New Nikon Camera Has 18x Zoom

MELVILLE, N.Y. — Nikon announced its first 18x optical zoom camera earlier this month alongside a new wireless digital camera and enhancements to its My Picturetown online photo service.

Due this month for $399, the 10-megapixel Coolpix P80 incorporates an 18x zoom lens (27mm – 486mm, 35mm equivalent) with optical image stabilization.

The camera features manual exposure controls, and a new sport continuous mode capable of bursting up to 30 frames at 4 frames per second (fps), 6 fps or 13 fps depending on image resolution.

The P80 offers a max ISO of 6,400 when shooting 5-megapixel stills, a 2.7-inch LCD, an electronic viewfinder and 15 scene modes, along with the ability to simultaneously capture color and black-and-white photos.

As with all Nikon models, the P80 offers in-camera red-eye fix, D-Lighting, Face Priority Autofocus and the firm's Expeed processing engine.

The company also added a pair of S-series cameras, the S52 and the Wi-Fi-enabled S52c, due in May.

Both 9-megapixel cameras feature 3x optical zoom lenses with optical stabilization, a maximum ISO of 3,200 in manual, an Auto ISO mode and a 3-inch LCD screen. They also include Pictmotion in-camera slide show creation, red-eye fix, D-Lighting and Face Priority AF.

The S52 will be sold in red and black for $249, while the S52c will be sold in black for $279.

The wireless S52c can interface with Nikon's My Picturetown Web site, where images can be emailed or posted to photo-sharing sites.

Starting this month, Nikon added new functionality to its online service including the ability to upload RAW files in the NEF format and view them as JPEGs, a search by date or by calendar function, full-screen slideshows with background music and the ability to rate images.

Nikon offers consumers 2GB of free photo storage on My Picturetown with the option to pay for a "gold" membership and enjoy 200GB worth of server space.