Nikon Takes Wraps Off of New Digicams

Eight. Count 'em, eight slick new digicams from Nikon. Introduced today, all will ship in the next two months, in time for the holiday buying season, and all include Nikon's new Expeed image processing system.

Notable among this batch of new cameras: The $330 Coolpix S51 (below), Nikon's latest stab at a wireless camera (the camera is also available sans Wi-Fi as the S51c, for $280). This model boasts 8.1 megapixels, a 3-inch LCD screen, 3X Nikkor zoom lens, optical Vibration Reduction for stabilizing images, and up to 1600 ISO. The camera's special shooting features include a panorama assist mode and continuous shot sports mode. A new picture mail button on the unit makes it easy send images.

In a demo, Nikon showed me how this camera's software dramatically streamlines connecting to a wireless network, as compared with previous iterations of Nikon's wireless cameras, which required as many as 13 steps. The S51 finds the SSID automatically, and can send both images and now videos wirelessly; or, you can upload images to various services, including Flickr and Nikon's own My Picturetown service (2GB for free; after March 1, the company will offer up to 20GB of storage for $2.99 a month). A free 6-month subscription to T-Mobile's HotSpot service comes with the camera, a $120 value.

Personally, I'll be interested to take the S51 for a spin and see how quickly it can transmit photos. I'll also be interested to see what kind of a drain Wi-Fi makes on the camera's battery. I tend to be a high-volume shooter, so battery life is an important factor for me.

Nikon also announced six other models: (From left to right below) the 8.1 megapixel Coolpix S510; the 12.1 megapixel Coolpix S700; the 12.1 megapixel Coolpix P5100; the 8.1 megapixel P50 (with 3.6X optical zoom lens that ranges from 28-102); the entry-level, $150 Coolpix L14 (with 3.9-inch macro mode--great for holding the camera out with one hand and taking shots of yourself and friends with the other--and support for up to 1000 shots on two AA eLithium Energizer batteries); and the $180 Coolpix L15.

Several new technologies across these models include reduced startup times, optical vibration reduction (S5100, P50, L15), 16:9 aspect ratio (S510, S700, S5100), and an enhanced Face Priority autofocus system (S510, S700). The new face priority system can find up to 12 faces in a frame, and will focus on a subject's face prior to shooting the picture.

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