Nikon Coolpix L4 4MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom
By: Nikon Average Rating: 4.5 Total Reviews: 60
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 On: 2008-09-07
This is a great camera overall!
The Highs...
-Amazing lenses
-Great looking pictures(for 4mp)
-Small,light,compact,and easy to bring along
-Lots of handy features including many different picture modes,and automatic flash that senses the light,and much, much more!!
The lows-
Nothing I can think of!!
The Bottom line-This is an amazing camera with great pictures at an amazing price!!
On: 2008-08-29
This camera is great! Purchased for a 12 year old....very easy to use and takes great pictures...very user friendly as far as downloading pics to pc or mac.
Would recommend this camera for anyone.
Bought a second one off ebay for an 8 year old.
On: 2008-07-29
This is a great camera, and very easy to use. I love it . Has video features too, the newer model has soubd to record also.
 On: 2008-07-08
Giving this item two stars is more than fair. Every once in a while you will get a good picture, but most of the time the picture is no good. With the flash on, objects in the picture are really white-ed out making color washed out and people super pale. With the flash off everything is super blurry. Also, if you take a video THERE IS NO SOUND!
 On: 2008-07-08
I picked up the inexpensive Nikon L4 for my daughter, but I use it more than she does. Its so small its easy to take anywhere. Photos are great. Flash is a bit weak but overall, the picture quality is very good.
 On: 2008-05-29
I bought this camera about 2 years ago around christmas, and i havent had any trouble. It works well, and doesnt have many problems. It doesnt break super easily cause i droped it several times (although my sister has a L10, she dropped it once and it spilt in 2). My only complaints are:
a. No audio on video mode
b. Takes a while to adjust its self in between pictures
c. Takes a while to actually take a picture
d. Hard to get a pretty close up shot of something with out it being blurry
Im thinking about upgrading this year, but ill probably just stick with this one for a while.
 On: 2008-05-13
Looking from the other reviews on this page I might have just gotten a lemon but I hate my Nikon. I had a Nikon Coolpix 3100 forever. It lasted through falls and four years of constant picture taking. SO when I wore it out I knew I wanted another Nikon. I regret it now. I have had to take it back to BestBuy 3 times now to get the lense fixed. The lense refuses to open and after they have fixed it, it will work for two days then stop again and this is with it not falling or anything like that. Also it eats through batteries, it is slow in letting you take another picture. The only good thing about it is the user interface.
On: 2007-08-16
Excellent. Best small sized camera we ever owned. Takes great pictures
and fits into pocket so it is there when you need it. Highly recommend this product.
On: 2007-04-27
I owned this camera for 1 year and shot at least 1200 pictures. Since it was my 1st I did not know what I was missing. It doesnt operate quickly. Because of a delay between flash and picture taking, my subjects always moved believing it had taken the picture when it actually didnt take it for a second after. Imagine those shots! Also, a delay in trying to take 2 or more pix right after another. Had many wait times. Not fun when youre trying to capture that shot! Also, burns thru batteries often. And there is no audio on the movie fuction.
My camera was just stolen on vacation, so I went shopping for a new one. I got a newly refurbished Sony Cybershot dsc-w100 with 8.1 mega pixels one at [...]for [...] and it completey out performs the coolpix. Great shots, low light, user friendly, and movie with sound so far. Off to get that perfect shot!
On: 2007-04-21
The camera is so slow that a child, pet, or other subject who doesnt understand, "Stay still for 2-3 seconds and smile...", will no longer be in the shot. So, Im giving it to my 9 year-old grandson who says he doesnt mind that problem. Have purchased a Canon PowerShot and am WAY happier!
On: 2007-04-13
This is a cheap camera in 4 MP and can cost around $100. This is an attractive price, but the image quality is so terrible that this camera is not worth. I have used 5 other digital cameras (mostly Olympus & 1 Canon) and I am a hobby photographer (landscapes & cityscapes). This camera features are not useful at all and any pictures taken inside rooms or party modes were shaky and blurred. Its museum mode works good. I have been fighting with this camera for last 5 months, and theneventually stopped using it.
Its flash charging time is too long and you have to wait to see a picture after taking it.
There is a long time gap & effort in clicking, holding the click button and whole camera firmly while taking pictures.
