Nikon recently found itself a nice way to both advertise one of its new products and benefit a source of growing talent and social photosharing.

Nikon approached several flickr members and offered them a free D80 digital slr, in return for which Nikon would use the images they shot with said camera in an advertisement and on a website, detailing the process each of the non-professional photographers took.

This is an excellent way of supporting a growing mechanism for sharing new talent and inspiring others to pick up and camera and just try it out, proving that you do not need to be David Bailey to be recognised for your talent.

Read the details here and here. The Nikon website for the campaign can be found here.