Nikon’s New 6.0-megapixel COOLPIX S5 and S6 Perform As Great As They Look

MELVILLE, NY (February 21, 2006) – Nikon today announced a stylish and edgy addition to the Nikon COOLPIX S, or Style, Series of digital cameras. The new COOLPIX S5 and S6 combine high-quality imaging performance with impressive new Pictmotion™ photo sharing technology to make the S5 and S6 the must-have compact digital camera. Both the S5 and S6 have sleek, slim wave designs, appealing to users who want their cameras to look as great as the pictures they take. Each camera boasts 6.0 effective megapixels and features a 3x Zoom-Nikkor ED Glass lens.

“ Along with other products of great design, Nikon’s new COOLPIX S Series encompasses all things desirable. It’s a great union of form and function,” says Bill Giordano, General Manager of Consumer Product Marketing for Nikon Inc. “Beyond style, the introduction of Pictmotion technology, huge, bright LCD screens and a new Rotary Multi Selector turn the S5 and S6 cameras into fun tools for taking and sharing digital images.”

Unique to COOLPIX digital cameras, and now for the first time available throughout the line-up, is Nikon’s Exclusive Feature System, which gives users the power to automatically improve recorded images in-camera. This combination of in-camera features provides a quick, easy and seamless answer to dark pictures, blurry or out-of-focus shots and red eyes. The system includes:

In-Camera Red-Eye Fix™: automatically detects and corrects red eye, a common condition that occurs in flash photography. You may never see red eye again.

• Face-Priority AF*: automatically finds and focuses on a persons face within the frame, providing sharp focus to produce clear, crisp portraits wherever the subject is positioned in the frame.
• D-Lighting: selects and creates a copy of images with excessive backlight or insufficient flash illumination, adding light and detail where necessary Blur Warning: alerts the user that a shot has resulted in a blurry picture allowing for it to be retaken before leaving the scene.
• BSS (Best Shot Selector): automatically identifies and saves the sharpest shot from ten sequential shots.

Making it simple and convenient to take stunning portraits, a standalone One-Touch Portrait Button featured on both the S5 and S6, gives users instant access to the Face Priority AF and In-Camera Red Eye Fix options. To ensure quality photos in various shooting environments, users have the option of 16 scene modes,17 for S5 with Underwater mode***, including four modes with Scene Assist and a TV Quality Movie Mode function** that records moving memories at 30fps with sound.

Sharing digital images is made easy with the new Pictmotion technology, which puts a creative new spin on the average in-camera slide show. By allowing users to select their favorite recorded images and matching one of five royalty-free, pre-installed music files on the camera, or your own choice of music**, Pictmotion automatically analyzes all the elements to produce in-camera slide shows that look great and are fun to share with others. The COOLPIX S5 and S6 provide quality playback of sound and the bright, sharp expanded 2.5 and 3.0-inch LCD’s – with an impressively wide 170-degree viewing angle - make it easy for everyone to see.

With the incorporation of a new Rotary Multi Selector, users can easily scroll their way through the newly designed menu system or breeze through picture playback at up to 10 frames per second. Another new feature for the COOLPIX S5 and S6 includes a calendar function that automatically sorts images according to the date that they were taken. For added in camera assistance, Nikon created a Help button, which is now standard on all Nikon’s new COOLPIX cameras. This component provides easy-to-understand explanations for functions on the main menu.

Supporting both 80211.b and 80211.g WiFi standards, the built-in WiFi on the COOLPIX S6 allows for wireless transfer and printing of pictures to any PictBridge-enabled printer. For wireless printing of pictures without a computer Nikon offers the accessory Wireless Printer Adapter PD-10.

The COOLPIX S5 and S6 will be available nationwide in March 2006. The S5 has an MSRP of $349.95 and the S6 $449.95. For more information about this and other COOLPIX cameras, please visit www.nikondigital.com.

* Face-recognition capability may be limited in some shooting conditions.
**Via PictureProject for Windows only.
***Requires new FJ-CP-1 Field Jacket Price TBD

About Nikon
Nikon, At the Heart of the Image™. Nikon Inc. is the world leader in digital imaging, precision optics and photo imaging technology and is globally recognized for setting new standards in product design and performance for its award-winning consumer and professional photographic equipment. Nikon Inc. distributes the Nikon Total Imaging System of consumer and professional digital SLR cameras, Nikkor optics, Speedlights and System Accessories; Nikon COOLPIX® compact digital cameras; COOLSCAN® digital film scanners; 35mm film SLR cameras; Nikon software products and Nikon sports and recreational optics. At the heart of every Nikon camera is Nikon’s Exclusive Feature System, making it easy for anyone to take amazing digital pictures. Through the Nikon Spirit Initiative™, the company, plays an active role in supporting aspiring and advanced photographers through a variety of philanthropic organizations, educational programs, events and workshops. For more information, dial (800) NIKON-US or visit www.nikonusa.com, which links all levels of photographers to the web's most comprehensive photo learning and sharing communities.

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