Rating: 
Summary: rough use ofnikon coolpix 2500
Review: As a geologist I have used the Nikon coolpix 2500 almost exclusively during fieldwork in the Betic COrdillerea in Spain, the Bristol Channel in Britain and in the Swiss alps. My previous bulky Canon served me well, but it is all so much easier with the coolpix 2500. This small robust camara fits easily in a small hip pocket it is readily accessable and one does not even feel its presence. I have used it for documenting details of rocks as well as for panorama's. Especially the panorama feature is powerful. Often it is not possible to stand far enough away to fotograph a geological scene, with the panorama feature it is very easy to make a seemless overview. Teaching in fieldtrips for students and professionals, I can now in the evening give an overview of the day. Critical engineers have complemented me on the quality of the foto's on the screen in the evening of the same excursion day. Everyone was amazed about the sharpness of the 2 MP images. The camara is beautifully compatible with my Macintosh Titanium laptop. The comby with a small beamer ensures a quick high quality fotoshow in the evening of a days fieldwork. It has improved my teaching and ensured high customer satisfaction.
Documenting fieldwork foto's is quick and easy with the software that is provieded with the camara (how did I ever manage without?).
The camara is also amazingly sturdy. This was tested unintendedly when I slipped over a wet rock, fell and dropped the camara. It landed on pebbles from about 0.5m height but showed no sign of damage and has worked fine ever since (the lens was turned in the closed position).
Rating:
Summary: Mac Compatible!
Review: I've been using the Coolpix 2500 for a few months now and I'm thrilled that I chose it. Here's why:- Fully compatible with a macintosh computer and iPhoto. Just plug the camera into a free USB slot and turn it on to the view mode. - Excelent picture quality (2MP). Both printed (up to 8x10) as well as computer images are crisp clear and bright. - Senic settings that actually work! I've tried taking the same picture with each seprate pre-set and got different results. Even better, the recomended setting was the best. - Small, swivel lens (for protection and intesting angles), easy to see LCD monitor and price. The only things I would improve are: - Faster response time when turning the camera on - Shorter pause between pictures. For a point and shoot, I don't think you can do much better in this price range (especially if you're a mac user).
Rating:
Summary: Best camera for the money
Review: The Nikon Coolpix 2500 is a great camera. It may only be 2 megapixels, but unless you decide to print photos larger than 4x6, maybe even 8x10, then 2 MP is fine. I use this camera for web pictures and just showing pictures on a computer screen, so 2MP is more than enough.
The camera comes with 12 scenic modes that you can choose from, or just choose either manual or automatic mode. The 12 scenic modes are for diffrent situations, like snow, indoor/party, portrait, nightscape, night portrait, and (one that still seems strange to me) fireworks. Basically, the scenic modes adjust the camera's setting to adapt it to work better in a certain situation. I find that I use manual the most, cause I like to play with settings. The auto mode works quite well too. The LCD monitor is the only way to take pictures on the camera. Nikon, probably for lack of space and the design of the camera, decided that they wouldn't include a optical viewfinder. What does that mean? It makes it a little harder to take pictures in direct sunlight, but the LCD is still decently visible when compared to other LCDs, like my Nikon Coolpix 990. And now, picture quality. Pictures on average, very good quality. On a computer screen, its difficult to notice the diffrence between my Coolpix 990, which has 3.34 MP, and the Coolpix 2500. I did notice a little "noise" when taking a picture in lowlight, especially on wooden color things, on the LCD, but they don't seem to show up in the final print. The optical zoom is very good, and the camera lets you know when you've started using the dreaded "digital zoom". The digital zoom produces a horrible amount of noise on the LCD. I recommend avoiding the digital zoom. The size of the camera is one of the best parts of it. Its small enough to fit conviently in a cargo pocket or in the palm of your hand. The size doesn't detract from the feel of the camera though. My hands seem almost perfectly fitted to the camera, even though my hands are on the larger side. The styling of the body also stands out, and makes it prettier to look at then the usual boring camera. When searching for a digital camera, I ended up with two finalists; the Coolpix 2500 and the Digital Elph s200. I chose the Coolpix in the end for a few reasons: Price-The found the Coolpix at a much cheaper price on another website than I could find the Elph Compactness-The Elph is about an inch shorter, but I was more worried about width than length. Styling- I liked the look of the Coolpix more than the Elph. And the final, biggest reason: The swivel lens! This feature took the cake. Swivel lenses make getting shots so much easier, as well as allowing for more creativity. With the Swivel lens, you can shoot in almost any directiong without moving the main body of teh camera. Also, the swivel lens allows the lens to be protected with it is inside the body. The coolpix 2500 is my favorite digital camera of the ones i've tried, including the Elph. Always research for yourself, though, as the best camera for one is the worst camera for another.
Rating: 
Summary: It aint simple to use.
Review: They call it 'point and click'. Well, maybe that's true after you spend a day or two with the owner's manual. Maybe all digital cameras are like this, but understanding all the options and setup is difficult for me. Then, transferring the pictures to my pc and actually producing prints is not trivial (to me).
