The Nikon Coolpix P6000 body design retains the general dimensions of the P5100, except that it is slightly wider (9mm) to accomodate the extra built-in GPS Antenna. The handgrip and Mode Dial have acquired a rougher texture. The onboard flash now pops up. The Command Dial is slightly smaller and the Accessory Shoe has moved from the left top to center top. A small design change most people might not even notice is the "Nikon" name is now etched neater on the body, is slightly bigger, and adds to the overall professional finish.
The P6000 is relatively
light and is medium compact, which means that it can be carried in a large trousers pocket, a coat pocket or a handbag. A magnesium alloy front panel
provides the necessary strength to support the attachment of optional
lenses to the body; to allow that, the lens ring
screws right off. The 4x optical zoom retracts into the body with a convenient built-in lens cover.
As was the case for the P5100, the Nikon P6000 is attractive in its black body
with a few silver and chrome accents. It has a handgrip that is covered with a new non-slip textured rubber and allows you to hold it very comfortably and securely.
The angled shutter-release button, handy Command
Dial, Mode Dial and well placed control buttons all contribute to make the P6000
intuitive to use.
Startup time has improved to about 1 sec. Shot to shot time
(JPEG 13M Fine) is still a bit long at about 2.5 sec. (I took 4 shots in approx.
10 sec.). There is no practical shutter
lag in good light. Autofocus is fast in good light though it will sometimes
hunt in low-light.
It takes about 7 sec. to save a RAW file and so shot to shot time for RAW is about 7.5 sec. (4 shots in 30 sec.). You can process the NRW (RAW) image directly in-camera or in post processing using Adobe Camera Raw 5 and Photoshop Lightroom 2. Open-sourced RAW decoder DCRaw lists the P6000 as a supported format. SilkyPix Developer Studio 3.0 supports the P6000 in its commercial version. Aperture 2 has added P6000 support. Note that the NRW (RAW) file format is not [yet?] supported by Capture NX.
Continuous shooting is about 0.8fps (JPEG 13M Fine: 5 shots in 6 sec.; JPEG 13M Normal: 11 shots in 13 sec.). Unfortunately, no continuous shooting is possible in RAW.
STYLE
-
Colours: overall black
with silver and chrome accents
-
Looks: rectangular, professional
FEEL
-
Comfortable
-
Lots of controls
DIMENSIONS &
WEIGHT
-
Medium Compact: fits in a large pants
pocket, coat pocket or small handbag
-
Dimensions: Approx. 107 x 65.5 x 42
mm (4.2 x 2.8 x 1.7 in.) excluding projections
-
Weight: Approx. 240 g (12.9 oz.) without
battery and SD memory card
-
Takes 1 Li-ion battery EN-EL5 3.7V
1100mAh
SPEED OF OPERATION
-
Average startup speed with lens extending
about 26 mm (1.0 in.) and LCD turning
on in about 1 sec.
-
Shot to shot time about 2.5 sec.
-
No practical shutter lag in good light.
The Terminal compartment is on the right side
of the camera (viewed from the back) with a rectangular rubber cover that conveniently swings out of the way.
Controls
The top of the camera has (from right to left)
the Shutter Release Button, the Zoom lever around
the shutter-release button, the Power ON/OFF button (which has moved from the left side of the shutter-release button to the right),
the Command Dial (that looks just a tad smaller), the Mode Dial, and the Hot Shoe (that has moved from the left to center).
All the other controls are found on the back. I like the clean layout.
The Mode Dial is reachable, and can be rotated, by the thumb. Besides
the Auto mode (Green camera symbol), it has P
(Programmed Auto), S (Shutter-Priority), A (Aperture-Priority),
M (Manual), Movie, SCENE (Scene Modes),
GPS, Picture Bank, U2, U1 (User Settings). The P5100 had SETUP, Hi ISO (high sensitivity), and Anti-shake (which
turns on VR and BSS). On the P6000, SETUP and Hi ISO are now set in the MENU, and VR and BSS are now set separately in the MENU.
GPS on the Mode Dial allows you to verify the GPS satellites strength, turn GPS geotagging ON or OFF, and synchronize your camera's clock with the GPS satellites clocks. If you like or need geotagging, it's quite nicely and simply implemented in the P6000.
