The Nikon Coolpix S3000 is definitely a digital camera that leads with its price tag.

And given that it’s a price tag of $199, there’s no doubt which market Nikon is aiming to hit with the S3000 - namely, first-time digital camera purchasers or anyone who needs nothing more than the most basic of cameras.

The good news is that in this case, cheap does not equal nasty. In fact, the S3000 performs quite well for a budget point-and-shoot digital camera. For starters, it doesn’t look or feel cheap - it’s finished in brushed metal and comes in a range of eye-catching colours.

Then there is the image quality, which isn’t bad at all for a $199 camera, thanks to the 12-megapixel sensor. Naturally, it isn’t as good as what you’d expect from a higher-end compact, but it still handles most shooting environments well.

The feature set is also decent, but not brilliant, and includes a 27mm wide-angle lens with 4x optical zoom and a selection of shooting modes (automatic, scene, smart portrait, subject tracking and movie mode).

The Nikon Coolpix S3000 is available in Australia now.

Buy a cheap Nikon digital camera on sale in Australia

By Caroline Warnes