Nikon Coolpix S6

Auto Mode
The preset auto mode is pretty much the only game in town in this fully automatic style camera. Under the default auto setting, all the camera’s functionality (shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance etc.) is taken care of for you. There is some manual control within the menus including adjusting ISO from 50 to 400, some white balance presets, exposure and color options, but this camera is designed for the type of person who doesn’t really want to think about such things.

Movie Mode
Movie modes are standard Nikon movie options including TV Quality Mode, which records at 640 x 480 at 30 frames per second. It can also record at 320 x 240 at 30 frames per second in smaller movie mode and in an even smaller movie mode setting at 160 x 120 at 15 frames per second. There’s also a Pictmotion movie mode for the slide show feature that records at 320 x 240 at 15 frames per second. Without sound, the S5/S6 can also capture time-lapse movies at 30 frames per second. According to the Nikon spec sheet, Electronic VR (Vibration Reduction) is available in the movie mode though not for the still mode. VR is available for still images in the P3 and P4 models. In the movie mode, auto focus can be selected as either Single AF or Full-Time AF.

Drive / Burst Mode
The S5/S6 features a single-shot capture mode and a continuous mode that records approximately 2.2 frames per second. In its Multi-shot 16 mode, it can capture approximately 2 frames per second at the maximum 6 MP image size. These numbers are Nikon’s supplied numbers and actual future testing may reveal a different story. The S5/S6 also has an interval timer setting. Another capture mode is Best Shot selector where the camera takes a series of images and then picks the one it judges to have the sharpest focus. With Best Shot selector, the camera takes a series of shots and picks the one with the best exposure. The S5/S6 also has a self-timer, at intervals of three and ten seconds.

Playback Mode
The main feature in the S5/S6’s new playback mode is the new Pictmotion mode, which Nikon calls an "In-Camera Creative Slideshow Entertainment." In the end, it’s really just a glorified slide show, but admittedly, a good one at that. The function allows the user to select images and movie files and then pick a style for displaying them in slide show playback (cross fades, panning etc.). The user can choose from either five pre-installed music files (Pachelbel's Canon and Scarborough Fair are two that we tried out) or load an MP3 music file of their choice to suit the images. The camera then analyzes all the elements and produces a slide show with pace and transitions determined by the music and style. Playback takes place on the camera’s LCDs (3-inch for the S6 and 2.5-inch for the S5). It’s nothing more than what you would get on Apple’s iPhoto or any one of a number of slide show programs for a computer, but it’s pretty impressive for a compact digital camera.

While scrolling through images in playback mode is quick using the new Rotary Multi Selector – Nikon claims you can speed through ten pictures in a second – our one complaint is that it takes about a half second for each image to fully res up as you scroll through. It would be nice to see an option for full resolution scrolling even if you sacrifice speed.

Auto Image Rotation, available on some competing models, is new to the Coolpix line with the S5/S6 and extremely beneficial if you don’t like tilting the camera, or your neck, during playback. Nikon still offers their usual unique suite of playback technology—D-Lighting for brightening dark image areas, In-Camera Red-Eye Fix, and in-camera cropping.

Custom Image Presets
In the scene mode setting, there are four modes with Scene Assist – Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night Portrait. Scene Assist is a selection option that helps the user compose pictures with the help of framing guides displayed on the monitor. There are also 11 advanced Scene Modes – Party/Indoor, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Dusk/Dawn, Night landscape, Close up, Museum, Firework show, Copy, Back light and Panorama assist. There’s also a Voice Recording mode, BSS (Best Shot Selector) and Exposure BSS.