Nikon Coolpix 3200 compact digital camera proves that 'you can have it all' in an affordable digital camera. The Coolpix 3200 is portable & capable, with a slim, new Coolpix body design, ultra-fast operation & a host of new and enhanced features to help digital snap-shooters get the best possible pictures out of their camera. This exciting new Coolpix camera builds upon Nikon's existing Scene Modes & Scene Assist features to deliver faster, better results without the hassle of haggling through menus & modes. The Coolpix 3200 will resonate especially well for those looking for a small camera at a great price that's really easy to use. Nikon's heritage in understanding picture quality, & this new camera make it easier than ever to take great quality images, anytime, anywhere. The Nikon Coolpix 3200 offers 3.2 effective megapixels & incorporates Nikon's renowned enhanced image-processing technology, which gives photographers the freedom to shoot wider, crop in tighter & make larger prints, without having to sacrifice the quality of the image. With a maximum image size of 2048x1536 pixels, the Nikon Coolpix 3200 can produce sharp pristine images at sizes of up to 11x14-inches. The Nikon Coolpix 3200 is a lean, mean, red-eye fighting machine. The camera employs a new LED light that minimizes red-eye in-camera & helps Auto Focus during low light situations. This is combined with Nikon's One-Touch Red-Eye Fix(TM), built into the NikonView 6.0 soft
1 Very Good Camera
I must preface my review by saying that I am a point and shoot camera user and that this is my first digital camera. thus I'm not an expert when it comes to either photography or digital cameras. Plus, I got the camera as a gift, so I didn't do any comparisson shopping.
With that being said, I like my camera and think that it does a good job. It is very easy to use. It has a host of features to enable you to shoot in different scene settings and situations. Not sure that I'll ever use them, but they're there.
I've had it for a little over three months and the only drawbacks that I've observed are 1) it seems to take a while between shots, like 3 maybe 4 seconds and 2) when I turn the flash off my pictures tend to come out a bit blurry. it says in the manual (and on the camera's screen) that one should use a tripod in this mode. I don't know maybe I'm doin somethin wrong or just haven't fully read the manual, this could certainly be something that I'm doing wrong and not a fault of the camera.
Overall I think that this is a great camera for the point and shoot type like myself. its nice and small, so carryin it along when you travel or when you're out and about is really no problem.
2 Great Little Camera-Nikon Did It Again
Great Camera, great pictures, great price you won't go wrong buying this one.The only thing negative I could say is that it does eatAA batteries, but I use my zoom alot.
3 Excellent Small Camera
This is my first digital camera after using an Olympus SLR and Olympus pocket size cameras, and I couldn't be happier with it! The functions were so easy to understand that I only watched the introductory DVD for a few minutes before realizing, "All the functions on this camera are easy to figure out!" I love the small size of this camera; it fits in my purse or pocket. The close up and movie features are fun and easy to use, and the zoom has the perfect range. I got rechargeable batteries for this camera after reading that the batteries that come with this camera aren't the best... and I've been very pleased with how many pictures I can take between charges, even while using the flash most of the time.
The only things I'd suggest improving on this camera: the delay between clicking the button and when the picture is snapped could be shorter, and sometimes there's a humming noise when using the movie functionality.
I recommend getting the carrying case to provide some extra protection against the elements -- as well as additional memory card(s). The memory card that comes with the camera is only good for the equivalent of about one roll of film, and the carrying case is strong and attractive.
4 Nikon comes out on top!
I bought my Nikon Coolpix 3200 right before a trip to Australia. My travel companions had various other cameras, including a 4MP Sony Cybershot that I had seriously considered purchasing. When we compared our photos of the same subjects after the trip, it was amazing how much BETTER my photos turned out to be. They were far clearer and the detail was amazing. I found many of my friends photos to be blurry or over exposed. I'm extremely happy with my Nikon Coolpix purchase.
5 This is great for a first digital camera!
In fact, this was my first digital camera. I love it. The pictures come out great. All you have to do is point and shoot. This was probably the highest rated camera in its 3.2 megapixel class, and 3.2 megapixels is all most people will ever need. So, don't get all excited about a 4mp or 5mp...etc up to 9mp or whatever they have now. You can make good prints of pics with this camera of 8x10's for sure...and most people are not going to want anything larger than that. With a 5mp camera, you can print a 20x30 poster. If you need that, have fun, but if you want a no nonsense camera that still has the power you need, this is it.
If you're a professional photographer that needs extreme definition at long distances, you're looking in the wrong section.
6 thank you so much, Santa!
This is my first digital camera. The day it arrived my husband and I were leaving for a trip to Jamaica. A friend of mine already had one, so we ran by her house for some quick tips on the way out of town. It took her 5 minutes to show me the basics, and I was taking pics like a pro!!! I love this camera; I've been taking so many more pictures of my kids since I got it. I highly recommend it especially for people new to digital cameras. We even recorded a couple of short movies with it in Jamaica. It's SO easy to use!!!
7 Compact and relatively easy to use
Got the Coolpix camera last week and used it already indoors and outdoors. For a person who doesn't like to read an encyclopedia of instructions before taking the first pic, this Nikon does a good job being almost intuitive for people like me who just like to take pics, not study engineering science. The pre-set picture modes are generally helpful, but the sports mode doesn't really work for fast action pics, especially if the light is not perfect. I wanted to take pics of my parakeets, they don't just sit there and wait for the camera!!!, so there the camera didn't perform as well as desired. With 256 MG card and Sony rechargeable Ni-MH batteries Nikon 3200 so far has perfomed very well. Whenever flash is used, overexposure is a concern. The main pros being all things small: size, lightweight, simple to use. The picture quality seems very good in digital format and I didn't even use the highest resolution setting. Software is very easy to use, it's "idiot-proof" so to say. I have not yet printed out anything, but for the old-fashioned prints I'd rather use my advanced Olympus camera anyway. Can't report on video component since I'd rather use a real dvd camera for that purpose, so for me it doesn't matter if the small Nikon has this feature or no.
Among things to be desired - better sports/action mode in less-than-perfect light; less noise for the zoom for discreet seetings like church, exhibition, meeting, museum.
