I just recently purchased this camera, and after using it for only 5 days I have decided to return it primarily because the image quality is very poor. The images are soft and washed out, not sharp and crisp like I have come to expect from Nikon (I have the D80 as well). The menu system is very primitive but it is still functional. The only good thing about this camera is its very low price. But, I feel that this camera is a bad value, even at this price. I have decided to pay 50% more and buy the Canon SD1000. The images from my old SD230 (3 megapixels) were much better than with this new Nikon (7 megapixels).

The Good:
- low price
- light and small
- takes AA batteries

The Bad:
-soft pictures
-washed out color and general haziness of images
-very long delay between pictures (especially with the flash)

Hello,

I purchased this camera 2 weeks ago. I was very skeptic about it but i gave nikon another try.
I had an old 2.5MP from nikon I loved, so i bought the Nikon L1 and hated it to death it was garbage - slow, worthless video and so on.
I returned it and purchased the canon with 6MP..it was nice but i still missed the old nikon.
After going back and forth i decided i give nikon another try - i love it !

The Nikon is quick even with Flash but you need to know which setting you need for what type of pictures.
I work in a daycare and tokk pictures of kids today i caught them in the position i pressed the shutter...awesome.
Took a picture of my daughter playing with water and you can even see the single water drops when she splashed.
the macro is awesome - you can see every single detail

It has a little shutter lag when you take pictures in low light
also when you just to far away and the object is moving. but thats ok.
you can however adjust this yourself and yes after reading the manual you can take awesome pics and FAST !!!

The video quality is like TV or DVD...i have an samsung camcorder 8mm tape and the nikon takes better quality video..and my camcorder is only 2 years old.

You can use up to 4GB SD Cards and the battery life is long.
I took at least 1 hour of Video and maked the rest of my 4GB out with Pictures and I am still on the Batteries that came with the camera...

If you just want to take some camera out of the box and shoot
this might not be the one but if you dont mind going through the manual for 30 min, so you know what you doing you will get rewarded with
awesome pictures, awesome video and of course a reliable brand with little costs.

I am back with Nikon and i love it !!!
All i can say this camera has no negative side effects for me since i went throught the manual and know what i'm doing and yes i am not a geek or anything like that, just a mom and a daycare provider and i was able to manage it.

if you want a real good camera for less
this is the one, is not only small and handy but very light.
It can easy fit in a pocket and no one would know.
and besides that it looks nice and shiny,
BTW you can see the display in direct sunlight.

I am still discovering the camera and with each day I love it more!

My experience was much the same as TechnoGeek's. Almost every picture I took was blurry. Outdoors it takes fairly decent shots, but indoors it is extremely finicky. I poured over the manual and tried every combination of settings, but I could not get the camera to take consistently clean pictures. The action settings seemed to have no effect. Just taking a still photograph indoors with the flash usually came out blurry. The manual even warns not to press the button too hard, saying otherwise pictures could come out blurry. (!) With the flash was always better than without, but at no point could the pics hold up against a family member's Olympus FE 180. Worse still was how slow the camera responded, taking 3-7 seconds to save a picture. The voice recorder would have been a very useful option had the camera taken decent pictures.

I've hasd this camera for about ten days now and after a couple of days I'd already put a pretty troubled review on the UK Amazon site with three stars (I wanted to be generous) And I can see what the two negative reviewers are on about; I've had those problems as well. But getting into this camera more now I find that I'm carrying it everywhere as it's pocket sized, and taking pictures all over the place. But to get the best you need to use the programmes - there's 5 settings for pictures and 5 for white balance. The settings bring the best out of daylight photos or indoor electic light pictures. The picture programmes get the camera set up for automatically getting the right settings for a portrait or a landscape. The camera takes it's best pictures in good lighting and without or not much of the 3x zoom. Low light is difficult, even with the flash it's not great - just OK - same as any inexpensive digital camera - not great, just keep it real steady. But at this price, what do you expect from a quality manufacturer like Nikon (- a press camera at a disposable price? Not going to happen is it?) Take a look at the photos I've put on the UK Amazon site with my UK review of the Nikon L14.

