Pixiq

Nikon announced today that it is letting loose two new compact cameras a little later this autumn. First up will be the Coolpix P7000, which is due to go on sale on 23 September; followed by the Coolpix S80 on 7 October. Whilst the P7000 is a camera that pitches itself dSLR users who want a smaller alternative, or compact users who aren’t quite ready to make the leap to a dSLR, the S80 is the slim, stylish, touch-screen number.

The P7000 is really being pushed as a low-light-friendly camera, making use of a 10.1 megapixel sensor together with an EXPEED C2 image processing system, an ISO range from 100 to 3,200 that can be bumped up again to the equivalent of 6,400, a low noise night mode, and a noise reduction function, just to make sure. Helping to capture all of this is a wide-angle 7.1x optical zoom NIKKOR lens with a 28-200mm range, and of course, manual controls.

And to help you make the most of the lens’ capabilities, there’s a zoom memory: you can pre-set six different focal lengths and switch between them at will. The screen is a 7.5cm LCD number complete with horizon level, although there’s an optical view-finder in case it might be needed.

You can edit your pictures in-camera, but if you prefer to shoot them RAW and export them for editing, you can do that, too. And for when stills just aren’t what you want, there’s an HD movie-recording function.

This baby will be going on sale for £489.99.

Slightly cheaper, at £329.99, is the S80, which seems to be all about making picture-taking easy. This one comes with touch-screen capabilities to both take pictures and video as well as scroll through the shots that you’ve already snapped using its 5x optical zoom lens.

The S80 is touch-screen-tastic

There’s an easy auto function so that the camera can do all the thinking, but plenty of toys—such as a fisheye filter and a miniature effect—for fun. And to help out whoever is behind the lens, there’re five anti-blur features, including anti-vibration and motion-detection functions.

So, would you prefer it in black or red?

Plenty more details on both the P7000 and the S80 over at Nikon.