I picked up this camera used to do some assignment work for an online publication. I specifically wanted full manual control and the ability to use an external flash (the internal flash is almost useless).
The large handgrip is a welcomed change from most other digicams out there. It feels nice and solid in your hand while the no-slip surface does its job admirably. The shutter release button is solid and the mode jog dial is placed perfectly. The user interface could benefit from minor usability improvements, but for the most part is easy to use and learn in seconds without consulting the manual. And to echo what everyone else mentions, battery life lasts me about 40 shots with the monitor and flash turned off. I take along a spare set of AA batteries for short outings. For longer outings, I mount a DigiPower DPS9000 external battery pack into the tripod mount
Overall picture quality is good, but not to the level of my 35mm film cameras under moderate scrutiny. For web content, picture quality is awesome, though. Resolution and sharpness are perfectly acceptable for 4x6 prints. Nice to have the 3:2 ratio to let you print uncropped 4x6 images. Macro capabilities are great.
Since I prefer to print my personal images, I feel the Coolpix's weakness is in its color reproduction. Photos printed on a Fuji Frontier 370 system seem to lack a certain saturation or 'punch' in various colors - things seem to be on the dull or compressed side and not very vibrant, even if the original scene was. This is especially noticeable when you hold a digital print next to a film print when both have used the same exposure and focal length and have been printed on the same machine.
Sure, I can spend time in PhotoShop adjusting curves and levels, but that's more time consuming than it's worth if you ask me. For a few photos, no big deal. But if I just shot 50+ images that are keepers, I'm not going to spend countless hours tweaking each one.
I found that a semi-decent shortcut is to get the ICC profile for my target printer and batch up all the images in PhotoShop to have the profile applied automatically. I then spend $0.29/print at my local camera shop getting them printed. Inexpensive, fast, sharp, and durable -there's no way I can print at home at that price or time savings, and I doubt anyone else can.
PROS:
Sharp images (provided you keep the sharpness setting on Auto)
Easy user interface
Inexpensive on the used market
Decent build quality
CONS:
Condensed color range
Slow to focus and fire shutter (2-3 sec.)
Supplied software is almost useless
Viewfinder shows too little of actual image (85%?)