Everything about this camera is great, the picture quality is excellent, it's small, it's not too heavy, that is until you start taking pictures with the flash, it's a catastrophe. If you take a picture with a flash it will take about 2-3 seconds to write to the memory card, then the screen will turn off while the flash recharges for another 5-8 seconds. Too many people here glossed over that particular fact and it's really a deal breaker, because for the same price you can buy a Canon elph, one of their S series cameras like the SD200 and the picture quality is better, it uses rechargable batteries not AA's and it doesn't have this ridiculous flash lag. The flash lag on this nikon 4600 is totally unacceptable, if you add up the numbers you're looking at 7-11 seconds per picture, and if you choose not to use the flash then you won't have a usable picture, because the picture won't come out dark it will come out blurry, which makes no sense but that's what happens. This camera was a gift and I feel bad i gave it to someone, my regular camera is a Kodak DX7440 and it shoots pictures instantaneously with no flash lag it costs about 50 dollars more.

The camera is very small and compact, so it can fit into any bag, but this is also something that could become a bit of a hinderance or even a downright frustration to people with larger hands. The buttons are small and can be difficult to press, and the aesthetics can be a bit unnatural. It may not feel right or natural when holding it in your hand because of the small size. It is very slick to the eye, and it takes quality 4 megapixel photos.

Although the quality of the pictures is very impressive (when uploading the pictures on the computer, I found the detail to be amazing), the speed of the camera is very slow and pictures tend to come out blurry without the use of a flash, two things that I found very frustrating when trying to take pictures at a family member's wedding. You could imagine my frustration when I was at my cousin's wedding, a once in a lifetime event, and I was prohibited from using flash. I had to take the pictures without using the flash and every single one indoors came out blurry, so right into the trash can it went. I went through their entire wedding without getting one useful photo except when I got outside. Outside, flash is not necessary and you can take good pictures then without it.

On a different note, the flash is incredibly powerful (just use it wisely because after you take one picture with flash, you won't be taking another for a good ten seconds or so, more on this later), in complete darkness, I was able to take a picture with accurate colors, a picture so good that people I showed it to didn't even know it was taken in pitch black darkness.

Once we got to the wedding reception, I was allowed to use flash, finally, I could get some decent pictures. When taking pictures with the flash, the actual light flash occurs for a good five or so seconds, and flashes several times, it is a very obvious flash, one that actually embarrassed me during the wedding when I couldn't use flash and thought it was turned off, but it wasn't. That leads me to another note, when I turned the flash to off, it seemed to stay that way for one picture, then for the next, it seemed to go back to auto, turning the flash on when I didn't want it on.

Besides the five or so second flash delay, there is another delay after you take the picture. The screen goes black for about eight or more seconds, (HIGHLY FRUSTRATING when you're trying to capture once in a lifetime moments, of course the perfect photo opt occurs during the camera's downtime which appears to be forever!) then you have to switch to the playback mode to preview the picture, yet another delay. At this rate, you can capture only two or three flash pictures (the flash is absolutely necessary unless you are outdoors or the cam is on a tripod, and who brings a tripod along everywhere they go, that defeats the purpose of having a tiny portable camera, also, if you do have a tripod and lug it around, chances are, you're a pro, and then you wouldn't be looking for a low budget point and shoot like this one) every minute. Many, many moments can go by unphotographed. They didn't stop the wedding so I could get the perfect shot. I needed my camera to be up and ready to go, and sadly, it wasn't. I guess I'll have to get a more expensive camera to get the kind of quality I demand.

Also, this thing can eat up some batteries. I heard that most digital cameras have this problem, though. I found I could make them last a little longer though with the old roll the batteries trick. Works every time :), well at least until your batteries really are dead and it's time to get some new ones.

In conclusion, this camera takes great pictures, but you have to wait forever to capture them. It is so slow, it's frustrating, but the pictures you can manage to take have awesome detail. It all depends on what you're using the camera for I guess.
I do not beleive these are problems specific to this unit, but instead are specific to the brand, or even the entire genre of less expensive, lower end point and shoot digital cameras. When searching for a camera, I found that most of the less expensive cameras (under $300 or $400 dollars) had reviews that mentioned the same problem of the slow speeds.

Hope this is helpful to someone.

well, heres what i wanted. a small camera, very small camera (i have a gateway dv-s20, it's smaller than deck decks of cards). i wanted something that would take great closeup shots. i wanted something that took at least 3 megapixels. i wanted something that had auto flash and auto focus capabilites. something with an optical zoom.
most of all, i wanted something around $200.

this is what i came up with.
whats good about it:
good battery life (i use it everyday and i'm on the included batteries still)
small, very pocketable
easy as pie to use
flash doesn't destroy every picture
takes nice closeup shots
bright display
picture review navigation is easy to use
picture review incorporates zoom and cut and resize functions
zoom is great and easy to use
awesome in low light conditions
cool red reduction flash
many many built in photo types (scene, portrait...all have several types within)
press the button half way to autofocus and see if it will need a flash
self timer is easy to use
BSS - best shot selector helps you take great pics
quick startup time
built in shutdown after set time

things i don't like:
indoor lighting makes the lcd look junky (pictures turn out ok, but the lcd screen shows off a bunch of random colored fragments - covered in manual, nothing to worry about)
i can't cut any of the pictures off of the internal memory (meaning, you can't cut or delete pics from the internal memory using windows explorer because they are copy protected, this means you have to go and manually delete them on the camera)
the flash isn't all that great when it's really dark and you want to shoot of pic of something more than 10 feet away (understandable)
the flash takes longer than expected to refresh sometimes up to 7 seconds - with scene-underwater because it's the brightest flash)
port on side for usb connector seems flimsy
BSS does not support a flash
action shot 16 doesn't use a flash
it's easy to blur a shot sometimes if you don't have the correct settings
a little heavier than expected
small internal memory (14mb)
no audio recorded with movies (who cares though, it's a camera, not a camcorder)
all in all, you should read the manual to get the most out of this one. it's excellent for anyone.