Overall, for users who do not expect a CNN cameraperson level of sophistication for mere $181, this Nikon is an excellent buy. It's light and small, and for those seeking these features Nikon 3200 should be great.
8 A great point-n-shoot camera
Pros
1. Ultra-compact size. Believe me SIZE DOES MATTER especially if you like to take it on trips and not feel that you are carrying a burden with you.
2. great design.
3. intutive menu.
4. 15 scenes modes which are more than enough for the amateur casual photographer (families or indiviuals who are not so familiar with the right set of shutter speed and aperature mode setting for a specific snap). For people who are looking for more control (who are really photographers) you should look at digital SLRs. I think by definition ultra compact are for people who just want to point and shoot anything they want without much thinking.
The 15 scene modes tell you exactly what settings you need for the specific shot you are taking. It is also very easy to get to them and set. Nothing complex. Intutive !
5.good picture quality
6.good in low light.
Cons
nothing much. It is the best in its segment of ultra-compacts.
For a long time I kept on debating between the coolpix 3200 and its arch rival, the canon A75. I have come to the conclusion that nikon is the best because
1. of the smaller size
2. the usage of less AA batteries than canon.
(canon - 4, nikon -2)
Picture quality is equally good. Again people who need manual control can go to the canon a75 but it is very bulky. point and shoot cameras should always be really point and shoot.
Go to the following link for the comparison between the canon a75 and nikon coolpix 3200.
http://www.digitalreview.ca/cams/3MPCameras.shtml
9 best camera in this pricerange
I had a 2 megapixel Kodak camera for about 5 years before it got dropped recently and the battery compartment wouldn't hold the batteries in. So, off I went to research 3 MP cameras. I didn't want a high megapixel camera because I never get prints larger than 5x7. I was on the fence with this and the Kodak CX7330. I was always happy with the old Kodak I had, which seems to be the only manufacturer that takes true photo aspect pictures. All the other cameras take the computer VGA ratio (4:3) instead of the photo sizes (4:6 or 5:7). What really made me choose the Nikon was that they make great lenses and that's what photos are all about, not megapixels. Kodak is great, but they are a print company really, plus their camera has that horrible "share" button that I would never use with their dock. Also, the Nikon had a slightly smaller size, slightly lighter, had a better LCD screen, and the focus-assist lamp. That's a must-have for low-light situations and you'll be glad you have it when you really need it. I'm almost never in good lighting situations.
So, I got the Nikon and I'm happy I did. They have a great product and I was immediately WOWed by the screen. There's no advertised digital zoom (which you shouldn't use anyway), but it's there. It has easy to use menus, shooting modes, and GREAT software. It's simple, to the point, but VERY functional. I had great enhanced pictures in seconds. Plus, what I really love is the ability to mark photos with a simple "check". I've been looking for this in other programs and just couldn't find it. Every few months, my wife and I go through all the pictures we've taken and WRITE DOWN each filename to upload to a photo website. Other software has similar functions, but you can't view the images full screen. The thumbnails just don't show enough detail to know if the pic was good or not. With the Nikon software, you can view fullscreen, mark the shot, then search (via the software) for your marked files and upload them to your favorite photo website.
There are lots of other great features like voice-memo and video, but I rarely think I'll use either. If you're looking for a decent camera, but don't want to spend over $200, get this. You'll be happy you did! Sorry Kodak!
10 Terrific value
I have had this camera for seven months now, and took about 1000 shots traveling for two months. It is an excellent first digital to learn on - point and shoot while learning bells and whistles. Incredibly compact and ergonomic too. Fits like a glove in the hand. Slides into a tiny Tamrac case that snaps on my belt and I hardly know it's there. Wear it everywhere (traveling). Unobtrusive for candid shots too. My pictures are uniformly excellent, better than I've had with film overall.
One piece of sage advice I got from a knowledgeable saleslady who uses this camera - use disposable CR-V3 batteries. About $10 each. I get 300-400 shots on one and don't have to mess with a recharger.
One complaint I have is image noise indoors when I zoom, but I had the same problem with my previous Olympus. Another complaint is shutter lag. Forget about taking pictures of people in motion.
You can't buy a better digital for less than $200 - or probably $300. And most of us probably don't need more camera than this.
11 best camera you can buy this xmas!!!
this was a christmas present to ourselves and we are sooo glad we bought it early!! this little camera is about $200.00 and it has everything you would need (unless you're a professional).
we are a family of five and what we really needed was a camera with a sport mode(gymnastics, football, etc)... what we got was even better... a camera that handles motion with no blur, has a fabulous snow mode for super glare conditions(which we are enjoying as we are buried under 29" of snow in the midwest), one-touch upload on the web, and a menu for all these modes that is extremely easy to navigate. we looked at the sony, fuji and kodak........none of them came close to how this one handles......try them all out but take my word for it....you will love this little camera!!
12 If you like screwing around with substandard software....
Then this camera is for you. After using the camera for several months, I have been wrestling with several problems: the camera is not recognized by my computer, saying it does not have a memory card, which of course it does, or it won't start at all.
Also, all of the pictures are DARK. Junk. Run away from this piece of [...].
13 Love at first click.
I love this camera. Color is great, detail is sharp and is has lots of settings to fiddle with. The only downside is, yes you may have heard this before, the battery life. The two that come with it plus an 8 pack of very good batteries lasted exactly 459 shots. That's about 91.8 shots per set if you are keeping score. That is with lots of zooming, flashing, and fidgeting with the setting. BTW if get the "battery exhausted" messages appears you can turn it off and let it sit for few minutes and get a few more shots. The CRC-V3 recharables has lasted 200+ so far (they just came in). Well worth it. The flash also charges faster. The LCD is accurate and has no dead pixels. It is also smaller than I realized. Basicly, get this camera, the case, a set of CRC-V3s, and a 256MB SD card and you will have everything you need.
14 If I Only Knew...
If I only knew that using a digital camera and uploading the photos onto the computer was so painless, I would've bought my first digital camera years ago. I'm also very glad that I made the Nikon 3200 my first digital camera because I own a Nikon F50 and thus am familiar with the kinds of symbols and technology Nikon uses in its products. And the Amazon price is simply unbeatable! Thank you, Nikon, and thank you, Amazon!!!
