Nikon 50 f1.8 AF-S

This April, Nikon announced a new lens, an AF-S version of the 50 f1.8. However, within hours of the new lens appearing on Nikon's website, the page suddenly disappeared for over a week before the lens was 'officially' announced. Upon official announcement, the lens was revealed to be quite a deal with AF-S (duh), a distance window, a fast f1.8 aperture, and a weather seal, all for a mere $225. Unfortunately, given the situation in Japan, many expected it to be awhile from official announcement to when the lens started hitting stores.

Wrong, the lens has obviously shipped as Photozone has just completed a review of it. So, how did the 50 f1.8 AF-S fare against Photozone's high standards? Short answer, very well.

First, the good. For any camera lens, optics are first and foremost, and in this respect, the new 50 delivers the goods in a big way, easily besting its older incarnation in the the area of edge sharpness. In areas of chromatic aberration and vignetting, the lens is what one would expect, namely that these things are present wide open but are dramatically lessened by closing the lens up a stop. The build quality is also excellent as the lens, whose barrel is high-quality, tightly assembled plastic, is constructed on a metal mount. The rubber seal at the mount is another useful feature that many more expensive lenses don't even include.

Now, it's time for the bad. While the build quality of the lens is high, there is one complaint: play in the focus ring. Simply put, one has to turn the ring a few millimeters to actually get it to do anything in regards to focus. Another con, despite being AF-S, the focus speed is actually slower than on its older, AF-D cousin.

Final word? The new 50 is better in virtually every respect than the old version. The only area where the new lens lacks: focus speed and size (having that built-in motor necessitates a larger lens). Howver, all is rosy everywhere else. The higher price? For all the added bonuses you're getting (full time manual focus, compatibility with all Nikon cameras, better optics, and the weather seal), the price increase of about $100 over the 'D' version are fully justified, and worth it, too.

The new Nikon compendium

Presenting the thoroughly revised, fully illustrated edition of The Nikon Compendium, updated by the technical editor of Nikon Owner magazine to include all the new Nikon cameras, lenses, and accessories. This is what Nikon enthusiasts have eagerly awaited: the most complete Nikon reference book ever. At almost double the length of the original, the guide describes virtually every Nikon camera ever produced, right up to the wide variety of popular digital models. It aids identification, offers user-friendly tips, explains what system fits with which camera, and discusses what limitations occur when equipment from one generation is married to items from another. Professional and amateur photographers, as well as enthusiasts, collectors, and retailers will want this on their bookshelves.

Camera Review: Nikon Coolpix P7000

Positives

• 10MP CCD sensor
• Higher-resolution LCD monitor
• Excellent image quality at ISO 100
• Optical viewfinder
• Manual exposure and focus control
• Close focus to within an inch of the lens surface at wide-angle setting
• Built-in, effective HDR
• Short shutter lag time
• Long-range optical zoom lens
• 720p HD video 

Negatives

• Image quality deteriorates at higher ISOs due to small sensor
• No AF during video recording
• Heavier, larger than most compact cameras
• Optical finder shows less than 80% of view

Nikon Coolpix P500 review

Nikon Coolpix P500 test photos : At the CP+ Camera & Photo Imaging Show, held in Japan at the beginning of this year, Nikon introduced nine new digital cameras, including the Nikon Coolpix P500. The 12.1 megapixel Nikon Coolpix P500 belongs to the Performance series, which is Nikon´s most extensive series of digital compact cameras. The Nikon Coolpix P500 megazoom camera has a zoom range of a mere 22.5mm ultra wide-angle to 810mm super-tele. With the 36x super-zoom function, a subject can easily be shot at a close range, which is ideal for sport or nature photography. The Nikon Coolpix P500 digital camera became available last month for a suggested retail price of 429 EUR. 

Next to the super-zoom function, the Nikon Coolpix P500 digital camera is equipped with a tilting LCD screen. The 3" screen can be tilted 90˚ upwards and 82˚ downwards. Full HD videos are effortlessly displayed on the high resolution screen. Slow motion and speed up video recordings can be shot with the new Nikon Coolpix P500 megazoom camera. Another handy feature is that a photo can be shot at any moment while shooting video. Also nice is taking panorama photos, in 180˚ as well as 360˚. The Nikon Coolpix P500 is an easy to use digital camera with many advanced camera functions.  

The new Nikon Coolpix P500 digital camera is equipped with a 12.1 megapixel CMOS image sensor with back lighting. This increases the amount of light that shines on each pixel, which improves sensitivity and decreases noise. This makes it possible to shoot photographs under any type of lighting conditions with the Nikon Coolpix P500. Even blurry photos are a thing of the past with the Nikon Coolpix P500, thanks to seven functions that automatically prevent blurry photographs, such as Hybrid VR (advanced vibration reduction) and the Best Shot Selector (which automatically selects the best shot out of 10 consecutive shots). Nice pictures can be made with the Nikon Coolpix P500 camera even at night, thanks to Night portrait and Night landscape. 

The Nikon Coolpix P500 test photos were taken with a full production camera. This means that this Nikon Coolpix P500 is the same as the digital camera that is available in retail stores. The Nikon P500 camera will soon be fully tested on technical aspects in our DIWA test lab under laboratory conditions. The Nikon Coolpix P500 test photos in this article were shot in Madurodam miniature world in the Hague. The original Nikon Coolpix P500 photos can be downloaded via the links found underneath the pictures.