Pros: Compact, very nice pictures, video, auto focus, zoom, price and even has several picture enhancements.
Cons: Could come with better picture software.
The Bottom Line: I would recommend this camera for a family or someone just getting into photography. The camera is very easy to use and comes with lots of handy features.
mcmaster's Full Review: Nikon COOLPIX 4600 Digital Camera
Nikon Coolpix 4600 Digital Camera
I have always been interested in photography but I’ve never took the time to delve further into the field. Lately I have had some extra time on my hands and decided to purchase a digital camera. I don’t have the knowledge or expertise to get a high speed, low drag complex photography outfit and if I did I wouldn’t know what to do with it. So with these things in mind I went looking for a quality digital camera for a beginner and a budget. After looking at multitudes of cameras for several hours, I came back to the Nikon Coolpix 4600 Digital Camera.
The camera is compact but still offers a decent sized LCD screen. I liked the compact size because I can put in in a shirt pocket if I want to while I’m hiking, fishing or just out traipsing across the countryside. The large 1.8 inch LCD screen is nice too. I like to be able to view my picture then decide if I want to use memory and save it or delete it in hopes of a better picture. The LCD screen is large enough to have a good look at your pictures. The pictures are very sharp and clear. I am very satisfied with the quality of the pictures that this little camera puts out. Plus if I happen to run across something that I may want to video as a movie, I can do that too. You never know when you might run into Big Foot, aliens or CHAMP swimming across Lake Champlain. I already have some short movies of deer, bear and other wildlife.
The Nikon Coolpix 4600 Digital Camera comes with a large variety of neat features and tools for someone who is just getting started with digital cameras. It comes with an auto focus which is a must have for me. I just have not had the experience or training to do manual focusing with a powerful lenses or zoom. This camera comes with a 3x Optical Zoom Nikkor Lens 34-102mm and a 4x digital zoom for a total of 12x. It reaches out fairly well and the quality remains sound, clear and sharp. It also features Nikons Red Eye Fix™ as well as Nikons D-Lighting. The red eye fix is just what it says. It automatically takes out any red eye reflections that generally occur in other cheaper cameras. The D-Lighting feature automatically places light in dark areas. The camera does all sorts of neat little tricks that help out beginners. Now I’ll get out my handy little users manual and get you some of the technical specs.
Viewfinder / LCD / Layout
The LCD viewfinder is 1.8 inches inset in the back of the camera. It also has the regular viewfinder that is very small on the top of the camera. Then we have the [ W | T ] button. You are able to zoom in and out with this button. Then there is a small dial with several options; camera, movie, portrait, outdoors, water, night, scene and set up. These are pretty self explanatory and be easily be learned with some practice and reading. The more I read and study this little camera the more options I seem to find. It has all sorts of bells and whistles, it doesn’t take too much to impress me though. This is my first digital camera. While I am playing around with it’s different options my wife uses it for taking pictures of her Art and other gadgets to sell on e-bay. It works well for all of our camera needs, work, play and e-bay.
Accessories that come with this camera
→ Nikon Coolpix 4600 Digital Camera
→ Strap
→ USB Cable
→ Video Cable
→ AA alkaline battery X2
→ Picture Project software
→ Quick Start guide
→ Instruction manual
→ 2 year warranty and registration card
Technical Specifications from Nikons web sight
Effective Pixels: 4.0 million
Image Size: High (2288*), Normal (2288), Normal (1600), PC (1024), TV (640), CCD:1/2.5-inch type (4.23 million total pixels)
Lens: 3x Zoom-Nikkor; 5.7-17.1mm [35mm (135) format equivalent to 34-102mm]; f/2.9-4.9; 7 elements in 6 groups; Digital zoom Up to 4x
Autofocus: Contrast AF
Focus Modes: Single AF, Continuous AF is chosen automatically at Close-up mode
Optical Viewfinder: Real-image viewfinder. Frame coverage: approx 82%, Magnification: 0.30~0.76x
LCD Monitor: 1.8-inch type, 80,000-dot amorphous silicon TFT LCD monitor with brightness adjustment; frame coverage: approx. 97% horizontal and vertical (shooting)
Display: LCD Monitor: Electronic view finder display; Menu selection of Shooting Modes, Playback modes, Indication of Date/Self-timer; OFF setting on MENU button
Picture Enhance Menu: Small picture (resize), Photo trim
Media: Internal memory: approx. 14MB, SD memory card
File Format: Exif 2.21 file (compressed JPEG)
Shooting Modes -- Still: Automatic Mode: Scene Assistance (Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night portrait), Scene (Party/Indoor, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Dusk/Dawn, Night landscape, Close up, Museum, Fireworks show, Copy, Back light, Panorama assist, Underwater), BSS (Best Shot Selector), Blur warning, Date imprint, Self-timer (10 sec.)