Picture Bank allows you to upload pictures from your camera to the my Picturetown server for storage. my Picturetown is a Nikon service that provides you with up to 2GB of free storage. To upload pictures, an Internet broadband connection and LAN cables are required.
The Mode Dial looks a bit crowded and I wonder whether Picture Bank and GPS would not as well be served in MENU seeing they do not require frequent changes.
A Command Dial allows quick selection of shutter speed, aperture and other menu options.
In Programmed Auto mode, the Command Dial conveniently engages program shift. In MENU, you can use the multi selector (UP, DOWN, RIGHT
and LEFT ARROWS) or the Command Dial. In FUNC., you can only use the Command Dial. The Command Dial is more
intuitive and faster to operate but sometimes you still need to press the RIGHT ARROW and OK button to complete the selection. There were a number of places where I thought I could use the Command Dial but I had to use the multi selector instead. This restriction is confusing and unnecessary.
As Nikon digital cameras are well known for,
there is a Scene Mode for almost everything you
want to do. For example, the Panorama Assist scene
mode allows you to take a number of panoramic
shots and line them up precisely on screen by
overlaying the semi-transparent previous image
on screen. It is a bit on the slow side saving each image captured, but this is still one of the best Panorama implementation
I've used.
You can record movies (with sound) at 640x480
at 30fps. The maximum file size for movies is 2GB. You have a choice of
Single AF (default, focus locks once movie recording
starts) or Full-time AF (camera continuously adjusts
focus during movie recording, though focusing
sound will also get recorded). You'd probably not find this on other digital cameras, but the P6000 also allows you to record Time Lapse movies, Sepia movies and B&W movies for some nice special effects.
All the other controls are found on the back of the
camera. Though there are lots of them, they are more or less neatly arranged. Three new buttons have been added: My (My Menu), MF (Manual Focus) and Flash pop-up. The MY and MF buttons have displaced the Monitor and Delete buttons from the left lineup to more appropriate locations. So now, neatly lined up to
the left of the large 2.7-in. 230,000 dots resolution
LCD are, from top to bottom: Fn (Function button, can
be set in MENU), My (My MENU), MF (Manual Focus), Playback, and MENU.
The MF (Manual Focus) mode is new and unfortunately not very well implemented. To use it, you must first set it ON using the DOWN on the Multi Selector. Then you press and hold down MF with your left thumb while you rotate the Command Dial with your right thumb. The center part of the screen is magnified for a better view. Surprisingly, you cannot use the UP and DOWN of the Multi Selector, which is unfortunate because rotating the Command Dial results in the camera bobbing up and down and makes it difficult to determine when the subject is clearly in focus. The central magnification is also not high enough to do the job properly.
I would suggest a redesign of the Manual Focus implementation. First, there is no need to use two controls (DOWN and MF) to turn MF ON. Once it's set in DOWN, you cannot do anything except manual focus, so having to hold down the MF button also is redundant. I suggest using only the MF button to toggle manual focus ON and OFF. Then the UP and DOWN can be used to set the focus.
For those who like to have one, there is a tiny real zoom optical
viewfinder.
The Menu icons feature that condenses 4 pages
of menu text into 1 convenient page of icons on the P5100 is gone.
Exposure compensation is evoked by simply pressing
RIGHT on the Multi Selector, then
using UP and DOWN to dial in a +ve and -ve value,
respectively.
The Playback function has its own dedicated button,
which makes it very convenient to switch between
the Record and Playback modes with a press of
the button. Half press the shutter-release button
to immediately return to Record mode. If you just
want to view your pics without turning the camera
on, simply press and hold the Playback button
for about 2 sec. and Playback will start without
the lens extending; when you're done, press the
Power button to turn the camera off.
When in Playback mode, the Delete button will
allow you to delete the displayed picture; to Delete All, you
need to access the Menu.
On the bottom of the camera is the tripod socket,
which is metal and placed almost in the middle
of the camera. You will not be able to change
battery and memory card while the camera is mounted on
a tripod.
On the bottom right is the Battery
and SD Card Compartment. There is a small latch
to secure the battery from falling when the door
is opened. The Ethernet port is right under the handgrip with a rubber cover. It allows direct connectivity to your modem or router. Note that no LAN cable is provided so you'll have to get your own.
