Why don't you go ahead and buy this just for the thrill of guessing when the zoom motor will stop working. Took just over a year for me (lots of people reported the same). Sending in for repair will come in at the price of buying a new camera - which will be a non-Nikon for me.

I bought this camera a month ago and haven't stopped taking pictures. I use it for my web pages and with 4 MP at less than 200 dollars you can't go wrong. Plus it takes full 360 degree panoramic images that are stitched together to make a 360 image. You just have to add it as a mmFlash component to your webpage.

I wanted at least 4.0 (guarantees a better quality photo and larger print then 3.0 & 2.0) which the Nikon coolpix 4100 has and I didn't want to pay much. When I got online and saw I could get the coolpix for under $200 (almost all 4.0 megpix are around $300) I couldn't resist buying it but then I read a couple bad reviews and wonder if I made a good buy.

After actually using the Coolpix 4100 I can clarify some of those bad reviews. I notice in most of the bad reviews the people are comparing the coolpix 4100 to $500-$1,000 cameras (that I own too)is not fair. It's like buying a ford escort because it's cheap and then complaining about how it doesn't measure up to a hummer.

SHUTTER SPEED----Some reviews complained about the shutter time being to slow. After you snap your picture the screen goes black (for about 1 to 1.5 seconds) remember it has to transfer your photo to memory it TAKES TIME, before it comes back up to were you can snap another picture. !!!!!!You Really don't wait that Long!!!!!!!!! espcially if you Never used a more exspensive model then you'll never EVEN notice the coolpix has a delay, others did because again they were comparing a ford to hummer. If you want a camera that has like 0.1/1000th of delay (means you can snap a picture & be back up within blink of an eye to snap another picture)so don't miss any shot, then I suggest buying a digital Canon EOS for $2,000.

BATTIER----Some reviews complain because it uses AAA battier and they don't last long. Be glad it uses AAA if it use a lithium the camera would cost $200-$300 more and you won't even be looking at it. Lithium does last longer but it cost more to build lithium capability into a camera; By Nikon putting in AAA knocks about $200 off the price.

As for the AAA battier not lasting long enough, I think those people are leaving the camera on while they sleep or something. The 1st day I got my camera (using the batters that came in the box) I took picture from 12pm till late at night testing all the different modes it had, in different lights. I even used the camera's battier to up loaded my pictures unto my computer and I still had plenty of battier power for the next day.

FLASH -- I'll agree with the reviews that said the flash isn't very good ( why I gave it 4 stars). The flash really doesn't light up a dark room, most of the picture I took inside my house at night did seem to be a little darkish & I got red eyes (with the red eye reduction on) but you could still see my kids faces and I use the software to remove the red eye so I thought the picture came out pretty good. You can shop around But I gaurentee all digital under $200 the flash won't be really that great (again why it cost less then $2,000 camera). But the one thing the coolpix has that other lower price cameras don't; is a back flash (which is a slower ISO) it will light up dark room really well (but this is something you have to set yourself in the flash menu it won't do it automatically)

PICTURE QUALITY -- with 4.0 megpix you won't be disappointed, I don't think I read any bad reviews on picture quality. I took over 60 pictures of my cats running, my kids jumping up and down and all the picture were Clear and Blur free, which amazed Me because I have hard time getting that sometimes with my Canon EOS. And the button are so easy to use on the coolpix (I figured them all out wihtout even opening the manual)

Over all if your mainly looking at size & ****PRICE**** of this camera, then you won't be disappoint. I think some people are excepting to much from the low price camera by comparing it to $2,000 digital. I'm very please with this camera I think it's the best camera out there for the Price, The price says it all!!!! Under $200 for 4.0 you can't do any better.

This camera takes great shots. Nikon optics are known superb. Other negative comments are overexaggerated such as slow shutter speed. Yes, its not a fast as the $1,000.00 SRLs, but,these are not the same class cameras. The bottom line is the optics, and the abilty to view your photo's on the spot for a better second "take".

Nikon has great quality products; unfortunately, the Nikon coolpix 4100 has a problem: It takes too much time to point, focus, and shoot; to save the picture on the security data memory and finally to recharge the flash; in relation to the quality of photos..., well they have the Nikon quality. If you want to take pictures in a faster way this is not the camera for you, skip this particular model and try other models from Nikon.

