Best Point and Shoot Digital Camera : Nikon COOLPIX P600 Review
Introduction
Nikon Coolpix P600 is, at heart, the Nikon Coolpix P520 with the new 60X zoom. The new Zoom seems to be better in most areas than 42X zoom that adorn the P520. I was surprised at how sharp my telephoto image is, especially when I compare it with the image of a kind (50x zoom) Canon Powershot SX50 HS and the Nikon P510 (42x zoom).
I shot P600, in telephoto, which is noticeably sharper than the same shot I've made with either SX50 HS or P510, even factoring in other environmental issues and the lighting.
Optical rule practically always, 'the longer the zoom, which is a softer image.' Nikon optical engineers and mechanics did a surprisingly good job on the new Monster P600 zoom - the lens is much sharper, especially at the telephoto end of the zoom, than expected.
But photography is always about compromises. In this case, P600 users will have to give up some ability at the wide-angle end of the monster zoom.
The 60X zoom is grace P600 took a slightly different design of raising long on ultra-zoom digital camera More significantly improve performance telephoto, but that comes at the expense of the wide-angle. Simply put, the P600 has the worst parallax / barrel distortion function of each ultra-zoom I have used to date.
At 24mm (equivalent) end 60X zoom, shooters will find it almost impossible to shoot an image with straight lines, like in the picture where buildings stand. The effect is similar to the keystoning in image projection, where the building will appear trapezoidal (or, wider at the bottom than at the top), not a square. This is not the fault of ordinary lenses with long zoom, but other manufacturers are harder to fix these problems, and they reliably correction affects the performance at the other end of the long zooms. The P600 is not totally useless in the wide-angle end of the zoom - users just need to step back a little and zoom out approximately 30mm (equivalent) to fix this problem. Here are some examples of what I mean.
Product Image
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Product Specs :
- Brand Name : Nikon
- Series : COOLPIX P600
- Color : Black, Red
- Optical Zoom : 60x
- Viewfinder : LCD
- Max. Resolution : 16.1 MP
- Image Stabilization : Optical
- Display Size : 3-Inch
- Flash Memory : SD/SDHC/SDXC
- Optical Sensor Resolution : 16.1 MP
- Optical Sensor Technology : CMOS
- See More Product Specs
Build and Design
The P600 is an entry-level digital SLR camera size is rather utilitarian-looking. It looks very similar to most of the competition. In fact, bears a striking resemblance to its predecessor, and stretches nearly 500 millimeters P520 zoom (24mm - 1000mm vs 24mm - 1440mm) without radically changing the dimensions of the camera.
That's 60x zoom (24mm to 1440mm equivalent) is the claim to fame, and when the longest point-and-shoot zoom range available in every P & S digicam. Besides monster zoom, which is P600 has a resolution of 16 megapixels and Wi-Fi connectivity. This device provides a solidly constructed metal alloy / polycarbonate body and seal dust / weather / moisture is adequate.
Ergonomics and Controls
P600 control layout is efficiently designed. Knob / button / switch logically placed and come easily to hand for right-handed shooters. Upper deck features a standard mode and a large lift the shutter button (with a zoom switch surround).
Nikon function keys do not like the Canon "func" button, which calls the shortcut menu to directly access frequently changing the settings. Instead, Nikon "Fn" button provides direct access to one of the user-selected functions, whether it is the image size, image control, WB, metering, continuous shooting mode, ISO, or AF area.
P600 pad control functions in a familiar compass switch configuration, and the dial rotate around the OK button to make a super fast menu scrolling and function selection. Where good Nikon rotary multi-controller really shines is easy review of back-and-forth and comparison images are stored.
One-touch button Video Record / Stop P600, meanwhile, is a little smaller than it should be and it somewhat awkwardly positioned - but can still be used without requiring the shooter to turn on the LCD / EVF when starting or stopping video.
These devices provide a powerful grip to improve handling and stability of the camera, as well as a secondary zoom control is positioned on the left side of the lens barrel for zoom in a vertical format.
The user interface is unashamedly traditional, and quite similar to each other P & S digicam to provide the majority of users comfortable feeling of deja vu.
