Nikon's enthusiast-aimed Coolpix camera, the P7700, is being replaced with the P7800. The new model retains a lot of the features of its predecessor, including a 1/1.7-inch 12-megapixel backside-illuminated CMOS image sensor and a 28-200mm f/2-4 (35mm equivalent) zoom lens. There are a few modest upgrades, but the biggest change is a built-in electronic viewfinder, a first for a Coolpix compact. The P7700 didn't have any sort of eye-level viewfinder, though the earlier P7100SEE IT had an optical finder.
The EVF sits in the rear left corner of the P7800's body. It boasts a 921k-dot resolution and looked quite sharp to my eye. There's also a hinged rear display that's 3 inches in size. It also packs a 921k-dot resolution, and also has a layer of white pixels, which make it easier to see in direct sunlight.
The P7800 can shoot 6-shot bursts at an impressive 8 frames per second. It's got a 3-stop neutral density filter built in, so you can use wider apertures in bright sunlight and allows you to capture longer exposures with the aid of a tripod. There's no Wi-Fi built-in, but the P7800 is compatible with the WU-1a wireless adapter, and using an Eye-Fi Mobi SD card is also an option.
Enthusiasts will be happy to hear that the camera retains the Raw image capture capabilities of its predecessor. There are plenty of physical controls, including a dedicated EV compensation dial. The EVF displaces the old settings wheel that sat on the top left of earlier models in this series. That's been replaced with a Q button that brings up an on-screen menu to adjust the image quality, ISO, white balance, and other settings. The front and rear control dials remain in the same locations as the P7700, as do the AE-L/AF-L, self-timer, flash control, focus point control, macro, Fn1, and Fn2 buttons.
The P7800 enters the market in late September at a $549.95 asking price. That's $50 more than the P7700 when it debuted. Whether it's worth the extra money, especially in a competitive market where a camera with a much larger image sensor like the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100SEE IT exists for a mere $100 more is a verdict that will have to wait until we can perform a full review.
If the P7800 is Nikon's most serious zooming Coolpix cam in Nikon's lineup, the S01 was the least. The tiny camera was designed with casual photography in mind, and set itself apart from the crowd not by its image quality, but by its small form factor. Nikon is replacing it with the S02, which retains the same design, but updates the image sensor to a 13-megapixel CMOS design. This should deliver better image quality, especially in dimmer light, than the CCD-powered S01. Other upgrades include a 2.7-inch touch LCD, 1080p video capture, new art fitlers, and a customizable menu system. There's no microSD card slot; images are stored using 7.3GB of internal memory, and must be offloaded via a cable.
The S02 still lacks Wi-Fi, and there's no way to add it via an external adapter or memory card. So you won't be able to share photos instantly on social networks. The S02 will ship in October for $179.95, the same retail price as its predecessor. It can be had in a silver, white, pink, or blue finish.
Nikon is also releasing a compact LED light that can be used with any camera. The LD-1000 LED Movie Light is powered by batteries and features four individual LED lights and a diffuser to soften their output. It includes a bracket so that it can be mounted directly to the side of your camera via its tripod socket, and the light itself can be removed so that you can position it freely. The LD-1000 will be available in white or black and is set to go on sale in October for $99.95.