Nikon's new Coolpix P80 has an 18X optical zoom lens and a 10MP sensor.
(Credit: Nikon)Nikon had been eschewing the superzoom category in recent years, with the notable exception of the S10, which had a 10X optical zoom lens and wouldn't qualify as a superzoom in the current market. Now, Nikon has introduced the 10MP Coolpix P80, which includes an optically stabilized 18X optical, 27-486mm equivalent zoom lens, a 2.7-inch LCD screen, as well as an electronic viewfinder (EVF) for a more SLR-like experience. The camera also includes manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, and program-exposure modes, along with 15 preset scene modes.
In case your picture doesn't turn out to your liking, Nikon includes its D-Lighting in-camera fixes, as well as in-camera red-eye fix. To help you get it right the first time, the company also includes Face-Priority AF, which in this incarnation can see up to 12 faces in a scene and use them to determine focus. Sensitivity ranges from ISO 64 to ISO 3,200 at full resolution, though you can bump that up to ISO 6,400 if you don't mind that the resolution drops to 5MP. Similarly, the camera's continuous-shooting mode offers a choice of four or six frames a second at full resolution, but you can step up to 13 frames per second, though the resolution drops to 3MP.
Nikon says that the Coolpix P80 will hit stores later this month for a price of about $400.
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Tamron will start shipping its image-stabilized 28-300mm lens on Monday--but only in Japan and for Canon SLRs, the company said.
Tamron's 28-300mm superzoom
(Credit: Tamron)The lens, formally called the AF 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC, is one of a host of new image-stabilized superzoom lenses on the market. Nikon has said its 18-200mm model is its all-time bestseller. Sigma recently added its own 18-200mm competitor. And Panasonic, whose lenses are compatible with Olympus SLRs and vice versa, also offers a 14-150mm model, which is the same range when translated into 35mm camera terms.
Tamron had planned to release the lens in August, but said that month it had to delay availability. "We are obliged to postpone the release of the product because we have found a technical problem in a part of the VC (Vibration Compensation) mechanism," the company said.
A Nikon version of the lens will be available in early spring, Tamron said. The Canon version has a few compatibility limitations with older Canon SLR models.
Superzoom lenses offer a much broader range--from wide angle to telephoto--than other types of lenses. But they don't offer a free lunch. Typically, they suffer when it comes to sharpness, distortion and vignetting compared with higher-end zoom lenses with narrower ranges or with "prime" lenses with a fixed focal length.
Via DPReview
Sony's latest pair of superzooms, called the DSC-H7 and DSC-H9, add longer zoom lenses, higher resolutions, face detection, and a handful of other nifty features, including high-definition output. This last feature has found its way into all the company's new Cyber-shots, as was mentioned in our post about the new W- and T-series cameras.
Sony's new Cyber-shot DSC-H9
(Credit: Sony)Both of the new models include 8-megapixel CCD sensors and 15x optical, 31mm to 465mm-eqivalent, zoom lenses with optical image stabilization. Just in case that stabilization isn't enough for you, Sony also upped the top sensitivity rating on this year's models to ISO 3200, to offer more flexibility in low light. Plus, action photographers will appreciate the cameras' top shutter speed of 1/400th second. Borrowing from the company's Alpha digital SLR, Sony has built its Dynamic Range Optimizer and Bionz image processor into these new superzooms. The former attempts to eke out more image detail in highlights and shadows by tweaking the tone curve, while the latter lends the same speedy processing found in Sony's SLR to these superzooms.
While the H7 sports a 2.5-inch LCD, the H9 offers a larger 3-inch screen, which also tilts outward and upward to allow for more versatile shooting angles. It's not quite as versatile as the fully articulated screens that used to populate much of Canon's line, but then those are becoming less prevalent in that company's new cameras anyway. Extreme low-light photographers should get a kick out of the H9's Night Shot mode, while tweakers should enjoy the red-eye correction and other in-camera post processing options, such as the partial color filter or the four-point star filter available in both models. As with Sony's other new Cyber-shot models, you'll need to purchase the VMC-HD1 high-definition component cable if you want to take advantage of their high definition output. That cable doesn't come with the camera and should set you back about $40, when it becomes available in April of this year.
Sony expects to ship the Cyber-shot DSC-H7 and DSC-H9 this April for about $400 and $480, respectively. For more information on Sony's new superzooms and the rest of the company's new cameras, check out our slide show.
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