I borrowed a 4600 from a friend to check it out. I can see that those Nikon engineers really know cameras! It's a tidy little package easily carried in your pocket. Only the pros will want more than its 4 Megapixels. It has so many helpful features and aids though, that a beginner will have to study the instruction manual very thoroughly (or get help) to setup the camera properly. Once setup (don't use that BSS mode) it performs beautifully and is the most convenient thing I've seen.
It quick starts from the ON button and in AUTO mode is ready to go. To conserve battery it turns off the display while charging the flash and you must be patient with it here (its not a press camera) .

Like the others it goes to sleep after a couple minutes of inactivity but turns back on from a convenient button near your thumb which also serves as a "last picture review" button. I liked the easy access to the TIMER ON feature which gently snaps a picture without your pressing the shutter button (with the usual shake).

I'm one of the old RCA engineers who built the first color TV cameras. See my forthcoming book, TELE-VISIONARIES: the people behind the invention of television, IEEE/WILEY books. Richard C. Webb

If you're a "digital dummy" or "photograpy phool" like me, then this is THE camera for you - and even if you're not!! This camera's easy-to-decipher directions had me taking excellent photos the very first night. The software was very user-friendl, easy to install, and quick to load even on my sloooow computer system.

The zoom capabilities are terrific and the superior focus makes it impossible to take a bad picture. Its small size was a bit intimidating - I worried about dropping it - but it fits right in your hand, no fumbling! Forget about clunky 35mm cameras and their heavy cases - the Nikon fits right on your belt, as light as a cellular phone. The viewscreen helps you see what your photo will look like, and lets you instantly play back what you've just taken so you can keep or delete. A friend who owns a more expensive model says this is as high-quality as her model.

Highly recommend this camera! GREAT for anyone of any age, and the low price - not much more than what my Canon 35 mm cost -puts the wonders of digital within everyone's price range.

I recieved this camera as a gift 2 months ago, and have taken several hundred pictures in the sun, evening, and at night. I found it to be a nice light camera to carry in a fanny pack or even in your pocket (if you have cargo pants). It weighs virtually nothing without the AA batteries that it runs on. Disposable batteries are good if you're in the woods nowhere near a recharger, but also heavy to carry. The cheap ones that came with it lasted approx. 20 flash pictures, but with some decent duracells I got to 150 pictures (flash and non flash). Your mileage may vary.

The coolpix comes with a variety of settings for different situations such as for fireworks, indoors, sunsets, etc. but its has a limiting zoom and low ISO rating. If you are going to be taking any pictures in the dark without a flash (fireworks, inside large buildings that cannot be lit by a flash, etc) BUY A TRIPOD! One review posted here stated that with the flash everything was bright and it took forever to load the picture, but without a flash the picture was still bright but blurry and "that doesn't make any sense". Here is the reason why: to compensate for the lack of light, you can add light (a flash) OR keep the shutter open longer to admit more light on the film. When the shutter is open for longer periods of time the picture is more sensitive to your movement and can become blurred. This is why you need to get a tripod. But that review was correct in that after a flash picture it is agonizingly slow to load the picture onto the memory card and recharge the flash.
AGONIZINGLY.

Other stuff: 4.0 megapixels is excellent for a camera of this price, and it can create beautiful pictures in the right light conditions (daylight, outside). It can take 480x320 movies for as much as the memory chip can hold.

The coolpix is an adequate entry level camera. But I would recommend you spend a little more and get the Canon PowerShot A95. Oh, and don't forget that you'll need an SD memory card.

I bought this camera because I wanted something small enough to carry conveniently in my pocket. In that aspect, it is a success. The picture quality is outstanding. Because of it's size, some of this camera's shortcomings are to be expected. The wide angle isn't as wide as my larger digital camera, nor is the zoom as great... etc.

What really irks me is that when you move photos out of the memory, or even delete them in the camera itself, the frame counter does not reset. If you take 60 photos today, move them all to your computer, tomorrow, your first picture (on an empty chip) will be 61. Now I can understand the value of this if I was too stupid to be able to create folders on my PC, but I'm not.

To reset the photo counter you have to go into the settings menu and 'reset all' which only resets the photo counter, the annoying beeps, and the welcome screen when the camera is turned on.

I've not looked at any of the bundled software as I'm satisfied with what I've been using for the last few years. However, there doesn't seem to be anything special.

I previousley owned a Nikon Coolpix 2000,and just adored it. After 3 1/2 year's,it went caput. So I went directly to Nikon again since I alway's had wonderful pictures with it. So I got this Nikon 4600. All was great until I took a picture with the flash,and it took FOREVER (when taking pictures of children,anything over 2 second's is forever) for it to recharge!! The old Nikon was not like this,and I just dont know why they made it like this. The screen was also grainy looking. I ended up taking it back 3 day's later and buying a Kodak that is wonderful! Nikon REALLY need's to reconfigure this camera.

I bought this camera because it was small, light and pretty cheap, but I soon regretted it. The pictures at first were all right, although it took forever to recharge the flash, and it's really annoying. Then another thing happened, there were some pictures where some color were changed, specially red turned into purple, making very odd pictures. Although, it only happened a few times so I though I could live with it. Finally, less than six months after I bought the camera, it went nuts! The LCD screen is blurry and the lens protector won't close after a turn it down. I have taken good care of it. Good thing I still have the warranty, but still I don't recommend anybody buying this camera, go fo the other brands: Olympus, Sony, etc. I have not had problems with those

I have had this camera for less than 1 year and now it won't work anymore and comes up with the message "Battery Exhausted" even when brand new batteries are installed. I checked a few other sites and was surprised to find numerous comments about this very problem and the lack of any sort of customer support from Nikon on what is clearly a defective product.

