Nikon Coolpix P100 10 MP Digital Camera with 26x Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) Zoom and 3-Inch LCD (Black) (OLD MODEL)

Ok, so I gave it a title that probably makes you wonder what I could possibly be talking about so here it is: 1. a really wide angle lens (26mm) for those close up shots and scenery shots (you know, the church with all of the spires that you have to backup all the way around the block to get into the picture). 2. a fantastic mechanical zoom lens that goes up to 678mm to bring in those distant shots (an with a tripod, the digital zoom puts you into the far objects pocket!). Keep in mind that with a zoom this large, holding it by hand is NOT going to produce a nice picture no matter how much stabilization is built into the camera! 3. One handed camera that is easy to use with a single hand and light enough to do so all day! 4. An articulated view screen that allows you to take pictures over the head of everyone crowding around the parade and still see what you are taking a picture of; it even allows you to take the pictue under the legs of someone standing in front of you or take that shot of a flower without having to bend down! 5. A camera body and lens that looks exactly like the SLR Digital Nikon! The only difference is you have a nice range of lens options that the other person (with the SLR) has to keep changing lenses to obtain. The camera also weighs a lot less and certainly costs a LOT less!!! 6. A wide range of shooting options from fully automatic to manual over-rides. Several scene modes also help with fast actions shots and close-ups. 7. A camera that you will not grow out of soon and one that even pleases the pro when they do not want to fuss with things. 8. the option to use a view finder if you want to! Yes, I know the 3 inch screen is nice, but if it is really sunny, the view finder works much better. Also, it is much quicker to use for those rare shots that you did not plan! You can turn off the through the lens view finder, the 3 inch monitor or both. A 16 Gig SD card (not included, the internal memory is good for 9 pictures) gives you the ability to take over 6,000 shots (enough for that trip to Italy) without worrying about memory cards. While on that subject, this camera essentially becomes free after your first 900 pictures (figuring that film and processing for 24 exposure film ran about $10). On a recent trip to the Tulip Fields in Washington State, I shot over 300 pictures in that one day! So, the camera quickly pays for itself. On the note of cost, this camera almost becomes a throw-away on a trip! Say you are in Italy and have been there for three weeks. You have averaged 100 pictures a day (very easy to do) and on your last day of the trip, you drop your camera from the third floor. You recover the memory card with your 2100 pictures. The camera was paid for after 900, so you are money ahead, have your pictures, and do not sweat the loss of the camera! (Ok, reality is that we will still be upset, but think how you would have felt if it was the Digital SLR with the nice zoom lens that you paid $5000 for!!) The only negative to this camera is that Nikon does NOT make a case for the camera! No one really does. However, the Lowepro case comes very close (a little large) with a belt clip (velcro for easy on and off), a carrying strap (detachable), and a carry handle on top with a front pouch that easily fits two extra batteries and extra memory. Speaking of battery, the included battery lasted for 350 pictures using the zoom extensively. The in camera charging unit works, but makes it a real pain. Purchase the Nikon En-El5 accessory package from Bargaincell (on Amazon) for $14 with shipping. It gives you a spare battery (larger than the original- good for 400 shots), a quick charger, a 12 volt adapter for the charger to allow you to charge from your car, and a European adapter that allows you to plug your charger in many European countries, including Russia. This is one fantastic camera and a great price to go with it!! UPDATE TO REVIEW: I just returned from a trip to Russia (30 days) and I have taken over 13,000 pictures with this camera during this time. I have used the zoom feature extensively in the many churchs that we visited and at all of the other landmarks. The wide angle lens really did an outstanding job getting all of Red Square into the picture! The zoom did a fantastic job (laying on my back on the floor shooting up at the cupala) obtaining the inlaid tile pictures in the dome! I made a comment earlier that a 16 Gig memory card would be adequate for a trip, but I found that I took almost 36 gigabyte of pictures and video on this trip! I had taken a laptop with me so that I could review pictures daily, but had not intended to actually do all of the storage on it. Well, that became my main picture store since I only had two 16 gig memory cards with me. The HD movie feature was fantastic as we were able to record several of the live performances of Russian Dance that we went to. Having the articulated view screen allowed me to shoot great video over the heads of the people in front of us. The only issue with taking movies by hand this wasy is that your arm gets very tired after about 10 minutes of holding the camera! I should have thought to bring a tripod!! We only had one problem in the trip with the camera and it happened after I had been taking extensive pictures in a very hot building (over 100 degrees) using the flash (took about 400 pictures). The camera closed the lens and gave me an error message. Changing the battery did not make any difference. My wife suggested that the camera had gotten too hot, so I waited 10 minutes and then tried the camera again, it worked perfectly! It has not acted up since. This happened in Moscow while the outside temperature was over 100 degrees and the building felt even hotter. As mentioned, I had been using the flash extensively and the camera was quite warm. Over the next two weeks I took over 5,000 pictures and it never acted up again. My recommendation is a very strong buy for a great camera and HD video unit!!

