Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce the release of the COOLPIX P7000, the latest flagship model in the COOLPIX series. The P7000 packs a 10.1-megapixel CCD sensor and 7.1x optical zoom into a consumer-sized chassis, complete with the sort of controls you might normally expect to find on a DSLR. The CoolPix also has the ability to record audio using an external microphone via a microphone input jack, a CoolPix first. The new Nikon CoolPix P7000 will be available later this month with an MSRP of $499.95.

The P7000 is equipped with a 7.1X optical zoom NIKKOR lens that covers a broad range of focal lengths beginning at the wide-angle 28mm (equivalent with 35mm [135] format), and makes the most of the large 1/1.7-inch, RGB CCD image sensor and optical characteristics. In addition, adoption of the latest image-processing engine, EXPEED C2, enables capture of high-resolution images with rich tonal expression.
The 7.5cm (3.0�) high resolution LCD (920K dot) monitor assists composition, movie making and playback in brilliant detail. A newly-added Virtual Horizon can also be displayed in the LCD to make sure the camera position is perfectly aligned