Remember when you printed out photos to bore your friends and family with at leisure? Well it seems those days are virtually over.

One in five of us now take photos purely to share via social media and many of us do so within 60 seconds of taking the original image.

Research from Samsung for the launch of its wi-fi enabled NX300 camera reveals that Brits take on average 1.86 billion photos a month, with more than half of those surveyed (52%) stating they share their shots online within a week. 

And it's not just the volume of shots that they are taking that's staggering. It's the speed at which they share them. Every 60 seconds in Britain 749 photos are shot and shared immediately. That means 1.1 million photos a day (1,079,046) are 'gone in 60 seconds'.

Nor does the shooting and sharing photos in the UK show any signs of slowing down - 7% of under 35 year olds now share their shots online within 25 seconds according to the Samsung survey. However, Britain is surpassed by the likes of Spain and Italy when it comes to the speed of shooting and sharing. Research reveals that 1 in 4 Spaniards shoot and share their photos within a minute.

The Italians were a close second with 1 in 5 of those surveyed shooting and sharing online in less than 60 seconds (compared to 1 in 10 Brits). The leading online destination for our photos in the UK is not surprisingly Facebook, used by 53% of those surveyed to share their photos with their friends, followed by Twitter 11%, Instagram 7%, Flickr 6% and Pinterest 2% with only a quarter of people (23%) admitting to still using a traditional photo album. Among 18-24s Facebook's dominance is even stronger - used by 70% to share shots compared to Twitter 29%, Instagram 16%, Flickr 3% and Pinterest 2%.

Says Simon Stanford, Vice President of IT & Mobile Division, Samsung UK & Ireland: 

"People are taking more photos than ever before and with more than 91% of adults regularly using social networks, they naturally want to be able to share their pictures instantly with their friends and family. The Samsung NX300 camera was designed with this in mind - thanks to its Wi-Fi connectivity, it's possible for people to capture fleeting moments in stunning quality and then share them instantaneously."

Interestingly though one in three of us (34%) do not download and share any photos online, meaning at least 631 million memories a month are kept as private records or lost forever. Across Europe, Germany has the highest attrition rate of digital memories with at least 949 million 'lost' photos.

The research ws conducted by OnePoll on a sample of 3,000 people (500 in the UK) on behalf of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd

Here comes a Samsung Galaxy smartphone with a real difference; taking its cues from last year's Samsung Galaxy Camera, the Galaxy S4 Zoom straps a giant 16MP CMOS sensor and 10x optical zoom onto the back of a Galaxy-S4-alike for some true cameraphone chops.

A few unique hardware controls offer quick access to camera-specific functions. A "Zoom ring" lets you instantly share snapped photos from a social network, as well as booting straight to the camera from sleep. There's no optical zoom hardware control though, so that's a touchscreen tap slider you'll be dragging around.

With optical image stabilisation and a Xenon flash, the S4 Zoom also introduces a new feature called Photo Suggest, which taps into an online library of images to help give you a better idea of composition for your own shots, and also suggests notable photo spots in your locality. All the standard Galaxy S4 camera features will return too.
Running Android 4.2, the compact-camera-come-smartphone uses Samsung's TouchWiz UI, but is powered by a less powerful 1.5GHz dual core chip than its quad or octo-core Galaxy S4 stablemates.

Rather than using the Galaxy S4's 1080p screen, the Zoom uses a 4.3-inch 960 x 540 Super AMOLED.

There's also a slight RAM drop to 1.5GB, but the real stickler is onboard storage - offering just 8GB built-in with microSD support, you're really going to have to invest in a memory card if you plan on using this device as a true compact camera replacement.

Like big butts and cannot lie? Good, 'cos the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom has got quite the rump on it in order to accommodate that optical zoom, measuring 125.5 x 63.5 x 15.4 mm and weighing 208g. Still, if that sensor is up to scratch it may mean you can leave your compact at home, so that extra heft will actually be saving space in the long run.

No price of release date set yet, but Samsung have said to expect a release at some point through the summer.

Design-conscious camera kings, Leica have today revealed the Leica X Vario.

Featuring a 16.5MP (effective 16.1), APS-C format, CMOS image sensor, its zoom lens capabilities give it a range of focal lengths from 28mm to 70mm (35mm equivalent). It's also the world's first compact to combine a large APS-C format CMOS sensor with a zoom lens.

"The X Vario features an intuitive handling concept with clearly laid out functions. The user-friendly operation of the menu interface guarantees rapid access to an impressive range of automatic and versatile manual setting options," says Leica.

