Photo Review Reviews section

Nikon Coolpix S8

7.5 Rating

A smart-looking, solidly-built, slimline digicam for snapshooters and travellers.Only 20mm thick at its widest point, Nikon’s 7.1-megapixel Coolpix S8 is almost shirt-pocketable and very smartly designed. Its metal body has a semi-matte finish with a gentle curve on one side to accommodate your fingers when you’re shooting. The 3x optical zoom lens tucks inot the top corner of the camera body behind a metal cover so you must guard against including the fingertips of your left hand in shots. A 2.5-inch, high-resolution LCD covers two thirds of the rear panel, leaving little room for the button controls, most of which are tiny! But no viewfinder is provided.

Nikon Coolpix S510

8.5 Rating

An affordable, well-built, pocketable digicam that offers a useful set of features for snapshooters.Nikon’s Coolpix S510 features an 8.1-megapixel CCD image sensor and 3x optical zoom lens plus a 2.5-inch, high-resolution LCD monitor with anti-reflection coating. Targeted at point-and-shoot photographers this model supports Nikon’s Face-priority AF, In-Camera Red-Eye Fix and D-Lighting functions. It’s one of the first digicams to use a similar EXPEED image processor to Nikon’s latest DSLR cameras, which claims fast response times and lower noise at high sensitivity settings.

Nikon Coolpix S700

8.5 Rating

A high-resolution, slimline digicam with features and performance that will suit snapshooters.Nikon’s Coolpix S700 has many of the same features as the Coolpix S510 model – including the EXPEED image processor – but sports a higher-resolution (12.1 megapixels effective) image sensor and larger LCD monitor. Its zoom lens covers a marginally longer focal length range (equivalent to 37-111mm in 35mm format) and supports closer focusing than the S510. Designed primarily for snapshooters, it’s available in ‘Titanium Silver’ and ‘Urban Black’.

Nikon Coolpix S4

8.5 Rating

“Twist-and-shoot” convenience, above-average picture quality and use of AA batteries make this long-zoom lens camera a good choice for travellers.Nikon has returned to ‘twist-and-shoot’ styling for its 6-megapixel Coolpix S4 camera, which is the first ‘slimline’ model with a long zoom lens. With a maximum aperture of f/3.5, the 38-380mm (equivalent) lens is relatively fast and it’s partnered with a 2.5-inch LCD monitor to allow easy shot composition. The lens isn’t stabilised, although electronic vibration reduction is available in Movie mode. No viewfinder is provided.

Olympus E-620

8.3 Rating

A compact, lightweight DSLR camera with built-in image stabilisation and a wide range of adjustable functions.Positioned between the E-520 and the E-30, the new Olympus E-620 is another ‘in-betweener’ model offering features from both cameras. Claimed as the smallest and lightest DSLR with built-in image stabilisation it is smaller by roughly 12 mm in all dimensions and almost 250 grams lighter than the E-30. Despite having the same 12.3-megapixel High-Speed Live MOS Sensor and TruePic III+ image processing engine as the E-30 the E-620 lacks much of the finesse of the higher-priced model.

Nikon D7000

8.8 Rating

A new pro-sumer-level Nikon DX-format DSLR body that offers durability and functionality for serious photographers.Nikon’s widely anticipated D7000 slots into the company’s range between the popular D90 and D300s models. A tempting upgrade for D90 owners, it features a 16.2-megapixel (effective) sensor, new EXPEED 2 image processor and expanded sensitivity range that reaches up to ISO 25,600. A new AF system uses 39 focus points, including 9 cross-type sensors in the centre, while a new 2016-pixel RGB metering sensor underpins the built-in Scene Recognition System.

Nikon D700

9 Rating

Nikon’s second FX-format DSLR combines the D3’s image quality with the D300’s handling characteristics and functionality.Nikon’s D700 is positioned between the ‘pro-sumer’ D300 and the professional D3 models and is the second Nikon DSLR with an FX-format (35mm sized) CMOS sensor. Like the D3 it can use lenses designed for both FX and DX formats and will automatically recognise a DX lens when it is fitted. However, while the D3 includes a 5:4 aspect ratio crop measuring 30 x 24mm, the D700 offers two image area selections: FX format (36 x 24mm) and DX format (24 x 16 mm).

Nikon D60

9 Rating

An entry-level DSLR with many features to help novice users but also a good set of manual controls.Nikon is touting its D60 model as ‘one of the smallest Nikon digital SLRs ever’. Released less than a year after the slightly lighter D40, it’s identical in size and also the same size and weight as D40x that followed. It also has the same 10.2-megapixel CCD sensor and a very similar feature set to the D40x. The review camera was supplied with the new AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens, which will be bundled with the camera body and sports a built-in Silent Wave Motor and Vibration Reduction.

Nikon D40X

8.5 Rating

A high-resolution DSLR camera for everyday photographers with most of the same features as the popular D40 model. Nikon’s successful entry-level D40 DSLR has been given an upgrade in the new D40X by replacing the 6-megapixel CCD with a 10.2-megapixel imager, similar to the chip used in the D80 model. The new camera is identical to the D40 in all but a few areas and shares its position as the smallest and most compact DSLR cameras in Nikon’s range (although the D40’s body is20 grams lighter). The bundled kit lens is the same 18-55mm, F3.5-F5.5 AF-S Nikkor as you get with the D40.

Nikon D5000

8.5 Rating

A versatile DSLR that family photographers can learn and grow with.Just over six months after launching the D90 – the first DSLR to offer video capture – Nikon has released a second video-enabled model, the D5000. Positioned between the D60 and D90 models, this new DSLR combines features of them both. It’s priced $200 below the D90 and has the same 12.3-megapixel (effective) resolution but lacks many of the refinements of the higher-priced model.