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136 of 137 found the following review helpful:
 Size Doesn't Matter - Impressive! Apr 29, 2008
By S. Caldwell
I own a Nikon D70, so I'm a little jaded when it comes to image quality. This little thing with a slim profile and a big clear lcd screen feels well-made in the hands. It is point and shoot picture taking at its best.
I bought this for my husband who isn't a natural photographer. He needed something that would fit in his chest pocket of his uniform on overseas deployments. The Nikon Coolpix S600 is about the size of a razor cellphone, but just slightly thicker. The buttons seem natural in their places and the features aren't useless tacked on extras like in some cameras. Pretty much anyone can take good pictures with this camera (when the manual is read).
D-lighting in combination with the high ISO function makes pictures that aren't washed out with flash. The background and the foreground are more even toned and subjects don't look like ghosts. The VR (vibration reduction) lens accounts for camera shake and more pictures are likely to come out clearer which is always a good thing in those candid, spur of the moment shots. One thing that I didn't see on this page is the mention of being SDHC capable. SDHC is the latest in SD memory (which memory cards this camera takes) and it basically means that there is a greater storage capacity without loss of quality. The transfer rate is also higher when uploading to a computer. In the end it means more good pictures! I also love the anti-glare coating on the lcd screen so you can see what is on the screen even in bright sunlight.
The only con that I've run across with this is the battery life. Because it is such a tiny little thing, the battery is pretty small. You can get approx 190 shots with it. Of course it is rechargable, but I like to always have a fresh extra one on hand. Get an extra one Nikon EN-EL10, and I suggest using only Nikon components with my cameras. Also, find a slim case that ZIPS to protect it.
39 of 41 found the following review helpful:
Very nice little point and shoot May 10, 2008
By RonAnnArbor
This is a very nice little point and shoot. I had purchased it for a friend to be able to use to just take snapshots, and during a short vacation getaway found that the image quality was just about as good as my more expensive compact digital camera -- easy to use, fast start-up, and lots of scene modes.
Note that the out-of-the-box configuration is not all that great for action shots -- make sure you familiarize yourself with the scene modes already set up by Nikon -- you'll find a huge difference right away!!
The menus are a bit difficult to navigate for newcomers: I had to do some setup for my buddy -- but it's a breeze for those who are familiar with the Nikon systems.
This really is a great little camera that gives surprisingly wonderful shots -- it's hard to classify it as a snapshot digital camera with such high IQ.
Get an extra battery if you don't want to recharge every night -- battery drain is a bit worse than some other cameras of this size.
33 of 34 found the following review helpful:
Still astonished by this camera May 13, 2008
By Explorer
"Amazon explorer"
I bought this camera for an overseas trip last month. I didn't want to carry my large Nikon DSLR this time, but I didn't want the too much compromise of a standard point and shoot either, like my old and faithful Canon SD600.
I'm still surprised by the outstanding quality of the images and the versatility it provides.
The key points for me:
- Wide angle, 28 mm equivalent (18mm in a digital SLR). Very important to get more in the picture. There are no many compact cameras with this.
- High ISO and the Auto-ISO feature. I took impressive photos indoors, like cafes and restaurants that look great.
- VR. Vibration reduction. Probably the single most important reason for those blur-free pictures I got I think. It just works.
- Uses High capacity/speed memory cards. I bought an SDHC 4GB card, and even with lots of video could not fill it.
- Video: takes great video for a camera this size, and you can zoom in and out also in your video.
The camera is small, compact, and feels very solid. I just carried it during the trip in my pants pockets.
In brief, I love this camera. It is now my first choice camera for my family pictures since then (except for the kids sports).
I bought also an extra Nikon battery, just in case.
42 of 45 found the following review helpful:
 Disappointing Nikon Jul 22, 2008
By V. Vanderbent
"always curious"
Got this camera for the wide angle lens, Nikon name and small size only to be sorely disappointed. The pictures are great, don't get me wrong, and I agree with the other reviews. However, as you can see there are one or two people who rate this camera very negatively. They are right, and I suspect that others who would rank this Nikon very low are just not bothering to write. If your fingers are just the right size I bet you'd find the scroll wheel very handy to navigate all the features. I just find it a clumsy solution to what Panasonic has done so much better. It's difficult to switch modes as you have to use the wheel to identify on the display screen if you want portrait, bright sunlight, no flash etc. You might say that the camera takes care of most of these functions automatically and to a degree you'd be right. Except of course for those situations that you would need this otherwise fast start up camera to listen quickly to what you would want it to do! And here's the other thing: shutter lag. For its extremely fast startup, the S600 is just painfully slow in between shots, something I thought I could live with but that in practice is annoying to say the least. My last gripe is about the battery. If I don't use a camera for a few days I don't expect the battery to drain by itself. That's right, I have taken perhaps 15 pictures, most in broad daylight, then didn't use the camera for about 5 days and the battery was dead, empty, non-responsive. After a recharge the camera came back to life but how do you like that? Back to Panasonic for the wide angle lens. Nikon, shame on you.
33 of 35 found the following review helpful:
Slim, sharp, great features, easy to use May 06, 2008
By Anraku
Received this camera as a gift before a trip overseas. Didn't have time to do more than charge the battery and go, so no reading the manual. It was easy to use, had a decent battery life (though, yes, you do need to recharge it daily if using it all day). I received an extra memory card, which can hold 1600 pics (didn't try the video). The response time was fast in taking multiple shots. "Scene" settings were really helpful for action shots and different light situations. Clearly I am not a camera pro, but this allowed me to take some clear, beautiful photos. 10 mp is wonderful.
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