Given it's price and the pretty good photos I've taken once I got used to it, I think it deserves somewhere between 3+ and 4.

Good camera for price. Bought 3 for triplets (10). Easy to use and good pictures.

My daughter received this camera for Christmas and loves it. It has all the cool features, plus it compact and cute (and pink!)

I got this camera as a Christmas present from my husband. I have always stood by Nikon products. This camera is amazing! It has a large screen, easy to use and ready to go out of the box. The zoom is great. The picture quality is great. Just keep in mind the camera does not come with a memory card so you'll need to purchase one. Without the card it will hold only about 10 pictures and 10 seconds of video play. Totally worth every penny.

I bought this camera for my mom to take pictures of her new granddaughter. Mom is not a computer-age, digital-equipment kind of person, but she loves this camera. Its so easy to use...the window is large enough to actually see what you are taking a picture of. Because it uses batteries, she doesnt have to worry about keeping it plugged in to a charger, so its always handy when she wants to catch her littlest angel being cute. I like it so much I'm considering dumping my old digital camera and buying another Coolpix for myself!

this was a wounderful surprize for my teenage daughter. It was as descibed and shipping was as fast as promissed. I would recommend this seller to all......Thank you for making a little girl happy

THIS CAMERA IS AWESOME. IT TAKES GREAT PICTURES AND ALSO HAS A LONG BATTERY LIFE. PICTURES ARE SO EASY TO DOWNLOAD ONTO THE COMPUTER WITH THE NIKON SOFTWARE. BOUGHT 6 OF THEM FOR CHRISTMAS FOR NIECES AND SISTERS AND MY MOM. THEY ALL LOVE IT AND RAVE ABOUT IT. GREAT CAMERA.

I bought a $500 sony a couple of years ago, and it takes 3 seconds from the time I click the button to when it actually snaps the picture. The auto-focus is too slow and I very rarely get decent pictures unless they are in bright sunlight outside. This little camera (I bought 2 of them) is fast, takes great pictures, and my kids love them (ages 11, 14). They take videos as well and my son has edited and posted them to youtube. I've borrowed my daughter's a few times, because it takes better pictures than my Sony.

This is my 3rd Nikon. Purchased for my mother who has never had a digital camera and is NOT computer savvy. she wanted something that would be easy to use out of the box and this is the PERFECT camera. if you are looking for tons of features, ultra-long zoom, fast recovery, etc...keep looking. if you need to take a few pix each month and like going a bit crazy during family gatherings (my mother to a "T") this is the camera for you. the recovery after each pix is a bit long but I knew that before I purchased. pix quality is great and Nikon quality is present. a great camera at a great price for easy, occational use.

This is by far the best digital camera I have ever owned. The ease of use is great, and the size is perfect for point and shoot camera

I bought this camera for my daughter. It is a great little camera for her, she enjoys taking pictures with it and the pictures are easily transferred to the computer. The original batteries that come with the camera are wonderful, she has been taking pictures for almost a month and the batteries are still good.

I ordered this camera after looking around quite a bit and color was an important factor for me. There was a slight delay in shipping but I finally got it and it's not really pink. I returned it with no problem but the second one is not pink either.
I don't know if I am not seeing it or what.
I haven't had the chance to use it but hopefully it will live up to the reviews.

I bought the Nikon l14 Coolpix camera with 7.1 pixels and 3x zoom for $102.00. It was a great price for a great camera. I can download and purchase great quality pictures from the internet and purchased a memory card (which you will need since the camera does not have a lot of memory) to store pictures. A great product and so compact it fits in my smallest purse for easy use at events and nights out. Definitely worth the purchase.

First of all, I'm a Nikon man, I'm a professional photographer and I know what a good image should look like but I don't expect a point & shoot to look like my digital SLR. I love the size and feel of the camera but unfortunately the images are soft and have too much noise. In my opinion, Nikon and Panasonic have the best design on point and shoots because you can put your thumb on the back of the camera and hold it securely without fear of hitting other buttons. I think the processor nikon uses in this camera is low quality. I have a panasonic lumix that is 4 years old and it takes better pics. (my kids took over that camera and I'm looking for a new one) I returned the L14 to amazon with no problem. I'm going to stick with Panasonic.

