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Nikon CoolPix L830 packs an extra-stable 34x zoom for $300
It wouldn't be CES if there wasn't a cavalcade of point-and-shoot introductions, and Nikon is more than happy to do its part by launching four CoolPix cameras. The CoolPix L830 leads the pack with a long-ranged 34x zoom lens (up from 30x in the L820) that touts both lens-based anti-shake and a new hybrid stabilization system for video recording. The 16-megapixel, AA-powered shooter also improves on its predecessor with a tilting (if still 920,000-dot) LCD. Unfortunately, the new features come in tandem with a price hike -- the L830 will sell for $300 when it ships in February, or about $20 more than the outgoing model cost when it was new. Other cameras are mostly subtle iterations of last year's releases. The S6800 ($220) shares the 16-megapixel sensor, 12x zoom and WiFi of the S6500; it primarily adds target-finding autofocus and more beauty modes. The 20-megapixel S3600 ($140) and 16-megapixel S5300 ($180) build on the formulas of the S3500 and S5200 by including more powerful 8x lenses, while the starter L30 ($120) is chiefly a beauty-focused software upgrade to the L28 that preserves the 20-megapixel sensor, 5x zoom and AA battery power. All of these entry-level compact cams should arrive in February.
