Product Reviews

Nikon has a habit of producing low-cost, no-frills digital cameras with excellent image quality, and the CoolPix 5600 continues this tradition. Its bulbous design isn't exactly stylish but the camera is compact and comfortable to hold. Power comes from a pair of AA batteries, so you'll need to budget for rechargeable replacements.

The 1.8" screen looks small by today's standards, but it's perfectly useable and leaves room for an optical viewfinder, a mode dial and the usual smattering of buttons. Manual control is extremely basic, though,

The 5600 is reasonably swift, taking three seconds between shots. It took six seconds to switch on and take its first shot, but turning off the startup screen reduced this to four seconds. However, when using the flash the camera took up to 14 seconds between shots.

The best thing about this camera is its image quality. A 5-megapixel sensor is great at this price, and the fine detail it captures is matched by exemplary colours in a range of conditions. It consistently put in the best performance of the four cameras reviewed in What's New this month, with warm, natural skin tones indoors and out. In low light without the flash it resorted to exposure times of up to two seconds, so you'll need a steady surface on which to rest the camera (and a static subject) but we prefer this to underexposed, grainy images captured in low light with a short exposure.

The lack of manual control isn't a huge problem as the automatic settings are so capable, and at this price the CoolPix 5600 is a bargain.