Introduction

Ease of Use

The Nikon Coolpix P610’s similarities to its predecessor aren’t confined to within. Externally the two cameras are almost identical, apart from a few subtle differences we’ll get to shortly. Otherwise the P610 is of typical bridge camera dimensions, measuring a chunky 125.0 x 85.0 x 106.5mm and weighing in at 565g, ready to shoot. That’s around the size of a small DSLR equipped with a kit lens, so unless you’ve got very large coat pockets, you’re going to need to carry the P610 in a camera bag.

However, this amount of bulk does improve ergonomics. The large rubberised grip sits well in the hand, and on the back the generously sized thumb rest ensures the camera stays secure when shooting one-handed. If you do need to use your left hand to keep things steady when zoomed in, there’s also a useful rubber coated section on the opposite side of the camera.

Back to the rear thumb rest and we find a button alongside it that’s new to the Nikon Coolpix P610. This instantly activates the internal Wi-Fi feature, so all you have to do is connect to the camera’s hotspot from your smart device. If you have an NFC-enabled smartphone, the process is even easier as you’ll only need to tap it against the camera to create a connection. Then you’re able to transfer photos from the P610 to share them, or control the camera remotely from your phone or tablet. Just download Nikon’s Wireless Mobile Utility app for Apple or Android to start the fun.

Connectivity continues with the P610’s built-in GPS; a feature absent from the old P600. This needs to be activated via the camera’s main menu, but will then tag each photo you take with precise longitude, latitude and altitude coordinates. Upload these shots to a web gallery site like Flickr and it’ll automatically read this location data and plot your image locations on a world map. The P610’s system also features Points of Interest, whereby the nearest attraction to your current location will be displayed on screen, however there’s no navigation aids help to you find it. It’s also worth remembering that activating GPS location recording will drain the camera’s battery faster, as the P610 keeps tracking your location for up to six hours after it’s been turned off. Also, expect the system to take a minute or so to find a satellite link, and you’ll probably need to be outdoors in open space to maintain a reliable signal.

Front of the Nikon Coolpix P610

Another new feature on the Nikon Coolpix P610 is its electronic viewfinder. Whilst the P600 had one too, the new model’s 921,000-dot resolution is a huge improvement over the P600’s mediocre 201,000-dot device. Nikon has also added automatic eye detection for the P610, so there’s no longer a need to manually switch between EVF and LCD, although there is a switching button directly alongside the EVF if you’d rather stick to the old ways. It all helps make the EVF a genuinely useful alternative to the LCD screen and not just a last resort for use under bright sunlight.

Not that the 3” 921,000-dot LCD is too shabby itself. The screen’s colour accuracy and viewing angles are excellent, and six brightness levels make it easily visible in most conditions. It’s a pity there’s no automatic brightness adjustment, and the screen still lacks touch sensitivity. It is a flip-out display though, so you’ll have no trouble composing high or low angle shots, and it’ll rotate to face forwards, making it easy to snap a selfie. Nikon still hasn’t attempted to design the screen unit to sit flush with the rest of the rear panel, so it does look a bit like it’s been tacked on as an afterthought.

Although the screen isn’t touch sensitive, the Nikon Coolpix P610 is still easy to use thanks to Nikon’s tried and tested menu design that splits settings into five key groups accessed by pressing the Menu button: Image; Video; Wi-Fi; GPS, and; other settings. The amount of controllable image and video options depends heavily on which mode you’re in, with only image size and quality settings adjustable when using Auto mode.

The mode dial also includes the typical PASM settings. P – programmable auto – lets you alter options like ISO sensitivity and white balance, whilst the camera still maintains control over shutter speed and aperture. You’ll also need to switch to the P setting if you want to exploit the P610’s continuous shooting mode of 7fps for a 7-shot burst. The camera can shoot at up to 120fps for 60 shots, but only at VGA 640x480 resolution.

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix P610

Programmable auto also reveals options for the amount of noise reduction processing that the camera applies to images, as well as scope to adjust Nikon’s dynamic range-enhancing Active D-Lighting feature. It’s certainly nice to have this level of control, however you can’t disable all image processing as the P610 won’t record raw files.