It's also a bit of a looker too, finished with luxury leather and built with an aluminium chassis. Manual dial controls will let you tweak shutter speed and aperture, while there's a 3-inch monitor for checking out previews of snaps and any Full HD videos you record with the camera.

The camera will cost a whopping £2,250 when it launches in the UK in the coming weeks. A free copy of Adobe Lightroom 5 will sweeten the deal a tad though.

Name: Canon Powershot N

Type: Compact Camera

Specifications: Click here for full specs

Price as reviewed: Around £270

Packing Canon's Digic 5 image processing engine and a 12.1MP CMOS sensor into a tiny, quirky compact frame, Canon's PowerShot N will certainly turn heads. But can it take a good photo, and it is it comfortable to use? Read our full review to find out!

Design

Canon's PowerShot N could arguably called a "wearable" camera thanks to its tiny 78.6 x 60.2 x 29.3 mm size and 195g weight. Though it's chunkier than your average smartphone, it's certainly pocketable, with its squared off design meaning that the lens system makes up practically all of the front side of the snapper. With two bolts either side of the palm-sized camera for tying on a carry strap, it's a great option for lifeloggers looking to upgrade from a smartphone and Instagram.

Spin the camera around and you'll find a 2.8-inch touchscreen that can be folded 90-degrees, giving you access to image settings, filters and playback of still shots and videos, as well as touch-focus. While the camera can stand tent-like with the touchscreen, it's a shame it can't be folded over 180-degrees to face the subject for framing up self-portraits - quite a missed opportunity, given the target audience.Around the edges are a handful of switches and physical buttons, including a power button, a playback button, one to switch on the camera's built-in Wi-Fi connectivity for connecting to a tablet or smartphone, and another to access the Creative Shot mode (which we'll detail a little later). There are also a handful of ports and slots; one for accessing the microSD storage, another for hooking up the charger, and another to access the AA-size rechargeable battery. Inevitably, a camera this small was always going to suffer with fiddly buttons and ports, and it can be a bit difficult to press the button you need in a hurry as a result.

Still Shooting

A camera this small packing in Canon's impressive Digic 5 image processing engine, a 12.1MP CMOS sensor and an 8x optical zoom (28-224mm equivalent on a conventional 35mm camera) would usually be the headline features, but it's actually the control scheme thats most interesting with the PowerShot N.

Rather than using dedicated shutter buttons or zoom dials, zoom and shutter controls are housed in the lens ring. Split into two sections, the thicker first section twists to control zoom distance, while the thinner grooved section is pressed down on to take a photo. It's a novel way of making the most of the limited space on offer, and it works surprisingly well given how easily you'd imagine it to be for your fingers to slide into frame when using it. Pushing down on the lens ring can sometimes shift your framing if you don't have a steady hand however, and there will definitely be those out there who prefer the ergonomics of a regular shutter button. Lens-shifting image stabilisation helps here a fair bit though. The zoom speed is very fast too, and you can easily find yourself veering into the crummy old digital zoom levels if you're not very careful.The PowerShot N's BSI 12.1 MP sensor shoots JPG images at 4000 x 3000 resolution, with widest apertures of  f/3.0 and f/5.9 and a maximum sensitivity of ISO 6400 . However, grain began to muddy our images at ISO 400, so don't go too crazy there. Even at the highest ISO 6400 setting images remain legible though, providing you're willing to accept a drop-off in vibrancy in darker image areas and a drop in definition around the edges of lighter elements.

For the most part however the PowerShot N performed admirably. Colour reproduction is very accurate (even if reds lost a little vibrancy in some of the softer shades), with no fringing on dramatic contrasts. Macro modes also impressed - we pushed the camera right into the face of a number of flowers and Lego figurines, and the camera quickly and accurately picked up the desired focus points with an attractively shallow depth of field.

Those expecting a full raft of manual controls will have to look elsewhere though - you've no manual control over shutter speed (ranging from 1/2000 second) nor aperture for example, leaving you with only the auto mode, program, hybrid auto six built-n scene options.

You can check out some of our sample shots and the settings they were captured under in the section of this review titled "Sample Shots".

Video

Shooting video is one of the PowerShot N's strong points. Capturing full HD 1920 x 1080 video at 24fps, there's also options offering a neat tilt-shift Miniature mode, letting you play back clips at 5x, 10x or 20x their natural speed.

