[rwp-review id=”0″]
The Nikon P600 is a stylish bridge camera that strives to fulfil the needs of those intimidated by DSLRs but want something solid, as well as for those looking for a versatile camera that would have enough performance under most conditions. The main advantage of bridge cameras – and the Nikon P600 in particular – is the incredible zoom range: with 60x optical zoom, the effective focal length of the P600 lens is 24-1440mm. But how does it perform?
The Technical Stuff
One can easily get confused with the technical terms so the best way to judge a camera is by its photos. Either way, the P600 has 60x optical zoom as mentioned, boasts 16.1MP, an ISO range of 100-6400, and an aperture range of f/3.3-5.6. If you like taking videos, it supports full HD recording at 60fps and slow-motion at 120fps. A really nifty feature is focus-peaking in manual focus (very helpful in macro shots). You also have WiFi connectivity if you’re so inclined to use it. Unfortunately, it does not shoot in RAW.
Ergonomics
While camera designs have followed a traditional tried-and-true formula, ergonomics still play a big role with the various camera sizes. After all, the last thing you’d want is to have important buttons and options out of reach and miss the shot.
The button layout is logical and follows the traditional wheel and button configuration seen on most cameras these days. Your dial is at the top with full manual mode as well as aperture/shutter priority modes, auto mode, and a few scene modes. The shutter and zoom buttons are never out of reach. The function button at the top is configurable for quick access to parameters such as white balance, ISO, metering, image size, and focus area.
The rotating dial and OK button allow for quick menu scrolling (and thankfully it is a watered-down version of Nikon’s notoriously complex menus). Menus are easy to navigate and will not intimidate people new to cameras or to the Nikon interface. The dial is clickable to access exposure compensation, flash, macro capability, and timer functions. The dial also is used to alter shutter or aperture depending on your mode.
In fact from afar it looks like a tiny DSLR.
Performance & Image Quality
I took the camera with me on my holiday to Istanbul to serve as my long-lens camera (was carrying my Fujifilm X100S for street shots). I can honestly say that the P600 not only impressed me with the quality of its images, but its ease of use made it the go-to camera in most scenarios where I don’t need a RAW file.
But even then, the images had enough detail for a decent amount of post-processing, but more on that later. Here are some out-of camera photos:
As you can see from the unedited photos above, the image quality is really good. However, there is an area of improvement: focus speed. The more you zoom in, the harder it is for the camera to focus, and it can take a while before it does. When it does, though, rest assured that the image remains of above average quality even at the longest zoom; zoomed out photos naturally exhibited more superior quality.
For macro shots, it is best to set the focus mode to manual and you can use the dial to adjust the focus. The camera has a very good focus-peeking, which highlights the areas of the photo that are in focus using the “marching ants”. It’s really difficult to take a photo that is NOT in focus while in macro with focus peeking.
The zoom is also fantastic … to give you an idea of what 60x zoom looks like, here is a freighter zoomed out and zoomed all the way in:
An issue I had with the camera is that it is also slow to turn on and switch off. You’d have to anticipate the moment before the moment happens, because it takes a few seconds for the camera to wake up.
The other downside of the camera is that it does not support RAW format as mentioned. That said, you can do quite a lot with the JPEGs even at a loss of some quality in post-processing (noise and other artefacts). The JPEGs pack in some good detail however, so all is not lost with the absence of RAW format.
Here is a sample with original and edited versions:
The last thing I want to talk about is the barrel distortion. Basically, what it means that at widest zoom (most zoomed-out), straight lines are horribly not straight. This is a property of wide angle lenses, but on the P600 it is really out of whack. This can be corrected by slightly zooming in and taking a few steps back, but you can also correct it if you have tools like Lightroom. Here is an example:
Closing Thoughts
The Nikon Coolpix P600 is one heck of a camera. Bridge cameras are what got me into DSLRs over ten years ago and I am amazed at how advanced they have become. The excellent zoom range provides unique opportunities and the solid, consistent image quality will surely appeal to amateurs as well as enthusiasts and even serious photographers who want a versatile, lightweight camera to carry with them.
And if that didn’t convince you, maybe this cat will.
