If you don't mind shooting without an optical viewfinder, you'll find a lot to like about this cleverly designed point-and-shoot digital camera.
Nikon's Coolpix 3500 updates the stylish, pocket-friendly Coolpix 2500, boosting the resolution to a comfortable 3.2 megapixels. The only other noticeable difference is the colour of the otherwise silver body, which mellows the 2500's blue trim to a metallic grey. With no optical viewfinder and an unusual swivelling-lens design, the Coolpix 3500 isn't for everybody, but point-and-shooters who want a cool and compact digital camera should give it a look.
To begin shooting with the Coolpix 3500, which weighs 175g (without its rechargeable lithium-ion battery and a CompactFlash card installed), you rotate its 3X zoom lens module out of the camera's frame and slide its mode selector to the record position. Mastering the camera's control menus takes some time, but its features are easy enough to use once you grow accustomed to their locations.
A dedicated button calls up the flash menu, and a Scene control lets you choose from among any of the camera's 12 scene programs, including presets for close-up photography, night portraits, firework displays, sunsets and other tricky photo favourites. Nikon's helpful Best Shot Selector mode is available through the LCD menu. This mode takes a series of shots in quick succession, and then automatically records the one with the most image detail. You'll also find exposure compensation and white-balance controls via the menu.
The camera proved a bit sluggish for its class during testing. Start-up time hovered around 5 seconds, and the average shutter delay clocked in at about 1.5 seconds. The 3500's burst mode can snap three shots at the camera's top 2,048 by 1,536 pixel resolution in a couple of seconds, but you can't use flash with this feature.
The Coolpix 3500 holds its own for its class in image quality. This camera tended to overexpose somewhat during our testing (both with and without the flash), but you can easily correct this issue by using exposure compensation. In low light, the camera captured bright, somewhat contrasty images, but it also produced considerable noise. The Coolpix 3500 did a nice job of capturing detail in dark areas of our test shots, and it avoided purple fringing.
Nikon Coolpix 3500
Company: Nikon
Price: AU$829
Distributor: Maxwell
Phone: (02) 9390 0200
