Nikon COOLPIX S3500 20.1 MP Digital Camera with 7x Zoom (Decorative Pink) (OLD MODEL)

Ever since I got my first Coolpix camera several years ago, I've realized the special joy of having a camera capable of recording high definition videos and photos everywhere I go. This is the camera I love to carry in a pocket or purse, and thanks to its gorgeous color and design, it's a welcome fashion accessory in addition to being extremely useful! I purchased this camera after dropping my older Coolpix camera while on vacation, and selected it because it is somewhat similar to my camera which was one of the first Coolpix cameras, without being too new and different. I like the way this Coolpix still has the familiar wheel of button controls where I can set the flash, close-up lens, date, time and so forth. I'm gradually learning my way around the newer features, many of which I'm still not fully up to speed with, such as utilizing special effects. I'm starting to enjoy how easy it is to switch from taking still shots to recording video, since it's no longer a matter of making menu selections, but rather simply involves hitting the record video button. The quality of videos and photos is the same excellent Nikon quality I've come to know and love. While some people may be put off by a delay in readiness when getting ready to take photos, I find for most purposes this camera is ready for action when needed. I love the way this S3500 includes stabilization, so when I used the zoom and took pictures of Mount Shasta out of the airplane window on a recent flight, my pictures were surprisingly sharp and clear. I haven't yet made much use of the touch screen on this S3500, as it's not one of the features I desired... but at some point I might get used to it. Truthfully, I have yet to try most of the fancy bells and whistles on this little point and shoot camera! It was so easy to start using right out of the box that I never did play the DVD movie it came with. I expect at some point I may get around to doing that, but I think it says a lot for good product design that this little camera is so easy to get up and running without instructions they're something you can do when you have time and inspiration for such things. Highly recommended!

I have been using this camera for several months and love it. I like the high quality optics and the compactness of this little powerhouse. It was on sale, so I feel that I scored a great bargain. It took me a while to get used to using just the screen to frame a photo, rather than a view-finder. It's hard to properly focus and frame with this type of mini camera, but I find that I rarely need to edit or fix a photo. They come out clear and with bright colors, most of the time. I like the fact that I can slip this camera in my pocket or travel bag and go. There is no stupid lens cap to keep track of. Yea! I recommend the Coolpix to anyone, expert or beginner for good photographs. Note: The photo editing software has a steep learning curve. I gave up and kept using my Olympus Master photo editor, which is the best I have ever used -- simple, easy to navigate, and lets me save photos by name in folders I name.

I'm an avid photographer, in no way an amateur, and have owned many cameras over the years. I probably upgrade about once every 1-2 years. I chose this one because it was under a hundred bucks which was a great price. I also liked the upgrade from my 16 megapixel to this 20 megapixel. However, this is the SLOWEST camera I've ever used! It takes 10-15 seconds between pictures to be able to take another one, which almost defeats the purpose of taking a picture. After taking another reviewer's advice, who suggested using a name brand or higher quality memory card might fix the problem with the slowness, it DID help with that issue a little bit. It at least made the wait time between photos a little less frustrating. After using this camera at Thanksgiving this evening, between all the trouble I had taking the photos to begin with and after getting home and seeing the photos on my computer, I just had to come back here to downgrade my original 3 star rating to a 1 star. We took photos outside around sunset, while there was still plenty of light. Between me and several other people using the camera, every person had issues with it not only being slow, but all the photos kept coming out blurry. Flash on, flash off, it didn't matter (I've never had a camera that took blurry photos with the flash on!). I tried several different settings- auto mode, indoor mode, night mode, sunset mode- the quality of the photos stayed about the same. I just could NOT get them to stop turning out blurry, and everyone was so frustrated we just gave up on taking photos altogether. After putting the photos on my computer, the quality of the photos was surprisingly horrible. They were very blurry, grainy, and either too flashy or too dark. The photos I cropped to bring the subjects of the photos in closer looked like the quality of photos my phone takes! On top of that, the 1 or 2 photos that managed to come out decent enough not to delete had white spots all over the photo- like water spots, or "ghost spots." Very disappointing :(. This was my first try at owning a Nikon, and I can say with certainty I will never be owning one again. I will be reselling this one and I have ordered a Canon to replace it, which I should have done to begin with. I honestly don't think this camera is worth giving a try, even if you get it at a bargain price.

