Nikon announces the Nikon Coolpix S1

Nikon has announced the newest addition to the Coolpix line of digital cameras, the Nikon Coolpix S1.  The 5.1 megapixel camera features a 3x optical zoom and 2.5 inch LCD in a 3/4-inch thick body.  With dimensions of 89.9 mm wide x 57.5 mm tall x 19.7 mm thick, the Coolpix S1 is 5 mm thicker than the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T7 and 1 mm thinner than the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T33.  Nikon is marketing this camera towards  "digital photographers who want a sleek slim companion camera to capture memories whenever and wherever they happen."

In the hardware department, the camera has a 3x Zoom-Nikkor, 5.8-17.4mm lens (35mm format equivalent of 35-105mm) with 12 elements in 10 groups.  The 2.5-inch LCD has 110k pixels and a brightness adjustment.  The battery life has been improved and the camera uses an EN-EL8 rechargeable Lithium Ion battery.  The package also inclues the Coolstation MV-11 docking station for downloading pictures and charging the battery.

As far as "soft" features, Nikon has included some new technologies.  This camera features the Face Priority AF system from Nikon.  When in Portrait mode, the camera automatically detects the faces in the frame and sets the auto-focus accordingly.  Another nice software feature is the In-Camera Red-Eye Fix(TM) technology, exclusive to Nikon.  The camera will detect and fix red-eye effect without intervention from the user.  The camera has all the standard shooting modes.

The camera has a start up time under 2 seconds and can shoot 1.8 frames per second, as well as movies up to 640x480 at 15 fps.  There is some internal memory (12MB) and the camera has a slot to accept an SD card.

The camera will be available in April 2005 at a MSRP of $379.95.  For a full list of features, check out the Nikon Coolpix S1 product page.