Nikon COOLPIX L820 16 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 30x Zoom Lens and Full HD 1080p Video (Red) (OLD MODEL)

1st things 1st. while i was considering to which camera to buy i was trying to find out what is being given to you besides the actual camera. i havent found any post about it so just gonna mention whats in the package -camera -2 cds: a reference manual cd and a software cd to upload on your computer. both are very well designed and easy to use..anyone with nikon really has alot to get out of besides the camera..dont have the time to go thru every detail on the cds, ill be here for another year typing.. -usb cord about foot long or so - these 3 plugin cables to attach to tv or whatever theyre used for..i dont really use it so i dont really know what it can be used for.. -you also get the actual module guide in a booklet as oppose to the cd..whatever works..im sure theres some sort of diff bet the2 just dont have the time to find one.... -nikon neck strap -a cover for the lens the camera is excellent. i saw in the comments that ppl complained that if you zoom in the camera shakes and you lose stability and cant take a proper picture. i can tell you thats not fully true i realized the camera shakes bec its probably too sensitive-its your hands that cant keep it perfectly straight when your zoomed and focused at a particular thing- i zoomed it on my table its totally fine..if you have trouble keeping it straight the solution is put on the flash button- i realized that even if you can keep your hands steady enough to take a clear pic- as long as the flash is on itll come out perfectly fine...the zoom is absolutely amazing.. i took a pic about 15 feet or more away from a yogurt can and i was able to read the ingredients on it!! it has a very sharp zoom for pics and video really fantastic to see!!! the thing that makes this camera diff then others is the sd card slot..for some reason idk why when you insert the sd card it still will run on the camera memory and i still havent figured how you can swap it..what will happen is itll go on camera mode and if or when you run out of space it will move to the sd card..you can also take a pic and copy it to the sd card memory afterwards- just its a little annoying if your concerned the camera will just suddenly break and you'll lose those very few(its only about 45 mega bites on the camera- about 10 pics..) pics on the camera. im not so fussy about it...just buy a good case and and take pics only when the strap is in your hand or around your neck and you'll be fine..ive been taken pictures for a number of years and ive had no problems doing that.. i would give a 4.5 star bec of this small issue with the sd card but being there is no such thing as giving half a star ill give a 5..i feel bad for the bad ratings on this camera for those who dont know how to use one and are complaining about zoom when its not true.. if your looking for problems youll def find no matter how good the item is even if it were $1500. but if your like me that you just want a good camera and you'll deal with things that come on the way (if you want to call it a problem) you'll be totally grateful for buying this product..GUARANTEED wish you all the greatest success!

Where do I begin - to tell the story.... Well a certain generation know the song - but I LOVE this camera!! We were looking for a camera that was easy to use but had a terrific zoom - for stills as well as video - for an upcoming trip. Purchased a great SONY in January but while the pics and video were great it was just too cumbersome and having to change the lens was too much trouble. Wanted to have something "all-in-one" and this camera fits the bill! (The cost was much better also!) I live with an awesome view of the ocean and local areas - I have zoomed in on neighborhoods across the bay, used macro for super close-ups of flowers, took natural shots easily because the shutter is so quick, caught birds in flight, and have the most awesome pictures of the moon - craters and all! We have still not tried all of the settings but are working on it! Our only issue - and this is our problem not the camera is when the camera is in full zoom: 1) If you are not using the highest setting it might be pixelated and 2) it is so sensitive that when you take the shot it "offsets" from center. Of course this could be solved with a tripod but who's carrying one all the time?! The camera is with us all of the time - my mother called it "my mascot" - because you just never know when that super moment will come up!! The only con to this camera is the same as with all digitals - no eyepiece and there IS a glare in the sun. Absolutely Love it and recommend the following accessories: rechargeable batteries, a minimum 32gb, class 10 sdhc card - you will need it :) - and the screen protector. Go for it!! You will not be sorry!

I purchased the Nikon COOLPIX L820 after looking at several other digital cameras in the same price range. Hands down the Nikon offered more features and value for the dollar and was the driving force behind my decision to purchase the item. I took the camera with me on vacation and the pictures that I took with the Nikon were outstanding! Excellent color and clarity along with a wide range of special effect features made using this camera a treat. I have excellent pictures of all of my vacation spots and special moments along with clear, crisp movies that I will cherish for years to come. The only downside to the camera that I noted was the ability to take still pics in low light of items in motion. There's a function that works very well in the daylight but in low light the camera comes up a bit short. Still photos in low light are extremely sharp and the camera seems to adjust very well to low light conditions. Panorama Mode offers the user the opportunity to capture 180 degree or 360 degree photos - excellent for taking large wide angle shots of your favorite spots. The digital zoom is top notch (to a point then granulation occurs) and the 3D mode seemed to work well. Better 3D quality is offered with more expensive cameras, the Nikon didn't offer the depth of field that is available with high end cameras. Using a high end Micro SD memory card with this unit is a must. Slow memory will impact your ability to quickly write photos and movies taken with the camera. A good SD card with lots of space will cost $20-$50 depending n the size and speed selected. Battery life was great, the camera uses 4 AA batteries - I took over 1500 shots (including video) before having to change the "cheap-O" batteries that came with the camera. I've yet to exhaust my 2nd set of batteries. Overall this is one nice camera for the price. I highly recommend it to anyone that is thinking about purchasing a digital camera that seems to do everything well. Well done to Nikon for producing a great product.