What a great camera! I researched extensively before purchasing this camera. I wanted to get my 8-year-old daughter a camera for around $100. This seemed to be the best rated. It takes awesome pictures. It has great settings. It was the best thing ever for her to have on our Disney trip. She took well over a hundred pictures plus some short videos (with a 1GB memory card). It's also simple to use. All pics and videos came out great--and that's with an 8-year-old taking the pictures! It's also nice that the camera is so compact.

This little guy takes great photos! fits right in my purse. Easy to use. Only downfall is I had to get a card reader. My mac wouldn't pick up it was connected like it can with my sony digi cam.

I hate to say this, but I own three of these cameras. I was attracted to them because of the long battery life, for I take a lot of pictures, and have two employees that also take lots of pictures of our work. I wish I would have tested the first one out more before I bought two more of them. You see, one camera on its FIRST day of use crapped out with a lens error, rendering it useless. After doing a search on the net about the Nikon L14 lens error, I come to find out it's very common. I had no idea how common, until it happened to the 2nd one, this one only have about a week's use on it. I did send the first one back to Nikon and it is covered under a one year warranty. I'm sure they'll cover the 2nd one, but I have no idea if the camera will actually be fixed to not happen again, or if this is what I'm in for. If so, you can count on one year's worth of use out of these cameras. After the warranty runs out, I doubt that it would be worthwhile to pay to ship them and pay to have them repaired. I'm really disgusted by all this. I always thought Nikon was a quality product. When two out of three fail, that's a bad sign. I'll start using the third one and see how far we get with this one. I thought to just resell them on ebay after they return from repair, but I can't do that to someone. I wish Nikon would give me my money back on those pieces of junk and take them off the market, because they are bad news.

For the price it's hard to beat this little camera. Takes great pictures, and easy to learn and understand all the controls (There aren't that many)
I bought this camera for my daughter, and she's been having a ball with it.

If you want professional quality photos, this is not your camera. That being said, it is a great little camera with lots of features. It is easy to use and small enough to fit into a pocket for taking along almost anywhere. I purchased the Coolpix for my 11 yr. old daughter, and she has been able to run all of the settings, take the photos, and download them to our computer with no problems. The photos are great, but not what you would get from an SLR.

Great camera. The pictures are very nice and when you take videos, the picture is very sharp.
Almost as sharp as a video camera but for a cheaper price.
I highly recommend it.

This is a great camera with lots of pixels for the money.
The view window is large enough for someone with a vision problem to see exactly what they are getting.

Dont dare think about using the flash on the camera. When the flash is on after EACH picture the camera takes approx. 8 secs to 'regroup' before you are able to take another picture.

Mayb if you like dark pictures, or plan to take pictures at an event extremele slow, then this camera is the way to go. Image being at a graduation and trying to take pictures of a loved one walking across the stage and after the first picture this snail like camera will not be ready for the second pic while the person is crossing. WTF!!!!

I bought this camera as a gift for my mother who isnt technology savy & even she couldnt stand this camera. I returned mine -- you've been warned!!

Shutter reaction time is very slow. Pics are in line with a camera of this price.

4TH coolpix with faulty power switch (1 L11, 2 L12, 1L14). According to co. experts it's just a coincidence! Get real. If I didn't love my D70S, I'd switch manufacturers.2 returned , 2 fixed. But who's the real stubborn idiot?

This is a great camera. I bought it for my 8 year old daughter. She had gotten an $80.00 Polaroid Kid's camera for Christmas that worked for 1 day, so I wanted an actual camera for her. She loves it. I did buy a larger memory card. It's easy for her to use. She takes pictures and makes "movies", deletes them and even downloads onto the computer. The battery life is great too. I think I like this camera better than my Cannon, but she won't give it up. This is a great buy for the young or the not so young. We love it.

