Nikon Coolpix P6000 digital camera with GPS and Ethernet announced

New "bridge model" sees features galore

7 August 2008 5:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Nikon has announced the launch of a new "bridge" camera to follow on from the company's Coolpix P5000 model on Thursday ahead of Christmas and the Photokina trade show in September.

The new model which will be called the P6000 will offer, as rumoured back in July, 13.5 megapixels, a wide angle 4x optical zoom, RAW support, an Ethernet socket for connecting to the internet and a first for Nikon, GPS built-in as standard so users can geotag their images.

The new camera, which will continue to go up against Canon's G series models, will also come with a 2.7-inch screen, the usual array of Nikon software enhancements like auto red-eye fix and d-lighting a hot-shoe support for an external flash.

Those worried about the adverse affects of running a GPS receiver in their camera will be able to select one of three modes; an always off function, an always on mode and a standby mode that receives some, but not all available data all the time, ensuring that photographers looking to eke more pictures out of a single charge shouldn't be disappointed.

The introduction of the Ethernet cable to the P6000 will allow photographers to share images via Nikon's "my picturetown" online service at the press of a button without the need to enter Wi-Fi hotspot details every time and according to Nikon, users will be able to "piggyback" off a 3G dongle on a laptop in the field to upload images if the computer features an Ethernet port.

As with the Wi-Fi enabled Coolpix S610c, also announced today, the new model will only support image uploads to the Nikon online service in the UK and not Flickr as Nikon US customers will be able to do.

"We are not planning anything at the moment," a spokesman for the company told us at a preview event with a strong emphasis on the word "moment" before the official announcement on Thursday suggesting that Nikon hasn't ruled out the solution in the UK.

The camera's incorporated GPS function will attach a Geotag with positioning information to image files which can then be used on Nikon's "my Picturetown" website, ViewNX or any other website that can handle Geotags, to indicate the precise location of your images.

The camera will be available in September for £429.

Nikon also announced the launch of four new compact cameras on Thursday; the Coolpix S610, the Coolpix S610c, the Coolpix S560 and the Coolpix S710.