Nikon launches four affordable Coolpix compacts for Europe and Asia
posted Wednesday, January 14, 2015 at 5:29 PM EDT
Looking for an affordable compact camera that you can take anywhere without fear of breaking the bank, should you drop or lose it? If you're in Europe or Asia, Nikon has four new Coolpix models for you to choose from today. At the current time, there's no sign of matching announcements in the US market, although a couple of these models are pretty clear successors of cameras that were sold stateside.
First up, we have the Nikon S3700, a follow-on to last year's S3600. Retaining the previous model's 20-megapixel CCD image sensor and stabilized 8x optical zoom lens, the S3700 has a lightly restyled body, and improves on its predecessor's connectivity. Both a built-in Wi-Fi wireless networking radio and Near-Field Communications support are provided, making it easy to get your photos onto your Android or iOS smartphone. Find out more in our Nikon S3700 preview.
The Nikon S2900, meanwhile, takes a similar body design and 20-megapixel CCD image sensor, but it swaps in a shorter 5x optical zoom lens, and lacks its sibling's lens-shift image stabilization, relying instead on software techniques to combat blur. It also lacks the S3700's wireless connectivity, relying instead on a USB 2.0 High Speed data connection, or simply taking the SD card out of the camera and putting it into another device. More details can be found in our Nikon S2900 preview.
Both of these cameras are based around proprietary lithium-ion battery packs, but Nikon still caters to fans of the standard AA battery with its 5x zoom Nikon L32, a followup to last year's L30. This actually looks to be the same camera as last year, save perhaps for some light firmware tweaks. Press materials show a 20-megapixel CMOS image sensor in place of last year's CCD chip, but given the fact that resolution, sensitivity and battery life are all unchanged, we're thinking this is simply an error. Find out more in our Nikon L32 preview.
Finally, we come to the Nikon L31, a model which shares much with the L32. Differences between the pair include a lower-resolution 16-megapixel CCD image sensor and a slightly smaller 2.7-inch LCD in place of the three-inch unit in the L32. Battery life is also a little lower, with a rated 500 shots on a pair of Nikon's NiMH rechargeable batteries, 70 shots down from the L30 and L32. Find out more in our Nikon L31 preview.
At this time, none of these new models have been announced in the US market, and nor has Nikon provided official pricing or availability information for overseas markets. Should that change, you can expect to hear more on our news page!