I have this camera for 4 months now. Generally, it takes good pictures. However, if you have young children and intend to take a lot of inside photos, where the flash is used, I would not recommend this camera for the following reasons: (1) the shutter delay is very noticable (after you press the button and by the time the picture is captured, the kid has moved out of the picture), (2) when the flash is used, this camera take a long time to recharge the flash and until the flash is recharged you cannot take another picture (the delay is roughly 10 seconds for an inside shot -- for me). Anyway, I was so fustrated by having a lot of shots of my kid's head and missing a few pictures waiting for the flash to recycle, I broke down and got a Kodak. But I will still keep this camera as a backup because it is fairly compact and does OK for taking outside pictures.

Within a couple of months of buying this product, it started giving trouble in respect of sensing the battery. A couple of shots after inserting a set of brand new batteries, the camera starts indicating that the battery is exhausted/low and one cannot shoot any more photos (or do anything else). The problem is intermittent - it works sometimes. It has been a really frustrating experience and I am still trying to sort this out.

If you ever want to photograph some events or occations where you cant say 'can you please pose for me?' dont buy this camera. This is the slowest camera I have seen. You WILL miss some actions for sure.

For Indoor photos, you need to use the flash, almost always. Else it gives blurr. This eats up the battery life

It has the other features as you can see in the specifications.

Nikon itself came out with a new 4.0 MP model and ignores coolpix 4100 and that says it all.

I purchased the Nikon Coolpix 4100 for $164.00 (that was the price on Overstock... but they've since sold out which is to be expected). I have had the camera for a little over 5 months now and still love it. I won't debate the fact that the reload time takes an extra second but are we really that impatient? I've never missed a shot because of the reload time.

The Nikon has a lot of capabilities for it's price such as video imaging and you can record a message to go along with your pictures.

Last month, I lost my Nikon for 2 weeks and I was about to purchase another camera but couldn't find any that I was willing to pay for to match up to the Nikon, but luckily I found my camera so I didn't have to worry about buying another. I don't take it for granted anymore.

As far as the batteries go, I'll admit, I used up about 3 pairs of AA batteries within the first 3 days of having my camera. At the same time I must say that I did play with it from the time I woke up until I went to bed again. To remedy the problem, I bought the Lithium AA (Energizer brand) and I haven't had to replace the batteries in two months. Imagine that. :)

Get the camera, you won't regret it.

I bought this camera through Staples and thankfully purchased the warranty through Staples as well as Nikon. After one month of using the camera, the lens does not shut and every single picture I take the corners are cut off and blackened at the top right and bottom left. To fix this, I would have to send the camera to Nikon and then I would be without a camera. I have not yet (had the camera since Feb 2005) taken a GOOD photo inside with the flash. I've tried every setting and it always turns out yellow and futuristic. This is not a good camera for the price you pay - save your money and invest in a different brand. I'm waiting out until Feb 2006 when my Nikon warranty is up and am headed back to Staples to get a new camera - preferably NOT Nikon. The batteries do exhaust themselves fast - (I have rechargeable batteries) and find myself switching them up at least twice in a 24h period. I regret buying this camera every day that I use it.

Una muy buena camara, el precio, la calidad , la facilidad de tomar fotografías dan una excelente satisfaccion de haber recibido algo bueno por tu dinero.

It has been over a year now since I have bought this camera. I had upgraded from the previous Nikon 4000 model (which was equally good, but did not have a sound function for movie mode capturing.) And about 800 plus pictures and 300 movie clips later, (Although I can't post some of the pictures I made with the camera here... since I didn't make the purchase through Amazon but another store) I still love the camera very much. I have been through a lot with this camera. From the get go, It's a great buy. I recommend others buying a camera for the first time to get it. Absolutely. And I'll also post some helpful hints as to what to expect when buying this camera:

Pros:
1) Small enough to fit in your hand perfectly, (esp. with a person with small hands like me)

2)Uses AA batteries... trust me, with two Duracell batteries in there, I get about and average of 140 pictures. Its great.

3)Takes great pictures (when I say great, believe ME... it takes some GREAT pictures). And I also know too when shopping for a camera, its a pain in the behind, but it definetely helps if you know someone (like me) who has used the product EXTENSIVELY, and its fantastic. Trust me when I have it went through extensive usage... I took possibly 800 pictures plus with it. You really learn with time to really get to love this camera. I would love to share some pics that I have taken (but like mentioned the camera was not purchased on Amazon, and it's very comparable to pictures that could be taken with a 4,000 dollar professional digital camera. And I'm still an amateur photographer.