My adventures as a photographer began with black and white film, then color a year later. I still adore film, and if I had my own dark room, I would go right back to film. The one downside to film photography is I only have 36 shots on average with my Vivitar, so I need to be VERY selective about what photos I take. With digital, I can take several photos of one thing or scene from multiple angles, and delete any photos that I know won't look right when I upload them to my computer. I'm still figuring out all of the settings, but here are some of my favorites: 1. Grayscale. Slightly crisper than B&W film, but has fewer gradients, which makes it seem old-school. 2. Sepia. This is great for portraits if you want to play with that style. Landscapes or any light sources will look dull with this setting, but that's how sepia is. 3. Choose color. I can choose from many, many colors, and then snap photos that will be a monochrome of that color. 4. Scene. Choosing a scene gets the camera ready to take a photo of a landscape, portrait, fireworks, and even for pets! There's quite a few scenes in there to choose from. I use the pet setting quite a bit for that cat of mine who never stays in one place! I have recorded videos and they come out great. It's nice for recording wild animals, pets, dances, etc, because everything looks really good, no blurs. It's a light weight camera too, so I can get steady videos. The flash has to be used for certain scenes, and it can be to powerful sometimes. There are times when I'm shooting a landscape and I need the flash, and even though I have the flash turned on, it barely goes off, and I get a dark photo. I usually have to resort to the portrait setting to solve that problem, or if I don't want a flash I go with landscape. Landscape is sort of like a default for picture taking, and it helps when I am photographing anything fast-paced, because other settings that are supposed to be for those scenes will get fussy if things are moving around too much. This camera will refuse to take a shot if it thinks that the shot won't come out good, even if I want it to be blurry or have low light. Keeping it on the landscape setting helps to avoid losing great shots to its stubbornness. I find the cover for the batteries and memory card a bit flimsy. It's hard to lift and place back on, so I do it extra careful because I am afraid of it breaking. Other than that, this is a very durable camera. It's a little awkward for me to have a camera that doesn't offer a way for me to unscrew the lens and screw on a larger one, like I would with my Vivitar. I think when it comes to changing parts, my Vivitar wins. I feel like my Nikon is more for moderately serious photography, but not a camera I would build a professional career on.

THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH THE LENS CAP!!! The camera is wonderful. I own the camera, bought it on Amazon, and have been using it for a while. The "Most Helpful Critical Review" makes no sense at all to me, and I'm afraid it may be scaring people away from buying a fantastic camera for no reason. 1. THE LENS CAP ATTACHES NORMALLY TO THE LENS, JUST LIKE ANY OTHER CAMERA. It does NOT attach to the body, as this review says. Just think: would Nikon, a great company, give you a lens cap that does not fit on the lens??? I've owned Nikons before, and this lens cap is .... just a normal lens cap. Really. [If you want a slightly more technical explanation, see my PS at the end.] 2. THERE IS NO 'GRINDING' OR 'GRUNTING.' The camera has a simple safety feature that many other cameras have: If you press the ON button but forget to remove the lens cap first, the camera simply does not extend the lens (which it normally does), and it shows you an error message: "Lens error." Yes, it does first try to extend the lens--but this takes only a second or less, and it does this gently; then the camera, immediately silent again, just gives you the "Lens error" message--a simple reminder to remove the cap. This is a common safety feature on many cameras, and it works just fine here. No 'grunting' or 'grinding', and no battery use worth mentioning. Just a quick, one-second jiggle of the lens (as it senses that the lens cap is still on the camera), and then a reminder. Absolutely normal. Don't let the alarming, supposedly 'most-helpful critical review' scare you. It's sheer nonsense. I bet people rate it 'helpful' because it only 'helped' to scare them off from buying this great camera (which they thus don't have in hand to review). I've been using this Nikon a lot, it's great quality, and a steal at the Amazon price. Another excellent Nikon--easy to use, very high quality. I'm super-glad I bought it. P.S. August 2013. When people say the cap attaches to the camera "body," they mean it attaches to the end of the Lens Housing. Because the lens is a mechanical zoom lens, and not a changeable lens, its lens housing is 'attached' to the 'body.' Put more exactly: the 'body' is a single piece with the lens housing (and there's no camera "body" for separate, changeable lenses). In short: The cap attaches to the end of the LENS HOUSING, and fully encloses the movable part of the zoom lens. Nice feature! Of course, you want to remove the lens cover from the lens housing before you turn ON the camera, since the movable part of the lens then moves out of its housing. Simple.

