coolpix

With the Photokina show in Germany producing so many new high-end cameras, it's evidently been a busy season for Adobe Systems' Lightroom team.

That team just released Lightroom 4.2, which supports 22 new cameras, 43 new lenses, and lets people shoot with 11 new cameras tethered to a computer. It takes work to figure out how to decode each camera's proprietary raw format.

Here's the full list of new cameras supported, but note that the Nikon D600 support is "preliminary and there is a minor risk that the appearance of your images may change when … Read more

The number of waterproof rugged cameras has exploded over the past few years. The segment was basically owned by Pentax and Olympus, but now all of the major compact camera manufacturers have a rugged model, if not two or three.

The upside to that is there is something for just about everyone at various price points, starting at just more than $100. The more money you spend, the tougher the camera, though, so make sure you get something that meets your needs.

And if you're more interested in shooting video than photos, check out the two minicamcorders that follow the camera list. … Read more

Zoom lenses sell cameras these days, so it's no surprise that manufacturers are doing everything they can to get longer lenses into increasingly smaller bodies.

A 3x or 5x zoom lens used to be the standard for ultracompact cameras -- those measuring 1 inch thick or slimmer -- but in 2012, you can easily find a skinny point-and-shoot with a 10x optical zoom.

The frontrunner here is the sub-$250 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX150 thanks to its excellent features, fast autofocus, and the quality of its pictures and video (though its color accuracy could be better). Most of the category consists of sub-$200 cameras, though, so there are several options if you're just looking for a simple pocket camera with a long lens.… Read more

If you like touch-screen cameras, keep reading. The Coolpix S100 is Nikon's top-of-the-line ultracompact featuring a large, 3.5-inch 820K-dot resolution OLED touch screen, likely the same one used on last year's S80, which was really quite beautiful. In fact, the whole design of the S100 seems to be unchanged.

What is new is a 16-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor and a 5x f3.9-4.8 28-140mm lens. With that new sensor comes all its advantages such as the potential for better low-light photos and video (kind of important for what's essentially a nightlife camera), faster shooting performance, … Read more

All the money is in megazooms these days. While there are still plenty of people buying 3x-5x zoom pocket cameras, the more-popular models are the ones with 10x zooms or longer. And, of course, smaller is better.

In line with that, Nikon increased the zoom ranges on two of its S-series models--the 10x S8100 and 7x S6100--to get the 14x Coolpix S8200 and 10x S6200 for 2011. The S8200 seems to be just a shrunken-down version of the 18x Coolpix S9100, with most if not all of the same shooting features, including full HD movie capture. However, it uses a … Read more

The Coolpix S1200pj is the third generation of Nikon's compact camera with a built-in pico projector. The first version let you show just content from the camera. The second let you view stuff with the projector when connected to computer. This time around, you can get a cable for connecting to to an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, iPod Nano, and iPod photo and project photos, movies, and Web content from the device.

Though it looks a bit different, the camera itself seems pretty much the same as the S1100pj: 14-megapixel CCD sensor, 5x f3.9-5.8 28-140mm zoom lens, … Read more

Nikon finally joins Pentax, Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, Fujifilm, and, well, all the other camera manufacturers by adding a rugged point-and-shoot to its lineup. The Coolpix AW100 is waterproof down to 33 feet, shockproof to 5 feet, and freezeproof to 14 degrees Fahrenheit.

Up front is a 5x f3.9-4.8 28-140 with sensor-shift image stabilization, on back is a 460K-dot resolution 3-inch screen, and inside is a 16-megapixel backside-illuminated CMOS sensor.

Features include Action Control (which seems stolen straight from Olympus) that lets you change settings by tapping the sides of the camera or shaking it; full HD movie capture … Read more

The Nikon Coolpix L24 is nearly identical to the model it replaces, the Coolpix L22. The only difference is a resolution bump from 12 megapixels to 14 megapixels. The rest of the camera remains the same: easy to use with a 3-inch LCD and AA batteries for power. Pop in its batteries and the camera has a nice weight to it making it feel like a sturdy, well-built camera. And, like most in its class, the L24 is very much a fully automatic point-and-shoot with little to adjust except for maybe picking an appropriate scene mode.

However, like the L22, … Read more

Anyone looking for a megazoom for simple point-and-shoot photos at a lower cost should look at the Nikon Coolpix L120. It's a refresh of the generally good L110 (generally good for its class, at least). In fact, the L120 is basically the same as the L110, but with a wider and longer lens (21x up from 15x) and a higher-resolution 3-inch LCD (920K dots compared with 460K dots). Its photo resolution jumps to 14 megapixels from 12, too, but that's not necessarily a good thing.

Shooting performance, particularly shutter lag, is better this time around and the LCD … Read more