Manufacturer: Nikon
http://www.nikon.comSupplier: Play.com
www.play.comPrice: £332 (£390 inc VAT)
Rating: 5/6
Features that were only to be found on digital SLRs this time last year are now almost standard on digital compacts. They all have high-ISO sensitivity settings, allowing for shots in low light without the flash, and all but one of the cameras here - the GE model - has optical image stabilisation to deal with camera-shake. Also, the megapixel ratings are enormous, and 3in screens are becoming the norm. In short, it's pretty hard to buy a bad digital camera these days, but some are of superior quality and better value than others.
The P6000 is Nikon's enthusiast-level camera, designed for photographers who want as much manual control as possible. It has an SLR-style dial, offering modes that include program auto, aperture priority and shutter priority, as well as two custom user modes. You also get a hotshoe for an external flash, in addition to the built-in pop-up flash.
One thing you won't see on most SLRs is GPS setting. The P6000 has an integrated GPS receiver and can geotag your shots with their location. The standard problems with GPS apply, though. You need a clear view of the sky and it can take a while to get a satellite fix. We found the P6000's GPS was slow at getting a fix: a quick snap may end up taking several minutes.
Even more unusual than the GPS is the presence of a wired Ethernet connection in the base. The idea is you hook it up to your router and the camera automatically uploads your shots to Nikon's
mypicturetown.com website. We can just about see the point of this with the Coolpix S610c's wireless adapter and consumer-oriented approach, but with only 20GB of online storage available, serious users will quickly find themselves out of space.
Beyond that, the P6000 is a great camera. A magnesium-alloy chassis makes it tough but light for its size - just 240g - and with theability to shoot in RAW mode you can squeeze maximum quality out of the 13.5-megapixel sensor. The disappointment comes in at maximum ISO 6400 sensitivity, when noise is unacceptably high. The same applies to ISO 3200, although ISO 1600 is usable, which isn't the case for other models here. If the object of your gift buying wants a serious camera without the bulk of a DSLR, the P6000 is a good choice, but for the trinket factor you should look elsewhere.
Sony Cybershot T70GE E1050TWNikon Coolpix S610cCanon Digital Ixus 980 ISBack to: Compact Digital CamerasAuthor: Darien Graham-Smith, Mike Jennings & Matthew Sparkes
Nikon Coolpix P6000