Nikon COOLPIX S6500 16 MP Digital Camera with 12x Zoom and Built-In Wi-Fi (Black)

I bought this camera to have one I could slide in a shirt pocket. I have a D90 Nikon and just didn't want to lug it with me on a trip I was taking. I like Nikon quality and this camera had all the features id expect from a good camera. The 12x zoom is one of the features that i was wanting. Since returning from my trip and using the camera i can say i picked the right one. The quality of pics are outstanding, the ease of use, the compactness makes this a very nice camera to have handy. I take it with me now everywhere i go. I grab for it now instead of my phone, although my phone takes nice pics it doesn't have the zoom ability that the S6500 has and that is mostly the plus for this little camera. I gave it a five star because it roamed across Europe with me for a week and never missed a beat. I got a good one. Thanks Amazon! Your prices are the best too.

ORIGINAL: This is only my second outing with this camera and I am severely disappointed. It takes pictures fine, but when I click to view my pictures, the camera freezes and the screen goes black. The lenses stays out, and the camera won't respond to anything until I remove the battery and restart it. Don't have my laptop on vacation with me so I'm not even sure if the pictures are being saved yet. Guess I'll be using my phone camera after all. UPDATED: Although I had used my camera before with no issue, and although my memory card works just fine on my fugi waterproof camera, my problem was resolved by replacing the memory card. I have not had another problem since switching the cards. I upgraded the rating from one star to four stars. I am still upset that I had this issue to begin with. Pictures turn out fine. I don't like the fact that the camera prompts me turn off silent mode when I turn on the flash. I do like the color of the camera. Pictures turn out fine, nothing spectacular but does the job.

A really good camera works great everything is in good condition

I bought this camera for a trip to Europe. What I was mainly looking for was a small size that was comfortable to carry around. I was also looking for decent zoom for when I took pictures of landmarks and vistas, especially when I wanted to get the details in the work. At the same time, I wanted something that could focus quickly, and overall had a quick learning curve. I have to say I was quite impressed with the camera. I was a little unsure at first but it really takes nice pictures especially for the price. Playing around with it for a few days really taught what certain buttons did, what settings applied depending on the lighting. I was really surprised by the retouching software that comes in the camera. Its kind of fun to play around with and if used lightly it can really have a nice realistic effect since it does things like reduce redness in skin, increase eye size, change face size, etc. One of things I did not like was the fact that the camera is charged by connecting a cable from an outlet directly to the camera. I would have preferred a wall charger for the camera so I could have a spare battery charging while using the camera for taking pictures. While the battery has decent battery life, when I was out sightseeing, I had to be conscious about not keeping the camera turned on so that I did not inadvertently drain the battery. But overall a very nice camera and really serves its purpose for taking great pictures.

I bought the Nikon COOLPIX S6500 for a recently completed trip to Europe. It performed exactly as I expected. I have a Canon EOS Rebel but didn't want to lug around that big of a camera since this was a bus tour of multiple countries and I want to travel as light as possible. I kept the camera in my pocket and discovered if you put a couple heavy-duty rubber bands on it it's easy to grab and won't slide out of your pocket. (That also helps foil Europe's ever-present pick pockets...) Other reviews have noted that they were annoyed because after every shot the Quick Effects screen precludes a quick second picture. If you SLIGHTLY depress the trigger button when the Quick Effects screen appears it will disappear just as quickly, enabling a relatively fast second shot. My only issue with the camera was the relatively short battery life, but that's solved by having a second/backup battery. Now, if I can just remember to carry the backup battery with me -- rather than leaving it on the bus as I did on three occasions -- I would have had no issues at all. But that problem certainly wasn't the camera/batteries fault. It's an excellent lightweight travel camera that takes amazingly good pictures.

I purchased this camera from previous familiarity and satisfaction with Nikon products. After recently deciding how useful one of these small cameras would be for my work purposes I decided to buy one of the Coolpix cameras. This in itself is quite a chore as Nikon seems to have endless models of this camera. I decided to get a fairly inexpensive one since it was going to be used a lot out in the field. This one was available through Beach Camera for a great deal on a refurbished model. The camera looks and performs like new, in fact I have been using this camera now for about two months and the battery charge is still nearly full after 100's of photos. The picture quality turns out quite well also, with the photos being clear. I would recommend this camera for anyone that needs a compact camera that has decent capabilities and takes quality photos and has a very reasonable price tag.