Video capture is strikingly detailed, looking super sharp in brightly lit scenes and managing to adjust to quick changes in ambient lighting rapidly without jarring transitions in the resulting footage. Ambient sounds is clearly picked up too, though the zoom lens can bring some unwanted noises into your clips, so use with caution.

Filters and Connectivity

As well as a standard selection of Instagram-like filters, the PowerShot N also has a feature called Creative Shot mode, which automatically applies a number of filter effects to a shot, giving you five alternative versions of your captured photo, as well as saving the original. It's a neat gimmick, and can make for speedy experimentations, but suffers from a lack of direct control over the filter parameters.

Wi-Fi connectivity is limited too, allowing you to share photos between the camera and an iPhone or Android device through Canon's CameraWindow app, as well as add a GPS tag.

Battery

You'll get 200 shots out of the PowerShot N's camera, or 280 if you use it's Eco mode that dials back things like the brightness of the touchscreen. Expect less with Wi-Fi switched on. We'd have liked to have seen the camera hit around 300 in Eco mode and 250 standard, but that's a bit of a tall order we imagine in a camera this size with such limited space for a large capacity battery.

Sample Shots

All images are at the camera's maximum 4000 x 3000 resolution, and have not been tweaked with any image editing programs. Click on each to see them blown up to full size. Settings used are displayed below each image.

4000 x 3000, 1/40s f/3.0 ISO1600 5mm

4000 x 3000, 1/320s f/3.0 ISO160 5mm

4000 x 3000, 1/400s f/3.0 ISO160 5mm

4000 x 3000, 1/800s f/3.0 ISO160 5mm

4000 x 3000, 1/400s f/9.0 ISO160 5mm

4000 x 3000, 1/60s f/3.0 ISO400 5mm, Macro

4000 x 3000, 1/80s f/3.2 ISO160 5.89mm

4000 x 3000, 1/60s f/3.0 ISO640 5mm

4000 x 3000, 1/60s f/3.0 ISO1250 5mm

4000 x 3000, 1/60s f/3.0 ISO200 5mm , Macro

Verdict:

Canon's PowerShot N is ultimately a strange little snapper then, and one that's in turn incredibly niche. As a proof of concept, it's superb - it's a tiny little thing with a unique control system, a camera with strong image quality that seems at odds (in a positive sense) with its gimmicky design. However, those quirky controls are as likely to turn people off as they are to intrigue them, while the high price is just as likely to scare would-be buyers away. It's an attractive prospect, but the Canon PowerShot N won't be for everyone.

Samsung have unveiled their latest smart camera, the NFC and touchscreen equipped NX2000.

Packing in a 20.3 MP APS-C CMOS sensor and an IOS range of 100-25600, the camera shoots in RAW and JPEG formats, can capture 1080p video at 30fps and has optional 3D capture support through a sold-separately lens.

An 800x400 resolution touchscreen measuring 3.7-inches sits on the rear, reminiscent of the Samsung Galaxy Camera, while Wi-Fi sharing is also supported.

"Combining consumer demand for quality photography with the increasing desire for instantaneous sharing has become a focus for our NX range," said Sun Hong Lim, Senior Vice President and Head of Sales & Marketing, Digital Imaging Business, Samsung Electronics.

"The NX2000 builds on this theme to offer a stylish model which caters to the needs of today's aspiring photographers who love to share their lives on social networking sites. Ideal for the everyday photographer who wants to capture their world, the NX2000 allows users to express themselves and share their beloved stories with ease with the people who matter."

No UK pricing revealed yet, but pink, white, black and silver models will hit US stores soon priced $649, each with a copy of Adobe Lightroom 4 thrown in.

Sony have launched the world's smallest and lightest camera to pack in a 30x zoom lens, the Cyber-Shot HX50.

Measuring 108 x 64 x 38mm, it's fitted with a 20.4 megapixel Exmor R CMOS sensor with the same Bionz processor found in the HX300 superzoom. A 24-720mm f/3.5-6.3 equivalent lens with optical image stabilisation also features.

Built in Wi-Fi allows for wireless picture sharing when in range of a network connection, pushing snaps to a PC or TV, while nine different filter effects and a 1080p/50 movie capture option can also be used. Panorama modes can also be used, while manual control dials and interface hotshoe give experienced photographers full control over settings and optional peripherals.

Shooting in JPEG only (no RAW), the camera's battery life is good for 400 shots, which is very respectable for a compact.

Launching at the beginning of May, expect to pay around £350 when the HX50 launches. An additional FDA-EV1MK electronic viewfinder, first released with the Cyber-shot RX1 full-frame compact, will cost also be available for £330.