15 Great camera at a great price
This is a very nice camera for beginners & for new experts. I took this camera for a recent trip to France and I found the following good and a few bad things.
The good things are, it is very compact and easy to carry around, it has a lot of features for an advanced user, uses AA batteries, pictures are of excellent quality and resolution, produces amazing 4x6 prints.
Bad things are, it uses a lot of AA batteries (every ~40 shots), no automatic image playback after every shot, with the flash on it takes almost 5 -8 secs for the flash to recharge to take the next picture and at this time you cannot operate the camera in any way (eg., to review picture or change setting etc.,)
But the disadvantages are too small comapred to the value of the camera. I give it 5 stars and it is excellent purchase for any body who opts to buy this camera.
16 Small is Beautiful and Powerful
My son purchased this camera to replace his film camera which is only 6 months old and now sits in a cupboard and is never used.
The camera is very stylish and will fit in the pocket quite easily so there is never an excuse not to have your camera with you.
After being used to an SLR (which I was until I purchased the Fuji S5000 last year), the camera initially feels like a toy, but don't be fooled this is a very powerful piece of equipment and you soon get used to its compact size.
Nikon has always been there or thereabouts as the top make by people in the know and this little baby carries on their traditions of quality lenses and useful functions (not gimmicks).
The image quality of 3.2 megapixels is more than adequate and the 3X optical zoom Nikkor lens is a delight. Nikon have now gone down the road of including 14.5 megabytes of internal memory which is a very good idea. There are enough pre-set modes to satisfy most situations you will encounter.
The only gripe I have is that Nikon always used to include batteries and sometimes a charger with their Coolpix range and for some reason they have stopped this.
The camera comes with a software disk and and an easy to follow manual.
If you are trying to decide out of all the cameras available which one is for you, you won't go wrong with this one.
17 Great Value
Got one for my sister as a gift a month ago. She has taken maybe over 200 photographs. Very easy to use. Use it on vivid setting, great results. Very easy to download. Even small videos are nice.
Compared picture quality results with a 1300 dollar 8 megapixel camera. We did not see any difference on a 8x11 print and a 1600 x 1400 monitor.
Human eye can not see beyond 1500 pixels anyways.
Nice size to pocket it. It does goes through battery fast, espl. with flash, use NiMH.
Note: If you are a serious photographer use SLR, old fashioned chemical film camera, shadows and colors are just to life like. Digital "Sc" has not caught up with it yet.
18 Great little camera...
I was in search of a camera to replace my HP315 (ok, ok stop laughing at me now!) that was about 5 years old. I just decided that I need to start taking more pics of my 5 year old before he's off to college or something!
I wanted a camera that was 3MP or so. I didn't want or need anything more than that. Higher MPs just eat up your memory and take forever to download pics via email. I read the Consumers guides, testimonials here on Amazon and went out to look for the best price. My sister has the 3100 so I knew a little bit about the camera as well from using hers and loved it.
It's a great little camera with about 16MB of internal memory in case you forgot a SD card or run out. SD cards are dropping in price all the time. But it was the FREE SD card that came with this camera at Amazon that sold me.
So now I take pics and stick them on the computer in a slide show so my little guy can see himself and his buddies. He was adorable in his Halloween costume!
19 Excellent point & shoot for the price!
I bought this camera especially for taking pictures during my first trip to France. I just wanted something that looked good, had reasonably high picture quality for what I would be using the pictures for, as well as movie and shooting options. The Coolpix 3200 has exceeded my expectations. I have gotten so many compliments on the pictures I've taken. I even blew some up to 8x10 printouts and I only shot them at the 3rd highest quality setting and they still came out great. Easy to use, light weight, couldn't ask for more for the price.
20 Awesome
This camera is awesome. It does everything I want it to do with no hassle. 10x better than Canon Powershot A75. I had the A75 for a few days and I absolutely hated it. It was bulky and heavy and took horrible blurry pictures due to its slow shutter speed. This Nikon is the most pleasant and powerful digital camera I have come across. It is small, light, and easy to use.
DO NOT BUY Canon PowerShot A75!!!!
Buy this camera instead.
21 SYSTEM ERROR solution! (temporary)
SYSTEM ERROR solution!? Thank you "andylong"! I tried your suggestion and it worked! It may be temporary but it is good timing because I'm going to a wedding tonight! At this point, after reading about all the problems everyone is having with Nikon's coolpix cameras, I figured that it couldn't do any harm to try it. Thanks so much! Atleast a temporarily fixed camera is better than a totally useless one.
Andy wrote"After weeks of messing about looking for fixes to this problem, I was just about to send my camera back to Nikon for repair (probably not cheap). Before doing so, I let one of the techies at work look at it who has managed to fix it :-
* Switch camera on in Auto mode with lens in
* Be brave and force the lens as far in as it will go when it tries to extend.
* Voila! no more system errors and camera works fine!"
22 Great First impression and good camera
I was hesitant to buy a digital camera. Most I have used have been very confusing to operate. I choose this one mainly for the price, and the Nikon name. I was expecting to not receive a USB cable as well as have a hard time setting it up and figuring it out.
I was very happy to find both not to be true. It did ship with a USB cable. Although it is a non-standard one, it has a smaller connector on the camera interface end. Nonetheless it had one. It also shipped with batteries! So it has everything out of the box to start using it. I am not one to read manuals. So true to nature I just unpacked it, popped the batteries in and hit on. It started up quick, quicker then I expected. It was very easy to setup the time, date and such. In less then 3 minutes I had taken my first pic. The two-stage button while not new to me having used an SLR does take a bit of getting used to with the digital. It seems to lag after the auto focus.
The Menu structure is easy to navigate and understand. I had no problem finding my way thru the menus. Nikon provides a quick start guide and helps greatly in making the initial user experience excellent. I have not had much time to take many pictures and cannot comment on the quality greatly. The single pic I did take looks great on my MAC, and the 3.2 MP is more then adequate in my opinion based on this one, quick picture.
