Nikon Coolpix 5600

Auto Mode (7.5)
Like the slogan indicates, this Nikon is designed to be "ultra smart, simply digital." This camera attracts point-and-shooters because of its many automatic features. Not only does the 5600 automate shutter speed and aperture, but also automatically fixes red-eye and lighting problems. The Auto mode can be easily found on the main mode dial by the green camera icon. Ironically, the Auto mode has the most manual control of the modes on this camera – but don’t worry, point-and-shooters, that’s not saying much. Photographers can toy with white balance, exposure compensation, and color effects in the automatic mode. The Nikon Coolpix 5600 remembers settings too, so when users choose Fluorescent white balance and then switch modes, the white balance will still be set to Fluorescent when users return to the Auto mode. Not all digital cameras do this. In fact, most auto modes that offer a few options will reset to defaults every time the mode is accessed or the camera is turned on. Depending on personal preferences, some photographers will love this feature and others will despise it. Personally, I think this feature is fine on the 5600 because all of the other scene modes reset to default settings.

Movie Mode (5.5)
Perhaps you haven’t saved up enough for a camcorder yet or don’t want to get out your bulky camcorder just to record your baby’s adorable yawn. The movie modes on digital cameras are perfect for conveniently capturing those little moments like your son’s first pitch and your best friend’s Wookie impression. The Nikon Coolpix 5600 records video in QuickTime movie file format and is easily emailed. There are three file sizes on this model: 640 x 480, 320 x 240, and 160 x 120; all shoot at a rate of 15 frames per second. Unfortunately, the recording speed is a bit sub-par and may result is a choppy reproduction of the scene and the resolution does not reproduce as well as it should.

The only other option within the menu is the auto focus mode, which can be changed from single to continuous auto focus. The movie clips are easy to recall in playback mode, and a simple VCR-like setup complete with rewind, pause, and fast forward is available. Videos can be recorded with sound on the Nikon 5600, but the quality is not very good if you want your subject to be clearly heard. The microphone is positioned on the top of the camera, so this mode is better suited for narration by the photographer. The biggest downside to the movie mode is that it just plain doesn’t look good. Videos are riddled with noise, especially in low light. I shot a video in my living room, which has four large windows. It was dusk, so the sun was low in the sky, but the room was still well lit. I turned on the light in the room, yet the Coolpix 5600 recorded an extremely dark movie that had a reddish hue and lots of purple noise in the final product. It was extremely disappointing. Photographers cannot use the optical zoom in the movie mode, but digital zoom is available. But as always, digital zoom only degrades the quality of the already substandard image the more it is used.

Drive / Burst Mode (5.0)
The burst mode can be activated in the Auto mode or automatically accessed via the Sports scene mode. The Nikon Coolpix 5600 can shoot 1.3 frames per second, which isn’t much to brag about. That rate also refers to the Continuous shooting mode. According to Nikon, the 5600 also has a 16-shot multi-burst mode available; this shoots sixteen 640 x 480 thumbnail images and stores them as a single image file. Surprisingly, this mode is not much faster than the continuous. Most cameras – even compact ones – are shooting 2 or 3 frames per second now, so the Nikon Coolpix 5600 lags behind the competition in this area.

Playback Mode (7.5)
After taking pictures of your baby’s first steps, you can gawk at the images over and over again by accessing the playback mode on the 5600. This mode has its own designated button and can be accessed at any time and within any shooting mode. The advantage is that the camera is easy to get in and out of playback mode. The disadvantage is that the does not retract, so some users may get annoyed that the camera is not completely flat and easier to handle. Also, most cameras that enter into playback by the depression of a button and are not reliant on a rotation of the mode dial will exit playback and return to capture mode by pressing the shutter release – the Coolpix 5600 will not!

Pictures can be viewed as single frames and zoomed in up to 10x. There is also an info display that reminds the photographer of what image size was used and how many copies the user has asked the camera to print. Pictures can also be viewed in thumbnail pages of four or nine images. And of course, the Nikon 5600 can play slide shows either once through or in a continuous loop. Printing photographs from the playback menu is simple; users can select the number of prints desired quite easily before transferring the information to a printer. I had the most fun playing movie clips back on this Coolpix model. The movies play with sound and have a complete VCR-like setup, with rewind, fast forward, and pause.

Custom Image Presets (8.0)
Because the Nikon Coolpix 5600 is so automatically oriented, its 16 scene modes are its bread and butter. Nikon placed some of the most widely used scenes on its mode dial and called them "assist" modes. These include the Portrait, Landscape, Sports, and Night Portrait scene modes. These four modes all have framing aids within their shooting menus. The other custom image presets are available in the Scene mode selection of the main mode dial and when the Menu button is pressed: Party/Indoor, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Dusk/Dawn, Night Landscape, Close Up, Museum, Fireworks Show, Copy, Back Light, Panorama Assist, and Underwater. Menu options are not available in these scene modes; users can only control the scene mode selection and the image size.

These scene modes are not designed as a one-size-fits-all fix. For example, the Party/Indoor mode assumes that people will be at the party or indoors. It uses a flash mode with red-eye reduction, which isn’t really necessary for taking indoor shots of your T-shirts to sell on eBay. If that’s what you’re using this camera for, try the Close Up mode. Better yet, use the Auto mode so you can white balance the exposure yourself. Inherently, there is a substantial absence of control on these settings; Nikon has included enough options to span most shooting occasions. This changes the photographer’s task from designing the shot to deciphering the proper customized setting.