Nikon Coolpix S610c is a very competitive compact, point-and-shoot digital camera with good image quality and reasonable price.
Introduction:
Although at the first glance the Nikon Coolpix S610c might seem to look like any other compact digital camera in fact there are certain small detail that distinguish it. For example, the feature allowing you to email images via Nikon’s My Picturetown service, or the nice metallic finish. Moreover, the Nikon Coolpix S610c offers Wi-Fi capability, but apart from that it is identical to the Nikon Coolpix S610 which is a bit less expensive and thus more suitable for people who know they are not going to use the Wi-Fi.
Nikon Coolpix S610 and Nikon Coolpix S610c pros:
+ Very good battery life
+ 3-inch, good quality display
+ Small form factor
+ Good manual noise and dynamic range scores
+ Fast startup speeds
Fast performer, on startup and shot-to-shot
Nikon Coolpix S610 and Nikon Coolpix S610c cons:
- As with all compact cameras buttons may seen a bit too small and too cramped
- Few manual controls
- Weak color accuracy
- Proprietary USB port
The design:
Nikon Coolpix S610 and Nikon Coolpix S610c measure 94 x 57 x 22.4mm and weigh 130g without memory card and battery so it is very pocketable. The front of the Nikon Coolpix S610 and Nikon Coolpix S610c is dominated by the 4x zoom lens. Next to it you will find the flash, microphone and the auto focus assist lamp. The back houses the 3-inch LCD display with 230,000 pixel resolution and good sunlight legibility. On the right side of the LCD are several hard buttons and a scroll wheel. The right side of Nikon Coolpix S610c houses lanyard eyelet, Nikon proprietary USB/AV/AC port and the exposure compensation button. The left side features a Wi-Fi logo and a small button which will allow you to send your photos via Nikon’s My Picturetown service. There are only two buttons on the top: the shutter release button and the power button. On the bottom of Nikon Coolpix S610c you will find the tripod mount and the memory card and battery compartment.
Performance:
Both the Nikon Coolpix S610 and Nikon Coolpix S610c are very fast. It takes them less than a second to turn on and although the continuous mode is in the average range, without it the cameras focus and shoot quite fast. The battery, according to Nikon, should provide enough energy to allow you to take up to 290 photos which is nice, but you should remember that the more flash you use the less photos you will take. The built-in flash is quite powerful and has the range of 26 feet, or almost 8 meters.
When it comes to picture quality the Nikon Coolpix S610 and Nikon Coolpix S610c score at the above average to average range so it overall the cameras are indeed decent. The color reproduction is probably the biggest disadvantage of the cameras, so it gets only better from now on. The resolution (not megapixels, but how much details the camera can record) is good, so ide images look sharp. The dynamic range is really, really good and the Nikon Coolpix S610c outperform the competition here. In low light the Nikon Coolpix S610c may overexpose, but it is only natural for compact digital cameras. With sixteen Scene Modes you can work out what to do to improve the image quality and features such as Smile mode or Active Child (tracking of the focal subject) it is really easy. The highest resolution offered by Nikon Coolpix S610c is 10 megapixels which would give you 3648×2736 pictures.
So the still images taken with Nikon Coolpix S610c are really nice. Now let’s have a look at the movie mode. The Nikon Coolpix S610c can record movies in up to 640 x 480 at 30 fps which is really nice for a compact camera. Unfortunately, you do not get too man manual settings. You cannot adjust white balance, zoom or exposure. It is not so bad, yet it won’t replace a camcorder.
Menus / ease of use:
The menu structure in both Nikon Coolpix S610 and Nikon Coolpix S610c is not what you might be used to if you have used a different digital camera. And maybe it is slightly less intuitive at first but only after a few minutes with the camera you know where to look for settings you need so that’s not a problem. In fact the Nikon Coolpix S610c is easy to use mainly because the manual settings are somewhat limited. That is, of course, to be expected from a compact point-and-shot camera. To sum up, the Nikon Coolpix S610c is good value for the money as it offers good image quality for reasonable price. Especially that if you decide that this camera is for you, you have an option with, or without Wi-Fi (a bit cheaper).
Selected Nikon Coolpix S610 and Nikon Coolpix S610c features and specifications:
Effective pixels
10.0 million
Sensor photo detectors
10.3 million
Sensor size
1/2.33 ” (6.13 x 4.60 mm, 0.28 cm²)
Pixel density
36 MP/cm²
Sensor type
CCD
ISO rating
Auto (100 – 800), Hi Auto (100 – 1600), 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200
Zoom wide (W)
28 mm
Zoom tele (T)
112 mm (4 x)
Digital zoom
Yes, 4x
Image stabilization
Yes, Sensor shift
Normal focus range
50 cm
Macro focus range
3 cm
White balance override
5 positions, manual preset
Aperture range
F2.7 – F5.8
Min shutter
4 sec
Max shutter
1/1500 sec
Built-in Flash
Yes
Flash range
Flash modes
Auto, Red-Eye reduction, Off, On, Slow sync
Exposure compensation
-2 to +2 EV in 1/3 EV steps
Metering
256 segment Matrix, Center-Weighted, Spot, Spot AF Area
Continuous Drive
Yes
Movie Clips
Yes, 640 x 480, 30 fps, 320 x 240, 30 fps, 160 x 120, 15 fps
Self-timer
Yes, 3 or 10 sec
Storage types
SD/MMC/SDHC card, Internal
Storage included
45 MB Internal
Quality Levels
High, Normal
LCD
3 ”
LCD Dots
230,000
USB
USB 2.0 (480Mbit/sec)
Wireless
Yes
Battery
Lithium-Ion (EN-EL12) & charger
Notes
Built-in Wifi with WPS
Other recently reviewed digital cameras:
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77, Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28, Nikon D90, Pentax K20D, Canon PowerShot SX10 IS, Olympus 570UZ.