4)Those very handy scene modes... really great function when you learn to really know how to fully utilize them. But remember, as with any new digital camera purchase, keep in mind there will absolutely be a learning curve, where you need to use the product and know what everything does until you fully max out the camera's true potential.

5)It's pretty darn sturdy for a small camera. It's true. I dropped the camera on hard concrete, from about say oh 7 feet off the ground, and when I picked it up, I was almost in tears thinking I broke it. But I turned it on, everything worked perfectly fine. This camera is so awesome.

Now the Cons:

1) It's really hard to take pictures in low light situations. For instance, the screen looks really dark, or very grainy. Like say taking some pictures at a Chili's restaurant or something like that. You really have to work the camera to get some good pictures, and some times you won't get anything. Expect that. But when you pull it off, oh man are those some good pictures.

2) The movie mode. Again, in low light situations, its pretty grainy and doesn't understand the light flow around quite well. But oh well, its not a camcorder or anything so I guess you shouldn't expect too much from it. But in good lighting situations, it takes some good clips.

3) The time it takes from picture to picture. For this function, I need a higher end camera to get faster pictures yes I know, but its still pretty darn annoying to wait till the blinking red light on the viewfinder turns a solid green. I missed some good shots waiting for it to finish saving.

4)Digital zoom. That function is pretty much worthless. Every attempt at using the functions made 99% percent of my pictures look like junk, and thats WITH good light available. Simply limit use to the 3x zoom available and you should be fine.

5) And thats about all that I can think of at the moment. *whew*

**Final Word: This is a great camera for a beginner since its easy to use, and for intermediates also. For professionals, probably not, due to many limitations it may have. (But its not meant for that reason anywho, so that doesn't count. It's a fantastic point and shoot camera. Period.)

This was a great little camera until the screen turned blck, and looked like it was shattered. We sent it in to the dealer, hoping to have it replaced as it was under warranty. They would not honor the warranty, and said Labor costs would be 180.00, plus 12.00 shipping, plus almost 8.00 tax for the repair!!! (Almost as much as the camera cost).... After many emails back and forth, they could only offer 20% 'good will' discount. We were very disappointed that they would not try to do more to keep a satisfied customer. We will never buy another Nikon.

Picture quality is excellent, especially for a 4 mp camera. The problem is, even with a high speed (80x) SD card installed it takes 5-6 seconds for the picture to save; even when taking low res pictures (that doesn't sound like much unless you consider the millisecond that a kid is able to hold still and look at the camera). When I researched SD cards, I discovered that a high speed card, should be able to transfer data at 8-10 megs a second so I'm not sure why the 4100 is only able to transfer 1/2 a meg per second.
Nikon support states that the test camera they have there also saves at that rate.
My Dad's 5 mp HP camera saves pictures in less than 2 seconds :(

I've had the Nikon Coolpix 4100 for about 2 years and I have to say that I love it. At this point I'm familiar with its many modes and have experimented with taking different kinds of pictures and different situations. It has turned me into an ansul adams! This is my first digital camera and I have never enjoyed taking pictures this much.

Two gripes: the LCD screen is small by today's standards which makes it hard to see your picture. There is a noticeable lag between pictures, where you have to wait for the camera to ready itself before you can take the next picture. This isn't always a problem unless you take a lot of pictures of subjects in motion.

If paying under $75.00, go ahead and get it... and know that you're getting for a $75.00 camera.

Positives: it has a lot of features to alter the tint of the photos, has simple on-camera photo editing, red-eye reduction, good zoom, etc. All the very basic essentials you need. And a descent little working camera if you don't pay to much.

Negatives: The flash is way to bright for most subjects and bleaches our the foreground easily (i had to tape a tissue over my flash), has a MAJOR tendency to be extremely blurry if you opt not to use the ridiculously bright flash, gives indoor (using flash) photos a plastic, shadow-less, unnatural look, has a Looonnggg delay after you press the shutter (you WILL miss most your shots by 2 seconds), you must hold it EXTREMELY steady on some settings to produce a half-way decent non-blurred picture, many of the settings don't do what they claim (for example, the 'fireworks' setting has never got me decent photos of fireworks-- they are always blurred, way too dark, and the shutter button delay causes you to miss the explosion every time).

Don't buy this if youre looking for a nice aesthetic (tone, shadow, etc) to your shots or quick camera response. Do get it if you need something to mess around with or aren't picky about picture quality. This would probably be a great gift for a child or young teen who would love his/her first digital camera-- its simple to figure out, has the basic features, lots of settings to play with, and cheap.