Nikon Coolpix S610c
Digital Camera Review
Dec 26, 2008
- By Tim Barribeau
2
Hot from the hands of Ashton Kutcher, we got hold of Nikon's Wi-Fi enabled S610c. This 10-megapixel, 4x zoom camera costs $299.99, and lets you upload for free from thousands of locations via the Wayport Wi-Fi network, or any unlocked Wi-Fi hotspot you happen to have available. While we weren't too enthused by the staid camera design, we liked the fast startup time and excellent manual noise and dynamic range results in our tests. Read on to see just how well the S610c did overall.
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Viewfinder (0.00)
This camera has no viewfinder.
LCD Screen (7.50)
The LCD is a standard 3", 230,000-pixel model that avoids solarization from just about every direction. You can bump up the brightness in five steps. On the whole, the LCD seems bright and quite attractive, though pretty run of the mill for sharpness. It kept up with motion well, both under bright light and in darker situations.

The 3" LCD offers the typical 230,000-dot resolution
On most cameras, there's a Display button, which will let you alter the information on the LCD during shooting and playback. Not so with the S610c, which forces you to go through the menu system to alter what's shown. Even then you can only turn the information overlay on or off.
Flash (4.00)
The small flash is located just above the lens, a prime location for finger blockage, which is all to easy. Nikon rates the flash up to 26 feet on auto ISO. The flash is bright, and quite even, but a bit slow to recharge between shots.

The flash can be easily blocked by fingers.
Lens (6.50)
The S610c lens packs a 4x zoom, which is pretty impressive given the small camera size. The lens has a focal length of 5.0-20.0mm (28-112mm 35mm equivalent), and an aperture range of f/2.7-f/5.4 wide angle, and f/5.8 -f/11.6 at full zoom. F/2.7 is pretty fast for a camera in this class, letting in lots of light, which in turn allows faster shutter speeds. The S610c also has an optical image stabilization system called Vibration Reduction, which you can turn on and off through the setup menu.

The lens is fast and has a decent zoom.