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Nikon Coolpix 3500 3MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

Nikon Coolpix 3500 3MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: don't buy this particular item!!
Review: Don't buy this item -- instead go to the "Electronics" section of Amazon[.com] (instead of "Camera & Photo") where it is cheaper and buy it there.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: There are better cameras out there
Review: I am very disapointed with this camera. The only good thing that I can say is that the camera has a pretty cool swivel lens which allows you to take pictures at all sorts of weird angels. The quality of the pictures are also good.

Everything else is pretty bad. Because of the position of the lens, it is VERY easy to get a fingerprint on it. I have many ruined pictures because of this. There is also a red eye problem with this camera. In almost all the pictures that I have taken with the flash on, the people had red eye. Also, there is no viewfinder. Taking pictures at night is a real pain with this camera because all you can see on the LCD screen is black. It can take a few seconds before you begin to see something on the screen, and even then it is very hard to make out what your camera is pointed at.

If you were thinking about purchasing a Nikon Coolpix, don't. There are better cameras out there.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not for use with children!
Review: I decided to purchase this camera after a fair amount of research because of the picture quality I had read about and seen in advertisements. Well, those were scenery type pictures and portraits of adults able to pose. When I tried to take SEVERAL pictures myself of my kids, I had to take too many to count to get one in focus. I had a hard time without the viewfinder and it is very slow to focus and by the time the picture snapped the kids were out of the room. I was disappointed! Even got after my kids for moving... mostly because I was so frustrated with the camera. So, I never got to the point of printing them. Packed it up and took it back. Please note that I did not spend time even reading the manual so maybe my inexperience was the cause of poor pictures. P.S. I bought a Samsung 350S for less and took it out of the box and it works great!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The worst Nikon ever
Review: I had always though that Nikon brand is one of the top one. How wrong I was...:( This camera is the worst. I own 2 years old Kodac DC3400 2MP and believe you me this camera takes better quality, crisp photos not like Nikon. I could not focus this camera in more than half of the times. The time of flash to reload is a way to slow (you're talking about 3 to 4 sec minimum). The photos of the moving people appears so blury that it seems like I had tryed to shoot a "flighing" Formula 1 race car on a track. After more than 6 hours of frustraction, I am bringing this camera back to the store.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: You'll learn to love this camera....
Review: I have to admit, I read all of these bad reviews about this camera and I totally agreed - this camera bites. I kept taking blurry picture after blurry picture and was so frustrated that I put it down for several weeks before getting online and reading all these reviews. I felt vindicated that other people were having the same problem! But since I'm stuck with the camera, I decided to try to figure out how to make it work. What I found the real problem is, no one wants to take the time to READ the manual or play with it to figure it out, including myself. That's a problem with the whole "user friendly" stream-lining that's going on and I got caught up in it. I think the people that are getting the blurry pictures are like me, who immediately went to "scene selection" and picked out "party/indoors" for all of my shots. I thought this made intuitive sense and this is why I'm only giving this camera 4 stars instead of 5. You have to be in automatic mode ("A") to get clear photos. Maybe another of the scenes lets you take clear pictures - I haven't experimented yet. In short, don't use the scene selector until you've experimented with it so you don't miss that prized shot - keep it automatic. The pictures this camera produces are fantastic. It takes great night shots too.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wonderful First Digital Camera
Review: I received this camera as a gift from my boyfriend, and have been very happy with it since! I was able to use the camera right out of the box (well, after charging the battery for two hours and talking to my boyfriend during that time), and did not have much trouble focusing at all.

I have even taken pictures indoors (actually, all of my shots as of late have been indoors) and in various lighting settings. The only real problem I have noticed was that with ISO disabled, objects and people tend to be much brighter but when enabled they produced a fluorescent color on the image. In low light situations, I have found that the CP 3500 does not do too bad. My pictures did not come out too grainy, and they have been perfect additions to my personal album online.

The only other gripe I can think of, however, is the fact that people may want to purchase a secondary battery and a case.. as the CP 3500 does not come with one. Other than that, I found the Coolpix 3500 to be a very wonderful camera for a great price!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great camera after you learn to use
Review: I went on a trip recently and used my friend's Nikon 2500, after reading the manual and learning the use of the camera our trip was captured perfectly. When I was ready to buy my own digital camera I purchased the 3500 and was very excited when I received it. Hint to most buyers, learn the scene features, the flash settings, exposure and so on. This is not a high end camera for professionals, but if you need a camera for trips or family then I recommend getting this camera.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great camera after you learn to use
Review: I went on a trip recently and used my friend's Nikon 2500, after reading the manual and learning the use of the camera our trip was captured perfectly. When I was ready to buy my own digital camera I purchased the 3500 and was very excited when I received it. Hint to most buyers, learn the scene features, the flash settings, exposure and so on. This is not a high end camera for professionals, but if you need a camera for trips or family then I recommend getting this camera.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Mixed Bag
Review: I'd actually give the Nikon Coolpix 3500 3.5 stars if I could. It has many features and is capable of producing very good images, but I'm beginning to expect more from a camera in this price point range (~$400 retail). This is a decent option if you plan to use the camera indoors often - the flash white balance and close-range flash exposure accuracy are excellent, as is the Nikon tradition. Outdoors, in difficult light, the 3500 suffers compared to the competition, with poor color rendition and mediocre exposure accuracy. In recent tests in our work group, the 3500 was rated below average overall in comparison to other optical zoom / 3 MP cameras in the same price range. I think the problems with poor color on outdoor shots with significant contrast were its undoing (green tints to a blue sky stick out like a sore thumb). Right now, I'm leaning towards the Sony and Olympus models as the best overall choice.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Mixed Bag
Review: I'd actually give the Nikon Coolpix 3500 3.5 stars if I could. It has many features and is capable of producing very good images, but I'm beginning to expect more from a camera in this price point range (~$400 retail). This is a decent option if you plan to use the camera indoors often - the flash white balance and close-range flash exposure accuracy are excellent, as is the Nikon tradition. Outdoors, in difficult light, the 3500 suffers compared to the competition, with poor color rendition and mediocre exposure accuracy. In recent tests in our work group, the 3500 was rated below average overall in comparison to other optical zoom / 3 MP cameras in the same price range. I think the problems with poor color on outdoor shots with significant contrast were its undoing (green tints to a blue sky stick out like a sore thumb). Right now, I'm leaning towards the Sony and Olympus models as the best overall choice.


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