The camera is light, and small, but not so small I feel it's going to slip out of my hand. It has sturdy controls. I had read other reviews commenting that it feels toy like. This is clearly understandable but not so much it's a turn off. Overall I am very happy with this camera. I have never written a product review, but my happy experience with my low expectation prompted me to submit a review. The camera has earned that.
23 Nikon service is something to be avoided!
I had my Nikon 3200 for 3 weeks when it malfunctioned. Circuit city would not take it back, so I paid over $10 to ship it to nikon They returned it the last week of September, with more problems than it had when I sent it. After they ignored my two emails, and a letter to the company, I returned it again. As of this date, October 13, 2004, I have not heard form them. DO NOT BUY NIKON... UNLESS YOU WISH TO SPEND YOUR TIME TRYING TO CONTACT THEM!!!
24 Works fine for me
I've noticed that everyone that has written a bad review for this camera has given it a bad review, only because they have no idea how to use it. 99% of all issues complained about can be fixed simply by reading the instruction manual.
I got this camera because it was highly recommended, and it has turned out to be my best camera so far (under $200). I like the fact that you can record video w/ sound, and that you can format it to record in 3 different sizes. You can take quickshot sports photos, like the ones used in skateboarding magazines to show shot by shot how the trick is done... very cool! I also like the fact that you can change the picture size to be anywhere from absolutely ENORMOUS to the regular-sized pictures any other camera would take. The detail is amazing. I can focus in on dust particles on my desk! It also takes shots in Black & White, and other effects. Sure the camera uses up batteries - it's a digital camera - what digital camera DOESN'T use up batteries??? However, this one doesn't eat batteries like my other cameras do. And it only takes 2 AA's. I really like this camera.
CONS ARE:
This camera cannot be used as a webcam. I unfortunately found that out after I bought it, but it's not something that's going to make me take it back to the store.
Video quality is very gritty. It's nowhere near the quality of a video camera, but it is much better than a video camera phone. Also, if you leave the auto adjust on, the video records clicking sounds as the camera focuses. I just turned auto adjust off and it's fine now.
This camera isn't going to make you a pro photographer, but it's no piece of crap either! There are plenty of options and buttons to keep you busy for a every long time learning everything that you can do with it, if you want to get into that. It's also simple enough to be able to say "ok, I want to turn this thing on and take a picture". I figured out how to take a picture less than a minute after having it out of the box. Very cool. Very easy. If it breaks, I'll let you know.
25 Perfect camera for the amateur photographer
Pros: Lightweight, inexpensive, great auto features, panoramic pictures, easy to use, long batter life even on alkaline batteries.
Cons: Takes noisy videos if you use auto focus mode.
I guess one might call me a camera snob. I am extremely critical and picky when it comes to my digital images. So for me to rate this as a 5 means a lot to me. I like to do a lot of photoshop work and artistic shots so pixel quality is extremely important.
This camera makes the 3rd digital camera that I have personally owned and is actually a supplemental camera that I am adding to my collection. My first camera was a Ricoh RDC-5300 from 1999, it was my faithful sidekick until I dropped it and damaged the lens. It set a very high bar for me after that. I replaced it 1 1/2 years ago with a much higher end camera, my Minolta DiMage 7i. My Minolta has all the bells and whistles on it and is for the most part a digital SLR and I paid a pretty penny for that. I however discovered that there was a penalty for buying a nice camera... I never wanted to take it anywhere casual. The size of it (it's a full sized slr) and the weight made it bulky for carrying around on a vacation/trip and the price of it hindered me wanting to take it anywhere that might put it at risk of being grabbed. So that is where the Nikon came in. I realized I had a strong need for a more "casual" camera, one I could easily tote around and get great pics from and not worry about it being stolen (like on my upcoming cruise in December).
I started researching all of the current 3-5mp cameras and was trying very hard to stay around $200 in price. I quickly became discouraged as I looked at pictures on Steves-Digcams and saw that the current models were taking lesser quality pictures than my old Ricoh that only was 2.3mp! Most of the cameras I looked at took grainy pictures with lots of noise or color distortion. I knew I would not be happy with a lower end camera if the images were not good enough for a high quality prints or being edited. Then I discovered the Nikon Coolpix line. This camera takes much higher quality pictures than even my friends 5mp camera! I must say that I am extremely satisfied with my decision.
About the features:
Where do I begin? It may not have f-stops and apertures and fancy ISO settings... but this camera does amazing tricks for the little amount of cash I spent on it.
**Auto Mode - I've tested this in many lighting conditions (bright light, room lighting, and low lighting) and each time I was impressed. Pictures of grass blades come out clear and sharp with well defined color. Animal fur is well defined not softened or blurred. Pictures of shadows come out solid with no jaggies or purple distortion. Bright sun did not fade out my pale face self standing next to a white fence.
**White balance - The ability for it to measure the exposure in a room is impressive as well, you can go into the settings and easily let it measure the colors in the room to get optimal contrast.
**Macro Mode (extreme closeups) - The camera had no pixelation or color distortion when I took pictures. The blades of grass in a pond and each pine needle of a tree were very colorful and well defined. The general response I got from people that I showed them too was "wow" and "that little camera really took those?"
**Scene Modes - I have played with only a few of them so I will just name the features I have played with.
**Indoor party mode - great for taking indoor pictures with lighting effects (like candles on your childs birthday cake).
**Panoramic mode is so simple to use and once you combine it with the Arc software that comes with the camera I think you'll be amazed. You start by taking one picture, then on the LCD you'll see an outline of the last 3rd of the picture you took on the side of the screen... line it up with the next shot and repeat as many times as needed. The software they supply effortlessly seams the pictures together for you making beautiful panoramic pictures.
**Scene guides - The guides available in portrait modes and landscape modes are wonderful for the amateur and take the worries out of focusing on the subject properly.
**Continuous Shot - Very handy and took about 1 photo a second for me.
**Auto-Focus - The camera actually projects a red light on where it is going to auto-focus so you know in advance if you are going to get the shot you want. For those that want to use the half click focus and then move the camera this can come in very handy.
