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Nikon D80

Nikon Coolpix P6000 13.5MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) Zoom

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Brand: Nikon
Category: Photography

Buy New: See price in cart

New (55) Used (1) from $516.23

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

8 reviews
Sales Rank: 1608

Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Includes Software: Yes
Optical Zoom: 4
Digital Zoom: 4
Connectivity: AV
Display Size: 2.7
Maximum Focal Length: 24
Minimum Focal Length: 6
Maximum Resolution: 13
Has Red Eye Reduction: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 4.2 x 1.7 x 2.6
nv:Sensor: 13.5 Megapixels
Size: 1/1.7" CCD Sensor
Image Resolution: 4224 x 3168
Movie Resolution: 640 x 480
Memory Included: 48MB Internal
Storage Media: SD/SDHC Memory Card
Compressed Format: JPEG
Optical Zoom: 4X
Digital Zoom: 4X
Combined Zoom: 12x
Focal Length: f=6.0-24.0mm
LCD Monitor: 2.7 inches
LCD Pixels: 230,000 pixels
LCD Coverage: 100%
Maximum Aperture: F 2.7 - 5.9
Computer Interface: USB 2.0 high-speed
Battery Form Factor: Lithium-ion
Batteries Included: Yes
Battery Charger Included: Yes

MPN: P6000
Model: P6000
UPC: 018208261352
EAN: 0018208261352
ASIN: B001DO15J2

Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Features:

•	13.5-megapixel resolution for stunning prints as large as 20 x 30 inches
•	4x wide-angle optical Zoom-Nikkor glass lens; Optical VR Image Stabilization
•	2.7-inch high-resolution LCD and optical viewfinder
•	my Picturetown with Wired LAN; automatically upload pictures to Nikon s my Picturetown
•	Captures images to SD/SDHC cards (not included)

Accessories:

•	Apple Aperture 2.1.1
•	aVinci Media SMG-51-0003 Polar Express DVD Kit
•	Kingston 4 GB SDHC Class 4 Flash Memory Card SD4/4GB
•	aVinci Media SMG-51-0013 Personal DVD Movie Kit
•	Adobe Photoshop CS4 Upgrade

Similar Items:

•	SanDisk SDSDRX3-8192-A21 8GB Extreme III SDHC Card (Black)
•	Nikon EN-EL5 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery for Coolpix P3, P4. P5000, S10, 3700, 4200, 5200, 5900 & 7900 Digital Cameras
•	Nikon MH-61 Battery Charger for Coolpix 3700, 4200, 5200, and P Series Digital Cameras
•	Nikon - Case for digital photo camera - leather
•	Nikon SB-400 AF Speedlight for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
13.5-megapixel effective recording * 4X optical zoom (4X digital/16X total zoom) * optical image stabilization with vibration reduction * 2-11/16" LCD screen with 5-level brightness adjustment * real-image optical viewfinder * wide-angle lens for shooting landscapes and large groups * 35mm equivalent focal length: 28-112mm * top JPEG resolution: 4224 x 3168 * built-in GPS function automatically tags photos with the location and time they were taken * upload photos directly to Nikon's "my Picturetown" Internet site via the camera's Ethernet port * free online photo storage up to 2GB * RAW mode recording for greater control over final images * face priority autofocus for better portraits * in-camera automatic red-eye correction * automatic high sensitivity mode (ISO 6400) for better low-light and flash-free shooting * D-Lighting mode brightens dark areas of recorded images *

Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Fancy Features, but still just a point and shoot October 17, 2008
Eric Hwang (Edmonds, WA United States)
82 out of 84 found this review helpful

I'm a Nikon enthusiast. I own two professional digital SLR bodies and several lenses, but I wanted something small to carry around when I didn't want to lug a big SLR around. You know, night on the town or anywhere where a big camera would attract too much unwanted attention. So when Nikon announced a point and shoot (P&S) camera that supported a RAW file format, I was immediately interested. When I heard about all the other bells and whistles on this P&S, I was determine to get one. So does it live up to all the hype? Let begin with what I liked.