My suggestion is "Don't buy this product".

I got my Nikon camera back in November of '04. Being my first ever digital camera, I must say that I've been very pleased with it. I've taken it on vacations, to parties, and just about anything inbetween and have not had a single problem with it. As others have stated in their reviews, the 'flash recharge' is somewhat of a setback, but I didn't notice it as an annoyance. My Nikon has been dropped, thrown, and even had Dr. Pepper spilled on it and it still works like a charm. Now, I'm no photographer per say, but if you'd like to see some of the pictures I've taken with my Nikon (just for fun), visit my photo gallery @ www.STAYHEAVY.net/gallery

Since I've had such good luck with this camera, I plan on purchasing more products from Nikon.

I have a digital camera from 6 years ago. Its big and bulky and I wanted a small digital camera to keep in my purse to be up on the pictures with the kids. This camera is excellent. There is a delay when the flash goes off indoors between pictures. The pictures are wonderful. The camera is small, lightweight and easy to use. There are many features I have not even tried yet, but the overall usage is awesome. My husband bought it for me for my birthday and I couldn't ask for a better gift. I would give this as a gift in a heartbeat! I love it! I put lithium batteries in it at the beginning of October when I got it. Its been 30 days and I have taken about 100 photos, indoors and outdoors and the batteries are still going strong!! GOOD BUY!!!

I bought this camera because the one that we have in the office is always in use when I need it. This camera fits in my pocket and takes wonderful pictures. It is easy to use and easy to get the whole house focused with the right colors. What a great little camera.
Sara Butler

I rarely write reviews but I had to for this camera. I bought this camera in a store after testing a number of digital cameras. Of all of them the clarity on the view finder for this camera was one of the best. It also seemed like it zoomed in more then 3x. This camera is perfect because it is small enough to take around with you everywhere! The only thing I would change would be to add a microphone to the camera. This is the primary difference between this and the Coolpix 5600 but for the price difference I am fine with no volume. It also takes a few seconds to get ready for taking a picture after taking one with the flash. I still find it faster then other digital cameras in its price range. This is one of my best purchases yet.

I bought one of these cameras for a friend of mine as a gift. I bought it only after doing a lot of research and reading a lot of interviews and the reviews were all just stellar. No one mentioned any drawbacks! Well the buyer needs to know a few things about this camera.

First of all, I will say that it can take good pictures and it is of a very handy size (maybe even too small). But there is one very big draw back to this camera: it takes a very, very long time to take a picture. Now I'm not just talking about flash photography here, which, as one other reviewer recently mentioned, is extremely slow (10 or 11 seconds between pictures) due to the slow write and recharge times. The slowness I am talking about is for normal everyday (non-flash) photos and this camera takes a very long (read that as unacceptable) time to focus and take a picture. I have missed so many good pictures waiting for this camera to focus and actually take the photo that I would recommend that you seriously look at other alternatives prior to buying this camera.
I regret buying this camera and giving it to a close friend prior to actually using it myself and determining that it had these problems. I will say that it can take beautiful pictures and even half decent video clips (with no sound) but what you are taking a picture of better be "still life" in nature and you better not be in a hurry to take it.
Please note that I am not a Nikon basher as I have a Nikon D-100 digital SLR and it is the best camera in the world. Of course it cost about $1,000 but it was worth every penny. Just think very carefully before buying a Nikon 4600.

I've had this camera for about a year and it has served well. There are so many functions and settings, so the picture can always be the best possible. I'm still constantly finding new settings.
On the downside, in low light when you don't use a flash (because using flash causes a pretty long delay and sucks the battery down) pictures blur, even though it;s not very dark. Also I had a problem with the lense, the cover didn't close all the way when I turned it off, but I'm pretty sure that's because I've dropped it like 3 times...oh pavement.
Overall, it's still a very excellent camera, even more so now that it's not $250!

I researched cameras and found fairly good reviews for this one, but I soon discovered that I would have been better off with my old 1 MP Kodak. The flash is weak and I have to lighten nearly all indoor photos. As others have mentioned, this camera has a long recycle time between photos and you do miss a lot of photos. I also have a problem with the quality of the photos; a lot of them are slightly blurry and I have to use my photo editing software to sharpen them. Everyone once in a while, the camera seems to decide that it's had enough and just stops. I have to move the dial to a different setting and then back to the regular setting so that it will work again. I wish I had spent my money on something else.

The color, size, and weight are wonderful, but the camera takes a horrible 3-5 seconds to write a picture to the memory card (in where the display turns off and then back on). In addition, the preset modes (night, backlight, indoor, party, ect) are hard to use and I find I must take test pictures using every mode to discover which works the best in the lighting situation. Also, the camera has a HORRIBLE shutter lag of 3-4 seconds, causing even the most steady-handed person to blurr pictures. My suggestion is save your money and buy a Canon or Kodak.

I did quite a bit of research before buying this camera, and I am still disappointed. The lag time is too long for the price paid. Also, after owning the camera only about 3 months, I begin getting lens errors. They persistantly increased and then I began having picture quality problems. The camera is basically worthless now, and it is not even a year old.

First off, I'm not sure whther it was this model, or the 4 MP one, but the camera overall was frustrating.

I don't have this camera (thank god), but my friend does and she has me take pics with it all the time. Sure, the camera FUNCTIONS. It takes the pictures and all.
But I must say, the shutter speed is exceptionally slow and almost every picture i take the camera suggests that the picture is blurred, and indeed it is. Blurred pictures means less quality. Also in dark rooms, if I try to use flash, the flash takes really long to react, and then the picture turns out really grainy. If you really know cameras, then you'll know this isn't one you'd want to buy.