The Nikon CoolPix S3500 camera is a very good inexpensive camera designed for casual picture taking and vacation and party snapshots, using the zoom lens and all the image manipulation features and controls included. It is perfect for someone who wants an easy to use pocket optical zoom camera with "features" for "fun" situations. Learn how to use it and you will be pleased. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Why 4 stars? Here is the story. 1. For snapshots shared online and 4 x 6 and 5 x 7 prints, the images are very good. 2. Macro images taken with a zoom lens "optically optimized for normal shooting distances, they [the lenses] produce somewhat below-optimum image quality at close-up distances - particularly edge softness due to curvature of field." (Search on this phrase for an interesting article on the subject.) 3. When significantly magnified, images appears to be a "soft focus" or a little less than crystal clear. This is due to "noise" caused by the 20 million pixels on a small sensor about the size of your pinky fingernail. The pixels are too small to collect enough light to totally overcome the inherent electron noise in the sensor chip. This pixel count "overkill" requires the camera software to "smooth" the image, resulting in an image that is less than crystal clear under magnification. Example: a small sensor with 10 megapixels will result in a clearer picture than the same sized sensor with 20 megapixels. (See the website with the article "The difference in megapixels: Does it matter and how many are enough?"How Many Megapixels Do You Really Need?") 4. Learning when and how to use the few automatic focus options before taking important pictures is essential. This camera (like any other camera) focuses sharply once the photographer understands how and when to use the various options. 5. The camera needs an SD card with a speed rating of 6 or higher to shorten the time it takes for the camera to move the image file to the SD card. Ditto for movies, which are quite good. This will speed up the "shot-to-shot" time that has been noted as an issue. I use a card with a speed rating of 10. 6. Making the image file size one step smaller than the factory settings also speeds up the image transfer, without any noticeable loss of image clarity or fidelity. --------------------------------------------------------------------- My Nikon S3500 Quality Problem and Warranty Repair Experience After reading all the mostly positive reviews and having other Nikon cameras, I bought this camera as a travel camera instead of my more expensive Canon Elph 310 HS cameras. (Travel as in "If a pickpocket takes my camera or if I lose it or drop it in the river, it's not that expensive, so what ever.") I was surprised that the first photos weren't as sharp as the reviews led me to expect. When I took it on a class field trip, our host took our group's picture. I was on the far left, blurry and out of focus. To provide identification of the camera owner, I always take a a macro picture of my business card before we left on the trip. It was very out of focus on the left. I contacted Nikon service, who requested a picture. After trying a full camera reset, with the same results, she said send it to Nikon Warranty Service (which is done by Precision Camera in Enfield Connecticut, a contractor, not Nikon). It took one week from the day USPS says Precision Camera received the camera to the day it appeared on the Precision Camera website as "Received". I had called after the USPS said they delivered it to them. It took three days before someone apologetically returned my call and said they were working on it. I received the repaired camera several days later. The far left side of a Macro picture was much less blurry. The right and left edges for non-macro pictures settings were now slightly "soft" focus, according to the Nikon customer service rep on the Nikon website. (I discovered that the camera's "view the image" function works well with the zoom control so small areas of the image can be magnified just as one would do on a computer.) I strongly recommend that you test all the functions and review the image quality of this or any camera that you buy within one week of receipt. If there are problems, you can quickly return it to Amazon (a superb company to do business with) for a refund or a replacement. Otherwise, the warranty service is your only option. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is how I took focus test pictures: 1. Using an 8 1/2 by 11 inch piece of graph paper (1/4 inch boxes), and placing a small 6" ruler on the paper, using natural sunlight through the window, I took several Macro test shots, ensuring that the image was completely on the graph paper. 2. For normal and zoom pictures, I took pictures of the front of a house with bricks. I took pictures of the brick exterior wall (like giant graph paper). I viewed the pictures on my computer using magnification to look at the lines and edges to determine their clarity.