Capture Modes: 1) Single, 2) Continuous (1.3fps; up to 3 frames), 3) Multi-shot 16 (16 consecutive frames 1/16 in size)
Interface: USB
Power Requirements: Two EN-MH1 Rechargeable batteries, two LR6 (AA-size alkaline) batteries, two ZR6 (AA-size nickel manganese) batteries, two FR6 (AA-size lithium) batteries
Mode Dial: Auto, Scene, Setup, Movie, Scene assist modes (4-types)
Operation Button/Switch: Power switch (with lens cover), Release button, Mode dial, Delete button, Menu button, Multi-selector (speed light, self-timer, macro close-up), OK button, Zoom button, Play button, Mode dial
Exposure Mode: Programmed auto exposure
Exposure Metering: 256-segment matrix metering
Shutter: 4-1/3,000 s
Sensitivity: ISO 50 with Auto gain-up
White Balance: Auto with TTL control, 5-mode manual, Pre-set white balance
Playback Menu: 1 frame, Thumbnail (4/9 segments), Slide show, Zoom playback (max 10x: 0.2 steps at 1x to 6x, 1 step at 6x to 10x, position selectable), Shooting information display
Size & Weight Dimension (W x H x D): Approx. 3.3 x 2.4 x 1.4 in.
Weight: Approx. 4.6 oz
Accessories you can buy separately
→ WP-CP3 Waterproof Case Waterproof Case for the Coolpix 4600
→ COOLPIX Case/Battery/Charger Kit
→ EN-MH1 COOLPIX Ni-MH Batteries
Operating the Camera
The first night I had the camera I was taking pictures and making ten second home video movies. The camera has a user friendly set up menu that takes you step by step through the set up process. The camera is very easy to use. It’s auto focus, auto lighting and auto red eye fix all certainly help me. You basically choose which setting you want to use to take your pictures first. I usually use the portrait for indoors or just regular camera setting. Get you target in the viewfinder and push the picture button. The flash is fairly bright and the pictures are generally good and sharp. You can take 30 to 40 pictures with the internal memory before you have to upload them to your computer or printer. I have not purchased a memory card yet because 30 pictures is enough for our needs. We just load them on the PC when the camera memory is full. When you pick the movie option on the dial it will make a movie but this uses a lot of memory. This is the reason that I will eventually purchase a memory card. I like making the little movies. Another feature that I like is the zoom and trim option. After I take a picture I can zoom in, left, right up or down and then save it. This is a neat feature that allows the user to zoom, center and trim photographs all digitally after the picture has already been taken. The Nikon Coolpix 4600 Digital Camera is our first digital camera and we were able to figure out most of the feature and use the camera the first day we had it. It is really user friendly and easy to set up and use.
Final Thoughts
My wife and I are happy with our new Nikon Coolpix 4600 Digital Camera. I believe that you would be hard pressed to find a better camera for the price. These cameras run about $199.00 and give you a good quality picture. I also like the many features that come with the camera. I was real happy when I loaded the pictures on the computer and seen the quality. Even with a mediocre printer and gloss photo paper it printed out some nice pictures. I think a real good printer will make our pictures somewhat better as well. With my wife selling art a quality picture is very important. I am satisfied with my outdoors and wildlife pictures too. The camera is for a beginner so it’s easy to use and set up but offers a lot of extras for someone who maybe a bit advanced in the field of photography. Eventually I may get a better camera that will zoom a lot further out but for now this camera will do just fine. It will also let my family and I get used to running a digital camera, different software and computers. I would recommend the Nikon Coolpix 4600 Digital Camera to someone who is buying a digital camera for the first time. It works well for family fun or selling things on e-bay. I feel like I got a fair deal for $199.00 I give this camera four of five stars.
4.0-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for for photo-quality 11 x 15-inch prints 3x optical zoom through a quality Zoom-Nikkor lens (zoom is equival...More at Amazon Marketplace
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