Summary:
At first I was a little put off by the size (I'm used to holding a nice slr size camera) but quickly became accustomed to it. I suffer from hand shaking on a regular basis and the first day I tested it was having problems with it... the camera didn't even seem to notice most of the time. The pictures snapped so quick that my movement didn't even affect it. I highly recommend this camera to anyone that is picky about the pictures they take of their loved ones and their vacation shots. This is so much camera for the money that you can't possibly go wrong.
26 Bigger ain't better, smaller is the KEEPER
I previously owned a Kodak DC215, then went to a 3+ megapixel Samsung Digimax 350SE. The Samsung is a point and shoot, large camera. I decided that I wanted to have a camera that was small enough and didn't weigh a ton to carry in my purse. So enter the internet. I researched cameras until I thought I'd go bonkers but kept coming back to the Nikon Coolpix 3200. I purchased a $10.00 SD memory card from Wal-Mart and I was in business. I'm sure glad I did. It now resides in my purse and doesn't weigh it down.
The pictures are great. If I took a picture in a low light situation with the Samsung I got a warning of low luminence and no shot could be taken. Not the Nikon. I took a photo of a friend in a very low light situation. The photo came out great. I also took a photo of my ceiling fan in motion and of my husband in his favorite chair (yeah a recliner). The recliner has subtle color changes. Even with the naked eye you have to be sort of close to discern this. Samsung photos showed the chair as being maroon. The Nikon showed every little color change. The friend in the low light, well her photo came out bright and colors true. No off tints to the flesh tones, no washed out reds, I was amazed.
I take my memory card to a Kodak kiosk and print them out there. No editing, cropping, etc. Just a print as taken. They come out perfect every time.
This camera has so many great features that I can't wait to try them all, cropping within the camera, sunsets, even night scenes and more. I will continue to take my Samsung in my suitcase when we travel, but know I'll probably only use the Nikon because reaching in my purse is so much easier than fishing around in a suitcase.
I would recommend this camera to anyone who really enjoys taking snapshots, having versatility in a camera and not having to use special batteries or memory cards. To me it's a KEEPER.
27 Great camera.
I spent about 3 days comparing cameras, and I finally settled on the Coolpix 3200. I am very pleased with this compact 3MP camera. There are many features that are useful. This camera takes very good pictures, and I'd reccomend it to anyone. The only thing you'll need is a set of rechargable batteries, and you're good. I've had my batteries in for about a week now, and taken over 100 pictures. (If you're curious, I use Energizer NiMH rechargables). You'll also need a memory card. I use a 64MB card, and that holds around 100 pictures with the highest resolution set.
The only little thing I am unhappy about is the time it takes to recharge the flash after every picture taken with it. All in all, this camera gets 5 starts.
28 Fantastic personal camera
What do you use your digital camera for? I use it for posting pictures to the internet for family to see, emailing pictures, and the occassional printout of a 4x6 for a scrap book page.
This camera does all of those things very, very well.
2 megapixels is more enough for any purpose you have around the house, such as emailing or posting pictures online, creating and printing 3x5 images, even decent-quality 8x10 prints.
But 2-megapixel cameras are often short on quality and features, obviously because camera makers want you to buy a more expensive camera. 3 megapixels seems to be a good industry zone for picture quality vs hardware quality and price quality.
And you want to know what megapixel really means? Well, 1600x1200 is 1.92 million pixels, or megapixels. The resolution of most pictures I post on the internet is 640x480, which is 0.3 megapixels, which is well within the reach of cell phone cameras or the $20 pocket/keychain cameras you see in the mall. But it's quality that you get when you pay more for a camera like this.
At 3.2mp capacity, the finest-grain image you can store is theoretically 2038 x 1568. If I vertically stacked my two work monitors (max 1800x1440 each, but I use 1600x1200) and rotated one of these images 90 degrees, then I could view it! Might get neck strain, though.
For images at acceptible PRINTING quality you need to have about 300 real pixels for every inch of your print's dimensions. Multiply the inch dimensions by these DPI figures to get the total resolution (horizontal and vertical, typically thousands in each dimension) you need for a decent image, and multiply these together to get a total number of pixels (megapixels.) So, you be the judge. When the wife needs a picture for her scrapbook that is 3"x5", then all I need if I use the formula above I found is 3x300 x 5x300 or 1.35 megapixels. For a 4"x6" i'd need 2.16 megapixels. That's all! This Nikon 3200's 3.2 megapixels is great for these kind of uses and the features is what you end up paying for.
Even 8"x10" blowups on nice paper with a good printer look good enough at 3.2 megapixels.
My Nikon 3200 fits in my pant pocket with the same footprint as my Nokia and without the battery inside weighs ounces only. It's very compact and light. Even with the battery it feels toyish but solid. Despite its size it is remarkably easy to hold still and manipulate. I have fairly large hands.
One feature inparticular I wanted was Continious or Burst shooting mode. This is where the camera will take 2-3 pictures every 2-3 seconds while holding down the shutter. A must for sports photography. The real sports sideline photographers have cameras that will take pictures like a minigun. This mode also applies to normal folks like you and me when you're taking any sort of picture where the subject is, well, moving. My Nikon 3200 takes 1.5 pictures every 2 seconds, I think, which is decent.
When you read a casual customer review, you'll often here people say that indoor pictures are bad. This is totally bunk. A well-lit room for humans is actually poorly lit for a camera and seriously impairs the autofocus's ability to find the target. That's why there's a flash. After reading a lot of reviews of digital cameras here on Amazon.com, I find that most people who complain about picture quality (which is 99% the user's fault in the first place) either don't know how to use the two-stage button ("have to press really hard and then there's a 1-2 second delay before the picture is taken!") or refuse/fail/don't have the camera set to use a flash inside. My Nikon has a special setting for indoor pictures with flashes, among other 'scene' modes. The scene modes are awesome, I've taken very fast sports-like photography and then with the turn of a button taken 4-second exposures of a fireworks show minutes later.
As for the durability of this camera, it is a bit toyish, but it seems solid enough. The lens retracts fully into the camera body so no potential catastrophic angles there. I have a 256mb SD card that came in a bundle with the camera that is totally overkill. I bought a CR-V3 battery that has lasted me ~200 pictures, most without flash. But since it was a non-rechargable battery that cost $18, I bought a rechargable AA battery kit.