We got this camera for our daughter- she's only eight, but very interested in photography and we wanted to get her a gift that she'd enjoy but she'd also get a lot of use out of. She's been using our iPhones as a camera for years so we figured a small digital camera (with no apps or phone capabilities) might be a good gift. This is a *nice* camera. First and foremost, it's tiny. The last time I had a digital camera, it was large, bulky, and heavy. This camera is about the size of a deck of playoing cards (but thinner) and much lighter. And when the camera is powered off, the lens retracts back into the camera and is covered, so it can be slid into a pocket without the worry about scratching the lens. It's super easy to use- just power it up, aim, and click. There's a built in flash, optical zoom, plus many on-board feature, including tons of fun filters. My daughter has mastered the camera and all after its capabilities after about twenty minutes of playing with it. The photos she printed out were crisp and clear. After years of using the iPhone as my go-to camera, I forgot how nice it is to have a camera that zooms optically, takes clear photos every time, and has a decent flash. I'm tempted to get one of these for myself since I tend to take a lot of photos and having to take at least five every time with the iPhone to get a clear photo is a huge time waster. At the size and price, it's very tempting. Highly recommended.

I've owned this camera for a little over two years but my dog knocked it on the floor-3 feet and broke the display. Even after a good fall on a hard floor, the camera still takes magnificent pictures (you just can't see what you are taking a picture of, lol)!!!!! So, I decided to order another (so now I have one at home and one at school for the kids). Only downside I've ever had with this camera is the lag time between pictures. you can't take multiple pictures in a row but have to wait a few seconds before it will take another. I see in some of the reviews that they say it takes blurry pics...I had this happen but only after playing with the menu buttons. I too was frustrated at first but after resetting the camera, it worked like a charm again! Also, when you download and display in the menu system on your laptop, the pictures appear blurry. However, they view fine in the slideshow, they print, display on web pages, social media, etc. perfectly. Not sure why they are blurry on the download menu system, but my pics have always been clear as a bell. Last thing, I ordered the red this time because it was the cheapest. I am amazed that other colors cost so much more and the only difference is the color! It arrived today and I am a bit concerned about how it was shipped. There was no cushioning in the packaging...it literally came in a flimsy plastic sleeve. The camera and accessories were in the hard plastic, see through packaging like in the stores and the camera was not in the accessory box but displayed in the clear plastic which means very little protection through shipping. I did take a few pics and seems fine but will update this review if problems arise. Veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy fast shipping! Got it a week earlier than expected!

I must have been one of the very few hold outs for getting a digital camera, but since it has become nearly impossible to find a film developing establishment, I decided now is the time to take that leap. Just got this little gem and have been getting acquainted with all its features. For it's size, it seems to do just about everything except wash windows. Very impressed. The set up was easy and for me a pretty low learning curve was involved to get the camera in working order...Do like how easy it is to set the exposure and also to be able to turn off the flash. Zoom and wide angle settings are excellent, and I really do like the ability to take Macro shots. So far my captures have sharp detail. The only draw back I can see at this point is someone with large hands (a big guy perhaps) might find the function buttons difficult to manipulate since they are on the small side. That aside, if you are a casual photographer and are in the market for a digital camera, this is one heck of a camera for the price.

I purchased this camera because I went with all the positive reviews on Amazon (those with 4 and 5 stars). I received my camera today, March 10, 2014. Size wise, the camera is great. However, the buttons that allow one to customize the camera did not work. The "ok" button which you need to set up the camera and use the menu would not respond to my touch. I ended up skipping the time/date set-up once the "ok" button responded. I then took one picture and the camera stopped working. I am highly disappointed with the product. I was hoping to use the camera abroad in a couple of days and instead will be shipping it back for a refund tomorrow.