Nikon Coolpix S60 Compact Digital Camera Announced

New Compact Digital Camera Offers a Sophisticated Design, Fun Features and an Intuitive Touch-Screen Control

Nikon Inc. is pleased to announce the COOLPIX S60. Representing the cutting edge of elegant design and intuitive operation, this stylish compact camera introduces an entirely new, amazingly innovative, 3.5-inch TOUCH-SCREEN LCD and a new graphic user interface that places shooting and playback controls at the user’s fingertips.

“We are very excited to introduce the COOLPIX S60,” said Bill Giordano, general manager marketing, COOLPIX for Nikon Inc. “When consumers asked for a bigger LCD screen, we listened and created a camera that not only takes great pictures, but is extremely fun to use as well.”

To accompany its new TOUCH-SCREEN LCD, the COOLPIX S60 features several innovative shooting modes that are seamlessly integrated into the camera’s interface. The camera’s only “physical” buttons include the power and shutter release, leaving all the camera functions to the TOUCH-SCREEN display.

For crisp, in-focus pictures, the COOLPIX S60 offers consumers the ability to lock the autofocus and exposure on a subject by simply touching the corresponding location on the LCD screen. For great portraits, the S60 features a new Portrait One-Touch Zoom function, which commands the camera to automatically zoom in and capture a subject with the right amount of framing and focus. Adding to the camera’s ease of use, the COOLPIX S60’s TOUCH-SCREEN is customizable with a choice of three different “HOME” screens with large icons that make fingertip selecting of camera modes simple and accurate.

Touch controls also bring a new dimension of fun to viewing images. In playback mode, S60 users have the ability to use their fingertips to scroll through images and zoom in on their pictures by simply touching the screen. The camera also features Auto Image Rotation, which automatically rotates the images for optimal viewing depending on the horizontal or vertical position of the camera. The camera comes equipped with a stylus for a variety of tasks including: the Draw Function, which allows users to write memos or add drawings on their images, and the Paint Function, which allows fun frames and stamps to be added to images. Images will be saved as copies, allowing access to the original image. The new HD Pictmotion function, combined with HDMI connectivity, allows high-quality playback of images and slide shows on an HDTV for the ultimate photo sharing experience.

In addition to the aforementioned features and the new TOUCH-SCREEN interface, the COOLPIX S60 features 10 megapixels, a 5x Zoom-NIKKOR lens, Nikon’s hallmark imaging processing concept, EXPEED and Optical VR Image Stabilization technology for steady shots. For capturing sharp images in low-light situations, the S60 features ISO capabilities up to 3200 and an auto ISO selector mode which allows the camera to select the optimal ISO settings for different shooting situations.

New to this line of COOLPIX cameras is the Scene Auto Selector mode, which creates a carefree shooting experience by automatically selecting the scene mode appropriate to certain shooting situations such as Portraits, Landscapes and Macro photography. For great portraits, the S60 also features the Smile mode, which automatically releases the shutter when the camera detects a smile on the face of the subject, and Blink Warning, which displays a message when it detects that a subject has blinked, allowing the shot to be retaken or saved according to the user’s preference.

All of the features listed above are elegantly packaged into Nikon’s compact wave-surface design and are available in a choice of Crimson Red, Espresso Black, Arctic White, Burgundy, Champagne Pink, and Platinum Bronze. The COOLPIX S60 utilizes a rechargeable EN-EL10 battery and SD/SDHC memory cards. The camera will come packaged with the COOLPIX Software Suite for editing, sorting and sharing images.

The COOLPIX S60 will be available nationwide in September 2008 at an MSRP of $349.95.