Nikon Coolpix L18 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Ruby Red)

I once brought a Kids camera for my 5 yo. He loved it. It was garbage. It ate batteries. It had a junk 1" screen. It took HORRID picures. AND It cost me $45!! Awful!!!

So I did plan B. I brought this camera refurbished. At the time it was $75 with shipping. I gave it to him. Forewarned him about always using the strap and not touching the lens. I must have told him 100 times. He knows now and is careful.

HE LOVES IT. He doesn't want to print the pictures(never did). He just takes shots and records movies. He takes hundreds of them. Some nice ones! He can edit them on the camera too. He figured this out on his own. A 5 yo. (So what does it mean for those that complain about the controls...)

This is a nice camera with good battery life. Takes nice pics and is cheap. I'd do it again for him.

This is such a great camera for a very low price! I bought it like 2 years ago. The first year was great then the second year was not so good though. It lost its fantastic quality but i think now it is time to get a new one like this one for another year. It has a reasonable amount of film in it.(10 min) an you know it is good for camping trips to keep enough memories :). i really recommend this nikon coolpix camera if you just like to have a camera for trips and stuff.
Tip: NEVER BRING IT IN THE SAND!!! HAD TO FIX IT LIKE 5 TIMES!

The picture quality was nice. The camera is light weight. BUT less than a year I was taking a picture of my daughters graduation and all of a sudden the less stayed out and the picture said 'lens error'. I bought a three year warranty, and sent it to the company for repairs. They told me that I "apparently dropped it" Which was a BIG flat out lie. I took excellent care of it, not a scratch, and never got to even take it outside my house yet. This is the WORSE camera I ever bought. Save your money dont buy this camera

I bought and used two L18 coolpix cameras in December 2008, because they were on sale, rated highly by Amazon, had familiar features, could easily fit in my pocket, used world-wide common AA batteries, had a nice big digital display, and improved 3Xzoom and 8 magapixel capability. I gave one to my wife who rarely uses it. I already owned an L11 which is 3 years old and bought a new L20 this December 2009 to replace the broken one I bought last year. I carry the camera in my pocket and take digital photos daily, have over 100,000 photos in my computer and frequently edit and label them from my international travels and family events. The L18 that I bought and used was blue and my wife's is red. I took about 5000 photos over 10 months with the L18 before the digital display suddenly stopped working - which prevents setting the functions on the camera (video, still pics, flash, etc.) and seeing what the camera is capturing. Without the sales receipt, no way to return the broken camera to Nikon for warranty repair (supposed to be a 1 year guarantee - but no repair facilities in Europe and despite registering the camera on line at the time of purchase, you still have to have the sales slip to return it to Nikon for warranty repairs). None of the three coolpix cameras I have take good fotos at night (without the flash or with it frequently there are so many spots in the foto from moisture in the air that the photo is irreparable even with the best software)resulting in yellow people and blurrrrrred images. Also none of them take good photos of moving objects - more than 40% of my photos of people moving are too blurred - even when the person only slightly moves. The Pentax 330GS that I used 2002-2007 before switching to Nikon took great night and much sharper pictures of moving objects but it only had a 3.0 magapixel capability. When the subject is still, in daylight, and you can hold the camera steady, the coolpix cameras all take great pictures.Nikon Coolpix L18 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Ruby Red)

I love this camera. I have been through so many...guess i'm too picky! It also arrived very quickly!