The D50 is especially good for kids, sports and action compared to more expensive fixed-lens cameras. I prefer it over everything else from other makers because it’s so easy to use, works fast, focuses fast, responds immediately to your inputs and the image quality is fantastic. The D50 is a far cry better than any fixed-lens camera, even the much more expensive Sony DSC-R1. Unless you really understand abstract concepts like White Balance fine tuning you’ll never find anything missing from the D50. Don’t let the low price fool you: it’s a great camera and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between prints from a D50 compared to a $5,000 D2X. I’ve seen 4 x 5 foot enlargements from the D50 that look superb. The only limit to the D50’s picture quality is the photographer, not the D50.

It’s especially attractive for photographers moving up from digital point and shoot cameras who want the added flexibility of an SLR, but aren’t quite ready for the higher prices of Nikon’s more expensive DSLRs. In addition to aspiring new photographers, the Nikon D50 should also be desirable for more experience photographers wanting an inexpensive, fun to use DSLR. We’ll talk more about that later.

With the D50, Nikon has a comprehensive line-up of DSLRs. Their Nikon D70 is a huge market success, offering a winning combination of image quality and performance. In addition, the price was very low compared to similar DSLRs. Its success sent a shockwave through the photographic community and not only encouraged a new group of photographers to go digital, it also caused some scrambles among other manufacturers.

Full manual control is also available, so for more advanced photographers or for those looking to expand their hobby, the D50 still offers all they need. Continued shooting of up to 137 pictures makes action photography a reality while pictures are instantly recorded on SD memory card. A new hi-speed USB 2.0 connection supports fast transfer of images when connected to a PC. This is where D70/D70s owners will sit up and take notice as they still have to make do with a relatively slow 1.1 USB connection.

As most DSLRs today use CompactFlash as the preferred back-up medium, it may come as a bit of a surprise to see this digital camera - just like most compacts - employ SD-cards. If this is your only camera this is fine, as it is obviously the memory card of the future. However if you would like the D50 as a back-up to your other Nikon DSLR this would necessitate the need to carry SD-cards as well as CompactFlash cards. A better option then would be to buy the D70s instead, as the price difference between the two cameras is just about the same as the cost of a large SD-card.

Lately, in addition to the main benefit of allowing extreme low- and high-angle shooting, the company has taken advantage of the design as a way to build longer zoom lenses into relatively small camera bodies. The latest, called the Nikon Coolpix S10, includes a 10X optical zoom lens that covers a 35mm equivalent of 38mm to 380mm with a fixed maximum aperture of f/3.5, giving it one of the fastest 380mm-equivalent lenses in a compact camera. The camera also sports a 6-megapixel CCD sensor with sensor-shift image stabilization–Nikon refers to this simply as VR–to help keep that long lens steady.The Nikon Coolpix S10 is an update to the company’s existing Coolpix S4 model, adding a couple of very useful features. The popular Coolpix S4 was Nikon’s first swivel-bodied digital camera model since the Coolpix SQ was launched way back in February 2003 (and the first to retain the styling cues of its extremely popular prosumer swivel-bodied models since the Coolpix 4500 in late May 2002).

There have been imitators, but no company has been quite so successful or synonymous with the concept. Inside the swivelling body of the Nikon Coolpix S10 reside the core features of the S4 model — a 10x optical zoom lens equivalent to 38 to 380mm on a 35mm camera, coupled with a 6 megapixel imager, and a 2.5 inch LCD display. Where the S4 had an ISO range of 50 to 400, the S10 boosts the maximum to ISO 800. Even more significantly, Nikon has adopted a shift-type sensor stabilization system for the Coolpix S10 — which should make it quite a bit easier to get a sharp exposure at the telephoto end of that powerful lens!Nikon have brought that design bang up to date with a 10x optical zoom lens (38-380mm), large 2.5 inch LCD screen and maximum ISO of 800. Advanced Vibration Reduction helps to combat camera shake by shifting the camera’s sensor, an essential feature with such a long lens, whilst the unique swivel body allows greater freedom to shoot from different angles. The Nikon S10 also features the usual trio of Nikon technologies, namely Face-priority AF, D-Lighting and In-Camera Red-Eye Fix, to help improve your photos. Other features include a 6 megapixel sensor, PictMotion movies, one-touch portrait button and 15 different scene modes.

Nikon continues to add to its popular S-series of Coolpix cameras with the new 6-megapixel Nikon Coolpix S9, a lower priced (and lower-end) model that keeps the attractive slim look of its predecessors while eliminating some noteworthy features. Retailing for $250 — about $100 less than what the Nikon S5 debuted at — the Nikon Coolpix S9 combines a prism-folded Nikkor ED-branded 3x optical zoom lens (38 - 114 mm in 35mm equivalent) with a six megapixel image sensor, a 2.5″ LCD display, and 15 beginner-friendly scene modes.The Nikon Coolpix S9 is a fairly typical pocket sized digital camera. It has six megapixels and a three times digital zoom. The lens is internal and does not protrude from the camera when you zoom in on a subject. In terms of features the Coolpix S9 is a straightforward, point and shoot camera. It is likely to appeal to someone who is looking for a no fuss digital camera that will slip easily into a pocket.