LCD & Menus
As noted earlier, there is an optical viewfinder
and the large 2.7 in. LCD monitor is bright. The
230,000 dots resolution is quite good with a
fast enough refresh rate for a smooth display, but not adequate enough to judge focus lock when using manual focus.
You can manually adjust the LCD monitor's brightness
in SETUP. The LCD monitor gains up very well in low-light and even in extreme low-light, with a smooth display that is surprisingly not too noisy. There
is an effective AF-assist Illuminator to help
achieve focus in low-light.
SHOOTING MENU 1 of 4
- Image quality
- Image size
- Picture Control
- Custom Picture Control
- White balance
- ISO sensitivity
SHOOTING MENU 2 of 4
- Metering
- Continuous
- Auto bracketing
- AF area mode
- Auto-focus mode
- Flash exp. comp.
SHOOTING MENU 3 of 4
- Flash control
- Noise reduction
- Distortion control
- Wide-angle converter
- Active D-Lighting
- Save user settings
SHOOTING MENU 4 of 4
- Reset user settings
IMAGE QUALITY 1 of 2
- Fine
- Normal
- Basic
- NRW (RAW)
- NRW (RAW) + Fine
- NRW (RAW) + Normal
IMAGE QUALITY 2 of 2
- NRW (RAW) + Basic
IMAGE SIZE 1 of 2
- 13M 4224 x 3168
- 8M 3264 x 2448
- 5M 2592 x 1944
- 3M 2048 x 1536
- 2M 1600 x 1200
- 1M 1280 x 960
IMAGE SIZE 2 of 2
- PC 1024 x 768
- TV 640 x 480
- 3:2 4224 x 2816
- 16:9 4224 x 2376
- 1:1 3168 x 3168 [Note new Square format]
- Auto bracketing can be set at +/- 0.3,
+/- 0.7 or +/- 1.0
AF AREA MODE 1 of 2
- Face priority: focus on face
- Auto: leave it to the camera to select
an AF area to focus on
- Manual: select from 99 AF areas
- Center: camera always focuses on center
AF area
AF AREA MODE 2 of 2
- When Manual AF area mode is selected,
pressing the MENU/OK button allows you to
position the Af area at one of 99 possible
positions on screen
- Note that the area of the screen outside
the four marked corners (i.e. edges of screen)
cannot be selected
AUTOFOCUS MODE
- Single AF
- Full-time AF
FLASH EXPOSURE COMPENSATION
- +2.0 to -2.0, in 0.3EV steps
FLASH CONTROL
- Auto
- Built-in off (disables flash even if it is popped up)
NOISE REDUCTION
- Auto (slow shutter speeds)
- On (shutter speed of 1/4 s or less)
DISTORTION CONTROL
- On
- Off
WIDE-ANGLE CONVERTER
- On
- None
ACTIVE D-LIGHTING
- High
- Normal
- Low
- Off
SETUP 1 of 3
- Welcome screen
- Date
- Brightness
- Date imprint
- Vibration reduction: turn this ON to enable
image stabilization; choose OFF when camera
is placed on a tripod
- AF assist
SETUP 2 of 3
- Digital zoom
- Sound settings
- Auto off
- Format card
- Language
- Video mode
SETUP 3 of 3
- FUNC button
- Customize My Menu
- Reset all
- Firmware version
WELCOME SCREEN
- None
- COOLPIX
- Select an image
DATE
- Date
- Time zone
DATE IMPRINT 1 of 2
- Off
- Date
- Date and Time
- Date counter
DATE IMPRINT 2 of 2
- In red, bottom right
VR
- On
- Off
AF ASSIST
- Auto (AF-assist lamp lights to enable
focus lock in poor lighting)
- Off
SOUND SETTINGS
- Button sound
- Shutter sound
AUTO OFF
- 30 s
- 1 min
- 5 min
- 30 min
LANGUAGE
- 24 different languages
VIDEO MODE
- NTSC
- PAL
FUNCTION 1 of 3
- Allows you to customize the FUNC button
to one of the following:
- ISO sensitivity
- Image quality
- Image size
- White balance
- AF area mode
- Continuous
FUNCTION 2 of 3
- Distortion control
- Wide-angle converter
- Vibration reduction
- Record GPS data
- Save user settings
- Exp. +/-
FUNCTION 3 of 3
- Picture control
- Metering
- Auto bracketing
- Flash exp. comp.
