Last week, hazy photos emerged of a new Nikon DSLR with a swivel screen. Now, the camera has made the leap from rumor to fact, materializing as the Nikon D5000. Hovering near the entry level, the D5000 sports a 12.3-megapixel DX-format sensor, max ISO of 3200, 4 frames per second in burst mode, 11-point auto focus with 3D tracking and one-button Live View, plus all the usual stuff like image stabilization and face detection. There’s also a 24 frames per second movie mode in 720p and, of course, the 2.7-inch articulating screen. The body alone will cost $729 when it reaches retail later this month. For $849, Nikon will throw in an 18-55mm VR kit lens. See? Rumors can come true after all. [via Engadget]

This much we know for sure: Nikon is readying a big press event for April 14 in Austria, and they circulated the announcement to all the in-the-know photog press. Add fuzzy pictures from an apparent shoot in eastern Europe, combine with speculation, and now we’re looking at Nikon’s first-ever DSLR wih a swiveling screen. Maybe it’s an entry-level follow-up to the D60 with 720p video, or perhaps its a 16-megapixel D400 with CMOS sensor. It’s hard to know for sure — that’s why they have these press events after all — but at least we’ve got these pictures to gawk at. Apparently, they’re from the commercial Nikon will use to promote the product. We’ll find out soon enough. [Photography Bay and Engadget]

Uber cool, ultra sleek and adored with sexy curves, Nikon Coolpix eXtreme is a concept design by Camillo Vanacore that plans to steal the heart of every shutterbug across the globe. Equipped with an ability to overcome, dust, snow, rain and everything else that nature can hurl at it, the Coolpix eXtreme oozes with overwhelming class. However, keep in mind that the camera is extreme, and you’ll still need to run for cover. Anyone from Nikon reading this? [via Yanko]

In a slap in the face to cameras with higher pixel counts, Nikon’s D700 DSLR camera won Amateur Photography’s Product of the Year award for 2008. The British mag has some clout, so Nikon can celebrate for good reason. The 12.1-megapixel camera received praise for its FX Format CMOS Sensor and its quality auto focus, white balance and metering systems, delivered for less money in a smaller and lighter body than Nikon’s D3. The big losers here were Canon’s EOS 1DS MARK III and Sony’s Alpha 900, whose respective megapixel counts of 21.1 and 24.6 weren’t enough to beat the mighty D700. Hail to the king. [Amateur Photography via Wired]

Those of you who might want to take a candid snapshot of bacteria– keep reading. The Nikon Fabre EX stereoscopic microscope is designed to mount a Nikon DSLR camera so that you can take pictures of all those creepy-crawlies that you’d rather not know are there.  Sounds like a product every 7 year old boy in America should own. Of course, the price tag over $1200 would be a lot of weekly allowance dole outs. They have until February 20 to save, when this baby hits the market. [Boing Boing Gadgets]

If you’re thinking of jumping from compact digital cameras to DSLRs, perhaps you should wait until March, when Nikon launches the Coolpix P90. The 12.1-megapixel camera pairs a 24x zoom lens with 4-way image stabilization, and it can snap continuous photos at 15 frames per second. Other features include a 3-inch tiltable viewscreen and a “best shot selector” that takes up to 10 frames and keeps the sharpest-looking one. There’s 6400 ISO, but only at the camera’s 3-megapixel setting. Still, that’s  a pretty impressive package for $400, which is not much more expensive than your high-end digicams. [via DVice]

Nikon has officially revealed their “digital masterpiece”, the flagship Nikon D3X dSLR.  The D3X features a brand-leading 24.5 Megapixel CMOS sensor capturing a level of digital detail never seen before in a Nikon.  To avoid chopping up storage cards with all that image data, the D3X also crops at 20.4MP and 10.3MP, allowing for smaller file sizes.  At the full 24.5 MP, the D3X can shoot at 5 fps, providing fast-action response for those who focus on moving targets.  On the rear of the Nikon D3X, there’s a super definition 3″ display with 920,000-dot VGA capability.  Add on-board editing features, a battery life that’ll last you 4,400 snaps, and you’ve got an elite dSLR built specifically for the pros.  The costiness?  $8k.  [nikon]

Nikon has announced a pair of headphones that combine a display, headphones, mobile A/V player, Wi-Fi capability, high-capacity memory, and a power source into a single device. The UP300x and UP300 allow users to have a viewing experience “equivalent to that of viewing a 50-inch large screen from a distance of three meters.” The UP300x has 8GB of internal memory and a built-in motion sensor for hands free operation, meaning you can adjust things like the volume on the headset by simply moving your head from one side to the other. This is a monster announcement by Nikon, as this is one big step toward a truly immersive, mobile, hands-free multimedia environment.  [Nikon]

We swear, the people at Nikon have a serious streak of sadism…  A day after Canon announced its EOS 50D, Nikon bursts their bubble with a release of their own.  That’s not to say the EOS 50D is not a lustworthy camera (it is, without a doubt!) but the Nikon D90 DSLR is going to give it a run for its money.  The Nikon D90 DSLR digital camera offers a 12.3MP sensor for stills and 24 frames-per-second for HD video with sound.  Like most recent DSLRs, the Nikon D90 offers a suite of image editing functionality– yet these are common to most Nikon cameras up to the professional grade.  For those who wish to share their photos on a globally synchronized scale, a GPS tagging option is available.  Starting at a cool grand, this is one hell of a nice announcement by Nikon…

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