Rating: 
Summary: A fantastic little camera - but learn its features:
Review: We decided to purchase this camera because of it's size and weight; we thought, if it's small and light we won't mind actualy carrying it around and using it. We have been VERY pleased with this camera, however, you cannot rely solely on it's automatic settings. If you take time to experiment a little and learn the camera's features you'll get great shots (clear, sharp, colorful) almost every time.
We used this camera in France to take over 1,200 photos (on 3 or 4 cards).
We had Kodak prints made of our favorite 250 shots from online, using iPhoto. Everyone who has viewed our pictures has expressed how sharp, clear, and colorful the photography is. One of the best photos was taken from the Eiffel tower at dusk. We did have to hold the camera very steady and manually adjust the settings, but the color and sharpness is superb - the blue sky fading to black, the moon, the reflections in the Sein, the city and lights - all crisp as could be and good color too.
We also had very good luck in museums with low-light and no flash. Again, you will need to manually set the camera and hold it quite steady - or rest it on a rail.
The swivel lens is a feature in itself and allows you to take stealth photos - over your shoulder, for example - as well as protecting the lens. You can get great candid shots, which are usually the best ones.
While the battery does well, if you plan to use it a lot (like on a vacation) I strongly recommend purchasing an additional, larger FlashCard and extra battery. We took three of each to France with us.
I'd absolutely reocommend this camera.
Rating:
Summary: Great camera - lives up to reputation.
Review: I've had this camera about a month and I have been very pleased with it. There is a CD and manual that walks you through set-up and use, which you will need if you never owned a digital camera before. It was a cinch to connect and set-up on my computer. No additional drivers were needed, although I run Windows ME on my system. The picture quality is excellent. The size is nice and compact too, which was important to me. I compared this model with several other ones and ended up choosing it because of the Nikon reputation. I have not been disappointed. I only rated it 4 stars because of the amount of effort I had to put into learning all the features before I could start shooting pictures. It is not a shoot and go camera, but it was not hard to understand the directions, only time consuming.
Rating:
Summary: Good point and shoot digital camera
Review: Easy to use and great as a first digital camera. Good quality pictures on fine setting. Only downfall is lack of through the lens view finder. LCD screen is hard to view in sunshine.
Rating: 
Summary: A Little Camera That Can
Review: I bought the 2500 as a point & shoot for work and light/fast travel, to let my son learn photography without running up a huge film tab, because I've been impressed with a different Coolpix I use at work, because it received special mention in a recent CU test despite not being top rated, and based on consistently strong web review.Let me preface my comments with a recommendation/requirement: read the manual carefully cover-to-cover, practice to become facile with the many functions, and take the time to understand how each "scene" makes the camera behave. Sometimes the "scenes" are useful for more than their intended purpose. Skip this step and it's just a point & shoot. Take a few hours to figure it out and you can capture great images in most shooting situations. Nikon has worked very hard to provide quick access to the full range of functions through a small set of controls. Man, was I in for a surprise after getting this camera! My aging but beloved SLR gear will get very little use in the future. We shot several hundred images over the Christmas/New Year break, most of which was spent sightseeing in DC. Indoors & out. Day & night. Museums, fireworks shows, parties, set shots, grab shots, painting with light on street corners at night, riding the Metro, and so on. The images are sharp, vivid and true to color, and distortion-free. I can't remember ever coming home from a trip with a better set of images. There have been plenty of thorough reviews of this camera, so I'll just tick off a few things I find special about it: -- IMHO it is the most pocketable/capable digital camera on the market today. Some are smaller, but they don't have the 2500's capabilities. -- The Best Shot Selector is an amazing and vital feature. You can capture hassle-free and surprisingly crisp images at night and in flash-prohibited museums. -- The rotating lens is a major plus. Excellent lens protection with no cap to lose. The 1.2" camera thickness (lens stowed) is a lot easier on the pocket than the 1.5" standard digital camera thickness. In a crowd? Tilt the lens 45 degrees down and hold the camera overhead. Working a camera-shy crowd? Tilt the lens 45 degrees up and shoot with the camera in your lap. People think you're scrolling through stored images instead of shooting new ones. Unlike some previous reviewers, I have no problem deploying the lens and keeping my fingers off it. -- The white adjustment feature is very useful and powerful. White correction is a common post-shoot task, and a sad one since it sucks color and range out of the image. The 2500's white adjustment takes care of that. Add the 2500's exposure control and you can land images that are ready to be printed and framed. No honest review can be gripe-free, so these are mine: -- Yes, there are a limited number of times when a conventional viewfinder would be handy. IMO those few times wouldn't be worth the added bulk and cost. Nikon, if you're listening, stick with the current design. -- I would like a faster minimum shutter speed on the "party/indoor" scene. This would lose a little background and make the flash more evident, but would produce many more sharp images. Thanks for reading, if you made it this far. I highly recommend the Coolpix 2500. The strongest testimonial might come from my wife, who was shocked at the images when I printed a few test sheets. She's practically stopping strangers on the street and telling them to buy this camera.
