Nikon Coolpix L18

For a beginner photographer such as myself, I have always been fond of the Nikon brand. Maybe it's their catchy, unique name or their stylish Coolpix cameras. A trip to Walmart landed me in the photo/camera section. While glancing over some new models, one specific camera caught my attention. The Nikon L18. I was really convinced and motivated to buy it because of the entertaining commercial I watched several weeks ago. It's sleek, dark blue design it it stylish, and very compact compared to other bulky designs. It may not look like much because it may seem a little too tiny. We all know the saying " Good things come in little packages." This might be just it. Armed with 8.0 Megapixel lens for stunning prints as large as 16 x 20 inches, this is a great value for the price charged. The 3x Optical Zoom-NIKKOR Glass Lens gets you close to the action. Also NIKKOR optics provide exceptional pictures. Whether taking some speed snapshots at a party, or a precise macro image, this camera fits the profile and is easy on your wallet. I'd recommend this product to everyone.

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8.0 Megapixels for stunning prints as large as 16 x 20 inches. Plenty of sharp resolution to capture the finest details, crop creatively and product incredible enlargements
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3x Optical Zoom-NIKKOR Glass Lens gets you close to the action. NIKKOR optics provide exceptional pictures. The lens is built on a proud heritage of producing precision camera optics that deliver superb color and razor-sharp results
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New EXPEED image processor ensures high-quality pictures with stunning color and sharpness. Nikon’s comprehensive digital imaging processing concept incorporates know-how and technologies accumulated throughout our long history of photographic and digital imaging development. EXPEED is custom-tuned for COOLPIX and applied optimized technologies the render natural-looking pictures of incredible quality and quick response so you will not miss that special moment
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Anti-Shake Mode minimizes the effect of camera shake by detecting slight movement of the subject and will overcome blur by adjusting to a higher shutter speed and a higher ISO
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Huge, Bright High Resolution 3.0-inch LCD makes it easy to compose and share your pictures. In addition, the high-contrast and anti-reflection coating on the screen assist in clear viewing, even in direct sunlight
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Adjusts up to ISO 1600 making new opportunities to take sharper, more natural-looking photos in lower light conditions
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Nikon Image Innovations include: In-Camera Red-Eye Fix™, which will automatically look for and fixes most instances of red-eye. You may never see red-eyes again, Face Priority AF is Nikon’s face-finding technology that quickly finds and focuses on up to 12 faces in a group portrait, and D-Lighting will rescue those photos that are too dark for printing by enhancing the underexposed areas of the picture while not touching the properly exposed areas
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15 Scene Modes for optimized shooting in various settings. Chose from: Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night Portrait, Party/Indoor, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Dusk/Dawn, Night Landscape, Close Up, Panorama Assist, Museum, Fireworks Show, Copy, Back Light modes. Match you current shooting situation with one of these Scene Modes and the camera will make the necessary adjustments to get you an incredible picture, automatically
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High Quality TV Movies with Sound is now just a press of a button away with your COOLPIX. Record TV-Quality movies with sound whose duration is only limited by the available space on your SD/SDHC card. Connect your camera to your TV and you have instant home-movies!
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Available Colors: Navy and Ruby Red

The lens gets dusty often. Make sure to clean it every once in a while. Also the photo stabilizer can be improved. Besides that, it's a GREAT camera.

Nikon L16

Nikon Inc.
1300 Walt Whitman Road
Melville, NY 11747-3064, U.S.A.

Corporate Inquiries:
631-547-4200

There are allot of choices out there to pick from on a digital camera. If your criteria happens to closely match mine than this review may help you. First and most important is what kind of a camera do you need. In this case I wanted a good compact point and shoot / easy to use / 3" lcd screen to view / had to have an optical zoom / it needed to accept standard replaceable batteries like AA / record video / it also had to be less than $200.00 and of a popular brand name. This narrowed my choices down right away to only a few cameras. After a few hours of intense research I purchased the Nikon Coolpix L18 I've now used it works very well. It’s very easy to use. Takes a good photo and the 3" screen has a nice view. The price is outstanding for what you get. Up to this point it has been trouble free and Nikon is a reliable company. Remember if you purchase a camera that does not take standard batteries you will need to buy another battery and keep it with your camera, charged at all times. That usually means you may need the charger near you too. I do use rechargeable as they are a big $ saver and last longer but in case I need batteries I can go almost anyplace and get the AAs. Also note that Digital zoom has very poor quality over optical zoom. This camera has both. It is important to have an optical zoom.

A great price
Nice large 3" lcd screen
Easy to use
Accepts standard AA batteries
Compact
Has quality optical zoom

The zoom (when in operation) makes a little noise - not a big deal.
The camera construction could be a bit heavier gauge plastic making it more durable - it doesn't seem any manufacture is doing this unless your spending over $200.00

HP @ SVP

Good

The Nikon L18 is the first camera in journey on the road to professional phtography. It is an excellent camera for beginners. It takes wonderful pictures and all of the features are really easy to use. I have been reading a lot of photography books and a lot of the features thatthey speak of in the books are available on this camera (white balance, fill flash, scene mode, etc.) . The manual is really easy to understand and the LCD display screen is huge. The one thing that I really like is the picture quality. As I said I am a beginner so I am learning to recognize good pictures and this camera has wonderful clarity. The one thing that amazed me about this camera is it's clarity in digital zoom. All of the other cameras I have used produced very blurry pictures in digital zoom. I took a picture with this one in digital zoom and it was extremely clear. I think this camera is a great buy for beginners like me.

Macro mode\
Face Recognition
Large LCD screen
Scene Mode

could give you more manual control in auto mode