Aperture and shutter priority modes add more shooting control, but don’t expect the same level of aperture flexibility as a DSLR setup can provide, as the P610’s lens only has a total aperture range of f/3.3 to f/8.2. Switching to full manual mode allows full shooting control, with the main command dial above the thumb rest adjusting shutter speed, whilst the rotating directional dial on the rear panel adjusts aperture. If you hit upon an ideal shooting setup for a certain scenario, this can be saved to the User Settings mode, accessed from the U position on the mode dial.

You also get dedicated mode dial positions for Landscape, Night Landscape and Night Portrait modes, plus a Scene setting containing all available scene modes, including automatic panorama capture. Just press the Menu button whilst the mode dial is set to Scene to access the available modes. Finally, there’s the Effects setting on the mode dial, which contains eight different filter effects to add some creativity to your shots.

Top of the Nikon Coolpix P610

Next to the mode dial you’ll a button labelled Fn. This customisable function button allows you to quickly alter options like the drive mode, ISO sensitivity or metering mode without having to go via the main menu. Customising which shooting option the Function button controls by default is done by scrolling down to the bottom of the menu it currently displays, where there’s an option to select an alternative function.

Another useful control you won’t find on every camera is located on the left-hand side of the lens barrel, alongside the secondary zoom rocker switch. If you’ve ever used a camera with a lens as long as the Nikon Coolpix P610’s 60x optic, you’ll know how easy it is to lose track of a subject when zoomed in to the max. By pressing and holding this ‘Snap-back’ button, the camera zooms out slightly, allowing you to see a larger field of view to help find your subject again. Release the button and the lens automatically zooms back in to its previous focal length.

Fortunately with a lens with such a massive focal length range (24-1440mm, in 35mm-camera terms), the lens has two zooming speeds, so you can make subtle compositional adjustments by nudging the zoom ring, or zoom in fast by yanking the control. If this speed separation gets a bit fiddly, then the zoom rocker on the side of the lens only zooms at the slower speed. Or, if that seems a bit pointless, the switch can be reprogrammed to manually focus the lens instead.

Side of the Nikon Coolpix P610

You can also control which focal lengths the lens zooms between. By default you have infinite focal length adjustment when zooming, but if you’d prefer to snap instantly to a selection of key focal lengths when you rotate the zoom ring, these can be set in the Zoom Memory section of the main menu. The extent to which the lens automatically zooms when you first power up the camera can also by defined, so if you’re out on a wildlife shoot, you won’t need to manually zoom in to your subject every time you turn the camera off and on again.

Keep this set to the default 24mm start-up positon and the P610 powers up and fires a shot in an impressive 1.1 seconds. From then on the autofocus system maintains this speed, focussing almost instantly in bright conditions and only slowing fractionally when things get darker. In really dim environments where the AF assist lamp is required, you may have to wait a second or so for the camera to focus, but there’s rarely any frustrating focus hunting whereby the camera makes repeated attempts to find focus.

Of course, all this tech isn’t much use if you don’t have the batter power to run it, but here the Nikon Coolpix P610 improves on its predecessor by delivering 360 shots-per-charge, where the P600 could only manage 330. That’s enough to beat the Canon SX60 HS’s 340-shot lifespan (although this can be eked out to 450 shots using Canon’s Eco mode), and the P610 will still be going strong long after the 300-shot-capacity Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX400V gives up the ghost. However, the standard 400-shot rating of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ72 still reigns supreme in this sector.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6Mb.

Considering that, at the heart of the Nikon Coolpix P610, is a 1/2.3” sensor that’s exactly the same size as you’ll find in most basic compact cameras, the P610’s image quality is impressively high. Colours are vibrant without looking oversaturated, whilst detail is well resolved in close to medium-distance subjects. Shoot something farther away like a landscape and fine detail in grass or trees can look slightly smudged, but this is an issue that’s pretty much inevitable with a small sensor camera.

The P610’s lens is also a fine performer. Distortion is non-existent throughout the entire focal length range, and though chromatic aberration (purple fringing) is apparent on some high-contrast boundaries, it’s only usually visible towards the corners of frame and is rarely distracting. Lens sharpness is also good, with very little drop-off in corner clarity.

