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. :-)