Nikon Coolpix S · announced September 2014
The Nikon Coolpix S6900: a selfie compact with a screen that turns around
We found no other regional name for it; Nikon's release and the reviews all call it the S6900.123
Nikon's answer to the phone's front camera was a screen that flips to face you, a kickstand and a second shutter button. Two reviewers agreed on the idea and disagreed on how well the touchscreen and close focus worked.
Nikon Coolpix S6900 specs: sensor, lens, battery, memory card and cable
Launched in September 2014, the Nikon Coolpix S6900 is a 16 MP CMOS compact with a 25–300 mm (35 mm equivalent) 12× zoom lens. Inside: it takes SD, SDHC and SDXC cards and runs on the EN-EL19 battery. Sources
Meet the camera
Nikon announced the S6900 on 12 September 2014 in Tokyo.1 It was a small 12x zoom compact whose point was the back: a 3-inch vari-angle touchscreen that swings out and round so the person in front of the lens can see the frame, with a kickstand and a shutter button on the front.14 Nikon described it as the follow-up to the Coolpix S6600, the first S-series model with a vari-angle screen.1 Imaging Resource instead called it the successor to the S6800, a Wi-Fi model with the same lens at about the same price.4 We show both because the sources disagree.
The UK price was 199.99 pounds in PhotographyBLOG's November 2014 review.2 Imaging Resource listed a US suggested price of $229.95, with availability on 15 March 2015, and black and pink bodies; PhotographyBLOG mentioned black and white.542 It measures about 99 by 58 by 28 millimetres and weighs 181 grams with battery and card.52
Why this one was interesting
A camera you can see yourself in
The selfie had become routine, TechRadar began, and a normal compact makes it hard because you cannot tell where the lens is pointing.3 The S6900's screen folds out and faces forward, and folds back into the body to protect the glass, with the stand tucked behind it that can be pulled out and used upright or sideways.3 PhotographyBLOG added a second shutter button on the faceplate, to the left of the lens, and a stand and screen that fold flush with the body.2 TechRadar noted you still have to steady the camera with a hand to press the front button.3
Party tricks
Nikon listed gesture control (you steer an on-screen icon with your hand from a short distance, and the lens goes to wide angle), a Glamour mode with four face effects, and Self-Collage, which saves a run of shots as one picture, 4 or 9 at a time.1 TechRadar said gesture control can fire the shutter, described the combining of nine faces as a photo-booth grid and mentioned a self-wide mode for groups.3
Wi-Fi and NFC
Nikon gave it Wi-Fi and NFC touch pairing plus a dedicated Wi-Fi button for phones without NFC.1 TechRadar said the pairing worked easily with Nikon's free app, which can also fire the shutter remotely, but that control is limited to zooming and shooting.3
For other Nikons see our Coolpix S6300, an earlier S-series zoom, and the simpler Coolpix S3700 from 2015.
What was lost
The price of the screen was the body: TechRadar said the articulating panel bulks the camera up a little, and that there are no buttons at all on the back, so nearly everything is done by touch.3 The only physical controls are on top, TechRadar listed power, Wi-Fi, video and the shutter with its zoom rocker.3 PhotographyBLOG missed a dedicated delete button and said the touch shutter, which fires when you tap the screen, was a tad sensitive and could take accidental pictures.2 TechRadar was annoyed that the self-timer switches itself off after every shot, so a run of selfies means setting it again each time.3
The dark: its weak point
Both reviewers drew the same line. PhotographyBLOG would stay at ISO 800, allow ISO 1600 when pushed, and said detail keeps softening at ISO 3200; at the top setting it compared the picture to being seen through frosted bathroom glass.2 TechRadar also called ISO 800 the highest it would recommend, found detail very smudgy at ISO 1600 and worse above it, and listed smudgy noise reduction at higher sensitivities among its dislikes.3 PhotographyBLOG's flash notes were kinder: even coverage at telephoto in its test, some vignetting at wide angle and no sign of red-eye.2
We found no night photos taken with this camera on Commons. The two below are daylight shots at ISO 800, read from each file's own data, the level both reviewers named as their ceiling.
On eBay right now
Live listings for this camera, supplied by eBay and updated automatically. We earn a commission if you buy through them.
The little wins
Stand, plus a front shutter
TechRadar said the stand really does help with hands-free selfies and can be used upright or sideways, and that the front button and touchscreen help when the screen faces forward.3
Quick to focus, when it works
PhotographyBLOG called the contrast-detect autofocus impressively quick for a pocket compact and put power-on to first shot at about two seconds.2
Close focus on paper
Nikon lists macro focus down to 2 cm.1 Whether the camera managed that is part of the disagreement below.
