Introduction

Ease of Use

The trusty compact camera has been facing tough times in recent years thanks to the popularity of smartphone cameras, but the Coolpix S6800 has a lot going for it. For starters it’s small. To put the raw measurements into perspective, its length and width are comfortably less than an iPhone 4s, and the S6800 is only around twice the phone’s thickness. Yet despite these pocketable proportions, you still get a very handy 12x optical zoom reach with a respectable 25mm-equivalent wide angle capability. Only the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom can offer close to this level of optical flexibility in the smartphone world.

Although the S6800 comes from the Coolpix Style series, Nikon has shaped it to be sleek rather than stand-out. The predominantly metal skin is nicely rounded so the camera easily slips into a pocket or clutch bag. However, being this sleek does make it tricky to hold securely, especially as there’s no front finger grip and only the raised video record button on the back to keep your thumb in place.

Given the camera’s compactness and sizable 3-inch screen, it’s a good job there are so few buttons on the S6800. Those you do get are reasonably large and easy to press and include a dedicated video record button. Below this are the usual mode, menu, playback and delete buttons which flank a directional dial that also controls the flash, exposure compensation, macro focus and the self-timer. Move round to the side and a small flap hides an HDMI output and a USB port-cum-mains charging input. Underneath is a small door covering the battery and SD card compartment, though the positioning of the latter does make it quite tricky to insert and eject. We were also a little miffed that the sexy pink paint on our test camera quickly showed signs of wear on this compartment door.

Front	Rear

For a camera aimed at the style-conscious, it’s perhaps a little disappointing that the S6800’s screen isn’t touch-sensitive and is also fixed, so you won’t be having any flip-out fun to help snap selfies. This isn’t helped by the screen’s limited vertical viewing angles, which is especially problematic when trying to compose high-angle shots as contrast is severely reduced. The display’s 460k-dot resolution is also pretty average and a far cry from the current crop of smartphone screens, though screen brightness is quite high.

The S6800 wastes no time in starting up, being ready for action in around one second. After that you’ll be able to focus on your subject almost instantly in good light, however the autofocus system does get rather sluggish in dimmer conditions, often requiring a frustrating couple of seconds to find its mark. The default Smart Auto mode on most Coolpix cameras also seems to have some trouble with close up shots, often refusing to focus at or near the camera’s 2cm minimum focussing distance. To reliably macro focus you’ll need to switch to the regular Auto setting and manually engage macro mode.

Fortunately making such adjustments isn’t too tricky thanks to Nikon’s basic but clear menu system. It’s easy to read and operate in extreme conditions, although there is a slight lag between a menu input and the camera actually responding.

Front	Side

Delving through these various menus also reveals plenty of continuous shooting modes. There’s a clever Best Shot Selector function where the camera will automatically select the sharpest shot from a burst of frames. Alternatively you can choose the standard continuous mode which will fire at up to 9.4fps at full resolution, albeit only for 7 frames before the memory buffer needs a good 10 seconds to refresh. If that’s not enough then you can opt to lower the image size and shoot for up to a 50-shot burst at 120fps.

Failing that there’s always the Full HD video mode. This shoots 1080p resolution at 25fps, or you can downgrade to 720p or 480p to save storage space. Also useful is the Wind Noise Reduction setting which does noticeably boost audio clarity in such situations.

Other extra features are the Easy Panorama mode which does a pretty good job of automatically and seamlessly creating a panorama as you pan the camera, but reduces the final image size to just 920 vertical pixels and destroys detail in its wake. Being restricted to a choice of either 180 or 360-degree pans is also annoying.

Top	Battery Compartment

Nikon’s Smart Portrait feature is more impressive though. This dedicated shooting mode utilises the camera’s face detection technology to automatically detect whether your subject is smiling or blinking, and only fires the shutter at the ideal moment. Then just to ensure he or she looks extra special, the camera automatically fixes any red-eye, optimises image contrast and softens skin complexion to one of three possible levels.

If you forgot to activate the Smart Portrait mode but fancy touching up a photo taken using a different mode, then all is not lost thanks to the S6800’s Glamour Retouch trick. Simply scroll through your photos to one which contains a face and the camera detects the face’s location in the shot and offers up a host of editing options to whiten teeth, hide any bags under the eyes or even apply different coloured eye shadow. It all sounds a bit gimmicky, but you’d be surprised how effective the results can be, provided you don’t take things too far!

Last but not least is the S6800’s Wi-Fi ability. Just download a companion app for iOS or Android devices and away you go. The system enables you to browse and transfer photos, but also use your mobile device as a remote control for the camera so you can snap shots from a distance. You’ll need the S6800’s battery to be fully charged though, as otherwise the camera automatically severs the wireless connection. Even with plenty of power the iOS app had trouble accessing images on the camera though and disconnections were frustratingly frequent.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 20 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6Mb.

The Coolpix S6800 may be focussed on style and compactness over outright image quality, but it will snap a nice shot, providing you don’t scrutinise the results too closely. The camera’s exposure metering strikes a good balance between preserving shadow and highlight detail and, along with the punchy colour reproduction, means shots look bright and attractive straight from the camera. Auto white balance also acquits itself well, accurately capturing colour where similar cameras have come a cropper.

If you do view at 100% and pixel peep then the limitations of the S6800’s small sensor are visible. Some grain is present even at low sensitivities, whilst fine detail in landscape shots can look slightly smoothed and painterly. However these are issues which plague pretty much any camera with a 1/2.3” sensor and the S6800 deals with them fairly well.

