Features

The P6000 features a 1/1.7in CCD sensor, with a total pixel count of 13.9MP. The sensor outputs images at an effective resolution of 13.5MP, equating to a measurement of 4224 x 3168 pixels at its highest setting, with the company’s EXPEED processing technologies in the driving seat.

Nikon has responded to perhaps the greatest criticism of the P5100, which concerned the lack of a Raw shooting mode. As with the Canon G10, the P6000 records images in either JPEG, Raw, or both formats, and also allows control over both the size and compression of the accompanying JPEG. The Raw file itself is in a different format from the NEF files produced by Nikon’s DSLRs, and may be processed in-camera or via software. The only Raw software supplied with the camera is the ViewNX package, though this offers little in the way of processing options.

The P6000 offers a wider lens than its predecessor, with its optic beginning
at an equivalent wideangle of 28mm and culminating at 112mm. It also offers lens-based image stabilisation, in the form of Nikon’s Vibration Reduction, and sees the inclusion of two Extra Low Dispersion (ED) elements to help control chromatic aberration.

The P6000 is also the world’s first compact to incorporate a Global Positioning System (GPS). This is accessed via the mode dial, whereby the camera locates satellites that will help map its exact position, later displayed via the supplied software.
Other features include Distortion Control, which corrects barrel distortion in images caused by the wide end of the lens, and the long-standing D-Lighting. The rear, meanwhile, sports a 2.7in LCD screen with a 230,000-dot resolution, above which sits an optical viewfinder.

Perhaps a more topical point is that the P6000 comes with a printed instruction manual, one that is both clear and detailed. We regularly get letters about this issue, and it’s nice to see Nikon providing this, particularly for a comprehensive compact such as the P6000.