The Nikon COOLPIX B600 is a bridge camera with a built-in zoom lens that allows for a very long maximum focal length. It's decently comfortable to use and fairly lightweight. Depending on your usage habits and choice of settings, battery life is also good enough to last you throughout most of a day's use. However, experienced photographers are likely to be put off since you can't change aperture and shutter speed manually. Its fixed screen and lack of a viewfinder can sometimes make it difficult to take shots from unconventional angles or frame your shots at very long zoom lengths.
Our Verdict
The Nikon COOLPIX B600 is inadequate for travel photography. It can't shoot RAW images, and shutter speed and aperture can't be changed manually, resulting in a significant lack of control in the photographic process. Its autofocus performance also terrible. That said, its wide focal range should allow you to frame your shot without having to move too much. Its optical stabilization feature helps keep camera shake to an acceptable level, which is useful when snapping photos at an extended zoom length. It's also decently comfortable to operate, though its lack of a viewfinder can make framing some shots difficult.
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Fairly comfortable to use.
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Wide focal length range.
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Beginner-friendly design.
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Bulky design.
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Aperture and shutter speed can't be adjusted manually.
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Lacks a viewfinder.
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Can't shoot RAW images.
The Nikon COOLPIX B600 is passable for landscape photography. Its focal range should give you enough flexibility to capture both wide-angle and close-up shots, though the inability to adjust aperture or shutter speed and the inability to shoot RAW images are big limitations for the camera in this particular use case. It's comfortable to operate for the most part, though its fixed screen and lack of a viewfinder can make it a challenge to shoot from unconventional angles.
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Decent image stabilization performance.
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Fairly comfortable to use.
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Wide focal length range.
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Beginner-friendly design.
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Bulky design.
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Aperture and shutter speed can't be adjusted manually.
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Not water or impact resistant.
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Lacks a viewfinder.
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Can't shoot RAW images.
The Nikon COOLPIX B600 is acceptable for sports and wildlife photography. Its maximum burst shooting speed isn't particularly fast, but it does clear its buffer very quickly, so you don't have to wait too long before firing off another burst. Its long maximum focal length also helps in capturing clear photos of far-away subjects. Its optical stabilization feature also helps reduce camera shake when shooting at longer zoom lengths. There are also photo modes that you can use to help capture shots of fast-moving subjects. Unfortunately, you can't adjust shutter speed or aperture manually, which is quite limiting. Its autofocus system also struggles to maintain focus on moving subjects.
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Decent image stabilization performance.
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Fairly comfortable to use.
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Wide focal length range.
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Short buffer clearing time.
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Beginner-friendly design.
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Bulky design.
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Aperture and shutter speed can't be adjusted manually.
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Slow continuous shooting speed.
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Lacks a viewfinder.
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Can't shoot RAW images.
The Nikon COOLPIX B600 isn't for vlogging. Its fixed screen doesn't allow you to monitor yourself as you record, and its bulky design can make it a little impractical to carry handheld for long periods. It's also incapable of shooting 4k video. On the plus side, its optical stabilization feature helps it do a great job of smoothing out camera shake in FHD video.
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Great video stabilization performance.
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Bulky design.
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Aperture and shutter speed can't be adjusted manually.
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Bad video quality in FHD.
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Can only record FHD video at 30 fps.
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Fixed screen.
The Nikon COOLPIX B600 is terrible for studio video, but it isn't for this use case. It's incapable of recording 4k video, and video quality in FHD is somewhat soft and grainy, especially in less well-lit environments. Its HDMI port can also only be used for image playback and doesn't provide a live feed. There aren't any headphone or microphone ports either. You also can't swap out an SD card when the camera is mounted on a tripod. On the plus side, its menu system is fairly intuitive.
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Simple menu system.
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Limited selection of inputs and outputs.
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Aperture and shutter speed can't be adjusted manually.
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Bad video quality in FHD.
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Can only record FHD video at 30 fps.
The Nikon COOLPIX B600 isn't for action video. It's too big to mount on a chest or a helmet rig and isn't rated as either water or impact-resistant. It's incapable of recording 4k video and can't record FHD video at any other frame rate aside from 30 fps, so you can't record smooth action footage or generate slow-motion clips. That said, it smooths out camera shake to an impressive degree.