Pros:
Small, Easy-to-navigate Menu, Lot of picture modes
Cons:
Terrible picture quality, No image stabilizing, Modes are not effective
On: 2007-04-10
This camera gets great pictures - I have a Minolta that is a higher priced camera with 10X zoom but this camera has equal or better quality pictures - it is small and has a low zoom and also has no viewfinder which makes it hard to use in the bright sun (which my Minolta has) - the Minolta was around $400.00 and this one is around $100.00. If you want the bells a whistles go for the higher price but for all around pictures and a real small camera this one is hard to beat.
On: 2007-02-12
Three weeks after i bought it, the flash did not work.
I was surprised beacuse is a NIKON, but I recommend you to try another model of same brand.
On: 2007-02-06
My son received this as a gift from some very good friends. It is easy enough for him to use (and probably a much better camera than he needs). The frustrating thing is this: it comes with rechargable batteries, but no charger. The MH-71 charger costs $25-$32 on Amazon, and got mixed reviews.
One would think that these days a charger would come standard with a camera (it does with all the digital Canon cameras I have ever bought). I was really surprised and had to comb through the literature to find the statement: "...If an MH-71 battery charger is provided with the camera..." So be aware when you buy it may or may not come with a charger (apparently there are different packages)
I understand you can use standard AA batteries in place of the rechargable pack, so perhaps it is not a complete bait and switch, but I expected more from Nikon.
On: 2007-02-02
The first thing we did when we got this camera was take a few pics and head to the store to get 8x10 prints. If it couldnt handle clear precise quality pictures we were going to send it back. When we went to pick up our pictures they were shocked that we had taken them ourselves and thought they were professional photos! I am very pleased with the quality of the pictures. The camera is very easy to use.
As to the concerns about the power button... I thought that I was having problems with that too. Then my husband tried and he didnt have any issues. We found that I was just to impatient and didnt hold the button long enough. You do have to hold the on button down for like a full second. You cant just press and release. Other than that it is fantastic!
On: 2007-01-12
I received this camera as a retirement gift from the staff at an elementary school. How did they know I was dying to get a digital camera? It is so easy to use, and the photos have great resolution. It is also very easy to upload them onto my Mac computer. Its tiny enough to take anywhere, so I use it all the time.
On: 2007-01-12
I bought the camera for my grandmother for her birthday. This is her first experience with a digital camera and it has gone surprisingly well. The only true complication we have had is getting the camera back to the manufacturer settings after some intelligent person decided to change the settings up, but other than being a little complicated the camera is a great choice.
On: 2007-01-12
Ok this camera is my 1st real camera, before this one I had a canon, but one with no optical zoom, so I consider that a toy camera. The only thing I dont like is that when review picture I have to scroll thru the whole set to get to the one I want, however Im sure there is short cut that I havent found. Also, the movie mode, I tried to record the Bellagio water show, and it never recorded, but again, it may be my lack of expertise with the camera. So all in all I like it, its fits my needs, its in my purse at all times. And great for the price that I bought it, less then $100, a steal in my book. I think Im a nikon girl from now on. And why I didnt rate it a 5 is because I never give anything a perfect score, the slight cynic in me.
On: 2007-01-12
This is a great little camera! Takes great pictures, even in dark room. Friends with more expensive cameras are jealous they didnt buy this camera. The only small drawback is that the button to take pictures reacts a little slow, but I think this is the case with most inexpensive digital cameras.
On: 2007-01-10
I WOULD TELL ANYBODY TO BUY THIS CAMERA ----- TAKES GREAT PHOTOS,EASY TO USE AND A VERY GOOD PRICE!! ITS JUST AWESOME LITTLE CAMERA THANK-YOU
On: 2007-01-09
I chose this camera based on the reviews listed by other Amazon custombers. I am not disappointed! This camera is everything I wanted for the price! It is small enough to fit in a purse or pocket, takes great shots and videos, is easy to use, has lots of extra features, and is not a battery hog like some can be. The only drawback has been a few blurry shots in cases of full zoom and low light settings.
On: 2007-01-04
This is a second Nikon digital camera I own. The first one is Coolpix 950.Its small enough to put in your pocket. Easy to navigate and use, You can set auto taking picture with timer. Quality is acceptable compares other brand digital camera with the same mega pixel. I dont know if Nikon can improve the problem of takeing few second to capture a picture. It is good with the price.
