Nikon COOLPIX S3600 (R1 400)
Cameras, and especially the compact variety, enjoy an annual release cycle, with new models being introduced into the market every year. The COOLPIX S3600 was announced by Nikon earlier this year, and is part of a collection of five new COOLPIX models for those who are looking for something compact, yet still powerful enough to capture all the action.
Handling
With all cameras of this size, it’s incredibly important that all users find it easy enough to work around the buttons. While things have to be designed with “compact” in mind, the power button might prove to be a bit of challenge for user with bigger hands – it’s fairly small when compared to other models. As for the rest of the button layout, they are all situated in the normal position. The top comprises of a generous shutter button together with the zoom trigger. The back is largely dominated by the 2.7-inch screen, and the menu, playback and Scene selections are to the right of it. Just as with the Canon, the video record button is on the backend, so it could be an awkward transition to make if you quickly want to capture video. It would have been better if the button was located next to the shutter. But, press it only once, and it starts recording video immediately.
Image quality
Delivering pictures with 20.1 effective megapixels, the quality is at the top end of the range when compared to other compact cameras in the same price. Going at full tilt, images should be around the crisp 5152 x 3864 mark when the compression rating is set to its highest. That means that it will record the most information into the image. If storage space is an issue, the camera does have a number of modes, which will reduce the size, and compression of the images – with the lowest clocking in at 1600 x 1200 at 2 megapixels. But the beauty about this camera is that there are two different 20 megapixel settings to choose from. Both will deliver stunning images, but the 20M* setting is where you will get the most detail in your frames – but just be warned, those images will be around 8Mb big because of the added information. The camera also performs pretty well at night, with a number of modes to select from. There will naturally be a bit of noise no matter what mode is used, but the images are very decent. In short, the COOLPIX S3600’s image quality would be very hard to beat when it comes to compact cameras for under R2 000, as they are crisp, clear and packed with detail.
Performance
Looking for something to pop in your bag while you travel, going out at night or just because you like having a camera around, the COOLPIX S3600 will be a great option. It is capable of zooming in eight times, so that will make sure that distant object come a bit closer. It’s not the biggest zoom on the market, but somewhere you have to make a trade-off between zoom and megapixels. The focus on the zoom might also take a couple of seconds extra to find its bearings, but it’s not a deal-breaker. As mentioned the screen on the back is only 2.7-inches, so the image might not look that great at first. But there beauty will be apparent as soon as they are transferred to a computer screen. It performs well for its price, but there are a couple of niggles that might annoy some users – like the metallic body that can be scratched easily and poor image quality of the screen.
[symple_column size=”one_half”] [symple_box] “Stylish, slim compact with WiFi.”[/symple_box] [/symple_column][symple_box] Rating: 4 Stars [/symple_box]
