A Decent Camera for the Price But Screen is Exposed and Fragile

This past Christmas I received a Nikon Coolpix L18 as a gift.  I was very excited as it was one of the digital cameras I had been browsing to purchase myself. 

Upon opening the box, it came with the usual accessories:  a camera strap, USB Cable, AV Cables, and two alkaline batteries.  The batteries are non-rechargeable and included just so that you can get the camera set up without scrambling to find other batteries.  There is also a “Quick Start Guide” and a much more detailed manual.  A Nikon Software Suite cd compatible with Windows and Macs is also included.  The camera does not come with a memory card and like most digital cameras, the internal memory is small.  I also received a 2GB memory card with the camera so I was able to begin taking pictures immediately. 

The feature I noticed and immediately liked was the “Anti-Shake”.  Often my hands are shaky when taking a picture, especially if I am somewhere like a sporting event where there may be a lot of noise and vibrations.    The camera automatically stabilizes these shots so there is no blur. 

The camera also has an “Easy Auto Mode.”  This automatically sets the camera up for taking most normal pictures.  This is nice because you don’t have to go through all of the details to find the correct brightness.  This is very good for people who may not have had too much experience with digital cameras as it allows users to simply “point and shoot.” 

In addition, the camera has a face recognition feature.  If you are taking a picture of someone, it will automatically recognize their face and up to four other faces in the picture.  There is also a zoom feature of up to 3x which is nice but doesn’t seem like quite enough at times.  You can zoom further than that but image quality is sacrificed greatly. 

Taking pictures with the camera is very simple as it should be with digital cameras.  Some I have used just aren’t user-friendly.  The shoot button is a small button on top of the camera.  Once you have the image on the large 3” LCD screen, you shoot and there is only a minor delay, a very nice feature for a camera in this price range.  The zoom button is in the upper right corner on the back of the camera next to the LCD screen so it is easily accessible and fairly quick.  The camera also makes it easy to access the settings as all buttons are on the back of the camera.  It is also easy find images on the camera, something that was very difficult with our previous camera. 

The only negative thing about the camera is that the 3 inch LCD screen is actually too large and there is no protection over it.  On a trip to the beach recently I set it on the concrete ground while in a beach bag and inside clothes and the LCD screen cracked.  My previous digital camera, as old and cheap as it was, had a plastic covering over the LCD screen and as often as that camera has been dropped, it still functions well.  So my nice Nikon Coolpix L18 that I had for two months was a good camera.    You will need to get a case for it if you want it.  Like with most digital cameras, you will need more accessories, most of which are now inexpensive and you may already have.    You will need the soft case, a decent size memory card, and some good rechargeable batteries, plus a couple of extras to keep as a backup.