The 3x optical zoom lens has a focal length of 38 - 114mm in 35mm format. The aperture of the lens works in the range f/3.5 to f/4.3. 4x digital zoom is also available. For macro work the Coolpix S9 can focus from 4cm away from the subject.One feature that is very rare is the one touch portrait button. By pressing the button the camera realises you are taking a portrait shot. This also activates the automatic red eye fix. This sounds good, but in my indoor portrait test the red eye fix produced a very unnatural looking result.For composing images there is a 2.5″ LCD screen. This is made up of around 153,000 pixels. There is no room for a viewfinder. To help you take the best possible photos there are a series of scene modes you can use. By selecting a scene mode you indicate to the camera the type of photo you are about to take. It can then use what it considers to be the optimum settings. The available scene modes are: Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night Portrait, Party/Indoor, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Dusk/Dawn, Night Landscape, Close up, Museum, Fireworks show, Copy, Back light and Panorama assist.

The Nikon Coolpix S8 is a slim, stylish compact digital camera with 7.1MP resolution, a 3x optical Zoom-Nikkor ED lens, and a large 2.5-in. LCD monitor with high resolution (230,000 pixels).The Nikon S8 accepts the Secure Digital (SD) card and has about 14MB of Internal Memory. One-Touch Portrait Button automatically activates In-Camera Red-Eye Fix(TM) and Face-Priority AF.Pictmotion allows the creation of in-camera slide shows with music. Included in the box is a rechargeable EN-EL8 battery (that takes up to 200 pictures on a single charge) and Docking Station.A High Sensitivity mode automatically adjusts the sensivity (up to ISO 1600) to make it easier to shoot in low light.Nikon In-Camera Innovations in the Coolpix S8: In-Camera Red-Eye Fix(TM) automatically fixes most instances of red-eye in the camera; Face-Priority AF is Nikon’s face-finding technology that automatically focuses on faces; and, D-Lighting rescues dark or backlit images by improving brightness and detail where needed.The Nikon Coolpix S8 should appeal to point-and-shoot photographers desiring an easy-to-use compact digital camera.

Only 20mm thick at its widest point, Nikon’s 7.1-megapixel Coolpix S8 is almost shirt-pocketable and very smartly designed. Its metal body has a semi-matte finish with a gentle curve on one side to accommodate your fingers when you’re shooting. The 3x optical zoom lens tucks inot the top corner of the camera body behind a metal cover so you must guard against including the fingertips of your left hand in shots. A 2.5-inch, high-resolution LCD covers two thirds of the rear panel, leaving little room for the button controls, most of which are tiny! But no viewfinder is provided.

The Nikon Coolpix S7c is a WiFi capable digital camera that can wirelessly upload images to the new Coolpix Connect service, launched alongside the camera. Featuring a sleek two-tone body, the Nikon S7c includes an IEEE 802.11b/g chipset with which to upload its seven megapixel images. The Coolpix S7c has plenty of other attractions on top of this standout feature, as well. There’s a prism-folded Nikkor ED-branded 3x optical zoom lens, a whopping 3.0 inch LCD display, 15 beginner-friendly scene modes, plus a few clever technologies besides. Apical Ltd.’s “D-Lighting” is an exposure correction technology, and is combined with a face-priority AF function based on tech from Identix, an in-camera red-eye fix function — the three working together at a press of the One-Touch Portrait button to capture the best possible portrait image. Nikon’s Best Shot Selector mode which automatically chooses the sharpest from a series of images is also included, along with an AE-Best Shot Selector mode that chooses the best-exposed image from a series.

Features include a 7 megapixel sensor and 3x optical zoom lens equivalent to 35-105mm, whilst In-Camera Red-Eye Fix, Face-Priority AF and D-Lighting aim to intelligently improve your photographs. There’s also a new High Sensitivity mode and ISO range of 50-1600 to help ensure that your pictures remain sharp even in low-light conditions. The Nikon S7c is one of a growing number of cameras to offer built-in Wi-Fi, which means that you can transfer pictures straight to your computer or a compatible printer without the use of cables. Continuing the ease-of-use approach, the S7c has a very large, high-resolution 3 inch LCD screen with 170 degree viewing angle, great for showing off your images to friends and family. Nikon have teamed up with a company called Muvee to bring you Pictmotion, which allows you to play back images as a slide show in combination with music and special effects.