Nikon Coolpix S60 Review
Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 10 megapixel High JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 4Mb.
Overall the Nikon Coolpix S60 produces good pictures. This camera's main drawback in terms of image quality is noise, with ISO 400 showing obvious noise and softening of detail. The noise, colour desaturation and loss of detail gets progressively worse as you go from ISO 400 to ISO 800 and finally the completely unusable 1600 and 2000 settings (with ISO 3200 being recorded at 5 megapixels). The Nikon Coolpix S60 handled chromatic aberrations excellently with limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The 10 megapixel images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpen setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop. The Nikon Coolpix S60's maximum shutter speed is 4 seconds, which is not great news for night photography enthusiasts, and the quality of the after-dark images is disappointing. Macro performance is below average too, allowing you to focus as close as 9cms away from the subject, with obvious barrel distortion evident. Vibration reduction is a very useful feature that sets this camera apart from its competitors and one that works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range. The built-in flash worked very well indoors, with no red-eye and good overall exposure.
Noise
There are 9 ISO settings available on the Nikon Coolpix S60. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:
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ISO 64 (100% Crop) |
ISO 100 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 200 (100% Crop) |
ISO 400 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 800 (100% Crop) |
ISO 1600 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 2000 (100% Crop) |
ISO 3200 (100% Crop) |
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Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting. You can't change the in-camera sharpening level.
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Original (100% Crop)
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Sharpened (100% Crop) |
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File Quality
The Nikon Coolpix S60 has 2 different image quality settings available, with High being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.
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10M High (4.10Mb) (100% Crop)
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10M Normal (2.28Mb) (100% Crop)
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Chromatic Aberrations
The Nikon Coolpix S60 handled chromatic aberrations excellently during the review. Very limited purple fringing was mainly present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the example below.
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Example 1 (100% Crop)
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Macro
The Nikon Coolpix S60 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 9cms away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.
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Macro Shot |
Macro Shot (100% Crop) |
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Flash
The flash settings on the Nikon Coolpix S60 are Auto, Auto with Red-eye Reduction, Fill Flash, Flash On and Flash Off. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.
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Flash Off - Wide Angle (33mm) |
Auto Flash - Wide Angle (33mm) |
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Flash Off - Telephoto (165mm) |
Auto Flash - Telephoto (165mm) |
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And here are some shots of yours truly. As you can see, neither the Flash On setting orthe Red-eye Flash option caused any amount of red-eye.
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Fill Flash |
Fill Flash (100% Crop) |
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Auto with Red-eye Reduction |
Auto with Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop) |
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Night Shot
The Nikon Coolpix S60's maximum shutter speed is 4 seconds, which is not great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 2 seconds, aperture of f/3.9 at ISO 64. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.
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Night Shot |
Night Shot (100% Crop) |
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Vibration Reduction
The Nikon Coolpix S60 has a vibration reduction mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the lens set to the same focal length and ISO speed. The first shot was taken with vibration reduction turned off, the second with it turned on. As you can see, with vibration reduction turned on, the images are definitely sharper than with vibration reduction turned off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether. Here is a 100% crop of the images to show the results.
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Anti Shake Off (100% Crop) |
Anti Shake On (100% Crop) |
| 1/7th sec / 33mm | |
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| 1/4th sec / 165mm | |
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Sample Images
This is a selection of sample images from the Nikon Coolpix S60 camera, which were all taken using the 10 megapixel High JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.
Sample Movie & Video
This is a sample movie at the quality setting of 640x480 at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 24 second movie is 24.6Mb in size.
Product Images
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Front of the Camera / Turned Off |
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Front of the Camera / Turned On |
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Isometric View |
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Isometric View |
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Rear of the Camera / Turned Off |
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Rear of the Camera / Turned On |
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Rear of the Camera / Turned On/ Menu Displayed |
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Rear of the Camera / Turned On/ Menu Displayed |
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Rear of the Camera / Turned On/ Image Displayed |
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Bottom of the Camera |
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Top of the Camera |
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Side of the Camera |
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Side of the Camera |
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Front of the Camera |
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Front of the Camera |
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Battery Compartment |
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Memory Card Slot |
Conclusion
Nikon have certainly succeeded in making the Nikon Coolpix S60 stand out from the point-and-shoot digicam crowd, with a distinctive look and feel that extends to its almost completely touchscreen operation. Ultimately, though, this is also the most frustrating aspect of the camera. It initially feels liberating, if also a little bewildering, to be able to focus, zoom, scroll and select using nothing more than your forefinger or the more accurate supplied stylus. After a while, though, you'll start to grow weary of having to press the screen six times just to tweak the exposure compensation, or accidentally hitting the wrong icon, or waiting for the sluggish interface to catch up with your thought process. Comparisons to Apples' iPhone are obvious, but the Nikon Coolpix S60 is certainly not an iPhone in camera clothing, lacking its finesse, speed and overall intuitiveness.