Nifty little camera. If you're expecting Nikon digital SLR performance - you won't be satisfied - get a digital SLR. But, if you're looking to upgrade from their simple point-n-shoot, this is a very good purchase. Has a lot of the same bells & whistles as the SLR without all the bulk. Lightweight, easy to handle, and very good photographic results. Battery life depends on how much zooming in and out you do. Extra battery packs are cheap, so it never hurts to have a few spare packs charged up and ready to go. Would I prefer a digital SLR? Sure. But, for the money and ease of use, this has more than fulfilled everything on my 'want' list. 26X zoom, macro capabilities, several programmable modes and Nikon reliability made this a no-brainer. One thing, and it's a big one....Make sure that you use at least a Class 6 SDHC card or better. The owner's manual clearly defines this, but I'm not sure if the Amazon description mentions it. If you want good HD video or the ability to shoot continuous frames in high res, then you need a class 6 or 10 card -- class 4 just won't do.

So far this camera has quickly taken some great pictures. Used it with internal memory before ordered SD cards arrived. Then took it out yesterday with new SD cards. Camera froze up like described here by others -- locked open, screen and view finder went dark, couldn't turn it on or off. It only cleared with removal and re-insertion of the battery. Nothing in manual has been found yet that addresses this. It was roughly 40 degrees (odd for CT in 12/31!), so it wasn't a temperature issue. HOWEVER, it had worked before without the SD card, so after several 'reboots' I tried removing the SD card after removing the battery. It worked again! Internal memory only stores 20 pictures, so not much room to play. Missed some great shots at a beautifully frozen lake...and went to a local discount store to test my theory that it was the SD card. New card, camera works! I have not been able to recover the couple of pictures taken on the bad SD card, even through my computer. The 2nd identical card I bought from the same seller seems to work fine and I'm able to access it via camera and SD reader on the computer. I do wonder if many of those who thought it was the camera that was bad really had a bad SD card...I just happened to have received the camera before the ordered SD cards so had already used it with internal memory. One clear disadvantage -- my old kodak point and shoot could switch between SD card and internal memory while in use and in playback. This, more advanced, camera cannot -- you have to remove the SD card to access the internal memory. Check this before returning your camera! --- 2/3/11 Will update with more details in the future, but I LOVE this camera! Have taken some great pictures with it and it has been easy to learn. No freezes since not using defective SD card. (I should place a link here to THAT review.......!) BTW, reading the manual is not a bad thing........You CAN review pics without the lens being off........With camera off and lens covered, press and hold the review button.........Will edit later and add page reference in manual. :-)

I just received this camera yesteday and was soooo excited!! I took it out of the box, installed the battery, turned it on and tried a couple of test pictures. One was wide-angle, the other using the 26x zoom. Both pictures turned out great. I didn't have much time to play with it, so I turned it off and went about my other business. I came back to the camera about an hour later and turned it on, nothing, couldn't get the zoom to work, nothing. I turned it off, back on and still nothing. I took out the battery and put it back in and the camera went nuts!! The zoom kept going in and out, in and out, in and out and finally stayed out and I got an error message on the screen stating that I need to take off the lens cap!! There was not a lens cap on the camera and I had not ever put the lens cap on the camera!!! I decided maybe the battery needed to be charged so I hooked up the camera to the battery charger and charged it for 3 hours. I came back to the camera in 3 hours, removed the battery charger, same thing--zoom went crazy!!! Going in and out, in and out and telling me to remove the lens cap. I packed the entire thing back in the box and today printed out the return slip. I am going to return the darned thing for an exchange and try one more time. If the second one does this or anything else that it shouldn't do, I am through with Nikon. I have a Nikon Coolpix 5600 that I carry in my purse and it has taken some pretty good pics. I had such high hopes for the P100 but they just got dashed to the four winds. If I have to return a second one, I may go with Kodak again, that is mostly what I have had in the digital line of cameras and they have been pretty good. ---------------- Did not receive a replacement from Amazon, but ordered a new one from another vendor. It was shipped on Friday and arrived on Saturday. So far, this one works as it should. I have turned it off and on several times and it works each time. I should have suspected the first one was defective when I used the zoom the first time and it zoomed all the way out when I touched the zoom button!! This one is giving me some very good pictures indoors with just the room lights and no flash. The macro is fantastic--I sat on the sofa and took a shot of some flowers about 7 feet away and they are clear as a bell. Can't wait to check it out on a trip. I am much more pleased with this one. Will edit my review again when I have a chance to use it outdoors.

