of scope when it comes to picture opportunities. Although there is plenty of completion in this category the picture quality on offer here combined with the features makes this camera very attractive indeed. Recommended.

Read Review: Nikon Coolpix S9300 Review

Canon Powershot SX260 HS Rating 86/100

The Canon Powershot SX260 HS is one of the very best digital cameras in this category. In fact if you are happy to miss out on features such as 3D photography and 360 degree panoramas it is very hard to beat. It has a great set of features packed into its relatively compact body size and picture quality helps to make it stand out from the competition. Although it is one of the more expensive cameras in this field it still offers good value for money.

Read Review: Canon Powershot SX260 HS Review

Sony DSC HX20V Rating 85/100

There is a lot to like about the Sony Cybershot DSC HX20V. As well as being crammed with features it is a very reliable when it comes to taking pictures. It can handle most photo opportunities without breaking sweat. The amount of zoom power and other features available gives you a great deal of flexibility. Competition between similar cameras is very tough, but this model performs very well when put up against its main rivals. I would happily own this camera.

Read Review: Sony DSC HX20V Review

Related Pages

Nikon Coolpix S6300 Specification

Nikon Coolpix S6300 Sample Images

Digital Camera Reviews

Nikon Digital Cameras

Review Date

Review Date: August 2012