Nikon Coolpix P6000

Features

The most unique feature about the P6000 would be its geotagging capabilities. The onboard GPS system gathers information of your location from 12 satellites and the coordinates are tagged to your picture after you snap a shot. However, it took us several tries before we could get an initial lock on our position. This could be due to interference in the GPS signals from high-rise buildings, clouds or even by chance that there are not enough satellites above us when we were trying to get our location fixed.

Nikon told us the GPS system is passive, so it may take some time and a few attempts before the shooter can get the coordinates right.

Once we got our location fixed, the next step was to synchronize the point-and-shoot's time with the satellites so as to match the coordinates with the pictures. As the GPS system isn't constantly connected to the satellites, it can be programmed to capture new coordinates at stipulated time intervals, from 15 seconds to 2 hours.

To allow shutterbugs to upload images straight to Nikon's myPicturetown online gallery, the shooter has a built-in LAN port. This is, again, one of the firsts for Nikon. Setting up the network profile was a breeze, and all we had to do was to enter our account details, select the images and transfer them to the Web gallery. For images that have location coordinates, you can click on the Mapview button to see where you took a picture on Google Maps. We were surprised by its ease of use and found this unorthodox method of uploading images refreshing. Although the shooter does have an IP address, we could not access its contents over the network. It's a small pity this feature was left out because it can make sharing images among several computers easier.

As with most advanced point-and-shoots these days, the P6000 is capable of capturing RAW format images. The NRW file could initially be processed only in-camera, and this was quite limiting as there are just options for exposure, white balance, image quality and picture size. However, Nikon has released an upgrade for its ViewNX image-viewing software, and now the program can view and process NRW image files but not edit them. The company told us it will release the NRW codec soon to allow users to manipulate RAW files.

To allow greater flexibility when taking pictures, Nikon has incorporated extensive shooting and exposure modes into the P6000. Also, manual focusing is enabled for photographers to fine-tune focusing and this is useful for macro shots.

Last but not least, there are two user-defined modes on the mode dial and we could program and save our most commonly used settings such as ISO, picture size/quality, color styles and much more. This will be useful for photographers who frequently use a particular setting and want to return to it easily.

The P6000 is equipped with a 4x optical zoom lens which is widest at 28mm. While the shooter may not have as long a reach as Canon's upcoming PowerShot G10 (which has 5x optical zoom), the Nikon is on par with the Canon in the wide-angle department.

One thing we didn't like about the Nikon was that the Lithium-ion battery could be charged only in-camera. There is an optional battery charger, but it doesn't make sense not including a dedicated battery charger for the P6000 when even entry-level units come with this. When plugged into the electrical mains, the camera can be used but that will stop the cells from recharging.

Tags: DSLR, Camera, scroll wheel, Nikon Corp., LCD

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