On: 2007-01-04
It is a great camera for the price. It takes excellent pictures and has many options only found in more expensive cameras.
On: 2007-01-03
Overall
This is a good low-end digital camera. Nikon makes some of the best cameras on the market and this, for the price, is one of them. It is only 4.0 megapixels but dont let that fool you. The camera is perfect size, not too small not too big. It takes beautiful pictures! The best part about this camera is that you can set it on scene mode and customize the picture to what you are taking a picture of!! For example, if you are taking a close up of someones face, you set it on portrait and then it gives you an outline on the LCD screen to line up their face with to make sure you get a great shot everytime! It has tons of settings including nightshot, sports mode, scenic mode, fireworks mode, indoor/party mode, and on and on. It also captures video which is amazing. I set it on sunset mode once and took a beautiful clear snapshot of the sun setting. The software that comes with it is so easy to use. It uses Picture Project to upload your pics and you can edit, make picture projects and slideshows of your pictures on there as well. It takes clean pictures in color, black and white, and sepia. It only has 16mb of internal memory so you do need to get an extra memory card. I have a 128mb card in mine and I have taken 100 pictures so far and still have more to go. There are so many neat features on this camera. I bought mine at walmart for under $125 which is very reasonable. The only problem with this camera is that if you use it a lot, the battery life isnt very long, but I think that most digital cameras are the same way. So keep a couple of extra AA batteries handy (preferably rechargables.)The camera also comes with a cord to connect it to your TV to view the pictures. I never leave home without it.
On: 2007-01-03
couldnt be happier, pic quality is excellent. user friendly.
On: 2006-12-05
I can not say enough about the quality of this camera, it has ALL of the features that I want and then some! I wanted MACRO mode, it has it, I wanted video out, it has it, I wanted it to be able to use a SD memory card, it does, and I bought a 1GB SanDisk card for it, works GREAT!
I am amazed at this camera and all of the features for the price! I read all of the reviews here before buying this camera, and am glad I did, they convinced me to buy it, and all the good points are entirely correct! I havent had it long enough to judge the battery life, but I already bought rechargeable batteries for it anyway, so no matter what, Im ready! :)
I like how the menu/monitor works, it can show all the settings, or none at all. You can change almost every aspect of shooting within the easy to use menu as well! I honestly did not read the manual and had most of the camera figured out in one hour! :)
I strongly suggest you buy a 1GB memory card for this camera, it will give you all the room you need to go nuts with it! :)
I have to give Nikon a 9 out of 10 for this camera, the only thing I see so far that is a bummer is no sound on the video, but hey, for the price, Ill live ;)
It comes with video out cord, USB cord, and cool software, and an instruction manual on CD in PDF format, if you need it ;)
I hooked the video out up already to a DVD player/TV combo we have, and it shows exactly what you would see on the 2" monitor on the TV! How cool is that? :)
You can watch your video OR see your photos on the TV!
EXCELLENT CAMERA is all I can say, as I am not a good writer, but sure had to post something about this camera, it ROCKS! I think Ill buy another one to!!!!! :)
On: 2006-12-02
Granted it is small which is why I bought it in the first place. However, the flash takes too long to recharge in between pics and if I want to view the pic I had just taken, it takes awhile for the screen to pop up. Also, the flash is way too bright... Instead of flashing ONCE like most cameras, it flashes 3 times and can momentarily blind you if you are not used to it. You can also forget taking pictures without the flash... Every time I try, the blur warning pops up even though I take great care not to move while taking a picture. The only good thing about it is the size and the battery life is pretty long.
On: 2006-11-24
Nikon Coolpix is a cool digital camera. Its one of the cheapest digital cameras available (120 $ at the time of purchase). The photos are really good and it has lots of settings like Sunset, Night, Beach, Fireworks, etc. Video recording is also possible. One of the best cost-effective digital cameras.
On: 2006-11-18
It is a great camera. It has a small size, good optical zoom and Excellent quality. I love it too much and I take it anywhere and carrying it in its Nikon small case.
On: 2006-11-13
I bought this camera because of the small size, megapixles and zoom + digital zoom. I wanted something to take outdoors into the wilderness and not worry about hurting it. Price wise I feel this camera offers pleanty of featrues at a very reasonable price.