The Coolpix L14 should be avoided for the following reasons:
First, the picture quality is usually poor, with unacceptable levels of distortion to the point of almost every buiding appearing crooked, every airplane looking cartoonish, every line being curved.
Second, unless its midday light or you use a tripod, most of the pictures you take indoors will be of poor quality regardless of the settings you use.
Third, all of the reviews you read saying how slow it is are true, especially when waiting for the flash to recharge.
Fourth, the manufacturer's claims of the macro mode taking close ups of up to 10cm is misleading as to the actual performance. Maybe under the most ideal conditions and with the patience of a saint for the autofocus, you can take close up shots. It will usually struggle to find focus in light lower than outdoors.
Do not fall for the looks or the brand name. This particular camera should be used only for the most basic picture taking where low quality or annoying distortion does not matter. So for my next purchase, no matter how bulky, its worth getting an SLR so at least you'll have respectable pictures to see.

Camera arrived in a perfect new condition. Everything is good except as it was said before - the flash. It takes too long to recharge it.
One more detail, don't buy the case, it goes together with the camera, in the same box.

This is a good camera to purchase for a beginner. The instructions are easy to follow.
It is light weight, has auto modes as well as options for you to be able to set as you prefer.
The blue color though pretty and different makes it difficult to find if you lay it down on a dark surface. Make sure to purchase a case as these cameras are very sensitive. If you drop them, they will fall apart and cost almost as much as the camera did to repair.
It was worth $129.00 but I now see that it is being sold for $119.95
Make sure to compare the shipping rate for each vendor before making a decision.

I ordered this camera in the beginning of March and was so happy to be able to bring it with me on my vacation on March 20th. I used it a total of 5 times before the battery ran out, which is pretty good for me since I take a lot of pictures. My problem was that the lens did not retract when the battery died, so I put the camera in my purse. When I bought the batteries and placed them in the camera it resulted in a "Lens Error". I noticed that the lens was a little crooked and so it wouldn't retract. Thank goodness I had brought another camera with me on my trip otherwise I would have been highly disappointed.

When I return to my trip I sent my damaged Nikon to the customer repair center thinking that it would be covered under warranty. To my disbelief I received a bill in the mail 10 days later saying that it would cost $107 to repair my camera (MORE than the camera cost itself) because the damage was not covered under warranty. I called the repair center and they notified me that it appeared as though the bent lens was due to impact, which was NOT the case. I advised them of that fact and they said I could file a dispute. I am waiting for a phone call to hear about the status of my dispute, but I will keep everyone posted.

Bought this camera through Amazon from Beach Camera. Got it for a great price and no problems with shipping. Put a 2GB card in it and has 555 avail pictures at the highest resolution setting. I have been playing with it for about 3 weeks, including movies and the lithium batteries are still going strong.
Took a picture of our cat and digital zoomed up, cropped the picture and printed it 8X10", with just regular printer paper it has perfect resolution. I am not a professional photographer, but it has enough setting variables to take a good shot in almost all conditions. The point and shoot mode also has good quality. I almost didn't get it because of the neg reviews, but I'm glad I did now. Hey for $97.00 its a bargain

Honestly, I now firmly believe that reviews on sites are often "seeded" with positives from companies.

My wife and I purchased this camera for her mother, and we are greatly disappointed. The photos it takes are, to be honest, not up to snuff. This camera actually takes worse photos than most 2 megapixel and 3 megapixel cameras that were out 4 years ago. Give no thought to the fact that it's a 7 megapixel camera. It just means you get 7 megapixels of a poor photo. Maybe it's the lens, but in all honesty, my wife's new Samsung Cell Phone takes photos as well as this disappointment does.

We purchased this Nikon because my wife has had good experiences with her Nikon Coolpix 5900. That camera is a few years old, and was three times the price, but we feel we got "taken" by trusting the Nikon name on this.

I will say that it does take decent close-up shots. Anything in the mid-range, however, is generally blurry or out of focus 50% of the time. Honestly, to look at the photos, we can't figure out what the camera was trying to focus on, either. Nothing at a medium range looks good. Long-distance shots are quite ho-hum.

The PC mode is, strangely, somewhat useful. Anything in between that and the highest 7 megapixel mode should be avoided. We feel we need to take photos on the highest setting at all times in order to get a photo that is at least acceptable.

In all honesty, you should avoid this camera. I know it's cheap, but for the price, there has got to be something better. There's no point in a camera being "easy to use" if it takes awful photos.

