Nikon S6300 First Impressions Review

Design & Appearance

The S6300 is very similar in design to the rest of Nikon's 2012 point-and-shoot lineup: small raised bumps on the back for grip, rounded edges, and compact zoom lenses that protrude slightly from the body on the front, telescoping when the camera is activated.

The S6300 features a rear control dial for menu navigation, along with dedicated keys for recording video, deleting images, accessing the menu, and shooting mode and playback mode buttons. The rear control dial is also functions as a four-way directional pad, with each direction corresponding to a particular shooting control, including: self-timer/drive, exposure compensation, macro focus mode, and flash control.

The designs are slightly modernized from previous Nikon efforts, with more angular corners that actually make holding onto the camera slightly easier. We're disconcerted to see a complete lack of front grip on the camera (a small grid of raised plastic bumps gives the thumb a place to grasp the camera), but with a camera this light it's not a major issue. The top plate of the camera includes the typical power/shutter/zoom combination, with a shutter button that provides just enough resistance when you're shooting, letting you lock in focus before firing a shot.

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