Absolutely zero complaints about this camera so far. I trust Nikon implicitly too.
29 Color accuracy a minor problem
The camera has great features, like video and copying---features you don't find in a digital SLR. The camera uses AA batteries which is a plus if you travel abroad as they are readily available anywhere in the world. Two American-made AA batteries last about 60 photos with the back LCD panel turned off. Most non-name-brand batteries made in third-world countries don't work at all as digital camera is a high-drain device. The images are very sharp (sharpness is pretty close to my Nikon D70 set to Sharp).
The only problem I've found is the green lawn tends to look yellowish while the same scene taken by my Nikon D70 renders exactly the green color.
30 Outstanding Digital Images
I bought this camera on the recommendation of a friend -- truth is, there are sooo many digital cameras out there that I just didn't know where to start. The images from my friend's camera were remarkably vivid, so I decided to give the Nikon Coolpix 3200 3.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom a try! I'm glad that I did!
As an amateur photographer and an avid scrapbooker, I was looking for two things--excellent prints and compact size. I get both with this camera.
After opening the box, I was completely ready to take pictures in less than 5 minutes, thanks to the quick reference guide included. After capturing more than 300 photos, I uploaded them all to my computer and sent them away to Photoworks.com. My pictures arrived in the mail within a couple of days, and they were outstanding. Unlike the 2.0 megapixal prints I had seen in the past, these were sharp and clear and matched the images I was seeing on the camera's monitor. No one would be able to tell that these were taken from a digital camera instead of a film camera.
I love the scene settings that are pre-programmed into the camera, especially the panoramic, macro, and dusk/dawn settings. The menu is set up intelligently, which means that I haven't had to refer to my owner's manual once since purchasing it almost 2 months ago. And though I don't use it often, the movie feature is outstanding. I can take a five minute movie complete with sound to send to family and friends via e-mail.
I highly recommend purchasing additional batteries when you buy this, since the ones that come with it won't last very long, especially if you decide to take a movie or two. In fact, I've started using rechargable batteries. You'll also need a media card--I bought a 256MB, though I think that a 128MB would give you about 150 pictures (before having to download them to your computer and clear them off of the card).
The only thing that I don't like about this camera is the clicking noises that it makes sometimes when I use some features that affect focusing such as macro. Aside from that, I highly recommend this compact camera! I've enjoyed it a great deal and even recently discovered that my pictures are equal to the quality of my friend's 5 megapixal camera, since going about 3.2 megapixals does almost nothing in terms of affecting the image of a 4x6, 5x7, or 8x10 print.
31 Big mistake by Nikon
I have had only 2 digital cameras in the past, a Sony and a Pentax, so I still have a short experience.
I was told by a work mate how good was nikon 3100. So when 3200 with more options came out I thought to buy it.
Now that I have used the camera for 2 weeks I can say that it is very easy to use it has a lot of features but ........
with low light condition the pictures are so noisy that are almost useless
So if you want daylight camera maybe it's for you, but if you are going to use it with low light or flash think in another option.
In my case I'm going to send it back to the store.
Thanks
Julio
32 Great little camera
This is a great camera with a small size, good photo quality, cool features, and it's pretty intuitive to use. I was taking pictures straight away and the photos transferred to my iBook in a snap. My only complaint is the battery life. The batteries the camera came with lasted about 1 day and I wasn't even playing with it that much. Luckily, I had bought a battery pack and charger, but now I think I'll buy another battery pack so I can always have a spare set of charged batteries. Other than the batteries, this is a great camera and I'm very satisfied with my purchase.
I'm an amateur photographer but I do have my creative side, and I've been impressed with the photo quality.
33 excellent camera!!!
I bought this camera over a year ago before they changed the body style, initially I got it for school, etc. since I'm a journalism major and had never owned a "nice" camera. I love my Nikon Coolpix, it's the perfect size, lightweight and small yet you are able to hold it steady to take excellent shots, even in the dark. I recently went to Disneyworld and my little Nikon was around my neck the whole time. It even took good shots of the fireworks displays. I have the Nikon NiMh rechargable batteries( a good investment for $30) and a ScanDisk 128 MB Compact flash memory card, as of right now there are well over 500 pics on my memory card, most on a normal setting. Invest in this cam, it's reasonable priced and has superb quality.
34 nice stuff
After a great survey, i bought this camera. this is nice one but it consumes battery vey much. Picture quality is execallent and you can not compare it with anyone else. I think it is better than sony cameras. This is compact and light weight. If you are looking for a nice camera in reasonable price then this is best option.
35 Great Camera
I believe I know what happened on the other review where they said the batteries ran out fast. The batteries that come with the camera are the cheap ones, they lasted all of 4 hours while I got to know the menu system of my new Nikon. This actually made me quite concerned. However, I'd purchased the Nikon NiMH Rechargeable Batteries for CoolPix 3200 with my camera so I charged those up and loaded them. Then went to FL for a vacation. They lasted 3 days shooting 130+ pics (Normal setting), then 2 days taking pics driving home, then a few more days once home. I about fell over. Seems like standard AA's in the top 2 brands of batteries last about as long as well. I don't fully know however since these things (the Nikon NiMH Rechargeable) take forever to run out of juice, and once drained only take 2 to 3 hours to recharge and are ready to go for another 5+ days of shooting, for me anyway. As for the camera the micro pics are just unreal. Everyone I show these incredibly close up images to has the same look, the open mouth dumbfounded look. Normal images took a while to get right in various situations since you really need to choose the correct mode for the pic your taking. This camera is not for long range shots, obviously. If you wanted that you'd be looking at something with a larger lens. All around excellent camera !