On: 2006-11-10
What a wonderful camera. The photos come out sharp and clear. The small size makes it very handy to carry around with you at all times. The photos load very quickly on to the computer. For the price I would rate this a "best buy". I found only one drawback which I feel is minor. In very bright sunlight it is difficult to see the object on the screen unless it is shaded by a hand or a piece of paper or cardboard. But this minor problem would not stop me from purchasing a second Coolpix L4. You can purchase a 512 or l Meg memory card for very little money. Check Amazon for Kingston or SanDisk. I have both and they are great.
On: 2006-11-09
What a wonderful camera. The photos come out sharp and clear. The small size makes it very handy to carry around with you at all times. The photos load very quickly on to the computer. For the price I would rate this a "best buy". I found only one drawback which I feel is minor. In very bright sunlight it is difficult to see the object on the screen unless it is shaded by a hand or a piece of paper or cardboard. But this minor problem would not stop me from purchasing a second Coolpix L4. You can purchase a 512 or l Meg memory card for very little money. Check Amazon for Kingston or SanDisk. I have both and they are great.
On: 2006-11-07
Liked my Nikon Coolpix 2100 much better. The "on" button on top of the L4 camera seems to be a problem. Needs several tries before it actually turns the camera on. That is not good when you want to be able to take a picture quickly. Do like the larger viewing screen, and of course many features are similar to the Coolpix 2100. It was stolen, and I had quite enjoyed using it, so thought Id try another "Coolpix" camera. Price was great of course.
On: 2006-11-06
This is an excellent pocket camera and it lives up to the Nikon reputation for quality. While it lacks some controls seen on more sophisticated models the pictures will please the most demanding for this class camera. I liked it so well I bought two, one for myself and one as a gift to a budding photographer.
On: 2006-11-06
I am not a photographer, but the pictures I take look great. It feels great to know that I can capture memories in vivid color too. (thats the setting I always use.)
On the other hand though, there is a long wait time to use the camera again after a picture was taken using the camera flash. I dont quite know why but it seems that if you have to take many pictures in quick succession then using the camerass flash is not the best way to go!
All in all, for the price i paid the quality is quite suitable.
If you dont have any experience in photography, buy this one.
On: 2006-11-05
I simply love this camera, its very tiny in size and takes great pictures and you can buy rechargable batteries or regular batteries if you should choose. it is simple to use, didnt even have to read the manuel. for a starter camera or advance user, get this one, you will love it !!!
On: 2006-11-03
The Coolpix L4 is a great camara. Love the night modes, portrait. Takes great pictures, took it on our honeymoon, and all pictures came out great. It also takes very good movies, I thought it wouldnt and that is why I didnt go for the one with speaker, but seeing the cuality of both pictures and video, I should have gone for the one with mic, thats the L3.
On: 2006-10-25
This camera is worth every penny. I just recieved it today and so far I like it a lot. Seems to be well made, has a nice size LCD screen, and takes good pictures from what I have seen so far. Battery life seems good. It has 15 scene modes which you would not expect with a camera in its price range. Macro mode is excellent! The only downsides really is the time it takes from when you take a picture to the time you can take the next, it takes a second for the flash to charge. The camera only comes with 10mb internal memory, so unless you are going to invest in a bigger memory card, you will only be able to take about 6 pictures. The video mode is good, but does not have any sound. Overall I give it a 4.5. Price paid: $116
On: 2006-10-25
I bought this camera for my sister, as an early Christmas present, thinking I would need some time to set it up for her, well in less then 30 minutes I was ready, Its a awesome camera, I was impressed, of the ease from set up to formatting the 512 SD card. I have sent the site to another sister whom is interested. It is the easiest camera to use and has features that will impress anyone, Great photos from very close to far away. I would recommend this camera to anyone.
On: 2006-10-18
I have been waiting for a new digital camera for under $150 - that didnt seem cheap or a questionable off-brand. Ive owned and used several models of digital cameras, largely HP and Kodak for the last decade. In this one I wanted a camera that would interface with several different computers without difficulty (which the HPs often would not) and that did not use an unusual storage media (which the Kodaks did).
The Nikon Coolpix L4 fits these criterion, is by far the simplest to use, and takes the best quality pictures of any of the models with which I have experience. As with any camera, one will probably need additional memory, but even with this extra the cost remained below $150.
