Tech Toy of the Month: Nikon Coolpix P6000

It is very difficult to recommend digital cameras, as there are many factors involved in matching a digital camera to a particular individual’s picture-taking style or preferences. For the most part, an “average” user will probably never use most of the features in today’s digital cameras, if they even understand what those features accomplish. Honestly, I usually recommend to find some good values, read on-line reviews, and try to take a few pictures with the cameras before making a decision. Today’s digital cameras are almost all good enough for average users to take good-quality family or hobby pictures. So I’m not necessarily recommending this month’s Tech Toy as the camera you should buy, but I am highlighting it because of one very interesting feature.

The Nikon Coolpix P6000 is one of the first digital cameras to integrate a GPS receiver. No, the camera will not help you with directions, but it will encode your pictures with your current GPS location when you take them. This practice is a fairly new but quickly growing phenomenon called “Geotagging“. Basically, with the right software that can recognize geotag data, anyone looking at your pictures will later be able to see exactly where you were on a map when you took the picture. Certainly some people may not think this feature is anything special. But I’m sure there are people who are in the market for a digital camera that would probably buy this camera because of this feature.

Again, I’m not necessarily recommending this camera. Reviewing the specifications it seems to be a fairly good camera and would probably serve most users very well. At $499 MSRP, it might be a little pricey for many users. However, for those that do a lot of traveling I can see that geotagging their photos may be a feature they appreciate. So if you fall into that category or you know someone that does, the Nikon Coolpix P6000 may be worth checking out.

Again, if you need help purchasing your holiday technology gifts, attend our class this Tuesday, November 11th. If you can’t make the class, please contact me with any questions you may have.