Nikon Launches Coolpix P7000, S8100 and S80 Compact Cameras

It's been awhile since Nikon last updated its Coolpix range of cameras. And this time Nikon launched three new cameras targeting different class of consumers - Coolpix P7000, S81 and S8100.

The Coolpix P7000 is a 10.1 MP camera with CCD sensor that offers full manual controls. This will rival the high-end point and shoot like the PowerShot G11 from Canon or Panasonic Lumix L5. It has a dSLR-feel and design but in a compact body. It has a Nikkor lens ( 28-200mm, 7.1x optical zoom and f/2.8-5.6), a 3-inch LCD with 921k color dots). It has a RAW shooting mode, optical viewfinder, 720p video recording with HDMI-out. There is a pop-flash, built-in stereo-mic and a hot shoe in the top for external flash and mic-jack. The Nikon Coolpix S8100 costs $499.95 ( Rs. 23,400 approx.) and will be available in US this month.

Moving into the touchscreen bandwagon, the Nikon Coolpix S80 is the company's flagship touchscreen model that has a horizontal design unlike many sliders we have seen which has vertical-slide design. It is a 14.1MP camera with 5x optical zoom (35- 175mm) lens. The lens though is digitally stabilized. The camera uses a 3.5-inch OLED screen that has as many as 819k dots. Apart from the many features, the S80 can shoot 720p HD video with HDMI-out feature. The Coolpix S80 will sell for S329.95 ( Rs. 15, 454 approx) and will be available in red, black, blue, pink, gold, and silver or brown.

Last on the list is the Nikon Coolpix S8100 which is a travel compact zoom camera and a replacement for the Coolpix S8000. The S8100 has a new backside-illuminated 12MP CMOS sensor for better low-light performance. It has a 10fps burst shooting mode at full resolution and also has a Sport Continuous mode that shoots 120 fps at smaller resolution. The camera has a 10x optical zoom lens ( 30mm - 300mm) with hybrid image stabilization, a 921k dots 3-inch display. One big upgrade from the S8000 is its ability to shoot 1080p video. The Coolpix S8100 will sell for $300 ( Rs. 14,000 approx) in US and will be available in black, gold and red.