OK, I was really wanting the RED Nikon S8100 but apparently only black is available unless you buy it directly from Nikon. I decided to go black because I live in Oregon where there is no sales tax, and Nikon was going to tax me and add $10 to the shipping. Black isn't all that bad looking anyway and it matches my Cooler Master HAF-X PC case.

I'm upgrading from a Sony DSC-V1. The size of the Nikon is a hair wider, a hair shorter and about half as thick. The DSC-V1 had a po-pup flash in the same area as the S8100 so I was used to holding the camera the correct way already. For those of you that can't think outside the box, the proper way to hold this camera is to make a gun with your left hand, thumb pointing up, then bend your wrist so the gun is pointing to your right, then place the camera in the gun. RTFM. This tip is printed (and pictured) in the quick start booklet that came with the camera. Once you get used to it, you won't mind pop-up flashes at all. The only... Read more

I've been waiting since late summer for the Canon 4500 and the Nikon s8100 to be released. The Canon came out first, about three weeks ago, and I immediately bought one.I played with it for a week and decided it just didn't live up to my expectations (in auto mode: flash too bright and uncontrolable, images NOT razor sharp, 36mm lens too narrow). I returned the Canon 4500 and ordered the Nikon s8100 last week.
What a difference! If picture quality is your main concern (which is, of course, every photographers main concern) this little baby really shines. In auto mode, images are razor sharp and super bright with or without flash and throughout the full range of the zoom. I don't know if it's the Nikor lense or the auto focus system but these pictures are superior to any point and shoot I've ever played with. The Cannons image quality was similar to a lesser priced digital point and shoot. The Nikon is a full step above this.
There are a few small negatives: the worst... Read more

UPDATE: I have returned the camera today after observing two issues that are dealbreaker for me. We finally had a bright sunny day today and I took some videos to compare against my 3 year old Canon Powershot TX1 that shoots 720p. I also received my mini-HDMI cable so I could watch the video on my 42" LCD TV directly without post-processing thru Apple TV box.

ISSUE #1: The video keeps going out of focus while I zoom or pan - whether I set center, weighted focus and/or single AF or continuous AF. The recorded video looks really bad. On the other hand my TX1 stays rock steady with the focus.

ISSUE #2: There is a loud zoom motor noise that gets recorded in the clip. I initially thought that continuous AF or Image Stabilization is causing the noise. I put the camera on a tripod and disabled continuous AF and the noise remained and it was clearly there when I operated the zoom.

The still photography feature of the camera is stunning, but video is important... Read more