Since smartphones have been cannibalising the digital camera market, Nikon seems to have decided to create a hybrid to compete – a Wi-Fi-enabled compact camera powered by Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
The addition of an Android operating system makes the Nikon Coolpix S800c much more than just a camera. Users can download up to 680MB-worth of apps via Google Play and use these to manipulate photos, post to their social media accounts, or even play games on their camera. The device also comes with built-in GPS, so users can geotag their images and also use apps that require location data.
As far as picture-taking functionality goes, the Coolpix S800c comes with an anti-reflective high-resolution 3.5-inch touchscreen OLED display, a wide-angle 25-250mm 10x optical zoom Nikkor lens, and a back-illuminated 16MP CMOS sensor. Features to help users take the best shots include blur-reduction technology, in-camera editing and Best Shot Selector, which chooses the sharpest image out of 10 sequential shots.
Like many compact cameras these days, the S800c comes with various creative shooting modes, such as 180 and 360-degree panorama. It can also shoot movies in 1080p full-HD with stereo sound, with slow or fast-motion recording of up to 240fps available. Image and video files can be stored in the camera’s internal memory of 1.7GB, or on an SD/SDHC card of up to 32GB.
But back to the connectivity of this new smart camera. Nikon’s aim is to give users the opportunity to instantly share images of a much higher quality than those washed-out shots from their smartphones, making it as easy as tapping the screen to upload to Facebook or Twitter, send via email, or transfer to another device. There’s also an in-camera application that lets you connect to MyPicturetown.com, Nikon’s internet-base photo storage service, whether you’re in a Wi-Fi spot or not.
The Nikon Coolpix S800c comes in white or black and will be available in Ireland from 27 September at a recommended retail price of €459.