Unless one is a photoprofessional, I cant imagine needing more features, and considering the price - we have a winner.
On: 2006-09-24
For me, the mere idea of buying a camera petrified me. I am not at all savy on this sort of technology & I was extremely worried that I would not get a good quailty easy to use camera.
Not only is this camera light & small, it takes the most beautiful crystal clear images. They look professional. A large window is more than enough to see how your images will look, & you can modify on the spot, that is, you can cut & change the lighting that you think is best, right in the camera & it saves the changes.
And most important, its very easy to use. By the time you fiddle around it, you pretty much know all there is to know. The booklet can actually be a little more confusing when reading versus just exploring & figuring it out.
There are numerous options, neverending actually. It does get a little taxing at times but its nice to have those option espeically when you cant control the lighting. You can customize to the minute detail: how large you want the image, the color (vivid, dull, black & white, etc), settings like indoors/outdoors/scenic/sunny/sunset/museum/landscape/party/portrait for one person or two, portrait with landscape in the back...like I said, endless. Some of the choices, like the architecture option, do have automatic blur warning which at times will blur each picture in general. And I have yet to figure out why since its not in the book. But for the most part, all the pictures turn out fabulous, even with an unsteady hand.
Transferring is a sinch. You dont even need to install the software to download your images especially if youre not at your own computer & arent allowed to install foreign programs. It just pops up as an external drive on the c drive vis-a-vis your USB port.
It has automatic shut-off which can get annoying if your only using it in small spurts & dont want to turn it off but it does help on saving the battery. Alkaline batteries work fine, but Id get lithium so you dont have to change them so often, which is one downer. It can eat up batteries like you cant imagine. The carry case that you can get with this camera was a great investment as well. Id also recommend getting a memory card too. Espeically if youre taking video (which, by the way, dont attempt to send as an attachment on an email, youll have to burn them...the file will be far too large for your email to handle & the receivers. Even small short videos wont go.)
All in all, VERY VERY happy.
UPDATE: Well, there and back again! I thought Id do an updated review on my camera, since Ive read some reviews said that their own version was starting to die out on them about this age. Ive had this camera for about 10-11 monthes and even after dropping it 3 times on pavement, marble and stone...it still works wonderfully. Pictures are still vivid, espeically the outdoor ones (weird but true: the Museum setting gives the best). The kind of details I can get, still boggles my mind. Everbody commented on how wonderful and clear my pictures were when I send them and they printed off just as well, even when blown up, and I kept mine on the second to lowest resolution setting on my camera.
Just remember to switch the button thats ont he bottom right to left, opposite from the video switch, otherwise, youll take indoor pictures with no flash when its on one of the indoor settings. I kept forgetting & it was kind of annoying. When its on the middle setting its like its on neutral mode and the mode that you choice remains inactive until you switch it over.
And, Ive come to find that all those settings arent necessary during the day. Musuem mode is amazing, it looks so real but other settings like architecutre/landscape and portrait are just as good but theres something mysterious about the Museum mode. Its only when there is poor lighting that things can get tricky. Just make sure that button is switched to the left so the camera flashes in bad lighting. Otherwise, itll look orange and blurry.
However, when I went on vacation to Austria/Germany, I took over a thousand pictures. I had a 1 gig card so holding them was find, but when I transfered them to my computer, over half were lost. Whether that was due to the inevitable age of the camer or my numerous accidental dropping of the camera...who knows. But when I downloaded the last of my few hundred pictures, they all came out fine.
So in the end, Im still quite satisfied.
On: 2006-09-20
this camera was a gift and is completely fabuolous for a first camera. I feel like a whole new world of pictures is now opened to me. the picture quality is great. everything is above and beyond expectations. the only qualm I have is between pictures and other functions it is very slow. By that I mean it takes a while to load the next function you want to use
On: 2006-09-19
this little dynamo does EVERYTHING that I could think of and a bunch that I DIDNT think of! I have a nice $500 camera but it is a bit bulky. I was looking for something to take on vacation that I could just throw in a pocket on my purse. I saw this little camera at WalMart and there wasnt really any information about it. I just went with how user friendly it was and the Nikon name. Boy was I ever pleasantly surprised when I got it home and got a chance to play with it! You cannot possibly do any better for the price. It is fabulous. It has a nice solid feel to it too. Small enough to be easy to carry with every thing my big camera does PLUS! I am beyond thrilled.