I used a Sony point and shoot for eight years and thought that maybe it is the time to switch to something fancier but not dSLR yet. Therefore, after studying the available options, I narrowed it down to Nikon P100, Canon SX20IS, and Lumix FZ40. The Canon was a good candidate but a little on the heavy side. The Lumix had some color issues and I decided on the Nikon. So far, I love it. It is light, full of features and gives you a lot of manual tuning to play with. The menu and controls are just perfect. After studying the manual, I started shooting Auto then in priority modes and even in manual modes for experimenting (you can see some of my pics in the customers photos in amazon). The video is also nice but you can hear a buzz sound from the zoom if used (not as loud as you might think like the Fuji ones, but you can hear it especially if you are filming in a quite environment). I think it is a very good option for someone who wants to move from the point and shoot but still not at the dSLR point yet. I guess it is a keeper for me and will only buy dSLR after this one (after mastering the manual shooting). I am still learning, but quite impressed after 3 weeks of using it. As you see below, most of the Cons (in my opinion) are minor and i can live with them. To summarize: Pros: - Good build (sturdy), ergonomic and very light. - Excellent powerful zoom. - Very nice macro shots. - Great menu and options can be easily reached. - Nice pictures and colors. - High speed continuous shooting at 10MP! wow!!! - High speed video recording (it is fun). - View finder, which comes handy in direct sunlight situations. - The LCD, which tilts up and down by 90 deg, is quite handy in several situations. Cons: - A little noise in low light or with high ISO, which is normal for non-dSLR I guess. But you can always limit the ISO in the settings (which is nice). - Slight zoom sound in the video recording. - No RAW (which is weird!!! why would Nikon take RAW off this magnificent camera?). - No remote shutter (again, why would not Nikon consider having a remote for this camera???) - Cannot install standard filters on the lens. That would have been really a BIG plus if Nikon allowed it to. - I would loved if the manual focus was done using the command dial instead of the multi selector. UPDATE (11/10/2010): I have returned the camera today. I found out that the noise level was bothering me more. Add to that no RAW means wasting more time touching and fixing the images. Also, since I was interested in landscape images, I wanted the freedom of having filters and remote shutter. This is still a great camera, but not for the things I will use it or need it for. I am trying SX30IS and will write a review about it in the next couple weeks.

This camera does so much, and I don't have to lug around extra lenses of attachments. The zoom is amazing and the quality of the pictures is never an issue. They come out very brigt and crisp, and even realistic if I must say. I abosultely love having the option of the EVF too. I didn't think I would use it much and now I use it pretty often. The LCD screen on the camera is very bright and show the colors very well. I can't believe how small the camera actually is. I can use one hand to take pictures and the other hand to hold my drink....lol. When you do zoom in all the way you will want to have something to rest the camera on if you want a perfect shot. It's doesn't have to be a tripod, just something more stable than your floating hand. Also, if you use the EVF when zooming that will help stable the camera too. I always told myself that I would never take the leap to spend this much on a camera. Well, I am glad I did and its been worth every penny. My only issue is that Nikon didn't make a case for this camera. I would have gladly paid another $30 for a custom made camera case. Either way though, I am so please with this purchase!!!! Thank you Nikon!!!!

I really want to love this camera but I can't quite... First, the good stuff: Great pictures. I'm very happy with the photos and videos. Image stabalization and auto features work very well. Even zoomed all the way in I get great shots. Nice list of features and the 26x zoom is great - one of the main reasons I picked this camera. Mechanically it is a liitle too light-weight. I know it's not a full size DSLR but I was disappointed with the feel. It seems too small for my hand and just does not feel comfortable. Zoom is hard to control - kind of all or nothing. It has done a few wierd things where I have had to restart it. Worst of all, the zoom is starting to sound very noisy. I think I'm going to have to contact Nikon to see what that's all about. Not bad for the price, but I wish I would have spent more and gotten something a liitle more solid. I sent it to Nikon and they fixed the zoom (which had gotten worse) for free. After using it more I have come to like it a lot and feel more comfortable with it. Still, a bit lightwheight - I would hate to drop it - but so far so good.

I just got this last weekend so I would normally not rate it this early, but first impression is that it has great low light picture and video capability which in my case has been really hard to find. The P100 also has different flash settings you can take advantage of and they work. I will say neither of these were important to me when I bought it because I did not think it would be able to do either. I bought it as I think many people did for the long range zoom, I would like to report that even adding the digital zoom which extends the 26x zoom x 4 I have gotten amazingly clear shots using available optical stabilization and mechanical stabilization while being hand held and in the fast action mode. I can also get steady handhelds when in all manual settings at or near the optical zoom limits. I have owned the Rebel XT DSLR for years and have acquired many lenses and a pretty good idea of how to use it. I simply got tired of lugging 30lbs. of equipment with me and the specs on the P100 are incredible for what it is. I can tell you if you really want a true point and shoot this is not it! The color saturation and blurriness of trying to use it strictly as an auto will drive you crazy as it is mostly worthless. I found that with patience and a clear understanding of the manual along with the different shooting modes, you can capture some fine pictures. I have experienced many of the same problems as with DSLR cameras with a CMOS sensor and multiple shooting modes, while many of the zoom point and shoots do not encourage you to have to learn about cameras because their auto features are really good this Nikon P100 works much like a DSLR camera where its up to you to take great pictures, the controls are there for you so go out and enjoy this one as I am. Well it has been 9 days since my initial impression and I have taken well over 500 pictures. The more I use and learn this camera the better it becomes. I am getting absolutely excellent photos, don't use the video much but it does well. I have had no problems with it. This is the un camera I had hoped and is so much easier to carry than a bag ull o len's that were ar to often being left behind.