Sorry for the late coverage, but we had equipment issues here at Officia de byThom that needed a lot of attending to today.
So, Nikon's first 2010 announcement: the expected Coolpix refresh. Here in the US we get 7 new models:
- S8000: 14mp, 30-300mm (10x) zoom, 3" 921k dot LCD, 720P/30, VR, US$299, black, red, bronze, silver.
- S6000: 14mp, 28-196mm (7x) zoom, 2.7" 230k dot LCD, VR, US$249, silver, red, black, or bronze.
- S4000: 12mp, 27-108mm (4x) zoom, 3" 460k dot LCD, 720P/24, VR, US$199, black, silver, red, pink, plum.
- S3000: 12mp, 27-108mm (4x) zoom, 2.7" 230k dot LCD, VGA movie/30, VR, US$149, silver, black, plum, blue, green, orange.
- P100: 10.3mp backside illuminated sensor, 26-678mm (26x) zoom, 3" 460k dot LCD, 1080P/30, multiple VR, US$399, black only.
- L110: 12mp, 28-420mm (15x) zoom, 3" 460k dot LCD, 720P/30, dual VR, US$279, black, plum.
- L22: 12mp, 37-134mm (3.6x) zoom, 3" 230k dot LCD, VGA movie/30, US$129, silver, black, blue, plum.
The sarcastic crowd would say: more numbers in the model names, some heavy anorexia in the body size coupled with big zooms that stick way out, plus more colors.
More seriously: it's nice to see BSS (best shot selector) making a wide appearance again, and Nikon is claiming fast startup and focus. The back side illuminated sensor makes its way into the performance line (it was badly needed), and Nikon seems to still be playing the "more pixels" game at the low end of their lineup. There's a lot of mumbo jumbo in the press releases about low light ability, but we need to see the cameras in action at high ISO values before we get too excited about that. I'll be very surprised if any of these cameras can match a Canon S90.
What's interesting are some of the sub-choices: more 720P movie capabilities, though mostly at 30 fps, with the P100 becoming Nikon's first 1080P camera! Yes, that seems strange, but it's mostly due to sensors and the base designs that Nikon is using. The dot-pitch on the LCDs is all over the board, but I suspect that is attempts at hitting price points while still trying to use as few parts as possible.
I have to say, though, for a line that's labeled "Style," I'm just not seeing it on Nikon's new compacts. If anything, the overly large lettering on the casing around the lens on the two high-end models looks cheap to me. Also, the last time I looked, "rectangular box" was the most basic shape I could pull up on my CAD program. Just because it's "slimmest in its class" doesn't mean much. Indeed, I suspect these new models have the same problem the Canon S90 has: you need a grip point on the front of the camera and don't have it.