We’ve got few complaints about the sensor’s dynamic range either. Combined with the generally accurate exposure metering, highlight detail is rarely overexposed, yet the camera still maintains a good amount of shadow detail. Only at ISO800 does dynamic range take a noticeable turn for the worst, with shadows becoming murkier and some highlights blowing out.

In less contrasty environments, the Nikon Coolpix P610 produces pleasing shots at higher sensor sensitivities. ISO400 images display very little grain and there’s excellent sharpness. ISO800 shots are only slightly noisier and a bit softer, and even ISO1600 results will stand up to reasonably close scrutiny. However, at ISO3200 the P610 starts to struggle, with dynamic range now severely reduced. Grain and colour speckling noise is well controlled, but only thanks to aggressive noise reduction processing that smears a considerable amount of fine detail. ISO6400 is best avoided, and it usually can be thanks to the camera’s excellent Vibration Reduction system allowing shutter speeds up to four stops slower than with the system disabled.

If the P610 could shoot raw images, this would solve any problems with overzealous noise reduction. However, it’s easy to forget that even when ultrazoom bridge cameras can capture raw files, their small, pixel-packed sensors tend to generate a lot of grain and colour speckling at higher ISO settings. This noise alone is enough to obliterate most fine details, to a point that the raw file may yield little or no more detail than the equivalent, pre-processed JPEG image. Likewise, JPEG compression can noticeably restrict the dynamic range that larger sensors are capable of, but the differences are less pronounced when comparing images captured on the tiny 1/2.3” sensors used in most bridge cameras.

Noise

The Nikon Coolpix P610 has a sensitivity range of ISO100 to ISO6400 at full resolution. Noise levels are fairly low up to ISO1600, but grain is clearly visible at ISO3200, whilst detail and dynamic range also rather limited at and beyond this sensitivity.

ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)
ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The Nikon Coolpix P610’s 60x zoom lens covers a huge focal length range equivalent to 24-1440mm when converted into a 35mm camera format. This can be increased with the aid of Dynamic Fine Zoom to 120x, however this does come at the expense of image quality, plus it’s unlikely you’ll ever need to use this feature when so much optical zoom is available.

24mm	1440mm

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops - the right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images from the Nikon Coolpix P610 are slightly soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can alternatively change the in-camera sharpening level to suit your tastes.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

File Quality

There are two quality settings at full resolution – fine and normal – resulting in image sizes of approximated 6.5MB and 3.5MB respectively. The P610 will not capture raw files.

Fine (6.5Mb) (100% Crop)	Normal (3.5Mb) (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

Given the range of the zoom lens, the Nikon Coolpix P610 shows remarkably little purple fringing, with limited effects in areas of high contrast as shown in the examples below.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)	Chromatic Aberrations 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

A 1cm minimum wide-angle macro focussing ability means you can practically rest the front of the lens against your subject and still focus. However, get any closer than around 10cm and it’s highly likely that the camera will cast an obvious shadow over your subject.

Macro	Macro (100% Crop)

Flash

The flash settings on the Nikon Coolpix P610 are Auto; Auto with red-eye reduction; Fill flash; Slow sync, and; Rear-curtain sync. Closing the pop-up flash disables it and the camera can’t self-eject it again, so there’s no worry that the flash will fire when you’re not expecting it.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (24mm)	Flash On - Wide Angle (24mm)
Flash Off - Telephoto (1440mm)	Flash On - Telephoto (1440mm)

The camera successfully avoids red-eye even without using red-eye reduction, although shooting a white surface from a distance of 1.5m reveals it produces some wide-angle vignetting.

Flash On	Flash On (100% Crop)
Red Eye Reduction	Red Eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night Landscape

There’s an option on the mode dial called Night Landscape, which supposedly uses optimal settings to capture night-time vistas. We shot three photos of the same scene. The first uses the Night Landscape mode, the second is recorded using standard Auto mode, and the third is captured in shutter priority mode to force a 1-second exposure time.

In Night Landscape mode, the camera favours higher ISO sensitivities to ensure your shots stay sharp, though the extra image noise does obscure more detail than when using standard Auto mode. The clearest results come when using shutter priority mode, as the 1-second exposure time and wide aperture mean this shot is captured at just ISO250. However, this trick does necessitate a tripod or stable surface on which to rest the camera.

