Customer Reviews

Nikon Coolpix L22 12.0MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Optical Zoom and 3.0-Inch LCD (Silver)

5 star:		(215)
4 star:		(98)
3 star:		(44)
2 star:		(53)
1 star:		(92)

 

 

This camera is amazing! I bought it based on the reviews I read, but had NO idea of all the different things this camera does! It shoots videos and it shoots in "sports mode" - taking many pictures one right after the other so you don't miss anything. We have used this camera at some multiple-day music festivals and are simply amazed at the clarity of the pictures and how easy it is to use! The sound on the videos is good (if your computer speakers are good) and a unipod solves the shake problem if you have one. The batteries last pretty long if you aren't shooting videos - that seems to use them up quicker. This is my first digital camera, and I bought it because 1) easy to use, 2) large preview screen and 3) uses AA batteries. I was absolutely thrilled it did all this extra stuff. Friends who took the same pictures with their cameras were surprised at the difference when the pictures were posted. Ours were much better. Highly recommend this camera - especially to the camera novice (like me).

I bought this camera after reading all the + reviews on several web sites. This is a very good camera for the price.
Pro's: price, simple to use, slips right into you shirt pocket or purse, very good pictures, bright LCD (sorry Kodak), uses AA batteries, good video.
Con's: none! I highly recommend this camera.

This is a fantastic camera. The macro feature is the reason I got this camera and it's great for taking pictures of my aquarium. The sports mode works great for capturing fish. It's super easy to use.

The only con is that there are many possible settings and most of them are pretty specific. If you get the wrong setting, then pictures will look odd (strange colors or incorrect focus). However, these were very specific situations (like the aquarium) and once I figured out which setting to use, it works great.

This is a great camera for everyday use, vacation shots, sports photos, and more. We take low-light, no flash photos with this on the "sports" setting for dance recitals and plays. The photos turn out terrific, and people always ask what camera we use because they are so impressed with the clarity of the shots.

This camera has numerous features and settings. The navigation between settings is pretty intuitive, and the instruction manual has lots more ideas too. It has good video capability for capturing something in a video file when you don't have a camcorder handy. You don't need special software to upload photos from this camera - I have a card reader in my computer to do all that.

The camera does a good job conserving battery life. We use rechargeable AA batteries without any problems for hundreds of photos per charge. It's compact and fairly lightweight, and it fits into a shirt pocket with ease.

The large screen makes reviewing photos easy, and deleting ones from the camera is simple with just a touch of a button plus an "are you sure?" question to keep you from potentially erasing something in error.

The 3.6x optical zoom is an improvement over the previous Nikon Coolpix we had, so this is now the favorite camera in my home! If you've had a Coolpix in the past and are thinking about getting a newer version, definitely do it! You'll find the operations and menu choices very similar to what you're used to, but with added improvements that you'll appreciate.

We've not had any problems with the battery cover on this camera or the previous Coolpix cameras we still own. If you break the battery cover, it's time for a new camera, unfortunately. But it's very sturdy and reliable, so we've never worried about it much.

I originally bought the Coolpix S203 and LOVED it. Good quailty pictures, chargeable battery and very slim. Super easy to carry around. When it got wet and died I wanted to replace it with the same model. Alas, it is no longer made. So, because I enjoyed my first Nikon Coolpix, I bought the L22 and was completly dissapointed. It seemed HUGE compared to my tiny S203 and the pictures were always blurry. It took extra seconds to switch from camera to movie and even to take a simple posed picture required 2.5 seconds of holding the button. Not a chance you would ever catch a good candid shot. I returned it and bought the S3000. Best idea and worth the extra $15. Plus this one does not require AA batteries like the L22.

I'm a very loyal Nikon fan and have been using their digital SLR cameras for years. My "bar" camera has always been a Canon, but I decided to try the Nikon Coolpix since I have always trusted Nikon's technology.

The camera takes nice pictures and is a very good price for a 12 megapixel camera. There is a large view screen, which is also a plus.

However, there are two major downsides to the camera that I wish I would have known before purchasing:
1) It uses AA batteries -- NOT a rechargeable battery pack. This actually makes the camera more expensive in the long run, since you need to constantly purchase AA batteries. It also makes the camera wider than battery-pack cameras since there has to be room for batteries. Hence, a camera that doesn't fit in your pocket as well as other models

2) After hitting the shutter button, it takes a LONG time for the camera to actually take the picture. So being out at the bar, everyone has to wait a LONG time holding their smiles... almost uncomfortably long. So this camera is not recommended for use at sporting events where you are trying to capture fast-action motion

I simply LOVE this camera. I am an over 50 year old artist. I wanted good quality pictures but I don't really understand the new technology. This camera is so easy to use and gets the quality I want in the pictures. You can even adjust certain elements to improve the picture even more to your liking. I would recommend this camera to anyone.

I am no "techie", but this camera is user friendly and takes beautiful pictures. It does all the adjustments automaticly. If you want a "point & shoot", no-brainer I recommend this camera. AND it is "pretty".

This camera has been a lifesaver. We were taking photos with our cell phones and they were good, but after getting a professional photo session and seeing the difference in quality (and the package costing an arm and a leg) we decided to get a camera of our own. The quality is outstanding! It is effortless to take portrait photos, make videos, snap a picture once a smile appears, and shoot panoramic shots. I am so glad we got this camera (the color is cute too!)

If you are on a very very tight budget (air ticket took the most part of my budget already) and don't want to pay anything over $100, this is the camera for this price. Below is my feedback after taking a couple of hundred pictures in a trip to Hong Kong.

Pros:
-low price
-pictures are of good quality (12mega) and over 95% of them were in good focus and clear. I printed about 150 pics (including Disney World in HK) on photo paper thru PhotoMax in Hong Kong for Mom in law and they came out very well. They look good on computer too.
-took about 10 video clips. They all worked well on computer when replaying (the camera does not have HD format support yet in its video).
-use AA batteries (I know some people do not like this as it makes the camera a little bigger - anyway just a little bigger only and OK with me) but I like it because if the battery runs out by accident and I have no replacement handy, I can purchase anywhere easily. BTW, I had 4 rechargeable AA batteries and this camera took 2 at a time and so most of the time I did not run into the need to buy new battery. You can take a lot of pics with just 2 batteries. The only one time we had to purchase new batteries was because we forgot to bring the other 2 batteries out and the ones in use ran out. This is much better than when a camera is using other type of batteries and you forgot to bring them out and you won't be able to use your camera in that case at all.
-flash is OK

Cons:
-the mode that has face detection just does not work. If you use that mode, the pictures you got would be extremely extremely disappointing and that's why some other reviews here said that the pictures from this camera were very poor and this was because they probably have selected that mode. If you stay away from using that and select other mode, the picture would come out just fine. With that said, you are not really getting all the features that you pay for here. Even this camera is cheap, the price per each working function may be more expensive than the others. But too bad, I cannot spend more than $100 for a camera in my budget and so I have to stick with it (still better than not being able to get a camera at all).
-the sports mode is only 1/250th second and its much slower than most of other camera (1/1000th second).

So if you cannot afford more than $100 like me and you only care about taking reasonable good pictures easily (no sports - sports mode is slow), this may be the right camera for you. If you can spend more than $100, you should check out something else and you can get better sports mode and higher zoom power, etc.

Hope this helps.