119 of 122 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great pocket camera, November 9, 2007
I've been toying with the idea of getting a digital for years but I wasn't sold on the picture quality, (without spending a great deal of money) and I'm frankly a film snob. I have a vintage Fuji SLR and a Canon Photura which both produce great shots but are cumbersome to chase the kids around with. I wanted something easy to set, with minimal buttons so my kids could use it as well, but with a quality worth printing at least a 5x7 with. The specs are well detailed in the description so I'll just go general. I found the camera very intuitive. I haven't looked at the manual but all the modes are easy to figure out by the 'press a button and see what happens' method. Editing on the fly is quick and easy, the video I took looks as good as a minidv tape, the pictures blow up well. It fits in my front jean pocket or in a small matching Samsonite hardcase I found for $4. With a 2 GB card I can do 30 minutes of video or about a thousand pictures. This camera is advertised as long life batteries and so far I've done about 200 photos and 15 minutes of video on the supplied batteries. One negative is the shutter time - when using flash mode it is s-l-o-w. You can't catch something quickly, you're going to get three or five seconds after you think you are. However, turning the flash off made this shutter as fast as my Photura, (if not as fast as my SLR) but still had a lag time between shots. It's a trade I can live with since the multiple exposure settings make it easy to compensate for not using the flash. The design is excellent. I'm left handed and a lot of things designed for one handed use annoy me by placing buttons where a left handed user will hit the wrong ones. Although there are three buttons on the top of the camera, I had no problem at all with this. The kids are very interested in the stop motion feature. While I got this as a snap shot camera for my own use, it would be an excellent choice for an 8 year old's first camera. I spent a long time (about a year) choosing between a Nikon, Canon or Kodak model. I think the Nikon was the right way to go for ease of use, results, and visual styling. Couldn't be happier with it.
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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Elegant, easy-to-use digital cam that takes EXCELLENT pics!, December 8, 2007
I'll start by saying that this is a GREAT, maximum bang-per-buck 'point-and-shoot' compact digital camera. I conducted a LOT of research before I decided on the 'Coolpix L14', and it is one of my best purchases ever. I've been using an old Fujifilm 'Finepix 2650' (2 megapixel) for a few years now, and it's served me well. I wanted a more compact, simple to use and intuitive brand-name (like Nikon, Canon, Sony, etc.) digital cam that took high quality pictures in 'auto mode', and still had some advanced features and options that I could use in a 'manual mode' for even more control of the shot. I also wanted a camera that would use both 'AA' batteries, and high-capacity rechargeable 'AA' batteries, if I so choose. This camera takes both, and the batteries last a lot longer than many other cameras that I researched (Nikon claims about 1,000 shots with 'Energizer e2' lithium batteries), owned, or borrowed. The LCD screen looks sharp and crisp as well, and I like the 'face finding' and 'red eye fix' technology too, and they both work quite well. In addition, I tested it's video abilities as well, and the audio/video look and sound seamless, although you really need to get a 2GB card to get any meaningful length video out of this cam. The pic transfer software also works perfectly with my Windows XP PC, with no glitches. In summation, for the price, this cam is a truly GREAT buy, and it looks GORGEOUS in blue too (classy, expensive look)! Hope this review is helpful.
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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is an awesome camera just need to know how to use it, December 6, 2007
A Kid's Review
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!
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