How it drew the picture
PhotographyBLOG gave image quality 3.5 out of 5. It found colours natural rather than overly saturated and was very pleased with bright blue-sky days; files were slightly soft at the default sharpening, with obvious softness in the corners at 25 mm and some purple fringing at high-contrast edges, which it said you only notice if you look for problems.2 TechRadar said colours were vibrant and punchy in good light and detail was decent for A4 prints or smaller; the automatic white balance coped well with different light and exposures were mostly accurate, though bright or high-contrast scenes might need exposure compensation.3 Both reviewers praised daylight and warned against low light; that part of their findings lines up.
Photos taken with this camera, from Wikimedia Commons, credited under each picture. They come from a handful of uploaders and are not ours.
Where it let you down
The reviewers split here, and the split is the story. PhotographyBLOG called the touchscreen very responsive and gave ease of use 4 out of 5.2 TechRadar said the screen is not as responsive as it could be, sometimes needed more than one tap, and called it nowhere near as responsive as the average phone.3 On focus, PhotographyBLOG said the camera locked on in a fraction of a second and handled close-ups particularly well;2 TechRadar found it struggled with close subjects even in macro mode and sometimes reported focus that had not been acquired.3 PhotographyBLOG also found file writing slowish, at four to five seconds for a full-resolution JPEG.2
The battery is a smaller disagreement: PhotographyBLOG's 190 shots and 40 minutes of video against Imaging Resource's 180 shots, with the same video figure.24 PhotographyBLOG's spec table gives about two hours to charge from empty.2 Internal memory is about 25 MB (Imaging Resource) or 30 MB (PhotographyBLOG), enough for a few pictures at best.42
What the reviewers said in 2014
| Outlet | Date | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| PhotographyBLOG | 6 Nov 2014 | Design 4, features 3.5, ease of use 4, image quality 3.5, value 4 (out of 5; 4 stars overall): far worse choices at about £200 for a selfie shooter or a simple 12x zoom.2 |
| TechRadar | Undated | Decent features let down by image quality; the stand and front shutter praised, noise reduction, the self-timer and value criticised; a smartphone is likely to do as well or better.3 |
| Imaging Resource | Dated 02/09/2015 | Overview and specifications only; no verdict or lab results on the page we read.4 |
PhotographyBLOG's conclusion contains a typo, calling the camera the "S600", which we took to mean the S6900. TechRadar's review lists no price on the pages we read, so we cannot compare its value verdict to a figure. Its resolution-chart page names a different camera (the Canon PowerShot G7 X) and its scores look carried over from that review, so we do not use them.23
The timeline
- 12 September 2014Nikon announces the S6900.1
- 6 November 2014PhotographyBLOG publishes its review.2
- 9 February 2015Imaging Resource's page is dated 02/09/2015 (we read this as a US-style date).4
- 15 March 2015Imaging Resource lists this as the US availability date.5
Should you buy one now?
Buy one if you want a pocket 25–300 millimetre zoom for sunny days and a screen you can turn to face you, and you can live with a touchscreen that one reviewer found slow. Nikon's release gives no price; Imaging Resource listed $229.95 in the US and PhotographyBLOG 199.99 pounds in the UK;152 what it sells for now is a question for the sold listings, not for us. Before you bid, check these:
- The name. Search the Coolpix S6900; we found no other regional name.1
- The screen. Test the hinge and the touch response, since reviewers disagreed on the latter, and check the stand folds out and back flush.23
- The battery. PhotographyBLOG names an EN-EL19;2 a fresh one is on Amazon ↗.
- The card. It takes SD, SDHC and SDXC cards.5 See our memory card guide.
- The cable. The cable codes are in the Quick answers box above; see also our Nikon cable pages.
- A dim-room shot. Both reviewers named ISO 800 as the limit, so test indoors before paying more than for a daylight camera.23
If you are wondering why cameras like this are being hunted down again, we tell that story once, in Pictures that never left the card.
See recent sold prices on eBay ↗Shop on eBay ↗EN-EL19 battery ↗
Sources
- Nikon Corporation, Digital Compact Camera Nikon COOLPIX S6900 (news release, 12 Sep 2014)
- PhotographyBLOG, Nikon Coolpix S6900 review by Gavin Stoker (6 Nov 2014; pages: introduction, design, ease of use, image quality, conclusion)
- TechRadar, Nikon Coolpix S6900 review by Amy Davies (five pages; the pages show no date, so we describe it as undated and from the S6900's launch period)
- Imaging Resource, Nikon S6900 review page by Gannon Burgett (posted 02/09/2015; overview and specifications only, no verdict or lab results) and basic specifications table (MSRP, availability)
- Imaging Resource, Nikon S6900 basic specifications
Photographs are credited under each one, all via Wikimedia Commons. Links to eBay and Amazon are affiliate links.