THE GOOD

13.5 Megapixel RAW files - Yep, it's even got a higher pixel count than my D300 and depending on the settings I can get some great enlargements or a lot of flexibility to crop. With RAW files, there's more latitude for post-processing adjustments.

Fully Automatic or Manual - Just like its bigger brothers, the P6000 has Programmed Auto, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority or Full Manual modes. A large selection dial on top of the camera selects the mode. The command dial near your thumb controls the selection of speed, aperture or both in manual or programmed modes. It also has specific scene modes just like Nikon's other P&S cameras.

Two User Modes - After you've customized the settings to what you like, you can save them to one of two user modes to recall anytime by just selecting U1 or U2 on the mode dial. Pretty handy.

Auto or Manual Focus - Yes, manual focus on a P&S. Select the macro/MF button and put the camera into manual focus mode and you have even more control. Another to the left of the screen activates a close up section of the screen--apparently to help focus--and also allows the same command dial that control everything else to also focus the lens. It sounds good in theory, but more about that later. Auto focus is probably easier and does a good job.

Facial Recognition - Select Face Recognition for focus mode and the camera will find the faces in the image shown on the screen and put a square yellow box around each face. A half-press of the shutter and the box changes to green to indicate it's in focus. The caveat here is that the entire face must be visible for the camera to recognize it. If your subject has their face slightly turned, it won't see it.

Geotagging - This is Nikon's first foray into the GPS arena and when it does work, it works well. It's not as quick in acquiring a position as the one I use on my SLR, but because it's built-in, it's always available and convenient. When you use it with good software or upload your pictures to Flickr, it proves to be very accurate. Great if you do location scouting or if you're just getting old like me and having a harder time remembering where you took a picture.

VR (Vibration Reduction) - By default the VR mode is on. I can't see any reason to turn it off. Even when mounted on a tripod, it works fine and causes no problems. Of course, I haven't tried a long time exposure yet and that's usually where VR gives me problems on my bigger cameras.

Optical Viewfinder - This is a rarity in this day and age, but I like to have this option when I really want to be discreet and not even have the viewfinder screen turn on. It zooms with the lens but only shows about 80% of the actual image.

Decent Movie Mode - It's only TV quality and not HD, but it works for those few times I would want to record a short video. I captures the sound and allows you to zoom the lens during the movie, unlike some cameras.

Ergonomic Design - The camera has enough size and weight to be substantial but not too much to be difficult to carry around. Granted, it probably won't fit into your shirt pocket, but it can certainly fit in places your big SLR won't. The camera has a magnesium front and rubberized grip and feels like a bigger camera. The buttons are, for the most part, in logical places and the layout will seem familiar to Nikon SLR owners. The one thing that I had to get used to was the zoom control. On the P6000 it's in the same place that the power control is on Nikon SLR's.

Flash i-TTL Hot Shoe - You can use your big flash on this little camera. When I mount the SB-800 on this camera, it dwarfs the camera itself. I think the SB-400 would be ideal if you need more flash power than the built-in flash provides, but for most situation, I think the built-in is more than sufficient.

4X Zoom ED Lens - Equivalent to a 28-112mm in 35mm format. It's more than enough for most needs. If I need more than than, I'll grab my SLR. The two ED elements do a good job of correcting chromatic aberrations.

Lens Accessories - There's a screw ring that allows a 0.75X wide-angle adapter to be used, making the effective focal length about 21mm.

THE BAD

Distortion - At the widest zoom, there is a lot of barrel distortion. You'll especially notice it when taking pictures of building or anything that has parallel lines in the image. At the telephoto end of the zoom there is just a slight amount of pincushioning. Nikon must have been aware of this issue since they've included a menu option for Distortion Control. It works, but there are limitations which I mention further in this review. At the widest zoom, there is a fair amount of image softness in the corners which I would expect in a P&S.