I bought an HP 315 a few years ago. It's big, has hardly any functions, digital zoom only, and a massive 2.1 MP of memory. And I prefer it by far to the tiny, feature-packed cameras that are available now, including the Nikon Coolpix 4600 I bought recently.

The Nikon takes okay pictures. Yes, there's a lag between photos but I'm used to that, having used other cameras. There's also a lag between pushing the button and the camera taking the picture. I've tried to capture precious moments with my little boy. By the time the camera takes the photo, he's no longer doing the thing I wanted to record. I tried using the sports mode which allows more rapid picture taking, but the quality of the photos was too poor to use.

What annoys me most is the software that came with the camera. It's called Picture Project, and is a pain to figure out and use. Wouldn't you like to just plug in the camera and transfer photos to the computer? Forget that. The process is over-complicated. Once the photos are in the computer, the software helpfully tries to organize them for you, but it really just gets in the way. Good software should be more or less self-explanatory. I just copy the pictures and paste them into a folder, where I can edit them with an older version of ArcSoft. Again, fewer features, but great results.

This would be a great camera if you have time to wait between shots. I had a Sony Cybershot (DSC-P71) that is getting old (3-4 years) and dosn't take the quality pictures it used to. We own several Nikons that we are very happy with including a D-70 and a Coolpix 8700 so I wanted to try a Nikon "pocket" camera to replace my Sony. I was very dissapointed in the speed of the pictures. Besides the picture actually taking several seconds to focus and decide when it's ready to take the picture, it actually shuts down for 10 or so seconds to re-charge the flash. I gave up and decided to return it after only 2 hours. I will buy another Sony for my "pocket" camera they have a much faster turnover time between pictures.

This camera does not do justice to the great Nikon brand name at all; I would argue this is a really more of a kid's camera. I have owned four digital cameras over the past four years; this one just does not cut it. The LCD pictures and resulting images are noisy (grainy) at low light levels; terrible picture quality. The delays in resetting after taking a picture, or the lengthy delays after taking flash photos, are intolerable. The price is cheap I give you that. But the Canon SD line, like the inexpensive SD200 I owned are a far better deal in terms of quality. Save your money and buy a Canon or Sony.

many options you can use for this camera. like black and white photos, color photos, etc. also has a recording function., picture takes about 2 seconds to take so no one can move during that time. there are different settings for each different type of picture you could take. all in all, its a good camera, with good quality.

It's pretty small which I though might annoy me but it doesn't bother me now. There is a bit of a lag between photo taking but if you get a faster memory card instead of the cheapest compatible one you would have way less lag time. Get the ultra II SanDisk it's fast and good. It's not a SLR and some people think it should perform like one. For $135 it's a good camera.

All the other models in coolpix series like 4100,4200 etc have movie with sound, except for this model. Thats the only bad part, otherwise as usual nikon rules in picture quality with this model as well. It is a very compact camera and easily slips in your pocket. But if u r looking for movie with sound, then this camera is not meant for you.

I had the Nikon Coolpix 3100 and was very happy with it until I lost it. Having had 2 other Nikon cameras I loved, I didn't even think to check the reviews on this one before I bought it. The pictures are fine, the resolution is fine, it's easy to use, and easy to carry. The problem is the recycle time between photos. It takes so long to reset that the screen goes dark as if to turn off. When taking pictures of restless children, it's impossible to do it quickly. This may seem like a nuisance, but it was enough of one to send the camera back. I just got angry every time I used the camera and if I'm buying a "just for fun" camera, I want it to be fun. This camera was just frustrating. I would gladly buy Nikon again, I'm just going to make sure to not only read the reviews but to also believe them, instead of just relying on my experience with other cameras.

This camera was an excellent value even when the retail price was $200. It takes excellent photographs and has an appreciably small but ergonomic form factor. I recently took it and my hp photosmart 850 on a trip to Argentina and wound up using this camera almost exclusively. It doesn't have the zoom features of the hp but the picture quality is the same at half the size and price.

As noted by a few other reviewers, this camera has a few issues. The most outrageous and prominent of which is the lag between photos. This takes nearly ten seconds which can make things frustrating. However the camera does have two settings that mitigate this drawback: Continuous Shooting and Multi-shot 16. When set to the former setting, all you have to do is hold the shutter button down and the camera takes a couple or a few photos consecutively, in as many seconds. In the Multi-shot 16 mode, it does the same thing for, you guessed it, 16 consecutive shots. This would be an ideal workaround to the delay but the ISO setting in these modes is such that the flash is not used. Consequently, you must have an extremely steady hand or be utilizing a tripod. This takes much of the speed feature away but is still a meaningful solution to the lag problem.

The second, but not nearly as consequential, item is the fact that while recording video, this camera does not record sound. This feature is available on models further up the chain and, consequently, that really can't be qualified as a drawback. If you want that feature, you have to buy the next model up. I don't think that's too much to ask. Model differentiation is the way manufacturers make money.

The last issue is the LCD on the unit. In darker venues (indoors), the LCD is dim and hard to and dingy. This could be the fault of the sensor used for the display, I don't know. I do know that other devices, including my hp photosmart 850, do have a brighter display in the same environmental conditions. Thankfully, when used outdoors (in sunlight) this issue is not a problem and the LCD seems perfectly visible.

All in all, for the money, this is an excellent piece of equipment and I would recommend it to anyone as long as they were aware of its few but significant limitations.

This camera is small but mighty. The pictures come out great and the camera is simple to operate. Reviewing pictures on the camera is quick and easy. I highly recommend it!

Nice clear prints. Some fun extras.

I bought the Coolpix 4300 and had nothing but problems. When I contacted Nikon they gave me such a run-around that I finally gave up in frustration and threw it away. It was, by far, the worst camera I ever had. I wouldn't buy another Nikon product unless you are ready to throw your money away. They have cheapened their cameras and minimized their customer support. And this is from someone who has attened the Nikon School and has an F2 with many extra lenses and features. I am listing them on E-Bay and unloading everything Nikon. They used to have a good reputation.

it does what is supposed to do! i like it small light handy! Get it!

