Nikon Intros Five Point-and-Shoots, First Touchscreen

In addition to the P6000, a GPS-enabled, 13.5-megapixel beast, Nikon released five point-and-shoots with a variety of features, from Wi-Fi to the company’s first touchscreen. Here’s a rundown of each:

Coolpix S60

• $349, available in September
• Slick new chassis; available in 6 colors, including Crimson Red, Espresso Black, Arctic White, Burgundy, Champagne Pink, and Platinum Bronze
• 10 megapixels
• Optical image stabilization
• 3.5-inch touchscreen with large icons, a 16:9 ratio, and a stylus
• Can draw and paint with the stylus
• Choice of 3 interfaces
• Portrait One-Touch Zoom mode (you can reach out and touch the screen to track a face)
• AF and AE with touch control
• Effects: D-lighting, small pictures, vivid, black-and-white, sepia, cool, pastel
• ISO up to 6400
• Nikon’s Best Shot Selector
• Smile detection
• Blink warning
• Mini-HDMI port

Coolpix S610 and S610c

• $279 and $329, both available in September
• The two are almost identical. The S610c has built-in 802.11g. It comes with free Wayport (Wi-Fi) service until 8/31/2011. The service is available in places like Marriott, McDonald’s, and Hertz
• The S610c can wirelessly upload photos to myPicturetown, where users get 2GB free storage
• 10 megapixels
• The S610 has a 4X optical zoom lens; the S610c, 3.6X
• Optical image stabilization
• 3-inch LCD
• ISO up to 3200
• Claims to have the fastest in-class startup time at just 0.7 seconds
• Motion detection
• Active child mode
• Smile mode for up to 3 faces
• Scene Auto Selector Mode
• 16 scene modes
• The S610 comes in Midnight Black, Smoke Gray, and Deep Red. The S610c comes in Midnight Black.

Coolpix S710

• $379, available in September
• 14.5 megapixels [Ed note: Cripes!]
• 3.6X optical zoom
• Optical image stabilization
• 3-inch LCD
• ISO up to 12800 (you’ll have to drop to 3 megapixels to shoot at ISO 6400 or 12800)
• Motion detection
• Scene Auto Selector Mode
• Nikon’s Best Shot Selector
• Program, Aperture, Manual, and Shutter priority modes
• Shoots up to 12 frames per second at 3 megapixels
• Face recognition for up to 12 faces
• Available in Graphite Black, Deep Red, and Brilliant Silver

CoolPix S560

• $249, available in September
• 10 megapixels
• 5X optical zoom
• Optical image stablization
• ISO up to 3200
• 2.7-inch LCD
• Scene Auto Selector Mode
• 16 scene modes
• Nikon’s Best Shot Selector
• Blink warning
• Smile mode
• Face priority AF for up to five faces
• New organizational features: favorites, sort by mode
• D-lighting (correct harsh backlighting after you’ve taken the picture)
• Available in Graphite Black, Cool Blue, and Cherry Blossom