Macro mode
Face Recognition
Large LCD screen
Scene Mode

could give you more manual control in auto mode

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.