If you fancy taking images and recording video on the slopes but you don't want to spend cash on an action cam when you have a perfectly good compact camera at home, the Camera Demon might just be the answer

It is a fuss-free way of attaching your camera to your helmet using a standard 1/4-inch thread (which makes it compatible with almost any snapper) so that you can capture that footage. It doesn't look like much - it basically consists of a chunk of plastic with rubber washer and metal screw thread set on a 3M adhesive pad.

There are a few limitations. For example you could place a digital SLR on the bracket, but it isn't really advisable. It is also quite fiddly to move around once in place, in fact to remove the adhesive pad you need to blast it with a hair dryer.

Ultimately though this is £25 accessory and if you have a compact at that you want to take with you next time you hit the slopes or shoot off on your mountain bike then this represents excellent value for money.

More info here.

Pentax have revealed the Ricoh GR, the successor to the GR IV. Packing in a 16.2MP APS-C sized sensor, it keeps a small frame and manages to undercut the competition price by some margin.

A little late to the large-sensor compact party, the GR has a fixed 18.3 mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 25600 capability, a pop-up flash, 1080p / 30fps AF video and 4 fps shooting with continuous autofocus for capturing "fast-moving subjects."

"The introduction of the RICOH GR marks a new standard of confidence in the compact camera segment," said Jim Malcolm, Executive Vice President, Pentax Ricoch Imaging.

"The RICOH GR camera's unparalleled set of robust features and hardware completely redefines what can be expected from a compact camera."

The Ricoh GR hits stores in May, priced around £600. That's a fair-sight cheaper than the Nikon Coolpix A, priced £829.99.

Breffo's Adventure Camera Kit, first revealed at CES 2013, has now gone on sale, letting courageous photographers safely mount their cameras in all manner of high-octane scenarios.

Building on the success of the accessory makers Spiderpodium, the kit features eight bendy legs that can be wrapped around objects or positioned in innumerable ways to ensure your camera has sure footing, no matter where it needs to be positioned for that super shot. Made from a malleable, durable rubber wrapped around a flexible frame, it's perfect for use on rugged terrain, or for wrapping around overhead beams and branches for hanging. In the video below it's even wrapped around a bike frame for an action-packed video of a trail run.

Using a standard ¼-inch threaded screw, the Adventure Camera Kit is compatible with many digital cameras, including the extreme sports enthusiasts' favourite, the GoPro Hero 3.

The Breffo Adventure Camera Kit can be bought exclusively from the Breffo website. It's avaialble in black or white, priced at a reasonable £20.

Wildlife fanatics and Peeping Tom's rejoice! Fujiflim have today launched the FinePix S8400W superzoom camera, letting you get up close to your subjects whilst keeping your distance with a 44x optical zoom lens.

The camera houses a whopping 24-1056mm (in 35mm terms) lens with optical image stabilisation, capturing images at 16MP. A BSI sensor allows for ISO up to 12,800, with burst shooting modes offering 10fps or, if you're not concerned about a drop in resolution 60fps or 120fps.

A 3-inch LCD display sits on the rear, alongside full manual controls.

Adding Wi-Fi smarts to the S8400 first seen back at CES 2013 (hence the "W" tacked onto the end), the S8400W lets you beam images wirelessly to a PC, smartphone or tablet. You'll need either the Fujifilm PC Autosave software or the Fujifilm Camera Application from the App Store or Google Play Store to access this feature. Once connected, you'll then be able to push your shots to your favoured social media channels in a flash.

Set to be a Currys exclusive in the UK, we're still waiting on pricing. We'll let you know as soon as we hear of it.

Fujifilm are today lifting the covers off the FinePix XP200 tough camera, featuring Wi-iI connectivity as well as a sturdy chassis to protect it from bumps and scrapes.

Packing in a 16MP CMOS sensor, the camera has sensor-shift stabilisation behind a 5X zoom lens (28-140mm in 35mm terms). Full HD video capture is also possible, as are burst shot modes of 10fps and 60fps (the later requires a drop in resolution). On the rear sits a 3-inch, 920k-dots preview screen; impressive for a camera with "tough" credentials.

And tough it is! The XP200 is waterproof as low as 15 metres, shockproof for drops from 2 metres, dustproof and freezeproof. There's also now a double seal on the battery compartment, further protecting from underwater leaks.

The camera also features Wi-Fi connectivity, letting you transfer your shots to a PC, smartphone or tablet whilst on the go, ready to be pushed to your social network of choice. If you're looking to connect to a mobile device, you'll have to pick up the relevant app from iOS App Store or Android's Google Play.