I've had this camera for about a month now. This camera is perfect if you are looking for a good quality camera, but don't want to pay the price of a DSLR. Other people have said that in easy auto mode the camera blurs the picture, the reason for this is mostly likely they weren't steady when they took the pictures. Also, if your target is moving it may blur a bit, but it doesn't happen as often if the camera is steady. I almost always forget to use the motion feature when taking pictures of moving objects. It takes a bit of getting used to, but I recommend getting a beginning photography book that shows the correct positions to take pictures, and it will most likely also show you how to adjust your cameras features in regards to what lighting you are working with, and also what kind of picture you are trying to take. This camera does have the ability to change the ISO similar to the DSLR. It also has a manual raised flash, which is definitely a nice feature.. I didn't see it shown anywhere in the pictures when researching this camera. This camera also has the ability to take 3D pictures though I haven't used this feature yet. I also have not used the video yet. So far this camera hasn't disappointed, so I'm sure it will good as well. It is true what people say about the lens cover in the respect that if it's on and you forget and turn the camera on it's probably not good. I've done it a few times. It's not a reason I wouldn't recommend this camera. Its just something to be aware of. Overall, the quality of the pictures is excellent for this type of camera and when using the zoom it also takes good quality pictures. I've had many compliments from other people after sharing my pictures on how great they are with this camera.

Only had this camera a few weeks and only used it a couple of times but I love it. Went to my daughters winter concert and sat near the back and I was able to zoom in on my kid in a rather dark concert and take some great images. This camera was bought for that reason is that other reviews said it worked the best in low light. I have taken several pictures and I haven't been using the flash so the color of the pictures look correct. Also the price of the camera was another factor I felt my dollar got me the most camera without spending an arm and a leg. Overal just a great camera. I should also mention the zoom is great took some pictures of wildlife with no tripod parked along side the road and it was amazing how far out the deer were and I was still able to fill my picture with whole deer. I also tried the 180 degree panoramic view very simple didn't need to read the manual. My first try didn't work but my second and third took great pictures. Still probably need to practice but so far so good. You do want to play with the settings to find out what takes the best picture. For my low light concert shot I had it set on the party picture. So far that seems the best but I haven't tried them all. If you do buy this camera make sure try out all the settings. You can get a blurry picture but it's not the camera you just need to change the settings especially if you don't want to use the flash.

I really WANT to love this camera. I bought it as a replacement after my son got a hold of our Nikon Coolpix S8100 and broke the lens. I was super excited to get the L820 and move "up" in quality a bit, and I'm feeling a little heartbroken that I am probably going to be returning it. I'm not a professional by any means, so these are just my amateur observations after using it for the last week. The good: -- The zoom is great, and the image stabilization really works! I don't have the steadiest hand, yet I was able to take several pictures of things in my garden at full zoom without any blurring. -- The image quality is very nice for outdoor shots in general. -- I don't notice any delay between pressing the button and the picture being taken, and there isn't a long delay between pictures. -- Has some fun features, like color filtering... which is kind of useless really, but is neat. -- Exposure is easy to adjust. -- Flash is easy to disable or enable. The bad: -- Indoor pictures of my toddler still require flash or they come out blurry, there's no way I can find to get around that. The ratings for good low light pics without flash was one reason I bought the camera. Unfortunately, unless the subject is holding still, it won't work well. Maybe this is something all digital cameras are bad with, I'm not sure. But since my main desire is for a camera to take good indoor pictures of my always-moving child and I'd like to avoid the washed-out look and shadows from the flash, this isn't great. -- Indoor pictures WITH the flash on still sometimes come out blurry if my son is moving around. -- The "sports" mode is not good for indoor lighting. I haven't tried it outdoors, but indoors the pics are blurry, and it takes a few seconds before you can take another picture, even if you're not in "continuous" mode. -- The camera does not come with a memory card. The internal memory holds 19 pictures of the pre-set size, that's it. So you HAVE to buy a separate memory card for this camera if you plan to take more than 19 pics or want to do videos. -- The size of the camera is kind of a pain. The step up in size from a more typical point and shoot is substantial, and I've found this isn't a camera I feel like taking places with me. We went for a short hike with the kiddo yesterday, and I didn't take the camera because it is just too bulky. If it fit my other needs I'd try to get around the size issue, but it would still annoy me. Comparing this camera to my Coolpix S8100, I would say the overall image quality is significantly better, especially outdoors. The L820 doesn't seem to have the "subject tracking" mode that the S8100 did, which is a bummer because that was the way I got the best pictures of my little ball of energy. If I were budgeted to have two separate cameras around this price range, I would keep this one for at home outdoor use and for scenic pictures, and get a smaller camera with less zoom and better settings for indoor/motion pictures to use as my everyday camera. So... back this camera goes, and back to the drawing board I go.