Noise - Even though Nikon advertises that this camera goes from ISO 64 to 6400, The usable range is effectively 100-400. ISO 64 is just too slow unless you have a tripod. Everything above ISO 400 produces too much noise. Even at ISO 800, the number of artifacts in the image starts to get distracting. At ISO 3200 and 6400, the camera automatically reduces the resolution to 3 megapixels. So you end up with a photo that's grainy from both the noise and the small resolution. In other words, barely usable. I can't really think of a situation where I would want that.

Horrible Software and Mac Support - This is usually Nikon's downfall. There software is so bad, it's not even usable. As a matter of fact, I can't even use the latest ViewNX software that the installation program downloads from Nikon. Every time I try to view my images, it crashes on my Mac. The RAW format is a new Nikon proprietary format: NRW, and it only seems to work natively on Windows Vista machines. To use it on my Mac, I need to convert them using Lightroom or ViewNX...which, of course, doesn't work. I'll need to wait until Apple releases Aperture NRW support so I can use my normal workflow.

Poor Battery Life - The P6000 is using battery technology developed nearly 4 years ago. It's the same battery that my old 3700 P&S used: the EN-EL5. Good for maybe 250 shots if you don't use the flash much and turn off the GPS. With the GPS on, and updating only every 5 minutes, the battery life can be measured in hours since the GPS updates even when the camera is turned off. With all the bells and whistles this camera has, you would think they would come up with better battery technology. A spare is essential.

GPS Acquisition - It takes a long time to acquire the satellites when you first get to an area and turn on the GPS. In an open area, it took over 5 minutes to first acquire. Thereafter, it still sometimes took up to 2 minutes to get a good signal. If you're inside or amongst trees or buildings, it may take even longer and even then, it may only get three good satellite fixes which means your altitude measurement may be less than accurate.

Features Disabled in RAW mode - Talk about bait and switch. If you use RAW mode, many of the image adjustment features are disabled. True, you would probably do most of the adjustments in post-processing, but if the Nikon software doesn't work, how do I correct the barrel distortion since the Distortion Control is disable? Active D-lighting isn't a great loss, nor is the ISO 3200 and 6400 settings that won't work in RAW mode, but Auto Bracketing is a nice feature to lose. They don't tell you this in any of the advertising or on most of the trade sites.

THE QUESTIONABLE

Popup Flash - I'm not sure why Nikon did this. There was plenty of room to have the flash flush with the front. In the fully automatic mode, I would expect the flash to pop up and fire if needed, but that doesn't happen. You have to manually pop up the flash if you want flash. Some people may like this feature as an easy way to disable the flash, which then begs the question: why is there a disable option in the flash menu?

Built-in LAN - Sounds like great idea until you realize that it's wired Ethernet and it only connects to Nikon's Picturetown service. Pretty much useless if you're using wireless like most people.

2.7 inch Screen - There was room for a 3 inch screen but Nikon opted to use the smaller screen when everybody else is maxing out screen sizes.

No Battery Charger - With such poor battery performance, you'll need an extra battery. But how to charge it? You only get an AC adapter with the camera which forces you to charge the battery IN the camera. Which means you're tethered to a wall outlet until you charge two or more batteries. Add the separate MH-61 battery charger to your shopping list.

Remote Control - You can use an infrared remote to trigger the camera. Why didn't they include it with the camera though? Minor, but annoying point. (I have the infrared remote from a previous camera, but most people will not and I always find it annoying when companies make you pay extra for these little things.)

SUMMARY

As a point and shoot camera, the P6000 is very good. It takes excellent pictures that you would typically use a P&S for. But for those occasions when you want to do a little more, and you would think with all the features of this camera, it's not an unreasonable expectation that it should do a much better job. Unfortunately, even all the features have limitations if you choose to use the NRW format. And forget about making it work on your Mac.

