Nikon Coolpix S610c
Digital Camera Review
Dec 26, 2008
- By Tim Barribeau
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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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Auto Mode (7.00)
The Nikon Coolpix S610c is constantly set on Auto, as there is no manual or program mode. There's no simple auto mode, but there is an auto scene mode, which tries to detect the optimal scene mode for however you're shooting. Since there's only one auto mode, you have to be able to access all your controls from there. White balance and ISO can be set to auto, but you need to set metering and continuous settings.
Movie Mode (6.75)
The movie mode is almost completely lacking in controls. The only options are resolution (640 x 480 or 320x240, both 30fps), auto focus mode and macro focus. You can't alter white balance, exposure levels, use a self-timer or zoom. The lack of white balance controls are especially problematic, as it means that you can easily record video with noticeably incorrect colors.
Drive / Burst Mode (7.00)
This Nikon has two types of high-speed photography. The first is continuous, which Nikon rates as 1 frame per second, but in our testing we found marginally faster at 1.3 frames per second. The second is Best Shot Selector (BSS) which takes 10 full-resolution photographs in quick succession, but only keeps the sharpest one, which is good for low light conditions, or if you're worried about camera shake.
Playback Mode (6.00)
Zooming during playback takes you up to 10x zoom, or out to 9, 16 or 25 thumbnail views. If you go into the Mode menu, you can also list your files by date. While zoomed in, you can press the Menu button to crop the image down to what's on screen at that moment. We would have liked to see the control wheel used for quickly browsing through pictures while zoomed, but that control isn't implemented.
Zooming during playback
Editing controls are minimal on the S610c. In addition to the aforementioned crop tool, you can use a dynamic range tool (which Nikon calls D-Lighting) to adjust exposure, rotate an image or copy a photo between internal memory and the memory card. One extra we did appreciaste was the option to attach a voice memo to a file just by pressing the OK button while viewing the file.
Custom Image Presets (9.00)
There are three image modes that can be accessed directly via the Mode menu, and then a further sixteen in Scene Mode. From the Mode menu you can chose Smile mode (which takes a photograph when it detects a smile); Active Child (which tracks the focal subject, which technically doesn't have to be a child); or Scene Auto Selector (which can automatically chose night landscape, portrait, close-up, landscape, backlight or night portrait). When in scene mode, you get direct access to portrait; landscape; sports; night portrait; party/indoor; beach/snow; sunset; dusk/dawn; night landscape; close-up; food; museum; fireworks show; copy (for text); backlight and panorama assist. This last option overlays a portion of your previous image over the far left of the LCD, allowing you to string together multiple pictures into a panorama.
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