Melville, N.Y. — Nikon announced two new digital cameras today with built-in Wi-Fi connectivity and will bring them to market this month, before the launch of Kodak’s heavily touted EasyShare One.
The 8-megapixel Coolpix P1 and 5-megapixel P2 can wirelessly transmit digital photos over 802.11b/g networks.
The cameras feature several modes for moving images off the camera via Wi-Fi. A “shoot and transfer” mode automatically moves images to a networked computer while Nikon’s Picture Project software automatically builds slide shows as it receives new images. An “easy transfer” mode moves images to a computer by a specific date or manually.
Nikon will ship a wireless printer adapter in October (PD-10, $49.95 suggested retail) for connecting to PictBridge-enabled printers. A “wireless print” mode allows users to send images directly to a printer or to a computer running Picture Project which then makes a print.
Nikon will include a Wireless Camera Setup Utility, which uses a seven-step wizard to configure the cameras for wireless operation.
Aside from Wi-Fi, the models feature 3.5x optical zooms, 2.5-inch LCD screens, 16 scene modes, face-priority AF, automatic in-camera red-eye correction, and the company’s D-Lighting function for automatically compensating for insufficient flash or excessive backlighting.
The Coolpix P1 will retail for a suggested $549.95, and the P2 will retail for $399.95.