Unfortunately, the practice continues Nikon P600 frustrating not to have exposure compensation function returns to zero when the camera is turned off. There is no logical reason for this as it addresses the problem of lighting tends to be temporary. Unfortunately, the only way to get the exposure compensation function at P600 back to zero is to manually do so after wrapping photocall.
Menu and Mode
Here are the details of this P600 shooting modes:
Program: Auto exposure with limited user input.
Auto: mode Point-and-shoot.
Scene Auto Selector: Automatically selects the most appropriate scene mode for a shooting situation from Portrait, Landscape, Night Portrait, Party / Indoor, Beach / Snow, Sunset, Dusk / Dawn, Night Landscape, Close-Up, Food, Museum, Fireworks Show, Copy, Backlight, and Panorama Assist.
Night Landscape Scene Mode: Automatically select a smaller aperture to increase the focus area and longer shutter speeds (to help capture detail) in dim lighting conditions / low.
Landscape mode: All parameters of maximum exposure to classical landscape images.
Night Portrait Mode: All parameters are maximized exposure to night portrait
Effects: Soft-focus mode, Sepia, high contrast monochrome, High key, Low key, Selective color, and painting.
User settings: Custom
Aperture priority: The user selects the aperture and the camera selects the appropriate shutter speed.
Shutter priority: The user select the shutter speed and the camera will select the appropriate aperture.
Manual: User selects all exposure parameters.
Film: Full HD (1920x1080p @) 60i / 50i / 30p / 25p, 30p / 25p, 30p / 25p, 60p / 25p, 120p / 100p fps) video with stereo audio
Display / Viewfinder
Nikon, Coolpix, Nikon P600, P & S
Like most of the currently available ultra-zoom, the P600 provides an electronic viewfinder, so the shooter can use either the LCD or EVF for framing / composition, image review, and menu access to jobs. It features a 3.0-inch LCD monitor with a resolution of 921K great. Wide viewing angle TFT screen sharp, bright, accurate color, and fluid.
Standard info display provides all the information this target camera might need. LCD gain up (ie, automatically increasing the brightness) in dim lighting, but also the individual shooter can adjust the brightness to their preferences. A layer of anti-glare / anti-reflection (applied to both sides of the LCD protective cover) is much better than average for a digital camera in this class as well.
Finally, Vari-angle LCD which is P600 flips and folds out, which is useful when shooting macro shots or high-angle. And unlike its predecessors, the P600 also rotate the LCD.
EVF unit P600 is 0.2 inches with a resolution of 200K; and, finally, Nikon includes a diopter adjustment for the shooter glasses. EVF is a great tool retro composition, particularly useful in bright outdoor lighting. Shutter button, which is located directly to the right of the EVF, allowing users to switch between the LCD and EVF.
Achievement
In general, the P600 is fast enough ultra-zoom P & S digicam. Off-to-first shooting is about two seconds. Ultra-zoom lens not moving all that fast, and it's great for video clips where users want a slower, more controlled zooming. But if you try to track fast-moving subjects such as skateboarders, the P600 can be rather slow. However, the latest Coolpix is competent image makers who are able to produce consistently very good to excellent still images and high-quality HD video. Performance P600 is dependably the same competitive ultra-zoom cameras from other manufacturers I have checked.
Shooting Performance
The P600 has a TTL Contrast Detection AF system that reliably fast to acquire the subject and lock focus. This is a clear improvement over the P510, which has one of the slowest of the major manufacturers of ultra-zoom at launch.
The P600 multi-mode pop-up flash to sit directly on top of the zoom, the maximum configuration of the classic red eyes. Flash is very small and a bit weak, but it provides an adequate selection of artificial lighting options, including Auto, off, auto with red-eye reduction, Fill flash, Slow synch, and Rear curtain synch
Consistently capturing sharp focused images with the camera point-and-shoot, especially the sport very long zoom, offers some unique challenges optical engineering. The P600 uses VR Hybrid system, which reduces the risk of blurred images with fast shutter speeds in addition to standard image stabilization techniques.
The P600 draws power from a lithium-ion battery Nikon EN-EL23, which Nikon claims is good for about 330 exposures at full charge. I do a lot of shooting, review, delete, and re-shoot, so I usually do not keep track of the exposure. However, in my testing, I only need to charge the battery twice after firing about a dozen lots of stills and video clips, so I have to guess that the duration of the power of Nikon claims fairly accurate. The battery is charged in-camera and takes about two hours to fully charge from a standard house current. This camera can also be charged via USB, and save images and video to SD, SDHC or SDXC memory media.