- Autofocus mode
- Active D-Lighting
FIRMWARE VERSION
PROGRAM AUTO
- Clockwise from top left: Programmed Auto
mode, Macro ON, Flash mode ON,
Self-timer 10 sec., VR ON, GPS ON, NRW + Fine, space left for 21 images, Aperture F5.0, Shutter Speed 1/60 sec.,
Auto ISO 64-400, Exp.
Comp. +0.7EV
Note: no battery indicator displays until you;re almost out of power.
- Toggle the Zoom control to T to bring
up Help whenever a ? is displayed on screen
FACE PRIORITY 1 of 3
- Subject must be facing the camera for
the face to be recognized and focused on
- When there are more than one possible
faces to focus in, the closest face (or more contrasty one) will
be selected
FACE PRIORITY 2 of 3
- Face recognized
FACE PRIORITY 3 of 3
- Face focused on
MOVIE MENU
- Movie oprions
- Autofocus mode
MOVIE OPTIONS
- TV movie 640 * - 640x480 @ 30fps
- TV movie 640 - 640x480 @ 15 fps
- Small size 320 - 320x240 @ 15fps
- Time-lapse movie * - up tp 1800 frames 640x480 silent movie played back @ 30fps
- Sepia movie 320 - 320x240 @ 15fps
- B&W movie 320 - 320x240 @ 15fps
- Movie records until memory card is full
or file size of 2GB reached
PLAYBACK MENU 1 of 2
- D-Lighting
- Print set
- SLide show
- Delete
- Protect
- Rotate image
PLAYBACK MENU 2 of 2
- Hide image
- Small pic.
- Copy
- Black border
- NRW (RAW) processing
D-LIGHTING
- Enhances contrast and brightness in dark
areas
SLIDE SHOW
- Start
- Frame interval
DELETE
- Erase selected images
- Erase all images
BLACK BORDER 1 of 2
- Thin
- Medium
- Broad
BLACK BORDER 2 of 2
RAW PROCESSING 1 of 2
- White balance
- Exp. +/-
- Picture control
- Save copy
RAW PROCESSING 21 of 2
- Image quality
- Image size
Use default settings
- Save copy
PLAYBACK DISPLAY 1 of 4
PLAYBACK DISPLAY 2 of 4
- Playback Histogram
- Highlights blink
PLAYBACK DISPLAY 3 of 4
- Highlights blink
PLAYBACK DISPLAY 4 of 4
- No info
EXPOSURE COMPENSATION
- Press Exp. Comp. (Right Arrow) and use UP and DOWN to select a value
FOCUS - INFINITY
- Auto Focus
- Macro
- Infinity
- Manual Focus
FOCUS - MF
- You have to select MF here first...
MF (MANUAL FOCUS)
- ... then hold down MF button while rotating the Command Dial to focus manually
- Center portion of screen is magnified
SELF-TIMER
- 10 s
- 2 s
- Remote controller (optional)
- 10 s Remote
- 2 s Remote
FLASH MODE
- Auto
- Auto with red-eye reduction
- Off
- Fill flash
- Slow sync
- Rear-curtain sync
PICTURE BANK
- my Picturetown
- Internet broadband connection and LAN cables required
- http://mypicturetown.com offers 2GB of free storage
GPS 1 of 4
- Receives signals from 4 or more satellites
- Strength of receiving signal: gray -> yellow -> blue (stronger)
- Displays latitude and longitude
GPS 2 of 4
- Record GPS data
- Valid storage period
- Update GPS data
- Synchronize
GPS 3 of 4 - VALID STORAGE PERIOD
- If GPS signal cannot be obtained, your picture will record the last positional information obtained:
- 15 s or less
- 30 s or less
- 1 m or less
- 5 m or less
- 15 m or less
- 30 m or less
GPS 4 of 4
- You can use the GPS satellites to set camera clock
The Nikon Coolpix P6000 has good handling and lots of practical
features, making this camera attractive to those
desiring a prosumer compact digital camera with full exposure flexibility, (optional) remote controller and now with built-in GPS geotagging.