After looking at this and the Canon G10, I'm tempted to return the P6000 and get the Canon. It's priced competitively and has many of the same problems but at least it works on my Mac. But then, I'd have to give up the GPS.

Should you buy one? That depends. Do you really need 13.5 megapixel RAW images? Do you need the GPS feature? Can you live with poor battery performance and the need for a charger and extra batteries? Are you willing to spend $550 for the camera and necessary accessories? If so, you might consider the P6000. You might also want to consider a D40 or D40x. But if these features are a mystery to you, you'd be better off with a much cheaper camera without all the extra features. Any of the Nikon S-series P&S cameras or the Panasonics would do the job splendidly.

4 out of 5 stars

No SLR replacement, but a good take-everywhere camera October 15, 2008
Michael A. Hansen (Chicago, IL USA)
27 out of 28 found this review helpful

I just got this camera yesterday evening and have had time to play with just about all the main features. I also own a Canon PowerShot G9 so I find myself comparing the two all the time. With that said, I wasn't expecting anything with ultra low noise. The G9 noise levels are unacceptable (in my opinion) at any ISO setting over 200. Having come from this same type of CCD, I wasn't expecting miracles so I'm not disappointed. If anything, I think the noise is on par or a little less noticeable on the P6000 than it is on the G9. That was a surprise considering that the P6000 is packing in more pixels on the same sized CCD. Here's my summary:

Noise = not great, but not bad at all as long as you stay ISO 200 or lower. If you go up to 400 and above, plan on using noise reduction software.

Optics = not tack sharp like you can get out of a dSLR, but, again, not bad. It reminds me of a good mid-range P&S camera in terms of optics. I think the G9 might be a little better here.

GPS = great! I really love this. Two words of warning: it eats the battery quickly and it takes a while to lock on to the GPS signal (especially if you are in a city like Chicago). Once it's locked on, the GPS coordinates are pretty accurate.

Speed = Good. I found the camera responsive. No speed demon, but shutter lag isn't a problem and all the camera functions are fairly snappy.

Mac Compatible = 50/50. It's terrible if you're expecting native Mac support from Nikon on it's new RAW format. It's great if you're just shooting JPG images. I only use a Mac, but third-party solutions are already available to let you process the RAW files on your Mac. Lightroom 2.1 is compatible with the new format and so is Adobe's Camera RAW 4.6 plugin for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. I've been shooting almost exclusively with RAW and happily processing them on my Mac with no problems at all.

Size = GREAT! I love the size. It's just about the same physical size as the G9, but it's twice as light. It's much easier to take this camera long and stuff it into a loose pocket. You almost don't know it's there. Anything smaller would have been too small.

Vibration Reduction = a must have. It really works well, especially in lower light settings.

You'll enjoy this camera if you want a high-quality compact camera that has GPS, RAW and great creative control. It is a nice camera to take along with you when you just don't feel like pulling out the dSLR, but don't expect it to be a dSLR replacement because it's not. I'm quite happy with it and look forward to using it more and more.

2 out of 5 stars

Disappointment October 7, 2008
TGre (GA)
25 out of 58 found this review helpful

Firstly, I am NOT a professional or someone you'd turn to for technical camera information. I don't mean to sound pretentious, but I have more of an "artsy" interest in photography.

Admittedly, I did not go into each and every feature of this camera. The reason I purchased it sight-unseen was because how happy I'd been with my Coolpix 8800 and I liked the idea of a higher number of megapixels as well as the option of a wide-angle lens.

I read the overview Nikon had written prior to release of the camera and I swear it stated that the P6000 would have the viewfinder with the diopter adjustment, just as the 8800 has.

What a disappointment! The viewfinder's only purpose is for looking through if the ambient lighting is so bright you can't see the camera screen (which drove me crazy cleaning off fingerprints); it doesn't show the zoom, the display of your settings, or the review of your pictures. If you have the wide-angle lens attached, part of the viewfinder is obscured.