Available from the end of April, the Fujifilm FinePix XP200 will set you back £229.99.

Another new camera launch to add to today's growing pile, this time from Olympus with the budget-friendly VH-520 compact.

Employing the company's iHS tech and TruePic V image processor, the camera should let you snap detailed, colourful, low-noise pictures even in low light.

Housing a 14MP CMOS sensor with a 26mm-260mm 10x optical zoom lens, the camera also features built-in image stabilisation, working all the way up to 6400 ISO.

Elsewhere the camera's shots benefit from HDR backlight adjustments, while 1080p video shooting is also on offer, with a 240fps mode allowing for slow motion clips.

On sale from April, the VH-520 will set you back a reasonable £129.99.

Two new pocketable digital compact camera models from Canon have been revealed today, the PowerShot SX280 HS and PowerShot SX270 HS.

Both make use of Canon's new DIGIC 6 image processing engine, and both also house a 20x optical zoom and full HD 60fps video recording. Each also has a 12.1MP CMOS sensor, and 3-inch preview screen, as well as a new Hybrid Auto mode that records four seconds of video in 720p resolution before each shot is captured.

These videos are then edited together automatically at the end of a day of shooting into a "behind the scenes" video letting you get an idea of what was going on around your snaps.

So what sets the two apart? The SX280 HS is the higher spec'd model, packing in Wi-Fi and GPS capabilities, the SX270 HS lacking these features.

Due out in May, you'll be able to pick up the SX280 HS for £299 and the SX270 HS for £279.

Canon have revealed two new DSLR models, the EOS 700D and 100D. Though larger than the average CSC camera, both see Canon shrinking down the DSLR size a tad in order to combat the threat of the growing CSC market.

The EOS 700D acts as a mid-level replacement for the EOS 650D, while the EOS 100D is a brand new entry level model, popping DSLR smarts into a package that's particularly small for a DSLR model. Both however are still a fair sight bigger than last year's EOS M.

Both make use of an 18MP, with the EOS 700D offering a 5fps burst mode, a wide 9-point cross-type AF system and adjustable Clear View II LCD touchscreen.

The EOS 100D packs in an APS-C sensor with optical viewfinder, measuring just 116.8 x 90.7 x 69.4mm and weighing 407g, still squeezing in a 3-inch touchscreen on the rear.

The EOS 700D will be available from late April, costing £619.99. That bags you the body only, while £749.99 gets you the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens too. The EOS 100D is out in late April too and is a little cheaper at £569.99 for the body or £699.99 with the 18-55mm STM lens.

Seems like someone over at Best Buy has got a little bit trigger happy with publish button for their website. The US retailer has blown the cover off a mystery, as-yet-unannounced new Canon DSLR, spilling the beans on the specs before the camera manufacturer has had the opportunity to reveal it.

The listing is for an "EOS-b" kit, priced at $799.99 (around £530). It's packing in an 18MP APS-C CMOS sensor, a 3-inch preview screen and a standard EF-S 18-55mm Zoom lens kit.

The listing has since been pulled offline.

Without official word from Canon not much is yet known about the camera. But its spec sheet and pricing certainly seem to align with rumours that Canon are working on a compact "Mini DSLR" model in order to combat the growing threat of small mirrorless compact cameras.

According to Canonrumours, who've seen a listed weight as being 13.1 oz, Canon's new snapper could be light too.

We'll keep you posted on any announcements about Canon's mystery kit as we hear it.

BT have broken a new record by commissioning a 360-degree, 320-gigapixel photo shot from the top of the BT Tower.

Captured to celebrate BT's involvement in the London 2012 Olympic Games, if printed at its native resolution the image would measure 98 metres long by 24 metres high.

"The BT Tower is such an iconic London landmark, and became a focus for the capital's celebrations in 2012," said Suzi Williams, BT group marketing & brand director.

"What better way to capture that remarkable year than with a full panoramic photograph taken from its roof?"

It took three days to capture the entire image (stitched together from 72,000 individual steps and 48,640 frames), using Canon EOS 7D cameras equipped with EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM lenses and the Extender EX 2x III teleconverter.

It's taken three months for a Fujitsu Celcius R920 computer (powered by 16 3.2GHz cores and 256GB of RAM) to process the entire image, which can be panned and zoomed to your hearts content.

To check out the staggering full size image, visit www.btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html.