On: 2006-09-17
this is an awesome camera. I was on a budget and the price was amazing. I purchased it from amazon with some hesitation but I am glad that I received a good quality product that was advertized correctly.buy this camera...you will not be disappointed and the nikon tech support is great. I can go on forever about this camera and now my friends want to purchase one as well !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On: 2006-08-28
I am a rank amateur in photography. I was looking for a good camera to take a few photographs of my child, and my cousin who is a South Asian dealer for various kinds of cameras and equipment recommended the Nikon L series to me. The L3 and the L2 seemed to be somewhat above budget for a student, so I tried the L4 and was pleasantly surprised.
The icons and buttons are very user friendly. The camera takes plain AA batteries which proved to be very useful on a visit to Sixflags when the existing batteries died mid-trip.
The photographs come out slightly blurry in inadequate lighting which I first thought was a fault of the camera. I compared this with a friend who owns a Sony cybershot 7.2 MP camera, and his does the same in uneven light. The photographs are superb in daytime and in the evening/night there are a few settings to choose from.
The size is unobtrusive, and fits inside a pants pocket easily. The LCD is very well lit and user-friendly.
Some people may consider it a downside that the camera does not have a viewfinding lens; I did not consider it to be a problem.
I higly recommmend this camera to someone starting out as a photographer.
On: 2006-08-25
Great and Quick Service. Would recommend to do business with these guys to anyone!
On: 2006-08-22
I got this after I had another Nikon on the beach (too much sand - not too smart of me) Great camera though - works flawlessly - took to the Grand Canyon, etc. I like having AA batteries - easy to replace - also they seem to last long too - definetely would recommend for a person on a budget who still wants great photos on the fly. Nikon quality is still great! (I am a former professional wedding photographer)
On: 2006-08-17
This is my first real digital camera, and I was able to use it right out of the box, transfer pictures to the computer and upload a few on my website. I was very nervous about using a digital camera with too many features and too many buttons, and I was so pleased that this one was easy to use. I have bifocals, so the 2 inch screen is working well for me, its one of the reasons I chose this model, I dont want to have to take off my glasses to see a tiny screen. The only reason I didnt give it five stars was - as another reviewer stated, Nikon didnt provide a case to protect it. Of course, Ive only had it 24 hours, so Ill let you know if anything happens, but I feel confident I made the right choice in the Nikon L4.
On: 2006-08-14
Compré esta cámara por encardo de un amigo y todos los comentarios que he escuchado son positivos. Es una cámara de muy fácil manejo, amigable y sencilla de usar con muchas funciones incluidas y accesibles a traves del menu. Gracias a la excelente óptica de Nikon las fotos son de muy buena calidad a pesar de ser una cámara de sólo 4 MP. El precio es bastante cómodo y competitivo sobre modelos similares en otras marcas. RECOMIENDO SU COMPRA POR PERSONAS PRINCIPIANTES QUE DESEEN UN EQUIPO SENCILLO, PEQUEÑO Y FACIL DE USAR
by: Anonymous On: 2006-08-04
this is my 1st digital camera.. and it is at an affordable price,, with hight quality..
GREAT CAMERA!!!
On: 2006-07-21
The only drawback was that the camera did not come with a carrying case. The only dissapointment was when I, much to my dismay, found out that the internal memory only holds 9 pictures. Otherwise, so far so good. My last camera was a Samsung 1 megapixel and it stopped working after a year so I bought the 4 year insurance plan just because I am a bit jaded after that experience. No matter how many megapixels camera you order, keep in mind that you will have to edit the size in order to email them to people. So, the mega, megapixel cameras appear to appeal to those people who will actually print the pics or view them on their TVs. When I tried to upload some pics to myspace and yahoo mail and I discovered that I had to edit the size of the pics down to 50%; each and every one. good luck.
On: 2006-07-15
I was looking at a more expensive camera but was recommended the Nikon Coolpix L4. I am so glad I took the advice and bought it. The Nikon Coolpix L4 is a great value. It is simple to use and has all the basic functions you could want. Try it youll like it.
