Shooting tooth and claw

A COMPACT digital camera with a super zoom of up to 60x as well as ultra-wide 24mm equivalent, the Nikon Coolpix 610 is an ideal companion for anyone who enjoys taking photographs in challenging conditions.

The ultra zoom lens let you get close to subjects that are physically impossible to approach, such as wild animals, while the ultra-wide lens allows you to capture beautiful landscapes.

Although the P610 provides extensive coverage from wide-angle to telephoto with a focal range equivalent to 24-1440 mm, it comes in a compact and light body that’s easy to carry around. It measures 125x85x106.5mm when the lens is tucked in and weighs just 565 grams including battery and memory card.

With the 1,440mm equivalent focal length, you can capture great shots of the moon with a little help from a special scene programme mode, as the camera figures out the required exposure and shutter speed. I wasn’t in the right lunar cycle to be able to test this but did manage to take close-ups of Suvarnabhumi Airport from the 31st-floor balcony of The Nation’s newsroom.

During the test in my neighbourhood, I was able to capture good-close-up shots of monitor lizards and birds.

The focus wasn’t slow when we used the ultra zoom focal length in bright sunlight. However, at the full focal length of 1,440mm, the lens’ brightness value drops to f/6.5 from f/3.3 at the focal length of 24mm, meaning it’s slower on cloudy days, though not enough to be a problem.

Do bear in mind that with a long zoom like 60x, even the slightest movement means you are likely to shift the camera’s focus. That can be remedied by carrying around a light monopod to stablise the camera when shooting at the 60x zoom or by positioning your elbows on a solid surface.

The P610 uses Dual Detect Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) to stabilise shots at a shutter speed effect of approximately 5.0 stops while the Active mode compensates for camera shake, delivering crisp photos and steady videos.

The P610 comes with a 0.2-inch electronic viewfinder with 921k-dot LCD and eye-sensor function, which is very useful for framing shots, especially zoomed ones, under bright sunlight.

Its 921k-dot 3-inch TFT LCD vari-angle monitor lets you easily capture dramatic images overhead, near the ground, or of yourself for the selfie-inclined.

The camera uses 16.0 effective megapixels image sensor and it is also fitted with an Expeed C2 image-processing engine that offers richer colours and fast processing speed. The backlight CMOS sensor intelligently minimises noise to deliver clear images even in a dark environment like a concert arena.

Advanced users may enjoy using the manual, programmed auto, shutter-priority and aperture-priority auto exposure modes.

Beginners would do better to use full Auto mode. We used this for much of the test and were very pleased with the results. Most of our shots came out sharp, clean and well-exposed. In Auto mode, the camera detects the main subject and focuses on it. If a human face is detected, the camera automatically sets focus priority on it.

Scene mode allows you to select a particular scene program mode that’s suitable for the current shooting environment. Three – Night landscape, Night portrait and Landscape – have their own positions on the dial while the others, which include Portrait, Sports, Party/indoors, Sunset, Dusk/dawn, Close-up, Easy panorama, Pet portrait and Bird-watching, are available as sub-menus. 

The P610 also has a fun Special Effects mode that includes Soft, Nostalgic sepia, High-contrast mono, High key, Selective colour and High ISO monochrome. The Soft effect adds a slight blur while Nostalgic adds a sepia tone and reduces the contrast to simulate the qualities of an old photograph.

The P610 has built-in Wi-Fi and NFC that can be connected to your smartphone. You can then download the free Wireless Mobile Utility app, available for both iOS and Android devices, to use your smart device as a remote control to shoot group pictures with your loved ones. With Wi-Fi on, you can simultaneously pre-select and transfer images, while uploading them to your favourite social networks.

The P610 has built-in GPS function that lets your camera detect where you’re shooting with superb accuracy. This location-based support lets you geo-tag your pictures effortlessly, so you’ll never have trouble remembering where your images were taken.

During the test, we captured great portraits both in the newsroom and at Wat Yai in Ayutthaya, where we shot beautiful Buddha images in well-saturated colours,

Nikon Coolpix 610 has a suggested retail price of Bt16,990.

 

Image sensor: 16 million |.3-inch CMOS sensor

Lens: 60x optical Zoom-NIKKOR ED glass lens (angle |of view equivalent to that of |24-1440mm lens in 35mm |format) with f/3.3-6.5 aperture

Autofocus (AF): |Contrast-detect AF

Viewfinder: Electronic viewfinder, 0.2-inch approximately 921k-dot equivalent LCD with the diopter adjustment function (-3 to +3 m-1)

Monitor: 3-inch TFT-LCD with Anti-reflection coating 6-level brightness adjustment and 921,000-dots

Storage Media: SD, SDHC, SDXC

Highest movie resolution: |Full HD: 1920x1080/ 60p

Sensitivity: ISO 100-12,800

Exposure Metering: Matrix, Centre-weighted, Spot

Shutter: Mechanical and CMOS electronic shutter

Shutter Speed: |1/4000- 15 sec.

Top Continuous Shooting Speed at full resolution: Up to 7 shots at approximately 7 frames per second

Interface: USB, micro HDMI

Connectivity: Wi-Fi, GPS

Battery: Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL23 with approx capacity of 360 shots per charge

Dimensions (Width x Height x Depth): 125.0 mm x 85.0 mm x 106.5 mm, excluding projections

Approx weight: 565 g