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Great video stabilization performance.
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Bulky design.
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Aperture and shutter speed can't be adjusted manually.
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Bad video quality in FHD.
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Can only record FHD video at 30 fps.
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Not water or impact resistant.
- 6.7 Travel Photography
- 6.5 Landscape Photography
- 7.0 Sport & Wildlife Photography
- 2.7 Vlogging
- 3.3 Studio Video
- 2.6 Action Video
- Updated Sep 07, 2023: We've updated the 'Sensor Type' from 'CMOS' to 'BSI CMOS'.
- Updated Apr 24, 2023: Converted to Test Bench 0.12.
- Updated Apr 12, 2023: Converted to Test Bench 0.11.
- Updated Oct 03, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 0.10.
- Updated Jul 29, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 0.9.
- Updated Apr 22, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 0.8.
- Updated Sep 13, 2021: Updated 'Clean HDMI Output' and 'Advertised Max Chroma Sampling Over HDMI' fields to show 'Playback only'.
- Updated Jun 04, 2021: Review published.
- Updated Jun 02, 2021: Early access published.
- Updated Apr 23, 2021: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Apr 22, 2021: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Nikon COOLPIX B600 is only available in one color variant: 'Black', and you can see its label here.
Let us know in the discussions if you come across another variant, and we'll update our review.
Test Results
- Body is made of plastic
- Buttons are clicky and provide good physical feedback, but feel cheap
- No command dials to make adjustments to exposure parameters
- Zoom toggle feels good
- Flash mechanism feels okay
- Input/output compartment covered by a rubber flap
- Battery and SD card slot covered by a locking hinged door
- Nikon COOLPIX B600 camera
- Shoulder strap
- Lens cap
- Lens cap string
- USB-A to UBS-B cable
- AC adapter
- 1x Nikon EN-EL12 battery
- Quick Start guide
- Well-textured grip is large and allows your fingers to move between it and the lens
- Aperture and shutter speed can't be manually adjusted while changing ISO requires you to navigate into the camera's menu system
- If you're using the camera with two hands, the secondary zoom helps keep the camera steady while zooming in
- Framing assist button reduces zoom slightly while leaving a border around the frame defined by your previous focal length, making it easier to gauge where you're pointing the camera when tightly zoomed in
- Lack of a viewfinder can make it difficult to frame your shots accurately at extended focal lengths
- You need to navigate the menu to change most picture settings, though there aren't many picture settings to choose from, to begin with
- Fixed screen makes it tricky to shoot from below the hip or above your head
- You can't change the SD card while the camera is mounted on a tripod
- Basic design of the camera makes it easy to navigate
- Location of some functions can be somewhat confusing. For instance, the vibration reduction feature is enabled through the set up menu rather than the shooting sub menu
- Transitions between shooting modes can be quite slow
- Simple guide mode can explain the fundamentals of features and functions to novice users
Note: For this test, ISO was set to ISO 125, focal length set to 30mm, and exposure bias set to +1.0. This camera only shoots images with an aspect ratio of 4:3, rather than the standard test setting of 16:9. The test results may not be fully comparable with other cameras that we've tested.
Note: This camera's battery life in video was tested by recording FHD video, as it's incapable of recording 4k video, which is the normal test procedure.
Note: Since you can't change shutter speed manually, the results obtained may not be directly comparable with other cameras that we've tested. Also, you can only achieve its max continuous shooting speed as a burst rather than true continuous shooting.
Note: Since you can't change shutter speed and aperture, the results obtained may not be directly comparable with other cameras that we've tested. The results obtained are from when the camera is set to 'Auto' mode.
Note: This camera's HDMI output doesn't provide a live feed to an external monitor or recorder, and can only be used to view photos from the camera when in playback mode.
Note: Since you can't change shutter speed and aperture manually, autofocus tracking was not measured since there was no way of achieving the depth of field used in our standard test methodology. The results obtained may not be directly comparable with other cameras that we've tested.
Note: This camera's HDMI output doesn't provide a live feed to an external monitor or recorder and can only be used to view photos from the camera when in playback mode.