Salam Stores, Qatar’s photography pioneer and sole distributors of the Nikon brand, has launched a family of new cameras from the Japanese imaging major yesterday. Among the major attractions are the Nikon COOLPIX 510 and the COOLPIX P310, which feature some of the brand’s most advanced technology, including its built-in lens-shift vibration reduction function. The COOLPIX 510 has a 16.1-megapixel backside illumination CMOS image sensor paired with a 42x optical zoom NIKKOR ED glass lens that covers the phenomenal focal range of 24mm wide-angle to 1000mm super telephoto in 35mm format equivalent. The newly advanced Lens-shift VR image stabilisation serves as a big aid in achieving consistently sharp results, particularly when taking advantage of the super zoom or shooting macros. A 3” vari-angle high resolution clear colour display that can be tilted 90 degrees upward or 82 degrees downward, high speed continuous shooting of seven frames per second, and full 1080p HD movie recording with stereo sound with capability to capture still images in between are among the features of the COOLPIX 510. The continuous shooting and compositing capabilities of the backside illumination CMOS image sensor, also used in the COOLPIX 310, renders beautiful night landscape or night portrait pictures while doing hand-held shooting. The 16.1-megapixel COOLPIX 310 has a specially crafted bright f/1.8, 24mm NIKKOR wide-angle lens which includes high refractive index glass elements for exceptionally sharp images with high contrast and highly advanced VR image stabilisation. Added to these unique features are a number of extra shooting and editing functions, including COOLPIX Picture Control, which allows users to decide how vivid or sharp they want their images to be. Nikon Middle East managing director Takashi Yoshida said that Qatar is one of the key markets for Nikon, which occupies the number one slot in many markets including the US. “We have overcome the production and supply issues precipitated by last March’s earthquake,” he stated while pointing out that Nikon cameras ranging from QR340 to QR33,000 are available in Qatar. Regional sales manager Narendra Menon explained that with the opening of the Nikon Middle East office in Dubai on April 1 this year, the company is promising a faster, time-bound and systematic response. Area manager Rohit Sawhney asserted that Nikon, which has cameras for each and every need, is always the world’s first in the field, starting with the first SLR (single-lens reflex) with 100% frame coverage in 1959 to this year’s D800, the first 36.3-megapixel DSLR (digital SLR). “One of the key models coming soon to Qatar is the Nikon D3200 DSLR, which combines a 24.2 effective megapixel definition with the all new DX-format imaging sensor, and a very competitive price,” he said. Salam Stores regional manager for Photo and Imaging Division, Mahboob Ali said that each of the cameras launched over the summer is a better version of its respective predecessor. Earlier, Salam Stores managing director Pierre Khoury welcomed the gathering