Nikon Slims S-Series Compacts

Two slim new compacts from Nikon will be available from next month, with the Coolpix S4000 and S3000 models landing in March.

Successors to the Coolpix S230 and S220 models, the new compact digitals utilise a touch-screen panel, a 12-megapixel sensor, and a 27mm 4X zoom lens. The S4000 model also throws in HD video recording capabilities.

The touchscreen features a redesigned graphical user interface, which includes a touch shutter and slider adjustment for white balance. They’re also pretty compact for a compact, with the S3000 only 19mm deep.

Avaialable in eight colours, there’s still no word on local pricing and availability, but keep reading D-Photo for more details.

Nikon Coolpix P90 Digital Camera

Experience even closer encounters with Nikons Coolpix P90, with 12.1 effective megapixels and an incredible 24x optical Zoom-NIKKOR ED glass lens for stunning prints as large as 16×20 inches. The camera’s bright, 3.0-inch high-resolution vari-angle LCD and Electronic Viewfinder make it easy to compose and share your pictures. And Nikons new 4 Way VR Image Stabilization makes incredible pictures incredibly easy. Nikons New Smart Portrait System, which automatically detects your subjects face, takes a picture when they smile and warns you if they blinked.

Ashton Kutcher Nikon TV Commercial

Nikon signed Ashton Kutcher to star in TV ads to promote their new Nikon CoolPix cameras.

Nikon CoolPix Commercial

commercial for Nikon CoolPix 2100.

Nikon Coolpix P90 – Review – 30

Harley Ogier gets to grips with a new hybrid camera from Nikon that blends dSLR looks with the ease of use of a compact

A renowned manufacturer of professional and amateur dSLR cameras, Nikon also produces a respectable range of digital compacts. The P90 is a mix of the two, packing a digital compact camera into a lightweight dSLR-style body.

Construction

The P90 has a solid look and feel reminiscent of Nikon’s high-end dSLR family. The construction is good, with metal screen hinges, strap loops and a metal tripod socket. Rubber finger and thumb pads make the grip particularly comfortable, and the controls are smooth and responsive.

The lens is protected by a solid cap with a good locking mechanism to prevent it falling off in transit. The camera will refuse to power on if the lens cap is in place — an annoyance if you just want to view images, but a power saver if something hits the start button inside your bag.

Image quality

Image quality is good for a digital compact, with sharp edges and vivid colours. In high-contrast situations the colour depth can be amazing, and the P90 is the best compact camera with which I’ve ever shot a sunset.

Despite a large, quality Nikon lens, the P90 has a tiny 1/2.33-inch 12 megapixel image sensor. That many pixels in a small sensor is going to result in noise, especially when the lights dim. The P90’s lens does provide great zoom, but it’s not going to give you dSLR performance.

Modes

The P90 offers a wide range of shooting modes, including the full range of manual modes not found on lower 
end compacts (aperture priority, shutter priority, program and full manual). The preset shooting modes 
are definitely useful, and the manual modes provide access to a number of optional settings that aren’t usually visible.

Choosing the right mode for your scene can make a huge difference, more so than on many digital compacts where the auto mode can handle pretty much anything.

Viewfinder

The P90 features a variable-angle LCD monitor. It doesn’t swing around horizontally and nor can it be flipped closed as seen on several Canon models, but it does provide a good range of vertical adjustment. This is a real help when shooting from above or below eye level. The LCD’s resolution isn’t great, but images do appear sharp and colours are true.

The electronic viewfinder (EVF) is equal in quality to the monitor, though you can make out individual pixels when it’s right up against your eye. The EVF does provide dioptre adjustment, which some compact cameras such as the Pentax X70 do not. The bespectacled may find this a major advantage, as the EVF certainly has its uses.

Conclusion

Nikon’s Coolpix P90 offers a wide range of features and a zoom level uncommon among digital compact cameras. It’s not ideal for those who never leave the auto mode but makes a great choice for photographers who love to delve into manual settings yet don’t want to stretch to dSLR hardware.

NIKON COOLPIX P90 – Specifications

• Manufacturer: Nikon

• Model: Coolpix P90

• Effective Pixels: 12.1 million

• Lens: 4.6-110.4mm (35mm equivalent 26-624mm)

• Viewfinder: 0.24-inch TFT LCD, 230,000 dots, dioptre adjustment

• Monitor: 3.0-inch variable angle TFT LCD, 230,000 dots

• Shutter: 1/2000 to 8 seconds

• Aperture: f2.8-f5.0

• ISO: 64-6400

• Shooting Modes: Auto, scene, scene auto selector, P, S, A, and M exposure modes, best shot selector, optimize image, flash exposure compensation, noise reduction, distortion control, date imprint, black border, movie mode, sport continuous mode, voice memo, voice recording

• Exposure Metering: 256-segment matrix, centre-weighted, spot, spot AF area

• Focus Modes: Auto (9-area automatic selection), centre, manual, face priority

• Internal Memory: ~47MB

• Media: SD

• File Format: JPEG, AVI, WAV

• Flash: Built-in popup

• Interface: USB, composite 
video out

• Batteries: Rechargeable Lithium-ion, approx 200 images

• Dimensions: 114 x 83 x 99mm

• Weight: 490g with battery

Contact

www.nikon.co.nz

PROS

• High image quality

• Variable-angle LCD

CONS

• Some issues with noise

Design                      19
Performance             17
Features                   18
Image Quality           17
Value for money       17

TOTAL     88/100

This article if from D-Photo issue 30.

Nikon Coolpix P80 Review – 25

A long time coming

Nikon has been sitting on its hands for the last couple of years, ignoring the Coolpix range to concentrate on producing an enviable series of dSLRs. The good thing about this is that the P80 has benefitted from technology developed for the big boys’ toys that has now filtered down to this model.