Impressed with Samsung's Android-packing Galaxy Camera, but not its price? You'll be pleased to hear then that old Sammy have just revealed a Wi-Fi only variant set to hit stores soon.

While there's no official pricing revealed yet, nor launch date info, it should come in at significantly cheaper than the 3G-modem housing Galaxy Camera currently selling for £339 through Amazon.

Aside from dropping 3G, the spec sheet remains unchanged: Samsung's Galaxy Camera is a neat idea, popping full Android 4.1 functionality and touchscreen interface controls into a pocketable 16.3MP compact camera, complete with 21x optical zoom. For those looking for a marriage between a smartphone's connectivity chops and a standalone camera's superior imaging tech, it's a winner.

Hit the video above for our preview of the 3G-packing variant, which should be more or less identical aside from its on-the-go web accessing 3G capabilities.

Sony's NEX-3N camera has appeared online in a series of leaked press shots.

Following on from a spy shot posted earlier in the month that revealed the snapper for the first time, the fresh set of images (which first appeared on Digicame Info) look to be leaked from an official source, showing off front, back and top-side shots of the camera.

Digicame Info also leaked shots of the Canon EOS M ahead of an official unveiling, adding to the feeling of authenticity that accompanies the pro-looking shots.Looking set to be an entry-level mirrorless camera, it's a design that looks a fair bit more compact than that of the NEX-F3 that precedes it.Other than the removal of a bit of heft, the other significant change sees a zoom-lever added around the shutter button, given a little more tactile control over the 16-50mm power zoom lens.

In terms of its sensor, the camera looks to house a 16.1MP APS-C sensor, a detail it'd share with the NEX-F3 and 5R.

Still no official word from Sony, but these press shots suggest an announcement can't be far off. now.

How much zoom can you get for £150? 30x zoom, according to FujiFilm. That's what you get from their budget FujiFilm FinePix S4800 superzoom camera, revealed this morning.

Packing in a 30x optical zoom lens which offers a 24-720mm equivalent range, the 16MP snapper will let you get up close and personal with far off subjects, and make framing wide-angle scenes easy. If you've got a tiny subject you'd like to capture, there's also a Super Macro mode, letting you shoot crisply just 2cm from the lens at its widest-angle setting.

Built-in image stabilisation prevents too much shaking, even when zoomed into longer focal lengths, achieved by tiny shift movements in the camera.

Wide-angle autofocus can be as fast as 0.3 seconds, while the whole unit fires up in just 1.3 seconds.

Adding to the simple appeal of the camera are auto modes, with six scene settings and a scene recognition mode, automatically setting preferable settings based on your subject and surroundings, alongside as standard array of manual controls if you're looking to get a bit more creative.

720p recording is also available from the S4800, letting you shoot movies, while a 3-inch, 230k-dot LCD screen sits on the rear.

There's a few concessions made to hit that £150 - there's no built-in optical viewfinder, nor lithium-ion rechargeable battery, meaning you'll need to have four AA batteries on hand. But considering the price, it still sounds like a bargain to us.

No word on release date yet, but we'll pass it on as we get it.

Two new superzoom bridge cameras from Nikon will be snooping their way onto paparazzi wish-lists following today's unveiling of the Nikon Coolpix P520 and Coolpix L820.

Looking first at the P520, it's an 18MP snapper using a BSI CMOS sensor, with a whopping 42x optical zoom lens.

Featuring advanced lens-shift vibration reduction, the P520 offers both full manual and semi-automatic modes. Auto HDR shooting combines two shots at different exposures for richer colours and contrast, while a high speed shooting mode lets you capture 10 images at seven frames per second at a full resolution, or 30 shots at full resolution at one image per second. 99 point Autofocus is included, along with subject tracking auto focus.

On the rear of the camera sits a 3.2 inch 921k dot LCD screen that can tilt and twist for shooting at awkward angles, and the camera also offers full HD video recording along with GPS tracking. An option Wi-Fi dongle for beaming snaps to a smartphone or tablet will also be available at launch.

Expect to pay £399.99 when the P520 launches in February.

Moving on to the Coolpix L820, it's a 30x superzoom aimed more at casual photographers. It features a 16MP backlit CMOS sensor with a 3 inch rear LCD screen, and is designed for easy point-and-shoot image capture thanks to Easy Auto modes and automatic blur and shake compensation.

Portrait mode captures photos when subjects smiles and avoids shooting when a subject blinks, but those smiles may be a little hard to come by considering the L820 is powered by four AA batteries. No word on pricing or availability for the L820 yet, but we'll keep you posted.