Nikon Coolpix L18 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Navy)

My wife and I just recently replaced our Sony DSC-W5 (5 megapixel) camera with this one, and here are our impressions so far:

1) The Anti-Shake AE is something new for us, as the DSC-W5 didn't have it. Actually, we would get blurry pictures all the time in low-light situations with the DSC-W5 (which did not have Anti-Shake AE), and the new Nikon L18 does not seem to have as much trouble as the old camera did. Low light pictures seem to come out great.

2) This camera removed red-eye in the camera AUTOMATICALLY. You don't know how much of a time saver this is! My old DSC-W5 took crappy pictures when we turned on the red-eye protection, and the L18's pictures are MUCH better with the anti red-eye.

3) This camera does a better job of focusing on people than my old DSC-W5 did. It was pretty impressive to see multiple focal points on the easy-shoot mode. The focus was spot-on.

4) The colors are bright and vibrant. Much more so than my old DSC-W5.

5) The screen on this camera is HUGE. We love the sharpness and brightness on it.

6) It supports the new SD-HC cards. That means we can put the new 4GB and 8GB cards in it, and aren't limited to just the 2GB ones.

7) The Video capture (640x480 VGA) takes great, sharp AVI video captures. Great for those times where you don't have your camcorder available.

8) There is some limited internal memory in case your memory card gets full!

9) You can have any picture come up on the startup screen. So we took a picture of our name and phone number, put it in the internal memory, and set it as the start up picture. That way, any honest person that finds our camera has the info to return it.

All in all, this is no SLR or any other high end camera, but it does well what we need it to do capture our four children and the wonderful moments in their lives.

I have enjoyed my Coolpix L18! It's a great camera! I purchased it after purchasing the L14 as a gift for a family member and hearing the continuous 'bubbling' reviews about it. The L18 is easy to use and also download your photos! Although I have had no problems with my L18, I have a word of CAUTION concerning Nikonshould you have any problems arise with their product, return it immediately!!! The Coolpix L14 Gift had an 'error' within the first 3 months. Following the troubleshooting directions, it appeared to correct itself. Unfortunately, 5 months later the identical problem occurred again. This time I retrieved the gift and returned it for repair under its one year warranty. Nikon has failed to honor their warranty. We were, however, able to reach their agreement to pay half of the original quoted repair cost. Had it not been a gift that has been thoroughly enjoyed, I would not have given in to the blackmail. Although the cameras are wonderful, the warranty is 'just a piece of paper.' Nikon has left a stain on its wonderful product line. I enjoy my L18 camera, but should anything go afoul, I will not go through that ordeal with Nikon again.

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This was a great camera, but unfortunately the key word is "WAS". I purchased the camera for general shooting, nothing fancy, and it worked great. I replaced my Fujifilm FinePix with this Nikon Coolpix. I enjoy the thinner design, making it easier to keep in a small purse. The red shell adds nothing to the photos, but I'll take that over a dull gray any day. Aside from aesthetics, there are many features packed into this stylish hardware, probably more than I've fully utilized. As with any digital camera, the most important feature is point and shoot picture taking. I hate the cameras that have 17+ picture modes and the rotating "option wheel" on top. 99 times out of 100 I am just turning the camera on and snapping a shot... I don't need to change any shutter settings. This Nikon has a handy toggle on top that allows for picture taking, picture viewing, or video taking.

The large LCD screen is vibrant and makes it easy to view photos. It saves space by eliminating the old-fashioned "eye hole," which is fine with me because I rarely use it anyway. I'll take the larger LCD. Red-eye was always a problem with my Fujifilm, but this Nikon did a great job of eliminating it; every photo seemed very clear and bright.

I've also used the video feature a few times. Unlike my Fujifilm, you can actually zoom in and out while taking video. Video quality is nothing spectacular, but it is tolerable for short clips.

Downloading the pictures and videos to my computer was a snap. Again, Nikon won big points with me because this is the easiest camera I've used... and one of the cheapest too.

However, as I mentioned earlier, there was a catch. After only 4 months of use, my photos began to have a hazy ring around them. It looked like there was some fog or a smudge on the lens. I've wiped the lens carefully, but the problem remains, causing me to believe that this problem somehow lies inside the camera lens a problem I, of course, can't solve without having to call the distributor and get the run-around on how to get it fixed, despite my free one-year warranty-with-purchase. A digital camera that takes blurry photos is no better than a paper weight, even if the paper weight is colorful and shiny. Either the lens is out of alignment or my entire family has developed astigmatism.

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I own this camera for two weeks now, buying it as a replacement for a 5-year-old Canon S400 (4MP) as the battery is dying, and it was not that good when new either to consider a replacement. The first few pictures I took from the L18 disappointed me but I gave it the benefit of the doubt citing my inexperience with Nikon products. After trying to like it for 2 weeks, I gave in! While I do not know the relation between this and the L14, I have to agree with most of the low rating reviews on the L14, and perhaps more. Here are my overall impression with limited testing:

1. Slow shutter speed: from the time you fully press the shutter button (after focusing) to the time the camera clicks to the time it actually captures the picture is long, very long. In the first few pictures I moved the camera thinking it was done only to have the wrong frame captured. This, albeit irritating, I can get used to. But trying to take kids' expressions can be challenging. Not to mention if you ask someone else to take your family picture while on vacation etc.

2. Un even focusing: 7 people lining across the width of the frame, only the middle three are in clear focus, it degrades from there. This is both with no zoom and 1/2 zoom, Auto mode.

3. Washed out color: I spent a lot of time testing indoors, as this would be the most common use for us, though a few outdoors pictures did not look right when the sky and clouds are a part of the scene. For indoors, it seems over-exposed with muted colors. I tried setting color to Vivid and/or reducing Exposure Compensation, the only two settings I can find that may affect this outcome, which only slightly improved the image.

4. Noisy: not audio but video. If you open the picture with some viewer at full resolution you will know what I mean. If you have some other camera to compare, try taking the same/similar resolution.

5. Miss or near hit: to sum it up, I went to a function, took a lot of pictures indoors, all well within the rated flash range but only 50% of them were acceptable, as in you can make out who is who and what is what. None I would even attempt to print and I had a huge disclaimer when sharing those to people who requested.

Make no mistake, all pictures looked really good when viewed on the 3" LCD, perhaps that is where they should stay. On a scale of 10, if I give my antiquated S400 a 7, the L18 deserves a 2. Perhaps I should rate it one star instead!

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I have had many digital cameras. At the moment I also own 3 Nikon SLRs, the D40/80/300.

When I am out walking the dog in the desert, the L18 is the camera I usually take. Picture quality is fine, and the really wonderful thing is you can use AA NiMh rechargeable batteries in it. Battery life is good.

For the price this is a great little light weight camera.