The negatives I have are; On really small image subjects, such as something 1/2 an inch or less, the focal plane isn't very deep, so the front of the object may be blurry and the back is clear. Also on small objects like this the camera wants to focus on the background and has trouble seeing the subject of your picture at times (15% of the time). And usually its only on the super small objects that have similar color to the background (4 - 6 millimeters). However, when you get the 3200 to focus on these things the results are extraordinary. Many people are probably mocking me for having such small subjects and passing this off as irrelevant, however, try it. Take a 3200 and take a pic of a fly, or a flower that is 5 millimeters across. When you look at your image and see every hair on the fly, and pollen grains on the flower, and hairs on the stems, you'll be totally blown away. This camera is extraordinary, I'm thrilled I bought it.
Side notes:
I put a Panasonic 128 MB Secure Digital Memory Card in my 3200. For the Normal size pics, I can take 156 of them.
The camera comes with DVD that walks you through everything for setup.
The video you can shoot with the 3200 looks like the mildly jumpy 8mm old movies, but it's in color and I think it's fantastic, I mean, a movie with something that fits in the palm of your hand ?!?!? It's a blast !
When they say the screen is hard to see in direct sun they're right, then if you have polarized sunglasses as I do... yer really in trouble :)
The "weird background noise" in the movies is the Auto Focus clicking as it maintains the focus on the subject. I agree they need to fix this.
Great all around camera.
36 Very poor low-light focusing
I wanted to like this camera. It's my second digital camera, and after a fair amount of research into small 3.2MP models, I bought it before a two-week vacation that culminated in a wedding. On the trip, I took some 350 pictures and also made a few short videos. When the camera works, it works very well, but I found that it was almost impossible to get it to focus in low light, i.e., lighting where a flash is needed. Furthermore, after several seconds of pressing the shutter release and having it fail to focus, I'd lower the camera, only to have it focus on the floor and take a picture at that time. I ended up with a lot of pictures of the floor. The video feature works quite nicely, and the various "scene" modes do well, too, but when the lighting got tough, this camera gave me nothing but frustration. I'm returning it tomorrow.
37 Very Impressive
Great product for the price. I read about all the battery problems people were having with similar nikon models like this and couldn't believe it. Mine work's great, we've taken hundreds of pictures in every type on environment and all have been great. The shutterspeed is a little slow but with a little adjusting can easily be sped up. The internal memory works wonderful and with the memory card you could take pictures for years without having to load them into a computer. The pictures come out great on paper as well, we've transferred all of our into 5*7's and they all look great.
38 Great outdoor daytime shots....
This Nikon Coolpix is the greatest thing I have ever seen. 3.2 MP is really all you need these days. It's small, light, and not ugly or anything.
It takes the greatest photos I've ever seen, even though I haven't printed any out yet, just by looking at them they look 200% better than my old Kodak 2 MP.
The movie mode is great, even though there is some kind of weird background noise from the movies, they are still good, and don't expect this to be some dv camcorder or something.
The scene and scene assist modes are great, although the scene modes sometimes underexaggerate or overexaggerate colors, saturation, etc.
There is one problem however, which everyone seems to be complaining about, which is noise in nighttime pictures. It is visible sometimes, I think this can be fixed, however, with a different scene mode, and you can always try to fix it through photoshop, etc.
Battery life is decent...not the best, but seems better than 3100/2100.
Overall, I rate it 4 stars, only because of the noise and maybe even because of the battery life. But the true point of a digital camera is its pictures, and it does a great job of doing that.
39 "obscure" features take care of any concerns
I've had my coolpix 3200 for about a week, and am really surprised at how good the pictures are, how easy it is to get the pictures into my PC, and how long the batteries last. I bought Duracell rechargeables with the camera, told my camera that these were the batteries I was using through its menu system, and have been taking pictures for a week on the same batteries. That's more than 80 pictures -- perhaps more -- all on the same 2 batteries, most of them using a flash. My battery charge meter has not even shown up yet.
When I first read the manual, I didn't understand the value of all the frame, portrait, and scene assist modes. As I've used the camera, though, I've come to see that they are very important. The frame and portrait assistants actually change the location of the auto-focus. When I am in sports mode, the camera's auto-focus is constantly changing so that the picture will shoot quickly when the shutter release is pressed. Shutter speed and aperature are adjusted depending on which scene I've selected. In other words, using the modes makes for much better pictures. They are more than just marketing pitches.
The software that came with the camera is okay, though it is nothing earth shaking. Better tools came with my scanner/copier/printer combo, but if you don't have those tools, what comes with the camera is much better than nothing and will get the job done.
I'm very satisfied. The camera is so small that I wear it in a tiny case on my belt all the time.
BTW, I was going to buy the 2200 instead, but am glad that I didn't. Once I had the manual (which is the same for both cameras), I saw that there are a number of small features that the 3200 has that are not available to the 2200. For example, the 3200 has sound for movies, the 2200 does not. You can record voice memos and set sounds for camera functions with the 3200. The 3200 can take more continuous pictures at a time (due to the higher resolution and space required). There are more differences, and most of them are small, but by the time you add them all up, it's worth the additional $100, in my oppinion.
I was an avid amateur photographer back "in the day", but grew tired of the hassles of large cameras and film developing. Thanks to this tiny, filmless camera, I'm a photographer again.
40 Great Buy
After researching digital cameras for a month I finally decided on the Nikon CoolPix 3200. I'm astounded by its great picture quality and battery life. When I received my camera I was using it for two hours (taking pictures, fiddling with the settings, etc.) and the batteries held up. Two weeks later after some use, the batteries are still great! The picture quality is amazing for a digital camera! The image is sharp and the color is balanced.
Another great aspect of the camera is the ability to zoom in and out after the picture has taken. It's not grainy at all, in fact it was so good I was able to see the tiny writing on a poster almost 30 feet away after zooming up close!
The recycle time is good, under a second and the features are easy to use even if you don't read the manual.
If you're a novice at digital photography or even a professional this camera is for you!
41 Cannot Beat this Camera
I will not reiterate what many have already said. In short, if you are looking for the single best digital camera on the market - for the price you will not be able to find a better one then the Nikon Coolpix 3200. It does everything that anyone could ask that a digital camera at this price point can do. Combine this with the Nikon Net website at www.nikonnet.com and you can shoot, download and post your pictures on your very own website, all for free and all with Nikon. By all means buy this camera and get started taking great pictures as soon as you put the batteries in. It really is that easy.