Maybe I need an upgrade as far as cameras, but it's very difficult for me to frame a picture without that viewfinder. And by the way, what's up with the "borders"? Never did understand why they included that feature.

The wide-angle lens was a disappointment as well. Even though I made sure to follow the directions insofar as telling the camera that it was attached and checking the "Distortion" control, my pictures really did not come out as I would have expected - they did appear to have kind of a fish-eye look to them.

The camera is MUCH smaller than the 8800 and although it feels well-made, it just doesn't feel substantial. Having to purchase the battery charger so your camera's not out of commission was a negative for me as well. You definitely need a 4GB card.

Also, (as I said I didn't investigate it thoroughly so please feel free to disagree with me), I didn't like the fact that the software that comes with the camera is for Nikon's PictureTown - I liked the old system where you could download your pictures and edit them with Nikon's simple, but effective program.

Anyway, I'm sure a lot of people will be happy with the P6000, but I felt that I could have gotten just as good of a camera for $200 as the P6000. In fact, I had just helped my girlfriend choose a camera since she's new to the digital game, that had 12mp, face recognition, etc. for $195!

Hope no one's put off by my experience, but this is my 2-cents' worth: The camera just did not meet my expectations.

I've returned it and all the accoutrements I purchased for it. I definitely learned that I'm going to a camera store to try cameras out before I purchase online, and as far as pre-ordering, well, that's not going to happen again.

5 out of 5 stars

One Packed Little Camera October 15, 2008
F. Leonard (Ben Lomond, CA USA)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

Well, this is an early review (more as I run the camera through its paces), but I must reply to the review by TGre. If you want EVERYTHING found in a D-SLR, then you need to buy a D-SLR. I own a D300 and use it professionally. However, I needed a camera that I carry with me at all times and that packed as many features as possible. This camera certainly seems to be it! I still can't believe that this little beauty packs 13.5 megapixels, raw camera mode, aperture and shutter priority, and vibration reduction. My preliminary photos with the P6000 are sharp, vibrant, and solid in color rendition. I am impressed. As for not being able to see the zoom through the viewfinder, I don't get that at all. The wide-angle and zoom functions are clearly viewable. Maybe TGre was referring to an accessory zoom lens. Again, if you want an SLR, go out and buy one, don't expect a small package like the P6000, at a very reasonable price, to replace high-end professional cameras in every respect.

4 out of 5 stars

Great Point & Shoot November 5, 2008
J. R. Bowman (San Diego, CA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

After reading all the other reviews I couldn't help but laugh....what did you guys think this camera was going to be? For those of you not old enough to remember, I can assure you that back in the Nikon F days of the late 60's & early 70's the 35mm rangerfinders were a compromise vs the SLR's too! That what this camera is, a compromise between a DSLR and a DP&S (glorified digital instamatic).

This is actually the first digital P&S camera I have ever owned, but have in the past owned a D-70 and currently have a D-200 with the extra battery pack and many Nikon lenses including the 300 2.8 (which weighs a ton.

But I needed a very small HQ camera that would fit in my pocket, give some of the creative control I wanted, be durable and most of all be one 20th the weight of my other camera gear so I would carry it with me all the time and the P6000 has filled that need.

In the last week and a half, I have given this little camera a great workout and tried every conrol feature, every image quality feature, time lapse, GPS & more and have had better than good results in many different modes and conditions leading me to say I am more than happy with this camera because I didn't expect too much and judged it on it's own merits.

It will require a bit tweaking to get the image you want but it is well worth it in the end and that is one part of photography I have always liked the best, playing around with the equipment until I get the results I want!

I agree the GPS is semi useless inside a building and the battery life could be better but overall I like this little camera and really enjoy having it with me at all times to capture life's unexpected moments.

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