NIKON PUTS THE FUN INTO PHOTOGRAPHY

THE HUMBLE DIGITAL compact camera isn’t quite dead yet and Nikon is hoping its funky new Coolpix W100 will get a few more people interested in proper photography. The W100 is particularly designed to appeal to younger photographers with its easier-to-use ‘animated’ menus and some nifty creative features. It incorporates Nikon’s SnapBridge ‘always on’ wireless connectivity (in addition to Bluetooth) for the quick and easy sharing. SnapBridge enables images to be transferred rapidly to the users’ smart devices without the need to continually re-establish the connection.

Significantly, the W100 is roughly the same size as a smartphone and features a ruggedized design so it’s waterproofed down to ten metres, shockproofed to withstand falls from as high as 1.8 metres and freeze-proofed to enable operation at subzero temperatures down to -10 degrees Celsius. It has a 4.1-12.3mm zoom (equivalent to 30-90mm) which is mated with a 13.2 megapixels (effective) CMOS sensor. The optical zoom is supplemented by a 6x digital zoom which Nikon is calling ‘Dynamic Fine Zoom’. The W100 can also record Full HD video clips with stereo sound and electronic image stabilisation.

The fun functions include ‘Underwater Face Framing’ which detects and automatically photographs human faces when the camera is in the water, an ‘Add Light Trails’ mode which is designed to make the recording of the light trails made by stars or aircraft as easy as ABC, and ‘Add Cartoon Effects’ which does exactly what it says on the tin. There’s also a ‘Stamp’ function so you can decorate images with hearts, stars or other symbols. You can also add voice messages to images.

The Nikon Coolpix W100 is on sale now. For more information visit www.mynikonlife.com.au