Nikon Coolpix S6300 Digital Camera Review

Color

In terms of color accuracy, the Coolpix S6300 is a bit of an oddball: its "Vivid" color mode is actually more accurate than its "Standard" mode, if only by the slimmest of margins. Neither color mode is very good, accuracy-wise, though we've seen worse. The Vivid mode returned an uncorrected color error score of 3.27, while Natural earned a 3.28. Saturation was virtually even between the two as well, 117.3% to 117.2%. We were so surprised by this result that we tested it twice, but the results were the same.

Typically, when we see two color modes score roughly the same uncorrected color error, they still differ in which colors are furthest off. But in the case of the S6300, there's virtually no difference here, either. Ultimately, you can shoot with Vivid or Standard settings and not notice much of a difference. One less decision to make! More on how we test color.

NOTE: Because of the way computer monitors reproduce colors, the images above do not exactly match the originals found on the chart or in the captured images. The chart should be used to judge the relative color shift, not the absolute captured colors.

The S6300 is beaten soundly in color performance by most of the cameras in its comparison group, with the exception of the Sony WX150, which is only a little better. If accurate colors are important to you, we'd strongly suggest choosing a better camera, like the Canon ELPH 110 HS.

Color Modes

There are only two real color modes on the S6300: Vivid and Standard. As we've indicated above, you can just flip a coin to pick one—they're the same. There are also sepia, black and white, and cyanotype options, if you want to get a little artsy.

White Balance

White balance performance from the S6300 was actually quite good, which is surprising since its big, big brother the P7700 has some of the worst white balance performance we've seen lately. That camera also has some of the best color accuracy we've seen, so maybe Nikon's just incapable of getting both color accuracy and white balance right and has to pick one or the other. But we digress...

Automatic White Balance ()

When using automatic white balance, the S6300 performed better than many of its peers under tungsten light, with an average color temperature error of 1188 kelvin. This is still quite a significant error, leaving a distinct orange tint on white areas and giving everything a generally "warm" color cast. Under compact white fluorescent light—far more common these days than tungsten—the camera did much better, just 38 kelvin off on average. It actually did slightly worse in daylight, but still well within an acceptable margin of error, producing generally accurate color temps with an error of just 81 kelvin.

Custom White Balance ()

Using custom white balance, errors were under 130 kelvin in all lighting conditions: 46 kelvin under tungsten, 126 in CWF, and 15.5 when shooting in daylight. We've seen more accurate results, but these are pretty good.

White Balance Options

In addition to automatic and custom (here called "Preset manual") white balance options, the S6300 offers five presets. These include: Daylight, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy, and Flash.

Setting a custom white balance is pretty simple. You only need to go into the main menu, select the white balance submenu, choose Preset manual, and select "Measure." Hold up a white or grey reference object, hit the shutter release, and you're done.