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Just in time for the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival (and home of this year's World Tulip Summit) are a slew of new Nikon CoolPix digicams, which are available in a selection of styles and colors.

Nikon AF-S DX Micro Nikkor 85/3.5G ED VR

Designed for use with Nikon DX-format (APS-C) imaging sensors, the AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85/3.5G ED VR covers the angle-of-view (18º) of a 127.5mm short-telephoto lens on a full-frame (24x36mm) DSLR. The new lens focuses down to 10.8" (0.27 m) for sharp, life-size (1:1) reproduction of your subject.

Not all that long ago, shooting under low-lighting conditions without benefit of a flash or tripod meant pushing your film 1,2, or 3 stops beyond its native ISO rating.

You'd think that camera makers would run out of clever new tricks. But now Nikon has pulled a pair of point-and-shooters from its hat designed to astonish and enthrall users. The Nikon CoolPix S70 is the first handheld outside Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch to incorporate a multi-touch screen. The other rabbit is the Coolpix S1000pj, the first camera that is also a projector. When you see it in action, your jaw will drop.

The Nikon's D300s is an update of the company's popular D300 digital SLR camera, and like its predecessor, the D300s contains a self-cleaning 12.3Mp DX-format CMOS sensor, a dynamic 51-point Multi-CAM3500 autofocus system, and an EXPEED image processor. It is also notably faster and shoots 720p high-definition video. Wait one minute. Is that an arched eyebrow we detect?

Nikon's newest offering, the D3X might best be viewed as a 'co-flagship' camera that compliments rather than supplants the Nikon D3. In terms of performance, appearance, and structure, both cameras exemplify state-of-the-art pro-quality DSLRs designed for two specific markets.The Nikon D3 is living proof you can

capture lush, full-bodied image files without sacrificing high performance levels. The new D3X is aimed at shooters seeking to capture image files that approach the sort of resolving power one expects from medium-format capture backs without sacrificing the handling and performance characteristics of a pro-quality '35 mm' DSLR.