Great quality and variety of fuctions, but big laps between pictures taken when flashes

this cam is just OK and for over $150 i wanted primo cam..this one takes like 10 seconds to snap a picture..its ridiculous so if ur photographing dogs or anything that can move this cam is not for u!! it was easy to install though and takes good pics it just is super slow --i wouldnt recommend.

This is my first digital camera. I select this camera because the manufacturer and the price, It's small and take good pictures.I think that is a very good camera at a very good price.

After 6 months of struggling with its ineptitude, I am on my way out to replace it with a Canon or Pentax. The Coolpix 4600 is slow to power up, and the shutter response is slow too - missed lots of moments. It takes an eternity for the flash to re-charge - more missed moments. When you display photos, it does that annoying thing where it displays in low resolution first, and then a couple of seconds later the images quality improves. The most moronic feature of all: when you display photos, it brings up the FIRST picture on your memory card - not the most recent! And you have to scroll through all your photos to see the one you just took. Not cool at all when you have a 512MB memory card in there. The auto-setting takes consistently out of focus photos. Even on a sunny day outdoors, with an object that is in slowly in motion, everything is out of focus. I found I had to use the action setting on everything to get the shutter speed to be appropriate. The flash is weak, and any night-time shots look grainy and horrible. Because of the inconsistent image quality, I developed the habit of taking multiple shots of all my photos - which was aggravating because of the slow flash re-charge and having to scroll through that many more photos to see the one that I just took. I was hoping that I could keep using this camera until it got lost/stolen/broken - but it's just too painful.

I have enjoyed using this camera. The pictures are clear. It even tells me if I shook and blurred the shot. The auto focus works well. Just wish it had a macro setting.

I am extremely pleased with my recent purchase of the Nikon coolpix camera from Amazon.com. I am totally a happy camper

This is my second Nikon Coolpix. I am so impressed with its quality that I bought it again to gift it to a reletive. Its got everything what you wan in a point and shoot digital camera. The only not so desirable thing is the 2-3 seconds delay if it starts charging its flash, but hey look at the quality that one can get at this affordable price.

Why settle for less, when you can get a brand new original top-of-the-line Canon Digital Rebel XT 8MP camera for Free! I got mine from this web site: http://urlcut.com/rebelxt

My wife and I own a Nikon non-digital camera which is extraordinary and hence we wanted to go for a Nikon. We wanted something handy and good in quality. We went for Nikon Coolpix 4600 and are not disappointed. There are two constraints though. a. The time between two shots b. The zoom. Both the constraints as far as we are concerned are not serious constraints. The picture quality is awesome and we like this camera for the size, picture quality, and price.

I ordered a different brand camera for my daughter for Christmas and it wouldn't work. We reordered this camera and it is perfect. I guess it was meant to be. Thanks!

I had the 4100 previously and it was stolen. This one is a bit better. The only issue I have is the length of time between pictures that the camera pauses. I've missed a few great pics because of it but for the price I paid, it's excellent!

I should have read the online reviews before buying this camera. The flash lag time is really a problem and I also found that the range of the flash wasn't great enough. I couldn't take pictures without the flash, either, because the shakey hand symbol always came on. Most of the pictures I took with this camera were blurry too. I never had any of these problems with my old Fuji Finepix F40. That camera was only a 2 megapixel but the pictures were always sharp. Not so with this camera. It's too late for me to return the camera but I still plan to buy another one.

This is my first digital camera and I'm pleased with its size and quality of photos for such a small thing. I like that I can keep it in my purse and I'm waiting for that opportunity to take an award winning photo....I'd recommend this camera for anyone wanting a small easy camera

After looking at quite a number of smaller camera I came to the conclusion that the 4600 was the best small camera.

After reading many of the reviews posted I realized that quite a number have not read the book thoroughly. In my opinion it has too many adjustments for the casual user to udnersatnd and make use of them.

I also own a D70 and there is a world of difference betwen the two. The D70 will fire off at 2.5 frames per second. The 4600 will not even come close. But the price will not come close either. You cannot make a race car out of a Saturn.

Every small camera I looked at had lag in the shutter. That can be reduced to almost zero in this camera by knowing what to do.

This is my first digital camera. The pictures are very fine. They looks like a 5 megapixel. For outdoor pictures is excellent. The only complaint that I have if that if you want to take indoor pictures you have to use your flash beacuse they will be bluried. Is a very user friendly camera. Is a "best buy" camera for begginers not for National Geography photographers.

Just take it out of the box and read the summary booklet and you'll be taking pictures in no time. We had never had a digital before and by the end of the first day we were posting pictures on the web. The software for downloading to the web is included and takes you through installation, step by easy step. (No need to borrow your neighbors 12 year old.)

If your one of those people who used to have a 35mm SLR, you will find that on manual, it allows you to do a wide variety of options.

Of course if you are a real camera freak, you should get a Digital Rebel SLR (on which you can still fit your old 35mm lenses).

I read and re-read reviews before buying, so I believed the positive reviews this camera got. DON'T believe them! This camera has been the worst camera I have ever used. When digitals first came out we got a Kodak and loved it. Thinking we needed to "upgrade" we got the Coopix. The pictures are almost always fuzzy and out of focus. The flash is beyond slow. The information that came with the camera is useless. We tried every different setting on the camera and STILL the camera falls short of even what a disposable camera can do. I hate this camera! I can't tell you how many memorable moments were lost because of this piece of garbage.

It's a good cam for this price. It's small and easy to use. I didn't had any complaints on this. I recommend you to buy this.