Ramp up the sensor sensitivity for low light or to freeze a fast-moving subject and of course more image noise comes into play, but the camera controls grain well and eliminates colour speckling up to ISO800. Even ISO1600 is quite useable, though by ISO3200 the camera is losing the battle with noise. The maximum ISO6400 is best left as a marketing tool rather than a useful setting, such are the high levels of noise and detail smoothing.

Optical performance is also up to scratch as the lens keeps chromatic aberrations (purple fringing) to a minimum and maintains good corner sharpness. Distortion is minimal at wide angle, though there is a visible pincushion effect at the maximum telephoto end, although you shouldn’t notice it unless you shoot stark geometric subjects.

Noise

The Nikon Coolpix S6800 has seven sensitivity settings ranging from ISO125 to ISO6400 at full resolution.

ISO 125 (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 S6800’s 12x zoom lens achieves a maximum wide-angle focal length equivalent to 25mm, and is capable of a telephoto reach of 300mm (in 35mm-camra terms).

25mm	300mm

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 S6800 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

Shooting the Nikon Coolpix S6800 at its maximum 16.0MP resolution in Fine JPEG quality produces images 6-8MB in size. You can choose to downgrade to Normal quality at this resolution, whereby the file size roughly halves.

Fine (7.39Mb) (100% Crop)	Normal (3.86Mb) (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

Given the range of the zoom lens, the Nikon Coolpix S6800 shows some 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

The S6800’s lens will focus as close as 2cm from a subject, however depth of field becomes very shallow at this extremely close distance.

Macro	Macro (100% Crop)

Flash

The S6800’s built-in flash has four settings: Auto, Auto with red-eye reduction, Fill flash & Slow sync. Shooting a white surface from a distance of 1.5m, the flash provides even coverage with the lens zoomed in, though some vignetting is visible in the wide-angle shot.

Whether the flash is set to standard Auto mode – or Auto with red-eye reduction – the camera successfully avoids any trace of red-eye.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (25mm)	Flash On - Wide Angle (25mm)
Flash Off - Telephoto (300mm)	Flash On - Telephoto (300mm)

And here are a couple of portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Fill Flash or the Auto with Red-eye reduction options caused any amount of red-eye.

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

Vibration Reduction

Holding a camera steady at or near the 300mm-equivalent focal length the S6800 is capable of is a tall order. Luckily Vibration Reduction saves the day and ensures shots like this stay crisp.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length	Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)	Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/5th sec / 256mm

Night

Night photography is easy with the Night Landscape mode, which works whether you’re shooting hand-held or on a tripod.

Night	Night (100% Crop)

Backlighting

This setting automatically captures two exposures of a high-contrast scene to record shadow and highlight detail separately, then merges them into a single HDR image.

HDR Off	HDR On

Special Effects

The S6800 offers thirteen colour effects, all of which are previewed live. Your options are: Soft, Nostalgic sepia, High-contrast monochrome, High key, Low key, Selective colour, Pop, Super vivid, Painting, Toy camera effect 1, Toy camera effect 2, Cross process & Mirror.

Soft	Sepia
Monochrome	High Key
Low Key	Selective Color
Pop	Vivid
Painting	Toy Camera 1
Toy Camera 2	Cross Process
Mirror

Easy Panorama

Easy Panorama just requires you to pan the camera whilst it captures and stitches the images into either a 180 or 360-degree panorama.

Easy Panorama

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Nikon Coolpix S6800 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 S6800

Front of the Nikon Coolpix S6800 / Lens Extended

Side of the Nikon Coolpix S6800

Side of the Nikon Coolpix S6800

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix S6800

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix S6800 / Image Displayed

Rear of the Nikon Coolpix S6800 / Main Menu

Top of the Nikon Coolpix S6800

Bottom of the Nikon Coolpix S6800

Side of the Nikon Coolpix S6800

Side of the Nikon Coolpix S6800

Front of the Nikon Coolpix S6800

Front of the Nikon Coolpix S6800

Memory Card Slot / Battery Compartment

Conclusion

There’s a lot to like about the Nikon Coolpix S6800. It produces bright, punchy images in most conditions and handles low light better than many similar cameras. Leave it in the default Smart Auto mode and the camera’s exposure metering, autofocus system and auto white balance prove reliable and give you crisp, well exposed shots with accurate colour. It’s a slight shame the Smart Auto mode isn’t more willing to detect a macro scene though.

Packing a 12x zoom lens into such a petite package also gives the Nikon Coolpix S6800 great versatility, with a focal length range that covers a wide variety of shooting scenarios. Nikon’s Vibration Reduction system ensures this zoom ability is usable without having to worry too much about camera shake.

If anything lets the side down, it’s the Nikon Coolpix S6800’s extra features. Basic colour effects work well enough, but the lacklustre Easy Panorama mode is left in the digital dust by the quality of panoramas produced by modern smartphones. Likewise the camera’s Wi-Fi abilities can impress, but are all too often marred by the instability of the companion app and spontaneous signal disconnection. Only the S6800’s nifty Smart Portrait and Glamour Retouch features really generate some ‘wow factor’, though we suspect the novelty could soon wear off.

So should you buy an S6800? Well if you’re after decent performance, shooting versatility and compactness, it makes a lot of sense. It’s a pity there aren’t any standout aspects and the extra features are lacking compared to what a smartphone can do, but the Nikon Coolpix S6800 is still a good, easy to use all-rounder that should appeal to a wide audience.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	3.5
Features	4
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	3.5
Value for money	4

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Nikon Coolpix S6800.

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Nikon Coolpix S6800 from around the web.

Specifications

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