Hot off the press today, Nikon announces its latest line up of new compact digital cameras. At the head of the list is the slimmest camera yet, the 14.2 mega pix Coolpix S8000
“Nikon UK today announces the world’s slimmest wide angle 10x zoom camera, the S8000. One of its new range of COOLPIX cameras launching this spring, this stylish, high performance camera with HD video measures just 27.3mm thin.
The COOLPIX S8000 is perfect for those wanting a camera that delivers excellent quality photographs without having to carry a bulky camera or spend time to adjust settings. It’s easy to use with a range of automatic settings, including four advanced anti-blur functions, provides 14.2 megapixels and with a fast start-up time and DSLR class AF system it’s ready in an instant. And when a picture won’t quite capture the action, you can immediately record an HD video using the dedicated video button. The high-definition (HD) movie function with stereo sound offers a resolution of 720p and will capture all of the action at an impressive 30 frames per second.
Mark Pekelharing, Product Line Manager Consumer Products at Nikon Europe B.V comments: “All the features in this camera, from the wide angle 10x zoom NIKKOR ED glass lens to the four anti-blur reduction functions, have been brought together to give the best experience while taking pictures. It’s for those who don’t want to spend time getting to know the ins and outs of a camera but do want to get it out in all situations and take the best pictures. The portability of the slim body is essential to this, as well as its incredibly quick response time, so when you see that perfect shot on the LCD monitor, that’s what you’ll get as the final picture.”
As with all new products, there is always a certain amount of ‘fluff’ in the sales blurb, and as soon as real people get hold of one of these cameras, I’ll be pestering for some full resolution pics to play with, just to see just how good they are. My ethos has always been, that taking a great picture has nothing to do with the camera (within reason), but everything to do with the photographer. On my D80 or Carolines D40, I use no more fluffy features than I did on my 35+ year old Nikkormat FT3 and that amounts to no auto modes, just the shutter release, seriously, that’s all you need to take good pictures.
So, if you already have a good compact, doing the job that you want it to, be careful before parting money on something that may be no better than what you already have. 14 mega pix is a huge amount of resolution, and dare I say, completely irrelevant for most people. My D80 has 8 mp (I think) and the D40 much less. I can produce A4 prints from both, no problem at all. So, in turn, it will come as no surprise that 14 mp does not impress. What is important is the quality of the picture, and no sales fluff can substitute from seeing real pictures.
As soon as dpreview has a chance to see how good the new line-up of cameras really are, and I’ve had a chance to check out some real pictures, I’ll post again. It looks like the price could be in the region of £250 and it could be that these cameras are the greatest thing since sliced bread, we shall see.
Nikon say the new models should hit the streets by mid February.