Night Landscape	Night Auto
Night Shutter Priority

Vibration Reduction

Optical image stabilisation is essential on a camera with this much optical zoom, and Nikon’s Vibration Reduction system works a treat on the P610. It allows the camera to use shutter speeds up to four stops slower than normal and also helps avoid the need for high sensor sensitivities. In good light we were easily able to shoot at full optical zoom with no evidence of camera shake.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length	Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)	Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/8th sec / 330mm

Filter Effects

The Nikon Coolpix P610 includes eight filter effects to help spice up a drab shot. These are previewed in real time and recorded at full resolution. Available effects are: Soft; Nostalgic sepia; High-contrast monochrome; High key, Low key, Selective color; High ISO monochrome, and; Cross process.

Soft	Nostalgic Sepia
High Contrast Monochrome	High Key
Low Key	Selective Color
High ISO Monochrome	Cross Process

Panorama

The Nikon Coolpix P610’s panorama mode (hidden away in the ‘Scene’ setting on the mode dial), enables you to take 180-degree or 360-degree pans. Results are generally free from any stitching anomalies and are fairly detailed. However, the final size is a relatively small 4800x920 resolution for half pans, and 9600x920 for full 360-degree rotations. The system also occasionally throws a wobbly at the start of a pan and fails to record.

Panorama - 180°

Panorama - 360°

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Nikon Coolpix P610 camera, which were all taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Front of the Nikon Coolpix P610

Front of the Nikon Coolpix P610 / Flash Raised

Side of the Nikon Coolpix P610

Side of the Nikon Coolpix P610

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix P610

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix P610

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix P610 / Image Displayed

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix P610 / Main Menu

Tilting LCD Screen

Front of the Nikon Coolpix P610

Top of the Nikon Coolpix P610

Bottom of the Nikon Coolpix P61

Side of the Nikon Coolpix P610

Side of the Nikon Coolpix P610

Front of the Nikon Coolpix P610

Memory Card Slot / Battery Compartment

Conclusion

At £340/$500, the Nikon Coolpix P610 is pretty pricey for a camera that doesn’t offer any better image quality than a well-sorted compact camera. However, you do get an awful lot of bang for your buck.

Although a 60x optical zoom range no longer makes the P610 top dog in this sector (the Canon SX60 HS has a 65x range, and Nikon’s new P900 boasts an outrageous 83x lens), it still gives pretty much all the focal length flexibility you could ever need. Even distant wildlife can be made to fill the frame, and thanks to the P610’s excellent Vibration Reduction system, you needn’t worry about camera shake.

Although internally the Nikon Coolpix P610 has more in common with a compact camera than its DSLR dimensions would suggest, it’s still capable of very good image quality. Daytime shots of close and mid-range subjects display great detail and colour, and even distant landscapes look the part, providing you don’t scrutinise too closely and spot the slight tendency of the camera to smudge fine foliage detail. Only very low light causes the P610 trouble, with ISO1600 shots looking softer and displaying less dynamic range than if they were captured with a larger sensor.

The P610 is also a pleasure to use thanks to its fast focussing, reliable exposure metering and excellent ergonomics. The screen may not be touch sensitive, but it nails the basics and is accompanied by a decent electronic viewfinder that’s miles better than the EVF used by the old P600.

It could be considered a pity that Nikon hasn’t added a raw shooting capability to the P610, especially as this feature is offered by the Canon SX60 HS and Panasonic Lumix FZ72. However, as we explained in the image quality section of the review, this needn’t be as big an omission as it may first appear.

Price-wise, the Nikon Coolpix P610 undercuts both the Canon PowerShot SX60 HS and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX400V, but it does look expensive next to the Panasonic FZ72 which can currently be had for around £100/$200 less than the new Nikon.

But assuming the Nikon Coolpix P610 drops below the £300/$400 mark fairly soon, then it should definitely be high on your shortlist if you’re after an extremely versatile, feature-packed camera that offers very good image quality and performance, whilst still being easy to use.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4.5
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	4.5
Value for money	4

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Nikon Coolpix P610.

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Nikon Coolpix P610 from around the web.

Specifications

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