On: 2006-07-04
A very nice compact camera for its price.
The things I like about this one:light weigh/compact design/good battery life/good picture quality/great software bundle included. It has everything I expected from a compact camera.
The only concern I have is the flash, but its a compact.
by: foldingkayaks On: 2006-07-04
I bought the L4 as a gift for my young photobug nephew nephews to replace an older camera Id bought for him a few years ago. Hes delighted with it, and why not? It has excellent resolution (4MP), good color, Nikon quality, good battery life and easy to navigate menus. It uses AA cells, which means batteries are always available. As for me, I was happy with the excellent value for the price.
With 4MP resolution, this camera can easily produce images that can be blown up to 8x10 or 11x14- more than enough to satisfy 99% of the camera buyers out there. If you never blow up pictures beyond 4x6 or 5x7, you could pay two or three times as much and still not get better images. For web use, its more than sufficient; you could crop away 80% of an image and still have more than enough resolution for a page-sized web image. Builders and others needing to document work will find it a useful accesory that can be kept at hand in a small belt pack.
About the only thing this camera doesnt have is instant shutter response, something that you still need to pay about $400 or so to get. But for general purpose family use, for kids learning photography, and even for the artist on a budget its an excellent choice.
On: 2006-07-03
I bought the L4 as a gift for my young photobug nephew nephews to replace an older camera Id bought for him a few years ago. Hes delighted with it, and why not? It has excellent resolution (4MP), good color, Nikon quality, good battery life and easy to navigate menus. It uses AA cells, which means batteries are always available. As for me, I was happy with the excellent value for the price.
With 4MP resolution, this camera can easily produce images that can be blown up to 8x10 or 11x14- more than enough to satisfy 99% of the camera buyers out there. If you never blow up pictures beyond 4x6 or 5x7, you could pay two or three times as much and still not get better images. For web use, its more than sufficient; you could crop away 80% of an image and still have more than enough resolution for a page-sized web image. Builders and others needing to document work will find it a useful accesory that can be kept at hand in a small belt pack.
About the only thing this camera doesnt have is instant shutter response, something that you still need to pay about $400 or so to get. But for general purpose family use, for kids learning photography, and even for the artist on a budget its an excellent choice.
On: 2006-07-01
Ive used the Nikon on two recent trips and on both occasions it has impressed. Its got all the image quality of an older Olympus digicam that I had been toting, wrapped up in a smaller and sleeker package. My only real quible with it is that one is unable to make vertical images go upright on the cameras LCD screen. Because of this, images viewed on television may appear sideways, which effectually limits slide shows to the computer screen.
On: 2006-06-30
This little camera is just what you need without lots of complex extras. It defines point-and-shoot and does what its supposed to without fuss. It has a perfectly adaquate zoom, a bright screen and runs a surprisingly long time on a set of batteries. Its small and pocketable so it goes anywhere. Only negative is that you need to go out and buy a case (Nikon makes a nice one and there are plenty of others.)
This camera takes double AA betteries which is a big plus. You can get an inexpensive charger and batteries (Radio Shack, all the big-box stores, etc) and those are fine for most uses. However, in a pinch, normal Duracell/Energizer AAs work just fine. That means youll never run out of juice, even when traveling.
This camera is a gem - dont hesitate, go for it. At this price, you cant lose!
On: 2006-06-05
This is my first camera of any type, digital, or film. I have to say its amazingly easy to use. And so far Ive been able to take some pretty great pictures with it. My only gripe is a slight one, getting a good focus without the flash takes a couple tries. But it can be done, if you have the patience to try and get a good shot!!! Highly recommended for any novice, or anyone looking for a good camera at a reasonable price.
On: 2006-05-09
I, too, bought this camera as a replacement for a previous digital camera. My Olympus D-450 was flawless - at only 1.3 megapixels, the quality of the photos (even 8x10 enlargements) was superb and it was extremely easy to use. However, there was the issue of those mini-megapixels, the cameras age (7 years) and size (it was getting too big to schelp around handily). So I talked myself into stepping up into the 21st century of digital cameras.