If you are looking for a good, small digital camera for a decent price that has great photo quality this is it. Sure it lags a bit between flash photos, but most cheaper digitals do. People complain about blurry photos without a flash? Yeah cause it needs to keep the shutter open way longer. So, like any other camera in this situation- if you move it will blur. I find that it does the flashless stuff well otherwise. Not really and issue. Not many issues with this camera in my book. Just a decent camera. Oh yeah and cool macro mode too.
Good camera to bang around with for a few years while the technology continues to become cheaper.

I bought this camera in January of this year and it has worked perfectly until about a week ago. I turned it on as usual took a few pictures and then it shut off with the screen reading "WARNING!! BATTERY EXHAUSTED". As usual I went and found 2 new AA batteries and replaced the old ones. However when I turned on the camera it immediately shut off again reading "WARNING!! BATTERY EXHAUSTED". No matter what I do the only way it will turn on is if the mode dial is set to "SET UP". After it's already on, if I try and change it to a picture shooting mode it dies.

I AM NOT THE ONLY PERSON TO EXPIRIENCE THIS PROBLEM.

Again I remind you that I've only had this camera for 6 months. Think about this before buying, though similarily priced cameras I have heard have the same problem.

Other than the fact that the camera is not currently working, it has been a wonderful camera.

I got this camera, but after a few months I was tired of it.

The pictures come out really blurry, even if you hold really still. The only way to get around this is to use the flash, however, this makes the camera's screen go black and you have to wait a few seconds.

Then one day the camera just shut off and wouldn't turn back on. The battery was fine, I guess the camera just "died". Thankfully it was still under warranty so I got a new one, but I also bought a similar Canon digital camera which I've had more luck with.

I saved for months and months for this camera and when the time came to buy it, I obviously did and I was really happy with it. That is, until my photography skills started to develop.
The shutter speed is so slow it made me go nuts when taking pictures for sports or birthday parties. When using flash, there's at least a 13 second delay until you can take another picture. Even on the Museum setting, it's still slow, and images come out grainy. Indoor pictures come out horrible for this camera.
Usually, outdoor pictures come out really well on this camera, so no complaints there. However, on the night setting, there's usually a flash involved, and then objects that are foreground, like trees (when you're trying to capture the sky), are light and vivid, and all that you get of the sky is dark nothingness.
The fireworks setting is amazing for New Years' Eve and 4th of July fireworks, but the delay is more nerve-wracking when taking pictures of fireworks because of the pace.
Just recently, I turned on my camera (after a year and a half of having it), and all I saw was white. I turned the setting dial to Set Up; I saw white. I took a picture, and it flashed but all I saw on the screen was white. I plugged in the USB cord to the side of the camera and the pictures I took while it was white were all solid black, white, or, uh, PINK (of all colors). I'm looking into a better camera, and wondering how I can fix this.
The 'corrected red eye' Isn't really true. I had to correct various cases of red eye in IrfanView.
Overall, if you're serious about taking pictures, don't buy this camera. Ever. At all. If you just want something for vacations, or Birthday parties lacking children, go for it, but don't expect alot out of it.
Melissa G. Kreider

I got this camera for Christmas, and I was initially happy with it. It is ok for basic pictures, but don't look for much beyond that. The flash lag is ridiculous, as the other reviews have said. Also, many of my pictures come out blurry. The battery life isn't that great either. I am getting more serious about photography and am now in the market for a new and better camera because this one is holding me back. I would only recommend it for beginners who need something easy to take basic pictures with.

I am not the only one. After using this camera for maybe 6 months, and being annoyed by the delay between pictures, now the darn thing won't even power up! I've replaced battery after battery, and wondered, are ALL the batteries in my house dead (taken from remotes, CD players, MP3 players, you name it)? But now I see, it's some sort of defect. Is there any remedy? I didn't purchase a warranty. Even if I had it would have expired. It seems that this problem occurs after a certain amount of usage. I would recommend against this camera, if not for the delay in pictures, then for the fact that after 6 months it is useless. What a waste of money. NO MORE NIKON for me!

I bought this entry size camera mainly due to the low price. While in the end with a 1 gig sd card and a case I was left with a 300 dollar receipt.

Being new to the digital age I would recommend this entry size digital camera, if you're on a budget. It is highly recommended that you: READ THE MANUAL!

If you're like me, a stubburn individual when it comes to technology, while being techy and all, I have a tendency to try things 'hands-on' at first before refering to a manual as a last resort. A hands-on approach to a camera like this is not a good idea. The camera is bundled with many great features. Though there is a big problem with any entry level digital camera... and that being hand shake. Being perfectly still is a must when striking poses. Though it does feature an ISO in sports mode which I have found to be quite handy. Auto mode is also very nice. It also includes many other modes which one could find usefull at rareities. Battery life is decent, and pictures, if you have a stiff wrist can be very pleasant. 4 mp is plenty for a novice to an intermediate pointographer.

An image stablizer would be nice in this camera or any other camera really... but then again, you get what you pay for.


final note: READ THE MANUAL.

This camera takes great quality photos for the most part. The red eye reduction is ok, but nothing to be excited about. Like just about everyone, the flash lag is horrid. If you're trying to take any shots of action w/flash, just forget about it. This camera was ok for me, but I recently broke the lcd viewing screen. I won't be replacing it with another model like this. I was overall generally happy with how photos came out, but the issues with lag and flash have hurt this product for me. If you get this, don't get it for yourself. I think this is good for an intro camera for a child.

I am a Nikon fan I have Nikon 6T and Nikon D50. But about Coolpix 4600:
All picutures are always blurred or atleast fuzzy. It somehow take decent photos of face and buildings(if they have strong straight edges/stripes).

The reason I purchased this camera has to do with the delay in how long it takes to actually take a picture after pushing the shutter button.

Every other camera I had tried in this price range was unnaceptable. The coolpix series have a reasonable level of performance in shutter delay.

Now that I have the camera, and have used it, I am impressed with how easy it is to use, and it's performance.