Lens performance
At the end of the day, all who come to the P600's f3.3 - f5.6 / 24mm-1440mm (equivalent) zoom. Without it, the P600 is only P & S digicam. It 60X zoom consists of 16 elements in 11 groups, with one super ED and four ED elements usual. Aperture has six blades, which should give slightly better bokeh than most of the competitors this P600. The minimum focusing distance in macro mode is 0.2 inches
When P600 is turned on, that long lens automatically telescopes out of the lens housing, and vice versa when the camera is turned off. Nikon provides pinch-clip lens cover with the camera.
Center sharpness is very good, but the wide-angle end of the zoom angle slightly soft. I see no vignetting, but the barrel distortion is above average. Pincusion distortion, on the other hand, is also improved. Conversely balanced, but slightly flat, while the colors are accurate, although it seems saturated. Chromatic aberration is very well controlled, but some minor color fringing present in the transition area between the color of the foreground object and the background dark light. Zooming subtle, but quite slow when compared to cameras with zoom shorter. Interestingly, there are far fewer motor noise than I expected.
Nikon P600 will make birders, backyard wildlife shooter, astronomy enthusiasts, and anyone else who likes to bring far-away detail up close and personal was very pleased. If you shoot a lot of architecture, or if you use the building as a backdrop, the P600 is probably not the best camera for your needs.
Video Quality
The P600 captures 1920x1080p HD video resolution and frame rate in an amazing variety, all with stereo audio. The 60x zoom can be used during filming. The camera also provides HDMI out so users can watch their HD video clips on their HDTV. Video produced by the P600 is excellent, with very saturated colors and contrast are balanced.
I noticed some lag after pressing the video button start / stop, though. When the user presses the start / stop control to start recording, the P600's LCD / EVF went dark for about one second before the video capture actually begins, which beats the benefits of having instant start / stop button in the first place.
Image Quality
Nikon Coolpix P600 utilizes a 16-megapixel 1 / 2.3-inch back-illuminated CMOS sensor to capture images. Like most P & S digital cameras, image files produced by the P600 is optimized for bold, bright colors and contrast a bit flat. Record accurate color but tasted more intense than in real life. The point is that the color interpolation P600, while a little more intense than neutral, consistently and dependably accurate hue. When I review my images shot with this camera, the color I see on my monitor which is very close to the color that I saw when I first shoot pictures.
Outside the room, in a good light, P600 which dependably capture excellent pictures in all shooting modes. In the room, the camera performs with dexterity slightly less than most of the competition due to the slow maximum aperture and optical design complexity is 60X zoom. The further you zoom in the room, the worse the image will be.
Auto White Balance mode that P600 is dependably accurate over a wide range of lighting conditions. In fact, P & S system Nikon's white balance is the best I've seen to date. Image sharpness was better than average for a camera in this class, except at the short end of the zoom is remarkable, of course. The P600 does not only have the world's longest zoom lens, also consistently produces sharp telephoto images that I've seen from the ultra-zoom digital camera.
Sample Image
Conclusion
Camera makers have been trying for 150 years to develop the camera all-in-one that meets the needs of most photographers. Nikon Coolpix P600 comes close to filling so than other ultra-zoom I have tested to date, taking into account the issues in the wide-angle end of the monster zoom.
The P600 is clearly designed for photography enthusiasts, by enthusiasts of photography. Photographers who purchase the P600 will need to have realistic expectations - any camera with a 60x zoom is bound to be the result of mechanical, optical, electrical, and functional / operational compromises countless, and every one of those compromises will affect the image quality in several ways , The P600 will appeal to serious photographers who want to be able to cover a very wide zoom range of genres DSLR photography without having to carry a heavy, sturdy tripod, and a bag full of lenses are very expensive.
Overall, the P600 did an excellent job of making them compromise delicious. But if the tack sharp images at full zoom and a variety of architectural photography in a straight line is really more important to you than the convenience of having a digicam with a monster zoom, then I suggest you buy a digicam advanced users to quickly zoom short, like the Canon S110.
