This unremarkable Nikon compact is trending, here’s why and what I’d buy instead

I was surprised to find that the Nikon Coolpix S6900 was trending on Google this morning, so I decided to do a little digging. It turns out that this long-discontinued compact camera has cultivated something of a cult following over the past couple of years. So much so, a Reddit thread entitled “What is the hype about Nikon S6900?” revealed that prices were, at one time, hitting the $1,000 mark on the US used market. Like the Fujifilm X100 series, it would seem the interest was a byproduct of TikTok. Still, that’s an awful lot of money for what is a rather unremarkable compact camera.

That’s not to say I think the Nikon Coolpix S6900 is a bad camera, but there are plenty of cheaper alternatives out there. However, the S6900 does have two key features that I suspect made it stand out among the TikTok generation: a built-in, vertical and horizontal selfie stand, and a vari-angle screen. I’m no selfie taker, but I do think the stand in particular is kind of neat.

Under the hood, you get a 1/2.3-inch 16MP BSI CMOS sensor, lens-shift Vibration Reduction (Nikon’s proprietary image stabilization), a 25mm to 300mm (equivalent) optical zoom, doubled via the digital zoom. The video maxes out at full HD / 60i.

Selfie takers can also take advantage of a few in-camera processing options, which camera phone users will be all too familiar with. Glamour Mode features four effects, such as Skin Softening and Vividness. Selective Softening allows the user to draw (via the touchscreen) around the subject, with the camera blurring the rest of the scene. And finally, Self-Collage, which allows you to take multiple images for the camera to turn into a collage, so you can capture a photo-booth style collection of shots.

Thankfully, those aforementioned price hikes seem to have fallen a bit, with used prices sitting around the $400 / £300 mark at the time of writing. That said, many of the used cameras I’m seeing are from Japan- or China-based sellers, so they’re not particularly easy to get hold of in the US, UK, or Australia. I’ve found a few examples on the Australian used market, sitting at over AU$1,000.

So, what are the alternatives? Well, perhaps the best like-for-like alternative on the market right now are the new Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A / Ixus 285 HS A. These little compacts boast a similar form factor, are built around a higher-resolution 20.2MP, 1/2.3-inch BSI CMOS sensor. You get the same 25-300mm optical focal length, a longer 48x digital zoom, slightly smoother full HD / 30p video, and even a closer 1cm minimum-focus distance (the Nikon’s is 2cm).

Now, if you are willing to pay big bucks for a compact camera, you’d be far better off opting for the famed Fujifilm X100VI or the Ricoh GR IV. Both cameras boast larger APS-C sensors that are higher resolution, so you can expect better low-light capabilities and image quality. Crucially, they both allow you to shoot RAW, meaning you can extract as much data as possible from the sensor, which is beneficial when editing.

Most people will probably agree that the Fujifilm X100VI looks cooler; it also has a higher-resolution 40.2MP sensor and much better video specs than the Ricoh, which can’t even capture 4K. However, the Ricoh is smaller, cheaper, and enjoys a loyal cult following from some very serious street photographers. Ultimately, you can’t go wrong with either.

You might also like...

Got a compact or two sitting around? It might be worth a fortune. If I had to choose a new compact camera, the Ricoh GR IIIx gets my vote! And if you're looking for your first camera, check out the best cameras for beginners.