However, this camera will kill batteries if you use the flash, but it takes good pictures with the flash turned off, and the batteries last a lot longer that way. No glare or uneven lighting too!

I've been using alkaline batteries, so I don't know about the recommended Ni/Mh type, but if you use alkalines I recommend that when the batteries stop working in the camera, to save the batteries for use in a mini-mag flashlight(or other device) as they are not really run down all the way and judging by how much light I get from my mini-mag, they're only 50% When the camera decides to stop working.

this is an alright camera. if you're an average teen looking to post some hot pictures on myspace, or just someone looking to capture a few choice family moments, this camera should serve you fine.

what i liked about it:
1. it's compact, lightweight and easy enough to use
2. pictures taken in daylight turn out pretty nice
3. the battery life on this camera is much better than on other cameras i've used

what i disliked about it:
1. it's a bit flimsy to be honest
2. attempting to take a picture in the afternoon, evening or early morning is near impossible without it looking completely washed out or too dark. even though it has a night landscape option, it doesn't really work.
3. the flash causes a horrible delay (but that's been mentioned like 9,000 times before)

this is definitely not a camera for glamour shots. i'd also strongly discourage buying it if you're thinking of using it to take pictures at music events.

A lot of people are talking about issues with the delay after you take a pic. with flash, but it really only bothers me if i'm in a big rush. So you might not wanna get this camera if your either REALLLLY impatient or just always in a big rush! People also have mentioned that the pictures are always blurry. I never get blurry pictures except when i'm not using flash. The pictures usually come out great! The red-eye remover works pretty good on this camera, but the night visions and stuff dont really work, but if its dark you just use flash. I love this camera! I would deffinitley reccomend rechargable batteries because this camera eats them up pretty quickly but the rechargable ones last a long time! Hope this helped!!

I bought the 4600 for my parents in 2005. A seal in the lens housing broke in November and we sent it to Nikon. When Nikon recieved the camera they said it had "liquid" damage to the lens shutter area. My parents didn't send the camera in that condition, yet Nikon claims that it is "impossible" for that kind of "accident" to occur at their facility. Two months later I am still arguing with them over this. One of their service represatives, Rob Mustard, told me (paraphrasing) "I have 70 service orders in front of me and our facility gets hundreds of repairs each week; I've heard every excuse imaginable for why it isn't the customer's fault." Besides being rude, doesn't that scare you about his facility getting in hundreds of repairs each week???? Don't buy Nikon is my recommendation.

I simply love my Nikon Coolpix 4600! It is so simple to use and offers so many features that this is the perfect camera for me! I had a Kodak digital camera but it was big and bulky, so I was in the market for a smaller updated version of a digital camera. After doing some research I decided I wanted to get the Nikon Coolpix.

It's effective megapixels is 4.0, has up to a 3x zoom and has over 16 scene modes. This is such an easy camera to use. I basically point and shoot and check my results on the screen on the back. It has a red-eye fix which I love and has a Macro shooting choice as well.

One of the things I love about this is pulling out my memory card and popping it into my computer. Within seconds my pictures are right in front of my on my screen. I'm always impressed with how great the pictures come out. I LOVE this camera! I love the size of this camera as well, it's small and compact, but not so small that it's hard to hold onto!
The Nikon Coolpix 4600 is easy to use and takes great pictures, which makes this a win/win for me.

I've had this camera for 2 years and I am glad that it broke so I can (in good conscious) buy a new camera. It is so slow that it is impossible to catch anything but the back of my kids heads as they run away because they got tired of saying "Cheese". I always thought the battery life was sufficient, and that the quality of the images was fine, but I hardly got good shots because of how slow the camera was. I'd put the shoot button and it would take about 2 seconds before the camera would click. I actually sent it back to the manufacturer thinking there was something wrong with it, but they said it was functioning normally.
It was probably the most disappointing $200 purchase I've made.

I was given this camera as a gift after my baby was born. I quickly upgraded to the 5600 because it had a microphone so I'd get sound when recording videos. It seems the 4600 is pretty much a dumbed down 5600 (and a slightly smaller pixel size -- but who cares? I never print larger than 4x6, so I always use a reduced image size). BTW, My parents have the 3600 which does have video with sound.

ALL Point-And-Shoot cameras have the following difficulties:

* Shutter delay after you take a picture (you have to wait while the image is read from the CCD, processed, and saved to memory)
* Quickly drains battery power if you use the flash and have the LCD screen on the brightest setting (so don't do it! I hardly use the flash and leave the LCD screen at half brightness level).
* you should always use rechargeable batteries with digital cameras

So why buy one over another? Some have slightly better delays, but more importantly look out for consistent problems, e.g., some Canon PowerShot's seem to have a problem with the lens shutter sticking.

I've had my 5600 for over a year now and everything has been great. However, it has succumbed to a problem that a few other consumers have mentioned, it powers on and takes one picture, and only one picture. Then you have to cycle power. I'm in the process of either getting another 5600 or some other cheap (~$100) camera with video+audio.

Don't let the general complaints I itemized above trouble you -- the people that make them are ignorant of how a digital camera works, don't bother listening to a word they say. If you want a really fast camera go for a SLR (or go film!), but it'll cost you... If you want a cheap camera, then buy a cheap camera (like this one or better, the 5600), but don't complain about it having a slow response time, or the pictures being blurry (learn how to stand still, i.e., stop drinking coffee and smoking dope).

End of rant.

This camera was the best "little" camera I have ever owned.
It is so amazing.
It takes fantastic pictures and it is cheap.

1. Flash lag-horrible.
2. Had problems with the settings button sticking- or not moving at all.
3. Battery life-non existant. Could have bought a really nice camera with the money I spent in batteries for this one.
4. Picture quality-decent, not true to actual colors.
5. There are better cameras out there!