UPDATE: (Edit 2/2015): The price of this camera has dropped quite a bit since I originally wrote this review when the camera was still new. Given the low price now, my review might come across as overly critical. I still like and use this camera. My main critique had to do with the misleading WI-FI feature. It seems to be (partly thanks to reviews like this one) that this is more well known now. I think that this camera at the current price is a very good deal for what you do get. If you want a camera with true Wi-FI it is going to cost you, but there are some nice ones around now such as the Samsung Galaxy's. (end of update) If you want to buy this for the wi-fi feature, dont bother, or at least make sure that you understand what this feature really is. I wanted a wi-fi capable camera. I saw this one and was drawn to it's name. The word "wi-fi" is prominent right there in it's name, appearing even before the word "camera". Nikon COOLPIX S6500 Wi-Fi Digital Camera. That's why I was disappointed to learn what that really means (or rather doesn't mean). No you can't use this "wi-fi" camera to shoot pics and upload them to the net, cloud storage, social media or anything like that at all. You cannot connect this wi-fi camera to your home network or any network, let alone the internet. What Nikon means when they say "wi-fi camera" is that it connects to your smart phone and then you can transfer pics to it wirelessly. In a sense that sounds something like a Bluetooth connection, but If I wanted a camera with blue-tooth I would have shopped for a camera with blue-tooth. What this does is turn into a "hot-spot" that you connect your smartphone to just as you would browse for routers or hot-spots and connect to them. You just connect to your camera instead. This is how it is supposed to work in theory any way, but I have yet to be able to actually connect my Motorola Droid 3 to the wi-fi camera. If that sounds like a wi-fi camera to you, then you might not be dissapointed (or if you don't care about having a real "wi-fi camera." I'm not reviewing the rest of the camera since that is done well enough by others here and on the photography sites. Yes, it's small, cute, stylish looking (I chose the orange color which is quite nice) and takes great pics especially given it's size and price. I want this review to strictly highlight the wi-fi issue. Another thing to be aware of is that it is very small and might even feel awkward for some, so I'd suggest a hand-on at a brick and mortar store before purchase. Yes it deserves more than 3 stars on the camera itself and I am partly to blame for not thoroughly vetting this before ordering (the low price-point had a lot to do with that and admittedly that in itself should had tipped me off. I feel though the harsh deduction is justified given the labeling "Wi-Fi Camera" and lack of clear information on just what that actually means.

The only thing that met my expectations was the review in Consumer Reports that stated there were "a great many complaints about this camera". The only good thing was the size; that, and it was a Nikon ... the reason for my purchase. I understand just about all cameras are made in China, which fact made me wary. But I trusted Nikon quality control. And then: The zoom froze often and the only way to "unfreeze" it was to remove and replace the battery. I had the camera two weeks and it began recording a single photo at least 70 times. The auto-focus worked sometimes. The IT Department at Victoria Falls Hotel in Victoria Falls, South Africa were good enough to examine the camera for me. They said, and I quote, "when you get home remove the memory card and try to download the pictures. You can try to shoot more pictures, but there are no guarantees. Above all, do NOT try to look at what you've taken, or tried to take, or the camera will stop working altogether. When you've removed the memory card, get rid of the camera. It's a piece of junk." I did as advised. Fortunately, I had bought a warranty, over and above the one year manufacturer's warranty. Nikon sent it to Luxtech, their "authorized" repair shop. Luxtech informed me that even though they had found several manufacturing defects, somehow, without explanation, the Nikon guarantee had been "voided" in it's entirety. Luxtech instructed me to "accept" their offer to fix it, or "refuse"... if I chose to have them fix it, it would cost me, out of pocket, nearly $100. If I refused, they demanded I pay to have my camera returned;. At the advice of the warranty people, I neither accepted nor refused their "offer" and requested my camera be returned to me. They refused to do so unless I paid the cost of the return. Fortunately, the warranty company picked up that cost. What is heartbreaking to me is that since my Kodak Baby Brownie, I have had nothing but Nikons. Nikon meant quality. I had four of them. I was a very loyal Nikon user. Now, given my experience with the COOLPIX, I will never again purchase a Nikon. As far as I'm concerned, they have destroyed their brand. I am deeply disappointed,