Someone else remarked that the LCD can't be read in the sun. I wish I'd listened before I bought this camera. It is IMPOSSIBLE to see. The camera has no veiwfinder. Nikon should have at least included the LCD hood with the camera. And, AMAZON, should at least sell it! I ordered one from another online retailer. Maybe I should just return this hard to use toy?
Rating:
Summary: Great camera, but still room for improvement
Review: I researched 2mp cameras for 2 months before settling on the 2500. I was worried about it's lack of viewfinder and proprietary battery, but ultimately went for it because of the compactness, pic quality, and the swivel lense. The camera itself is a bit big for the pocket, but I switched from a 35mm SLR, so it's much more mobile than I'm used to. The batteries seem to last a long time, but I picked up a spare for peace of mind in long events. My one big complaint before purchasing was it's lack of viewfinder, but the LCD is bright and clear even outside in the sunlight... the only problem situations are in dark bars/resturaunts. I think Nikon could have moved the Flash to the part of the case were the red-eye light is and put a small viewfinder on the swivel lense. I don't really miss the viewfinder now, however. I find it much better to compose the shot using the LCD on most digicams because of parallax. I was also wondering how it would fare in action shots without many of the manual controls I was used to, but after a big road race this weekend, I'm very pleased. The shots were sharp and the color was very good... even on runners sprinting over the finish line. The swivel lense was great for getting shots over the crowd on the sidelines. I experimented with the continuous 16-shot, but found the quality sub-par... and was dissappointed that the Nikon software wouldn't automatically separate the shots out into 16 smaller individual images. Overall, a great camera and great pictures from a small package that's easy to take along anywhere.
Rating:
Summary: Great camera for stills
Review: I purchased the Coolpix 2500 because of the compact size, the swivel lens, ease of use, how comfortable it is to hold, the attractive design, and the quality of the images. But after four months of use, I have found drawbacks. It is difficult to see the display in daylight. Also, the auto-focus feature and shutter speed are slow, making it difficult to take decent pictures of a very mobile 11-month-old. While this is a great point-and-shoot camera, it is best used for still shots.
Rating:
Summary: Cool pic quality but the LCD is hard to see under daylight
Review: Good pic quality, good looking but the LCD is very hard to see under daylight. A old fashion picture hole should added back to the camera.
Rating:
Summary: Good but...no viewfinder
Review: Very good features, but there is NO viewfinder. This means you have to use the LCD screen to see what is in the cameras view. This does NOT work if either: 1) you take pictures outside which makes seeing the LCD very difficult; or 2) you need reading glasses, which I do. In this case, you need to put on the glasses to see what the camera sees and take them off to see what's going on around you. A big pain!
Rating: 
Summary: Not for indoors
Review: If you want to shoot some indoor pictures of your children, stay away from this model! Even in a sunny day, you can't shoot clear pictures without flashlight. This maybe an ideal camera for shooting still objects. Not a good choice for parents.
Rating: 
Summary: Coolpix 2500 is indeed COOL!
Review: This digital camera provides exceptional picture quality... In addition, it is a pleasure to use, extremely portable, and has an outstanding battery life. I shot hundreds of pictures on my trips in US and Japan in last two months under various lighting conditions: portraits, landscapes and close ups. Also, the camera looks and acts cool.
Let me go into more details about pictures. The pictures taken at daylight have exceptionally accurate colors, portraits come out very nice and without distortion (Note! For very accurate portraits use tele (zoom in) mode, because in zoom out mode the camera gives the so called 'barrel distortion' or 'fisheye') The pictures taken with flash are also good and sharp. But two exceptions must be noted that result from flash being to close to lens. First, Coolpix 2500 is very prone to redeye. Practically every shot of a human or an animal taken with flash guarantees beastly look and leaves you with no choice but to use software to fix your scary shots. Second, with flash in the rain or dusty conditions the camera gives mysterious bubbles all over the shot, which is a defect but does look kind of artistic.) Another problem with the camera is that its antiglare screen is very prone to scratches, even you wrap the camera in a plastic bag. Nikon made mistake by not including the case in the package (I highly recommend to buy this inexpensive case).
Enough bad stuff, what else is good about CoolPix 2500? Battery life! Nikon says battery lasts for two hours, but they mean continuous use. In reality, it lasts for hours and hours in real on/off use and is enough to take about 100 shots (but it is anyway a must to have an extra battery). Also, the camera comes with 16MB flash card (not 8MB, as mistakenly noted sometimes, 8X is the speed of the flash card not its memory).
What is even more important, the camera indeed provides ONE TOUCH upload with included Nikon software. Also, its swivel function is nice for self-portraits and picks at a parade. Just lift the camera above those annoying heads that block your view on a parade and swivel the head (of the camera not of the guy in front of view...): camera sees the parade, you see the camera!. Even though it is only 2 mega pixels, for 4X6 prints it is more than enough to produce excellent prints that ravel prints from more expensive cameras. Oh yes, its close up (macro) mode is outstanding and pictures of flowers or insects come out like from National Geographic.
In short,
PROS: excellent image quality, superb macro mode, easy of use in taking and downloading pictures, excellent battery life, cool looks and pleasure to carry.
CONS: flash gives redeye, flash gives funny bubbles in dusty or rainy conditions, and screen is prone to scratches...
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