This is one of the finest digital cameras that has been sold. Currently Nikon may have "more powerful" but overall less appealing devices out. Two of the 4500's strongest points include the totally enclosed lens system and the swivel design. Both of which were changed in more recent designs by Nikon. Another superb feature includes the macro ability - you can get within 0.8 inches of a subject. This is fantastic for nature photography.

I currently have two of these units. The first 4500 had over 55,000 shots on it before any problems appeared. The second was purchased as a backup while the first was being repaired by Nikon. The only real negative that I have encountered would be Nikon's outrageous repair costs. The zoom button gave out after 55,000 shots (this is heavym mostly outdoor use and it's failure is not a complaint). Nikon wanted $230+ to repair/replace this switch. Considering the camera was only $400 new this was highway robbery! They also wanted an additional $150.00 to re-adhere the rubber finger grip to the camera body!!!!! Such unrealistic repair costs must be to get the user to buy a new camera but only leaves a very bad taste for Nikon's service department instead.

If you can still pick one of these up new or in like-new condition I strongly reccomend it, as there simply has not been a newer model that can do all this unit is capable of.

Just after the one year warranty and I turn on the camera to hear loud clicking noises. Have to take the battery out to shut off. "SYSTEM ERROR". $200 to repair from Nikon - oh and they won't tell me what's wrong with it. I'm not the only one. My friend had the same problem, but he had it repaired in greece for $100. I've read that a number of people have had the same problem, actually some on Amazon reviews, where are they now? Way to go Nikon. I won't be a return customer thank you.

>When I first read about the 4500, I was really excited about some of the features advertised,especially the macro feature.(I am a tattoo artist, and this feature helps with documenting my work)Unfortunately,the camera is not really living up to my high expectations;
>It's macro feature never seems to capture a clear photo.(either blurry ,too dark,or the flash washes the image out.)
>It's auto focus doesn't do much better.
>Technical support seemed futile each time I tried.
>It seems nearly impossible to get any point and shoot from the camera at all.

>There is one feature that I enjoy, and that's the 35 second film snips it produces...otherwise, I'd recommend a more user friendly camera.

I got this cam in thailand two years ago and while it's been a real workhorse for me, i'm surprised to see it's still selling around the web. Well, maybe it's that good a camera. I give it four stars; here's why: the quality of the build is good but for the following things: focus motor connector came loose once and rubber strip on front is now super-glued. i am a journalist, so i beat the hell outta these things. as far as function: the tele-converter tc-e33d 3x is worthless on this camera without a tripod and the results are questionable even with. Performance in low light is not good. Battery life is good. And the fact that you can pop in disposables available anywhere is a blessing. Oh, the AV output connector stopped outputting some time ago...the socket in the camera is defective i suspect. BUT THE AMAZING THING is the camera's clarity in closeup mode using the WC-E24 lens. It's what you would expect from a professional SLR, but not in a consumer digital. I did some catalogue work with this camera using the ring-light adapter and I don't think the SLR could have done better. Don't be swayed by those who say why not get an SLR instead of this one, or get a tiny IXUS? This camera is perfect for the professional who already has too much to lug around and can't be bothered with tiny toys either. Good luck!

OK, first of all, I'm a 14-year-old wanting to just snap some pictures on the go, and something I could afford. However, my dad is a photographer and would like to have some use for a digital cam too... after lots of research, this camera is clearly the best for us. I LOVE IT! :) It has GREAT quality. The setting options are endless, but if you don't want to fool around, that's fine. Auto mode is your friend. And for those who say the menus are hard to control...sure, it could be easier. But after reading the manual, the controls really aren't THAT hard. The swivel design is really clever...and yes, Nikon customer service is horrid, but then again, so are many other companies. You've got to admit, Nikon makes amazing cameras.

If all you want is a little techie toy to show off to your friends and take some pictures, look somewhere else. It's rather bulky sometimes, but the good factors definitely outweigh that. It's not the most cool-looking camera in the world, but I'm glad Nikon focused on quality instead.

And one more thing...when they said that having to take the battery out to recharge was a bad thing? It's not, necessarily. Think about it. If you have a backup battery (like me), it is SO much better to be able to use the camera, then when one battery runs out, put it to charge while you use the other battery to keep snapping pictures. It's BETTER this way! :)

Hope this was helpful!

I've owned this camera for a long time and have have shot thousands of pictures with it. I even use it with a Kaidan panoramic mount and both the fisheye and wide angle lenses without any problems. All I can add is that it is a tough camera with lots of features and great quality.

On the good side, the swivel body is well integrated into the design (great for take picture over the head of crowds or take picture close to the ground), easy to hold (comfortable in the hand), has an optical view finder in addition to an LCD display (makes picture taking in bright sunlight a breeze), fairly rugged, lots of manual adjustments that have well behaved automatic defaults, the PC/Mac software if user friendly & many good features, optical zoom is totally internal (no lenses moving back & forth), excellent macro capability (focuses down to 2" - great for taking pictures of small items for eBay ads), wide selection of exposure times (compatible with time exposures), very good panoramic image stitching mode, very good color rendition, great optics (no perceivable optical distortion at any zoom level)

On the bad side: Poor battery life (make sure to get a couple of spare batteries, you WILL need them), fairly long time delay between pushing the shutter and taking the picture (makes taking action shots very difficult), built in flash is very limited, connection for external flash requires custom Nikon cable, poor auto-focus in low light conditions, slow lens (high f/#).

This is an excellent camera. One of the best features is this camera can be rotated to take picture in any angle. i.e. you can keep the camera a feet above your head and by looking at the LCD display you can take a perfect picture! This is an awesome feature!!