Nikon launches Coolpix P5100, S51c, L15 and friends

By Rich Trenholm on 17 September 2007, 4:42pm

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The top dog in this pedigree pack is the 12.1-megapixel P5100. You get aperture and shutter priority as well as full manual control, plus more buttons and options than you can poke a stick at. We're excited at the continuous flash option, which makes it possible to capture up to 3 frames (at 1.1fps) all with flash.

Although you can't change the lens, SLR-style, you can stick telephoto or wide angle converters on the front. There's a flash hotshoe up top and optical image stabilisation under the bonnet. Plus you have the choice between a real, honest-to-goodness viewfinder and a 64mm (2.5-inch) LCD screen to compose your shots.

All in all, the P5100 is as close to a bridge camera as Nikon gets, essentially a superzoom but, er, without the zoom (3.5x, fact fans, or equivalent to 35-123mm on a 35mm camera).

It's black, for that retro look, and clocks in somewhere around £290. It's good and everything, but we can't shake the feeling that for that much money you should be getting a hefty zoom.