I have no hatred of Nikon. We will never again, however, purchase a cheaper camera from them.

This was purchased for my 19 yr old son for Christmas. He was very excited to receive it. Looks great and was easy to use.

After reading the reviews on this camera I thought this might be the one I was looking for. I had some concerns with others thoughts on the long time for the flash to go but I have not found issue with that. However, the real test will be when I'm at a live performance and am trying to capture the moment presented on stage. Will see.

A little about me: I have been taking photographs since I was a child so consider myself to be somewhat knowledgable about basic photography. I have been ''afraid'' of the digital camera as it seemed like there were so many options to research it would just be easier to stay with my APS camera and the old Nikon 35mm standby. A camera clerk chided me on the APS cartridge one day and suggested I just go get a $100 digital and let the computers at the camera shop do the rest. Somehow that conversation inspired me to DO IT and make the purchase. My upcoming vacation helped with the decision also.

Overall I am thrilled with this little camera! Very small and easy to carry. I am a manual reader and didn't have too much problem figuring out how to use the special features. Initial set up was a snap! I took this camera on a vacation immedately after purchasing it and was very pleased with how easy it was to use. I made a point to read the manual before heading out for the day - over coffee so spent maybe 15 minutes TOPS reviewing the features - and all went well. I had no problem uploading the photos once I returned home. Have to yet to print them but I am not concerned.

I saw the television commercial for this camera last nite -- with Ashton Kutcher -- which I had seen prior to purchase but did not realize I bought the same camera. Overall, I love this little toy!!

I'm very disappointed with all the features of this camera especially considering it's a Nikon. I wanted something simple, and small that i can carry everywhere with me. This cammera is that, no if only it took good pictures. My advice to you is to go with Canon...yes you won't find anything from them in this price range but it's about QUALITY. That is what you'll be paying for and you won't regret it. STAY AWAY FROM NIKON COOLPIX L14.

I bought the camera for my daughter's birthday. She loved the brush pink color and the compact size. The camera takes excellent pictures and have not had a problem. She has taken about 300 pictures of the same set of batteries. I also bought a 2 GB card which gave her plenty of room to take pictures and videos. I recommend this camera for a nice point and shoot/ go anywhere camera. One negative aspect- it does take a few seconds between pictures.

When my coolpix L3 died after a series of falls, the time came for a new camera. I ended up with the coolpix L14 which looked very nice in blue and took AA batteries so that was great! Then the problems began.......
The camera started taking the worst pictures I've ever seen in my life!And the shutter lag is unbearable on these cameras.It had more pixels then my previous one, and and sucked worse than the cheaper camera!Unacceptable! When I went on a trip to new york, i had to retake a picture three to four times to get one that might be somewhat clear. All the modes SUCK! No matter which one you use it either blurs, takes forever to reload flash, or comes out extremely dark! I've had it with this camera. Hopefully it will break so the warranty will exchange any camera up to its value. DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA! YOU WILL BE SORRY! YOU'RE BETTER OFF WITH THE L3

I bought this in Feb 2008 and next month it sarted giving me LENS ERROR, the camera switches off itself after few seconds when powered on(with the LENS ERROR message). I have given it for service. I missed to capture many important event after purchasing this product. Even though I found few review that tells it gives LENS ERROR I went for it thinking it will be very rare, look like is a common problem with this product.

My mother bought this for my daughter as she thought it would be a good camera for her. She did do some research at that time and didn't find anything. I'm having trouble finding reviews anywhere but here but this camera should have been returned from the start! The flash did not work and fast forward in video mode also was not working. We sent it back and it was repaired after WE paid shipping and handling. My daughter took it on a trip, the lens got stuck and just like the other review, it was OUR fault it was damaged. This camera was junk to start with and we should have returned it or demanded a new one. Unable to get anywhere with Nikon as a "manager" looked at it and oh well, go buy another one. I will, another manufacturer. And I thought Nikons were good cameras? Maybe only on the high end. This one stinks.

