What you get here is a large LCD display (it measures the same diagonally as the iPhone) with the 16:9 aspect ratio used in high-definition TVs. The display has a wide viewing angle, which means you can look at it from all sides at almost any angle and still see what is on the screen. It also has anti-reflective coating so that the display doesn't wash out when the camera is used in broad daylight and in the sun. Anti-reflective coating offers better sunlight viewability by increasing the effective contrast ratio (the ratio between the display's backlight and reflected sunlight).

Without physical controls, you use the touch screen to operate the camera. The main screen has four icons: shoot, scene, movie and play. Two smaller icons bring up the menu and the setup screen. When using the camera, you generally see a standard 4:3 aspect ratio picture flanked by two vertical menu bars. What's displayed on the menu bars depends on what you're doing. When you take pictures, the right side will display icons representing a zoom rocker and the left side icons that let you set shooting mode parameters such as macro, flash, self-timer, i.e. what you usually use the navigation diamond buttons for. In playback mode you get icons to zoom and pan, or manipulate the picture.

The pictures in the righthand column show how it all works.

Despite its small size, the S60 has, for digital camers, that giant high-resolution LCD. Its total of 230,000 pixel make for a very sharp display that is a pleasure to use and makes it easy to see if pictures are blurred or not. Since there are no manual controls, the menus on the display must be clearly visible at all times. Nikon seeks to achieve that with anti-reflective coating increase for enhanced outdoor viewability. In addition, Nikon claims a very wide viewing angle of 160 degrees, which means pictures can be viewed at just about any angle.

The front of the S60 is flat and very clean. All you can see is the tiny flash and the AF-illuminator light sitting alongside the lens. Since the S60 has an internal zoom mechanism there is no lens barrel that motors out as you turn the camera on. There are lots of arguments pro and con internal folding zoom mechanisms. Personally, in a stylish camera like the S50, we think a fully internal zoom is a very good thing.

Advanced technology

The likelihood of blurred pictures is reduced via lens-shift style optical VR Image Stabilization that minimizes the effect of camera shake. This is enabled or disabled in the Setup menu. If it is enabled, the lens-shift optical technology that detects horizontal and vertical shift and tries to compensate for movements perpendicular to the direction of the panning.

Nikon makes good use of the touch interface in a number of ways. For example, you can lock the autofocus and exposure on a subject by touching the corresponding location on the screen. The S60 automatically sets the focus, exposure, and then tracks the subject for sharp, optimally exposed pictures.

For great portraits, the S60 has a new portrait "One-Touch Zoom" function where the camera automatically zooms in on a face and captures a subject with proper framing and focus.

There is also a special "Draw" function that lets you write notes or add drawings on images, and a "Paint" function where you can add frames and stamps to images.

Perhaps a bit whimsical is "Pictmotion," a feature that the older S51c already had but which is enhanced in the S60. It is supplied by muvee and lets you create slide show movies with custom transitions and background music right in the camera! To do that, you tap the Mode button and then select music with the rotary multi select dial. You can then have the camera pick the 30 most recent pictures or select them yourself. You then select from five included music tracks or ten user-defined ones. So there -- instant VGA-resolution slide show movie with sound, right out of the camera. Combine Pictmotion with the HDMI connectivity of the COOLPIX S60 and you get high-quality playback of images and slide shows on an HDTV.

A feature that's new to the COOLPIX line is a Scene Auto Selector Mode that automatically decides which is the right scene mode for an image, sort of extending automatic point & shoot capabilities. You can, of course, pick the modes yourself. There are 17 all in all: Handwritten Memo, Food, Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night Portrait, Party/Indoor, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Dusk/Dawn, Night Landscape, Close-up, Panorama Assist, Museum, Fireworks, and Copy or Back Light. 

Like other 2007 and 2008 Coolpix cameras, the S60 incorporates a series of "Nikon In-Camera Innovations." They include In-Camera Red-Eye Fix, D-Lighting, and Face Priority AF. In-Camera Red-Eye Fix automatically detects and corrects red eye, a common condition that happens when you use the flash. In playback mode, D-Lighting compensates for excessive back-light or insufficient flash in images. What happens with D-Lighting is that the camera software creates a copy of a picture with enhanced brightness and contrast where it tries to boost dark and underexposed areas.

Face recognition, or "face priority," has been a must-have feature for virtually every consumer camera introduced since 2007 and the Coolpix S60 is no exception. The camera offers a "Face Priority" mode that makes sure the camera exposes faces properly. What that means is that the camera has the ability to find a face (up to 12 faces, actually) in a picture and then make sure that it is in focus and properly exposed. With the S60, you know face priority works when a double border around the face glows green. In playback mode, the camera can automatically zoom in on the face in a picture shot in face priority mode.

The S60 also has a "Smile Mode" that automatically triggers the shutter when a subject is smiling, and also "Blink Warning," which displays a message when it thinks that a subject has blinked. That way you can check the picture and do it over if necessary.

Long zoom

Overall

The S60 is a speedy point & shooter without manual control. It offers full voice recording, VGA movies with sound, and has active lens shift vibration reduction that eliminates most blur when you zoom. It also includes a wealth of Nikon's in-camera goodies and technologies. With a list price of US$349.95, the S60 is not inexpensive, but between the large, terrific display, the many features, and its internal 5X optical zoom, it definitely offers enough to warrant a somewhat higher price.

We like:

• Terrific hi-res 3.5 inch touch screen
• Internal 5X optical zoom
• Elegant metallic design
• Optical lens-shift image stabilization
• Face recognition mode with smile and blink detection
• Voice recording
• Full speed VGA movies with sound

• No optical zoom during movies
• Touch screen has learning curve
• Costly