Model Design / Appearance
While other point-and-shoots today are moving toward super slim bodies in multiple color choices, some manufacturers are keeping a more traditional camera look. The Nikon Coolpix P60 has a prominent right hand grip and dark exterior for a handsome, more professional style. It’s not the most eye-catching camera when compared to flashy pocket cameras like Nikon’s S-series, but the Nikon P60 does a good job of maintaining a consistent, clean design.
Size / Portability
The Nikon P60 measures 3.8 x 1.4 x 2.5 inches and weighs 5.6 ounces without battery or memory card. That’s not as lightweight as Nikon’s S-series or competing cameras. Instead, the P60 is marketed as an advanced point-and-shoot without the weight of a hybrid or compact camera. It is still portable enough to carry around in a clutch purse or sweatshirt pocket.
Handling Ability
The Coolpix P60 handles well when compared to other point-and-shoots. It has a right hand grip with rubber padding for hand support. The body also has Braille-like dots on the back of the camera to serve as a thumb rest. The left side could use some work since it lacks room between the LCD and the edge of the camera, though.
Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size
Controlling the Nikon P60 is fairly easy. Most of the buttons are ample size and easy to press. The multi-selector is nicely labeled with icons. The buttons are spread out far enough to avoid accidental depression. Controlling the camera should be easy, both externally and internally.
Menu
The Nikon P60 uses a minimalist menu system with simple submenus in a linear column interface. The text is white or black on a gray background, using the Nikon color scheme. When a user selects a menu function, the option is highlighted in yellow. While we love the menu setup, we should warn users the prototype model had severe stalling issues when we tried to navigate through the menu. The menu often kept running through the list of options even when we didn’t hit any buttons. As a result, we often had to turn the camera off completely and restart to resume normal menu browsing. Nikon representatives assured us it was a prototype issue and not representative of the Nikon P60’s true performance. We will more thoroughly test the menus when the final version of the camera comes out in the coming months.
The Main menu is accessed through the dedicated “menu” button on the back of the camera. The menu is missing a few Scene modes, such as Portrait and Landscape, which have been moved to the mode dial on the top of the camera. From the menu button, users can change picture resolution and compression.
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Menu
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Copy
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Backlight
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Panoramic
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Voice Recording (Rec time, Date)
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Image Quality (Fine, Normal, Basic)
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Image Size (PC 1024 x 768, TV 640 x 480, 3:2 3264 x 2176, 16:9 3264 x 1836)
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Party/Indoor
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Beach/Snow
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Dusk/Dawn
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Night Landscape
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Sports
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Close-up
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Museum
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Fireworks
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Users can’t access the setup tools internally like most point-and-shoots. Instead, Nikon added the Setup menu to the mode dial on top of the camera.
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Setup
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Format Memory
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No, Format
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Language
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(23 languages)
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Video Mode
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NTSC, PAL
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Reset all
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No, Reset
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Battery Type
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Alkaline, Coolpix Ni-MH, Lithium
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Firmware Version
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Q06235 vo. 1270, Back
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Ease of Use
It is difficult to assess ease-of-use on the Nikon P60 because we only had a prototype version, and one that put up a fight. Like the journalists covering PMA, the Coolpix P60 just didn’t want to work on the last day of the show. But based on our experience of previous P-series Coolpix cameras, we anticipate the camera should do well with a straightforward menu system if its bugs are fixed. Externally, the camera has good handling, solid button layout, and moderate portability. We were disappointed with the prototype version, but anticipate the full version will do much better.
