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Digital imaging specialist Nikon, known for its lineup of professional and consumer digital cameras, is adding a corporate touch to its latest offering, the CoolPix S1100pj, in the form of a compact, built-in projector that can be used for business meetings. This is the company’s second project-equipped digital camera, boasting brighter projection and a larger touch panel monitor.
By increasing projection brightness by 40 percent, projection is larger and clearer, and adoption of a 3-inch TFT LCD touch panel monitor enables more intuitive camera operation, the company said. Available in September, the camera will retail for $350.
The S1100pj also supports projection of computer data when connected to a computer. The camera is able to display a projection at a distance up to nearly 8 feet, and a size of up to a 47-inch display is possible. Nikon said due to increasing projector brightness from the 10 lumens supported by the S1000pj to 14 lumens in the S1100pj, projection in brighter surroundings, such as inside a tent or onto a ceiling, is clearer. In addition, the S1100pj allows users to simultaneously display images in the camera monitor with projection, putting projector operation in the user’s hands.
The touch panel supports intuitive operation, including utilization of the touch shutter function for focusing and shooting, and a hard coating leaves the panel less susceptible to fingerprints. When the camera is connected to a Windows PC or Macintosh computer, images and text created and displayed on the computer can be projected by the camera as is, and collaboration between the touch panel and projector function allows users to add text, drawings or decorations during projection for interactive operations.
Six filter effects and “Glamour retouch,” which applies adjustments to faces detected in images, are available for editing images without using a computer. These effects can be applied by tapping an image displayed in the monitor. Images to which effects have been applied are stored separately from original images, enabling editing of the same image in a variety of ways. The effects include color options, blur, selective color, cross screen, fish eye and miniature effect. Adoption of a movie-record button enables high-definition movie recording at a frame size of 1,280 by 720 pixels.
Nikon has positioned an integrated projector button and projector focus dial on the top of the camera, and the built-in projector stand on the bottom of the camera enables projection at a 10-degree angle by simply placing the camera on a table or desk, eliminating the need for a separate dedicated stand. Slides created with PowerPoint presentation software can be converted to JPEG files, which can be played back with the camera, and operation of the supplied remote control has been improved; it can now be used to switch to projector mode or play a slide show.