This camera has plenty of user friendly features and a pretty simple and intuitive interface and takes a descent quality picture. Thats where the fun ends. The flash takes numerous seconds to recharge which can be quite annoying if your trying to catch something or if you don't have 15-30 seconds to wait around after each shot. The Battery life is 2-3 uses when using the flash which is just nuts, you need to keep a 12 pack of AA's handy if you shoot with this camera. I've also on three occasions taken a large number of photographs only to find they were not there when I went to offload them from the memory card. The camera would act like it was taking the shot, even to the point where it would warn of blurry shots and then the photos were just nowhere to be found. look elsewhere for a better camera

I got this camera as a Christmas present back in 2005, I believe. First... to respond to people complaining about how long the flash takes after you take a picture; After you take the picture, push the "playback" button and it shortens the time dramatically for the flash to re-load, and it goes straight to the picture. Also, BUY RE-CHARGEABLE batteries. For those who think simple AA batteries are going to last are just plain silly. It doesn't take that much common sense to realize that is all it takes. And that goes for MOST digital camera's. Just think of how much power these little machine's are using!

I really, really enjoyed my camera while it lasted. However, after the first time I ever dropped it (about 5 months after having it), it was never the same. I dropped it as the lens was fully zoomed out, and the "flaps" that cover the lens broke off, and the outer lens was cracked. Thankfully, it was put back together. Although the "flaps" were gone, it still worked fine. It just made funny noises when it was on. Many of the pictures I took with this camera came out very professional looking, and I was very pleased. I took it everywhere with me, and I loved it while it lasted. After a couple more drops, the battery cover will not go back down all the way- even tho it can still turn on, the strap loop has broken off, the area around my zoom button is cracked, and the entire camera won't go back together fully.

However, after all of this trauma.. it still held up! It was just earlier this year, when I brought it to Florida with me that it reached it's final days. I was hiking, and taking pictures as I went along, and all of a sudden, I took a picture and there were extreme bright, white lines across the picture. It looked like a very over exposed picture, like I had mistakingly put it on the wrong setting. Unfortunately, there was no fixing this. :( I have figured that something has been knocked off balance after being dropped so much, and it finally stopped working at it's full potential. Ironically enough, I can still take pictures inside with the flash, and get decent pictures. With a little bit of help from paintshop or photoshop, I have been lucky enough to fix some pictures.

At this point, the camera is absolutely useless. It saddens me because I had a lot of great luck with this camera. As a photographer, I couldn't complain about the way my pictures came out. It really depends on how you take them and if you can work the camera right. The settings and menu are pretty easy to navigate, the buttons are in the right spots (for me at least), and I could hold this camera in my hand for hours and it'd never get uncomfortable.

The Pro's:
- when the vivid color option is used, the camera delivers some beautiful, vibrant colors. Especially blues!!
-decent size LCD screen
-easy to use buttons and menu
-good quality pictures when put on the right settings
-comfortable fit in your hand, or jeans pocket

The Con's:
-cheap, plasticy feel to the camera. Especially with no batteries in it!
-the strap loop was the cheapest thing on the camera
-very, very bright flash which made it hard to get pictures the first time around. by the 3rd flash (red-eye reduction flash), people would move or squint, etc...
-flimsy "flap" that covered the lens, could be improved because it broke off instantly when I first dropped it.

I'd recommend this camera to anyone who needs a simple, easy to use camera. Mine didn't last as long as I wish it would have, but it was fun while it did. I wish it were $72 when I wanted to buy it!! If you do buy it, just be sure to take care of it... try not to drop it because it will never be the same if you do!!

I owned a Coolpix 4200 and was very pleased, it was a great camera, was out at Caye Calker and lost it there. I went and bought this Coolpix 4600, and boy was i sorry, i had 2 Nikons before and really believed in the company, but that was until i bought the 4600. Taking pictures with flash is a big joke, u miss your best moments waiting for the flash to be ready again, it takes forever trying to get the camera to focus in most modes. Was at my little girls graduation and got so frustrated trying to get it to focus to take a pic of her receiving her certificate. I almost smashed it. Very bad production by Nikon. They really need to do a recall or something. The Coolpix 4600 sucks big time and i wont recomend it to anybody.

I bought the Coolpix 4600 camera for my daughter for Christmas. It worked fairly well for the first year. A week after the warranty was up, the camera would no longer turn on. Doing a search on the web, I found it is a common problem with this camera. Buyer Beware!

I had this camera for about 5 months when the lens jammed. I thought the camera was a goner but eventually I was able to fix it myself. About 6 months after that I wasn't as lucky. I got the dreaded error message. The screen of death hasn't disappeared since, no mater how many times I try to troubleshoot the camera.

When the camera was in working condition, it was pretty decent. The pictures are pretty good. Not remarkable, but sufficient for a novice. The video is very poor quality - grainy and remember there is no sound, so a lot of the tings that you want to videotape are going to be useless taped with this camera.

If I was certain that my camera's death was one instance out of many, I'd even go as far as to recommend this camera to others, but from what I had read over the Internet, this is a common problem for Nikon 4600. Do yourself a favor and buy another camera, if you want it to last to its two-year anniversary.

i like this cam perfect for travel ,nice shooting cam,even night time,holds little space which is plus for travelers, battery long lasting, a++++ ,and its cheap what would you want of small cam like this :) :) :)

The camera is amazing, and It always been, but the seller I bought it from (Electronics Club) sold me something that was not working. 3 weeks after I bought it the camera ran out of batteries and when I change them It never started again. And I'm still waiting for an answers from the seller with the address to return the product and get my money back...

The camera works fine until you realize that the batteries are down and you change them and still never starts again. Also is very slow when you turn it on (before not been able to turn it again of course) and takes forever to save the pics.
Size and weight are prefect and the pictures you take are wonderful, but I think there are more "downs" than "ups" with this product...