42 Good camera at good price
Nikon has always had a reputation for superior photo products, but I never bought one because there was always a near-as-good Pentax or Canon. This time, they've hit a home-run. The Coolpix 3200 is as good or better, according to industry reviews, as other manufacturers' and the price, for a change, is right. Not only that, but once you load the software, you can set the camera up to automatically load the pictures. The camera comes with several editing software programs as well, and they work nicely. You don't have to go out and buy Photoshop.
Remember, this is a point-and-shoot. It is not meant for people that have to have all kinds of control over how the picture comes out. If you are a pro, stick to SLRs, either digital (which cost in general, more than $1000) or film, which are still far more than this camera.
A strong suggestion: Buy an RCR-V3 rechargeable battery. These are Lithium-ion rechargeables. You can get a Delkin one for under $30 including battery and charger. It will take many more picture than the NiMH.
43 Excellent battery life
Up till now I've been a big fan of Canon digital cameras (esp. the PowerShot S410 and S500), but also have liked Minolta and Pentax offerings. Last night I went to a wedding and the gentleman sitting next to me had the Nikon Coolpix 3200, and I was astonished to discover how excellent its battery life was. The gentleman took over 300 shots, all with flash on and all with LCD on as viewfinder, and he also played back the pictures to lots of guests, and at the end, when we were among the last to leave, the batteries in the camera were still going strong! I was totally impressed. I had my Minolta Dimage F300 (5MP camera) with me and the batteries ran out after about 80 shots -- and my NiMH was rated higher than his (2100mAh vs. his 1950, I believe). I walked away totally sold on the Nikon.
OK, I exaggerated. If the image quality weren't good, perpetual battery life wouldn't have meant much. But judging from zoomed-in playback on the Nikon's LCD, as well as his comments, the image quality seemed excellent. Compared to my Minolta Dimage F300, the 3200's images were generally sharper, while the color temperature was not as pleasing as my Minolta's, but still excellent. He took a wide range of shots, from outdoors to indoors to close-ups to wide-angle... and most came out quite satisfying from a technical point of view. All were well-exposed, sharp, and evenly lit in cases where flash was used.
In addition, I noticed that when I borrowed his 3200 to shoot a few pictures after my Minolta's batteries died, the recycle time on the 3200 was quite fast, unlike my Minolta, which could take 6 or 7 seconds before I could shoot the next shot. The 3200 was ready in under a second. The only problem I experienced was there seemed to be a shutter delay with the 3200: after I pressed the shutter, it waited a second or slightly longer before taking the picture. You may want to keep this in mind when shopping for this camear. The delay didn't affect the pictures, but did feel weird since my Minolta has virtually no shutter delay.
The camera seemed well built. But it was the battery life that was truly impressive -- and the fact it delivered such good battery performance on 2 AA NiMH batteries!
44 Great Little Camera!
I needed a digital camera, primarily to capture the construction of our new house. So I spent a couple of months researching options before choosing the new Nikon Coolpix 3200. I am very happy with my choice.
I have a Nikon N4004S SLR 35-mm camera, which I am very happy with, but I wasn't about to take hundreds of pictures of our house with it and spend the money on prints and converting all the pictures to JPEG images to put on a personal web site. After reading reviews of various digital cameras online, as well as in Consumer Reports and Smart Homeowner, I decided I wanted a 3 Megapixels camera with 3x optical zoom, a Secure Digital card slot, a nice color LCD monitor, date imprinting, audio memo capability, movie mode, good flash range, USB port downloading, excellent optics and color representation, and decent AA battery life. The Nikon Coolpix 3200 had everything I was looking for and more. At first I was leaning toward Panasonic, Canon, and Kodak models, but the Nikon won out because of my past experience with Nikon and it seemed to be superior in the features that were most important to me (plus some reviews of the competing models I was considering scared me a bit).
Despite what some reviewers have said about this camera, I think it does very well on battery life. I am using the Nikon EN-MH-1 NiMH rechargeable batteries (I also have the MH-70 charger) and, so far, I am happy with the battery life. The pictures are absolutely outstanding - the color representation and optics are first class, and the images look great even blown up to maximum on my 15" LCD computer monitor. I haven't used all the shooting modes yet (mostly auto mode), but I was pleased to see the improvement in brightness and color of pictures I took during dusk in night mode. The date imprinting is very handy for taking pictures of the house construction progress and it has been great to be able to take the camera to my Mother-in-law to show her the house pictures on her television using the audio and video cable supplied with the 3200. The camera is also so compact that it is easy to take pictures with one hand, if necessary, and the zoom is very smooth. The Nikon View software is a nice bonus. The only drawbacks I've seen are that the LCD monitor is difficult to see in bright sunlight (not a problem though because I think the view finder is easy to use) and pictures in low light can be dim, grainy, and blurry, especially if you're not in the right mode (dusk or night) and the camera is not stable while taking the picture (a tripod is recommended for night shooting).
All in all, a great camera at a very good price! I recommend it highly. I also recommend the Panasonic 10 Mb/s 256MB Secure Digital card, which Nikon had tested for this camera.
45 Very satisfied
I'm a novice at digital camera photography, and just got the Coolpix 3200 three days ago. I'm loving it! The pictures I take are sharper than expected, and the camera is very easy to use. The uploading to the computer is a snap, and the editing software included with the package (I bought) makes for easy use.
The camera is small, and fits nicely into a shirt pocket, so I carry it every where I go - including a recent fishing trip with one of my sons. I shopped for a long time before deciding on one of the many digital cameras available, and took the Coolpix. I have not been disappointed.
I used it nearly all day yesterday at a grandson's birthday party, taking lots of picture, and the batteries still have power. We even reviewed the pictures on the TV, which is a great feature. I have a recharger, but so far, battery life has been long.
46 Great camera....
I love this camera! The picture it takes are wonderful quality, very clear and the color is great. My only complaint, which i guess is a big one is the battery life. After having the camera for one day, playing around with it and getting familiar, the battery light already went on. We bought rechargeable batteries and a charger, which makes it better, but I would have preferred a camera that could be charged directly.
Aside from this though, the camera is great and works great on the fly.