Ive had this little Nikon for 15 hours and theres nothing I dont know how to do on it at this point, its that easy to set up and use. Photo quality is wonderful. I have a couple of 256mb memory cards on order and will likely run out and get yet another, bigger, card today. I take lots of pictures, and with a major vacation coming up in 6 weeks, Ill be taking lots and lots more pictures. A big selling point for me was the slightly larger viewing screen (2"). 1.5 inches in some of the compact digital cameras is just TOO small.
FYI, for those of you who quibble about downloading pictures from the camera (any camera) to your computer, get yourselves a memory card reader. Not only does it save your batteries, the download speed will astonish you. I have a SanDisk ImageMate 12; that means it reads 12 different types of cards/memory sticks. It runs off the USB port in your computer, so there are no batteries involved. Its inexpensive and well worth it.
To sum up, this little Nikon is easy to use, produces great photos and I look forward to many years of faithful service - I hope! - from it. And the price! - 1/3 of what I paid for the old Olympus for many more features. This one is a winner in my book.
On: 2006-05-07
I purchased this digital camera to replace an older Kodak model and I am very impressed with the ease of use and the picture quality of this Nikon. To show how technology has so rapidly improved, my Kodak, which was purchased several years ago for $500, had 1 megapixel and took great pics. This camera is 4 megapixels, takes video as well as still shots, and has a host of other features that my Kodak did not have, and I paid $150 for it. Plus, the smaller size of the Nikon, as compared with the Kodak, makes it easier to carry along. I purchased a 1GB memory card to store a lot of pictures. The internal memory of the camera, without the card, can hold about 10 pics. The viewing screen also improves the ability to take pictures more easily than looking through a small viewfinder. I was very pleased with the movie mode, which takes crystal clear videos. There is no audio with the movie feature, but I save important videos for my video camera. This is a great feature to have, nonetheless, for those moments where you might want to capture some video footage. Then only drawback to this camera, which is very minor, is that it does not come with an AC adaptor, which I would want to use when transferring pictures from the camera to the computer, so as to save the batteries. I ordered the adaptor from a camera shop separately, which runs about $30. All in all, this a great camera, easy to use, takes impressive pictures and is a lot of fun.
On: 2006-04-26
I was not enjoying the hunt for a consistently well-reviewed digital camera. It seemed like every camera had an upside, and every camera had a downside.
Fortunately, this camera was well-reviewed and within my price range. I wasnt expecting much at first, but when I took it out of the box and started tinkering with it, I was pleasantly surprised.
The camera is very user friendly, and I had few "What did I just do and how do I undo it?" moments. The menus are self-explanatory, and easily maneuvered.
One of the best aspects to this camera is that I have never really had a problem getting pictures to turn out. There are multiple white balance settings along with multiple flash settings so that if a picture happens to come out too bright or too dim, a few button pushes and it is easily resolved.
The face-finder feature is a great one, although I have done few portrait photos. Why? The macro setting (for extreme close-ups) proves to be an irresistable one. Ever wanted to take one of those art-gallery-type photos of flowers or bugs? This camera makes it so freaking easy!
There are a few downsides: Ocassionally, the photos come out rather blurry, even when I am doing my best to hold perfectly still. This is especially true when using the macro setting and a pretty good wind is jostling your bush/flower/tree/etc...
Additionally, the flash can take longer to recharge than one would probably desire, and this delay has cost me a few good pictures, but not many...Another flash issue is with the sports mode settings. These settings are great and are for use in well-lit sporting situations. Having said that, in those moments when you need fast, multiple shots that are NOT well-lit, Im afraid youre just S.O.L.
I dont really have any other gripes. The batteries usually last a fairly long time. I use crappy rechargables and have had no need to frequently change them, especially after changing the battery-type setting (yes, theres a battery-type setting!!!). I was also impressed at the number of bonuses I found in the box with the camera: a pair of batteries, a USB cable to connect the camera to my computer (easily), photo editing software with a really cool panorama maker (you can make 360-degree panoramas, too!), and loads of useful information re: digital camera use (if you want to take the time to educate yourself).
All in all, I am very pleased with this camera and would readily recommend it to anyone looking for a decent yet inexpensive digicam.
On: 2006-04-05
I got this camera for my birthday it has worked very good for me. I would highly recommend this camera. It takes amazing pictures and doesnt blur when its bumped or the object is moving. The only thing i would cahnged is that it doesnt really work without the flash so when theres sun sometimes the picture is hard to see.
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