The same Expeed processing technology Nikon used in the D300 and D60 models is also handling images in the P80. It produces faultless images throughout the 18x zoom, with superb colour rendition and tonal range. How Nikon has bundled all this in such a petite body is anyone’s guess.

Bag of tricks

If you are familiar with how to take pictures then you’ll be pleased to use this camera in the advanced settings. Aperture and shutter priority are a snap thanks to the wheel by your thumb, which allows you to scroll through shutter speeds or apertures effortlessly.

Even in program mode you can alter the shutter speed/aperture combination with the wheel, and in full manual you simply choose your shutter speed then press the right button on the rear cursor to select and alter the aperture.

Those who find this too time consuming and just want to up and shoot can happily use the Easy mode or one of the scene settings. Portrait mode automatically selects face detect and, when you switch the dial round to sport, the camera instantly slips the drive mode into continuous so you can grab a series of images.

Wide angle, long zoom

The 18x optical zoom starts at an impressive wide angle 27mm and stretches out to 486mm telephoto. This range will happily see you capturing both naturally lit interior shots and landscapes.

The flash offers subtle fill for wide-angle images and going the distance for telephoto shots. If there is something Nikon does very well it is flash photography.

Good vibration

Vibration Reduction is Nikon’s image stabilizing system. It is a useful weapon to combat the camera shake that is easy to get the further you zoom this big lens. Just remember to turn it off when you mount the camera on a tripod, otherwise you’ll feel it trying to do its thing.

Conclusion

The Coolpix P80 offers a winning combination of features to meet every need. I could happily carry this little gem all day every day. The images are sharp and well defined and it comes with a 1GB card — which has got to be good news for those who want to keep on snapping. 

Specs

Manufacturer: Nikon

Model: Coolpix P80

Price: $649

Effective Pixels: 10.1 million

Lens: 18x optical 4.7 – 84.2mm (27 – 486mm in 35mm terms)

Viewfinder: Electronic

Monitor: 2.7-inch TFT LCD (230,000 pixels)

Shutter: 8sec – 1/2000 sec

Aperture: f2.8 – f4.5

ISO: Auto, high ISO, fixed range ISO, 64 – 6400

Exposure Metering: 256 segment matrix, centre-weighted, spot, spot AF area

Focus Modes: Face priority, auto – nine-area automatic selection, centre, manual with 99 focus areas

Media: SD, SDHC, 50MB internal memory

File Format: JPEG, AVI, WAV

Flash: Built-in

Interface: USB

Batteries: Lithium-ion rechargeable

Dimensions: 110 x 79 x 78mm

Weight: 365g

Contact

www.nikon.co.nz

Rating

Pros 

• Compact size
• Time lapse movie
• VR stabilizer
• 27mm wide angle

Cons

• Slow shutter speed of only 8sec

Nikon Coolpix P4 Review – 012

Form And Function

Although it doesn’t have the twiggy dimensions of the Pentax A10, or the huge zoom range of the Panasonic TZ1, the P4 offers more pixels and has Nikon’s answer to unwanted camera movement, the Vibration Reduction (VR) system.

The shutter release and VR controls are positioned on top of the camera. The VR device has two sensors that detect movement on the vertical axis (pitching) and horizontal axis (yawing). Called Angular Velocity Sensors, they feed valuable movement information to a microprocessor that then translates the movement and adjusts the VR lens as needed. Diagonal movement is calculated by taking the readings of both sensors.

The VR lens is adjusted by two VCM (voice coil motors), which move the lens in the opposite direction to the movement. This system is so clever it makes adjustments right up until the moment the shutter button is depressed and then centralises the VR lens for optimal focus at the exact moment of exposure. How cool is that?

Normal Or Active?

There are two different operations: VR Normal and VR Active. The Normal mode takes into consideration horizontal or vertical panning movement and the Active option settles more severe movement, but will not detect panning movement. Like the other cameras, you are given the option to turn the VR system on and off.

Setting Preferences

This camera goes a step further than the others because it has both Program and Aperture Priority as alternatives to the ‘Auto’ setting – perfect for those who like more control. There are a number of picture modes available on the P4, including Nikon’s slick Panorama setting, plus Portrait and Face Priority settings.

Face Priority sets the focus point on your subject’s face. It gives you a target area that searches for all the ingredients needed for a face – eyes, mouth, nose, flesh-coloured pixels – then hones in on that part of the screen. It’s really cool, but can be a little slow in operation. There is a choice of two settings, one that recognises the face and makes the skin tones brighter and more dominant, while the other softens the focus.

What’s This?

When surfing through the icons in the scene menu, have you ever wondered what one of the little symbols means? Nikon has simplified the process by allowing you to access a help menu just by pressing the telephoto side of the zoom control. You can just summon the help menu when you encounter an icon that has two options when selected.

This menu may work well within the scene menu, but what do you do when you have to decide between the five flash settings? That’s when you should have read and memorised the handbook! The P4’s handbook makes good reading and it has examples of when you need to use each function. At only 128 pages, it’s a lot easier to read than War and Peace.

If you’re a world traveller, you’ll appreciate the world clock that lets you set the time and date for New Zealand and then select a destination. Simply change over to your destination in flight and the time will be correct when you get there. Deleting images can be a hassle, but Nikon has made this straightforward too. Instead of heading through and deleting each one individually, you have the ability to delete based on date or by choosing a selection of images.

Conclusion

The Nikon P4 is a great camera. However, if you’re using a wireless network and want all the same features, then you may want to check out the Wi-Fi-enabled Coolpix P3.