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

See updated comment below.For the money you can't beat this little camera...for the folks who are complaining about blurry photos, this isn't a $1,000 DSLR...there is some shutter lag, as with all inexpensive digital cameras; take that into account and you'll be fine: so far I haven't had any difficulties capturing crisply and clearly the smoke rising from my BBQ grill (it helps if you use the right shooting mode for the right shot, too; for that I used the sports/action mode). The micro mode is great! Another thing that helps prevent blurry photos is to use a tripod! Especially if you're shooting important landscapes or portraits. (Helpful hint: when using a tripd you may want to turn image stabilization off...try a shot both ways and see which you prefer.) As for battery usage...most cameras eat batteries if you're shooting a lot, which is why every photography book/course/instructor/owner's manual tells you: carry extra batteries! Now let's talk video...I am so delighted with the great videos this little camera makes! I had a small digital camera which I paid half again as much for, and my Nikon takes better videos. Again, folks, this isn't a $1,000 DSLR; don't expect it to be, and you won't be disappointed. I highly, highly recommend this camera! It goes with me everywhere I go, and it has not disappointed me yet as I put it through its paces.UPDATE: 10-17-2010: I took this little camera to Biketoberfest, and in the sports/action mode using a panning technique I got crystal clear photos of the bikes as they went by me. I shot several movies and the sound was awesome, and the movies are sharp as a tack! The batteries, which I have had in the camera since I bought it, lasted all day and were still going strong. The micro mode is very impressive...you can get as close as 2" to your subject. The more I use this camera, the more I'm impressed with it and happy I bought it!!

We originally purchased the Nikon Coolpix L22 for our son's birthday present. I purchased it over the Thanksgiving day weekend, even though his birthday isn't until February. Amazon did a great job. The camera arrived in just a couple days. Love that super saver shipping. I just packed the box up into our closet to wait until the birthday party.Fast Forward 3 months. We're in the middle of a 12 year old's birthday party... and he wants to try out his new camera. We took it out of the box and... the battery latch is defective and completely broken off.. It won't hold the batteries in no matter what we try. I then called support, explained my issue and pay to send it to them. About 2 weeks later I get an invoice in the mail telling me if I want my camera fixed I have to pay 70$ That was almost what we paid for the camera NEW!I had them send the camera back to us. I was very disappointed. After doing many more web searches I have found that this issue is very common in the "Coolpix" line of cameras.(In fact google "battery door latch" and the first result is about a Nikon Coolpix... many of the following results are as well)Now on to the technical side. Once I got the camera back I used some electrical tape and taped the battery latch door shut so that I could do some side by side comparison's.Compared to my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS3 8.1 Megapixel it fell short in every test I made with it. Low light shots where blurry, there was a significant amount of noise in the images, and the colors appeared dull in comparison. The video was dull and quite grainy. The sound quality on the video was low and tinny. The only bright spot on the camera was the menu's were easy to navigate and simple to operate. On the Nikon the on/off was a push button and took over 2 seconds to power up, and to actually focus and take a "good" picture in "easy mode" it was more like 5 - 7 seconds.(fastest = 5, slowest = 10) The Panasonic on the other hand has an on/off slider and was taking 3 - 4 seconds for a power-up shot. In the size department the L22 is pretty large for a "point and shoot" it was much larger than the Panasonic. For Menu's between the two. I liked the layout of the Nikon. At first glance it was easy to setup "favorite modes" so you could easily switch your camera between Auto, Easy Auto, Video, and 1 preset mode. But in function it was very slow. You'd push the button and nothing would happen. Press it a second time and watch the menu's flash up, then down again. It just wasn't very fast. The Panasonic took a bit more work getting the presets enabled, but it was very quick.Over all, based on it's performance I'd give it a rating of 2. Based on the poorly designed battery latch, and the poor reception we received from Nikon support... I will be giving this product a 0. And I doubt I will be purchasing another Nikon.

After reading most of the reviews, those good and bad, I decided to purchase this camera, and actually received it earlier than Amazon had stated. With that said, this is a simple point and shoot camera. I think the bad reviews (however, I'm concerned about the 'flimsy' battery door cover) were based on some folks not knowing how to 'use' the camera. Basic camera operation, press the shutter HALFWAY, it beeps when it's focused, and then continue pressing the button all the way down. Picture was taken immediately, no wait time like some of the reviews implied here, and the results were excellent. Picture was in focus, colors were good, and overall for the price of the camera, it did a darn good job! I took photos outdoors and indoors in various lightning conditions with overall excellent results. I even used the macro mode for very up close shots. I did find that turning the flash mode to the 'off' setting, prevented the picture from being washed out, and with the flash off the results were pretty good using ambient light for macro shots. With more use of the camera, I'll find out how great the battery life is, movie mode and some of the other advanced features. So, even though I've only used it for a day, I'm very satisfied with this camera and would suggest it to friends who are looking for a good camera with a good price.