I bought the L14, my wife was fairly happy with the cameras abilities. The picture quality is good and the ease of use is also good, time delay is a bit long so don't plan on any action shots, but when it comes to durability thats where Nikon falls way short. Wife dropped the camera for the first time. Not a hard drop. There were no scratches or any scuff marks, well no sooner did I think that when the battery door came flying open. It would not shut after that. There was no visible damage to the door or any other part of the camera. long story short, Nikon gave me a repair order for $99 on a camera that only cost $149 total! I am very dissapointed with our purchase and will never buy a Nikon product again. Now that I have read some consumer reports, I found that Nikon did not fair very well among it's peers. I only wish I had read that report before i bought. Oh well, live and learn.

After only 8 months of owning this camera (but after many thousands of pictures), we left this camera on the roof of our car as we drove onto a highway. After the camera inevitably fell off the roof, we stopped and got out to look for the pieces...

As we walked along the road's edge, at least 30 cars passed by the spot where it had fallen (including >5 semi's). Not only did the camera remain perfectly intact in the middle of the highway, it was completely functional in every way still.

Call it luck if you want. I think the camera was also just well made enough to survive a 70mph fall onto a highway!

Purchased the camera in December for my daughter. Camera worked for 4 months and then began the "LENS ERROR" and camera was bricked. There are several other posts with this problem.

Sent the camera for service. Nikon has had it for 2 months. I still don't have the camera, and no one will tell me when it will be fixed. It is on "parts hold". I have requested a product replacement. No answer....and no camera.

If Nikon wants to lose customers over a $129 camera then so be it. Previous Canon S40 lasted 5 yrs+ before it died. Also have the Canon Xti which is a great camera. Can't report on Canon service, because we haven't needed it. Staying with Canon.

Bought this for my grandson at Christmas 2007. It was used 3 times then we got an error message of "lens err msg". Contacted Nikon and they indicated that it was still under warranty, sent it in.

Today I got an invoice for the repairs of $99.50. They claimed that it was dropped and the lens was dented. Pardon me how do you dent a lens? Called Nikon and they did not change their minds. Needless to say I refused to pay for the repairs which were $.50 higher then cost of camera. Checked with my son and their rules were that the grandson did not get the camera unless they were around and that it had not been dropped.

The camera's problem was that the lens cover would not open, so no pictures.

I also have a Nikon that I bought several years ago that also quit working but after above camera. Nikon indicated that the cost of repairs was 500-600 dollars.

Conclusion is that Nikon has bad products and a miserable repair service. Do not buy unless you like flushing your money down the toilet.

This cammera takes AMAZINGLY clear photos, I have a L14, L16 and L18 i just recently bought as a gift for a close friend. These cameras are incredible on various levels.

FIrst off, the picture quality is razor sharp, can see fine hairs on someones face when focused.

The video quality and sound is also incredible, its like having a mini DV camcorder ...or at least very close to it. The video is silky smooth at 30fps (feels like 60) nothing choppy about it at all. Not very grainy either pretty sharp video and the sound is crisp and vibrant.

I usually use this to document videos of me singing and what not, my voice comes through clear as a bell with no sound distortion even on high notes. great for gettign entire conversations within a video.

last but not least is the batteries..usues standard AA batteries for changing on the go, no more worrying about rechargable batteries to replace in a few years, standard AAs are the most convieniant feature in a modern Digital camera.

for perfect point and shoot situations, vacations every day use...this camera cannot be beat.

I don't understand why Nikon would put their name on this atrocity. This camera has an eternal shutter lag - any moving subject is long gone before the actual picture is taken. It also takes forever to power up. The pictures are dark, blurry, and below what even the most casual photographer should accept.

I bought this camera because I needed something compact and relatively inexpensive for a vacation and I regret it. It's a total waste of money. If you are looking for something cheap, you would be better of with a disposable Camera than this.

Image quality was very disappointing. Images are like the ones you get from those old disposable film cameras. Don't waste your money on this camera.

Thought this looked like a nice little camera for my teenager, except it broke after 2 months-just stopped in the middle of filming. 'Lens error'-covered under warranty. After my expense of shipping it back, and over 2 months of waiting, the camera breaks in 24 hours, after taking less than 10 pictures-lens error. Now I get to ship this piece of junk back again, for another 2 months.