Image quality is fine if you take pictures in well-lit situations, with largely accurate colours and white-balance, hardly any signs of unwanted colour fringing, plus effective built-in flash and vibration reduction systems. Stray into more dimly-lit environments, like your local pub, however, and the Nikon S60 exhibits obvious noise and softening of detail at ISO 400 and faster, rather negating the ability to freely pick from the range of ISO speeds on offer. The rather poor macro mode, limited shutter-speed range and inability to change the in-camera sharpening level are also frustrating. Beginners will love the plethora of hand-holding technologies on offer, with the Scene Auto Selector especially noteworthy, but if image quality is top of your hit-list, the S60 will only disappoint.
Thankfully this appraisal doesn't apply to the camera as a complete package. The Nikon Coolpix S60 is still a fun camera to use that produces good results in the majority of places that its target audience will use it. If you don't expect too much from it, then the Coolpix S60 is a stylish, if rather expensive, beginner's camera with a twist.
| Ratings (out of 5) | |
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| Design | 4 |
| Features | 3.5 |
| Ease-of-use | 3.5 |
| Image quality | 3.5 |
| Value for money | 3 |
Review Roundup
Reviews of the Nikon Coolpix S60 from around the web.
photoxels.com »
If you like the idea of a touch screen, then Nikon Coolpix S60 should appeal to you. It is an ultra-compact point-and-shoot digital camera in a sleek and stylish all-metal body with a 3.5-in. touch panel LCD. There are only two traditional buttons: Power and Shutter Release; everything else is accessed by touching, tapping, sliding and flicking your finger on the LCD screen. Though it's not as slick as an iPhone, the S60's touch screen is still lots of fun once you get used to the touch controls.
Read the full review »
neocamera.com »
As an ultra-compact digital camera, the Nikon Coolpix S60 lives in the category with the most models. Luckily, this model does several things to distinguish itself. To start, its 3.5" LCD is the largest which can fit in an ultra-compact. Add a non-protruding slightly wide 5X optical zoom lens with stabilization and the S60 shows itself as a unique offering. The cost of this uniqueness is a touch-screen interface which can frustrate users trying to use the camera beyond pointing and shooting.
Read the full review »
Specifications
Effective pixels
10.0 million
Image sensor
1/2.3-in. CCD; total pixels: approx. 10.34 million
Lens
5x Zoom-NIKKOR; 5.9-29.5mm (35mm [135] format picture angle: 33-165mm); f/3.8-4.8; 12 elements in 10 groups; Digital zoom: up to 4x (35mm [135] format picture angle: 660mm)
Focus range (from lens)
60cm (2 ft.) to infinity (∞), Macro close-up mode: 9cm (3.5 in.) to infinity (∞)
Monitor
3.5-in., wide, approx. 230k-dot, wide-viewing angle TFT LCD with touch screen control and anti-reflection coating
Storage media
Internal memory (approx. 20 MB), SD memory cards*1
Image size (pixels)
3648 x 2736 (High: 3648*/Normal: 3648), 2592 x 1944 (Normal: 2592), 2048 x 1536 (Normal: 2048), 1024 x 768 (PC: 1024), 640 x 480 (TV: 640), 3584 x 2016(16:9 : 3584), 1920 x 1080(16:9 : 1920)
Vibration Reduction (VR)
Image sensor shift VR
ISO sensitivity
ISO 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 2000, 3200*2, Auto (auto gain ISO 64-800), High ISO Sensitivity Auto (ISO 64-1600)
Interface
Multi-connector (Hi-Speed USB, Audio/video output, DC input), HDMI mini connector
Power sources
Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL10 (supplied), AC Adapter EH-63 (optional)
Battery life
Approx. 140 shots with EN-EL10 battery
Dimensions (WxHxD)
Approx. 97.5 x 60 x 22 mm (3.8 x 2.4 x 0.9 in.) excluding projections
Weight
Approx. 145 g (5.1 oz.) without battery and SD memory card
Supplied accessories*3
Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL10, Battery Charger MH-63, USB Cable UC-E13, Audio Video Cable EG-CP15, Strap AN-CP14, Stylus, Software Suite CD-ROM
Optional accessories
AC Adapter EH-63
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