Rating:
Summary: Good basic digital camera
Review: I got this camera for my birthday a few months ago, and since then I've used it a lot. I hardly ever take my videocamera out anymore, since it's more fun to take digital pictures and put them on the computer, and send e-mails, and whatnot. The images are crisp and clean. I'm really an amateur when it comes to photography, so I don't know enough to say how technically good it is, but for family pictures at Disneyland it's just fine. Instead of looking through a tiny eye hole, you have to look at the viewscreen to get your shot, and that took some getting used to, though now it's no big deal. Also, since the flash is so close to the lens I get lots of red eye in the pictures all the time. I know I can edit out the red eye with the software, but it would be nice to not have the red eye there. Also, it's very hard to take pictures at night, or with little light. I can turn off the flash, but then the shutter opens up so much that I can't keep my hands still enough to avoid blurry pictures. So I don't have many pictures from the nighttime soccer games I like. I'd recommend the camera for someone who is just getting in to digital photography and wants to create nice pictures for a website or sharing through e-mail. I like how the lens can swivel around, allowing me to hold the camera above my head, or waist high, and get more interesting pictures.
Rating:
Summary: small camera with big features
Review: I am extrememly impressed with the ease of use and the wealth of features in such a small camera. The swiveling lens is ingenious. The instructions are very clear and simple, especially the instructional video CD that makes even the novice user comfortable with using a digital camera for the first time.
The 15 second movie mode is fun as well!
Rating: 
Summary: Nice design & compact but not so good for indoor photos
Review: I bought this camera for a vacation to Europe and overall, I had a good experience with the camera. It was lightweight, compact and easily fit in various pockets. When I came home, I found the photos of scenes in the outdoors with decent natural sunlight came out fine. Outdoor night photos results were typical for digital cameras - usually a little blurry (I think this is because the auto exposure keeps the shutter open longer to capture more light, but the tradeoff is blur). I was disappointed by the quality of indoor photos where the Nikon flash was used. I found most of the indoor photos with flash had annoying "flash spots" that seem to be a result of unwanted reflections. Another small annoyance was the battery-life - I seem to need to recharge after 200 or so shots. I'd recommend this Nikon as a reasonable "second" digital camera for travel or situations where a bulkier camera is not suitable, especially if most of the photos are outdoor daylight scenes.
Rating:
Summary: Good image quality, poor design.
Review: Like most Nikon digitals, this camera offers excellent image quality. A good zoom, excellent macro mode, and pretty good ease of use. However, I think the design is awful. For starters, the swiveling lens. Due to the design, people have a tendency to put their fingers all over the lens while swiveling it. Also, tilt it up too far and you'll be taking a picture of the plastic housing of the camera--oops! Perhaps the biggest design flaw in this camera is lack of a viewfinder. I guess depending on your situation it may not matter, however if you live where I live (bright, SUNNY Florida) and you take pictures outside, that LCD screen is virtually useless. It gets washed out, you're not going to be able to see what you're doing, and you'll wish you had bought a camera that has an optical viewfinder. I don't understand how Nikon could have omitted that from a camera. The only real advantage this camera has over competing manufacturers' cameras is the macro mode. Nikon is tough to beat in that respect. That aside, look at a Canon Elph if you're looking for a small camera. The image quality is just as good, you still get a zoom, and you get an optical viewfinder.
Rating:
Summary: Compact and Powerful, a good combination
Review: I researched several cameras, including the Canon PowerShot and greater and lesser Nikon Coolpix, before deciding on the Coolpix 2500. Things I like about it: 1. The size is great. I carry it in my purse or around my neck at all times. You can't get the shot unless the camera is with you! This is one camera you CAN have with you all the time. The swivel lens helps make it more compact because there are no protruding parts once you close the lens, no lens cap to worry about, and the lens is totally protected. I slide mine in an inexpensive zippered makeup bag and throw the strap around my neck. Wha-la! - instant [inexpensive] camera bag. 2. The quality of the pictures is amazing! The resolution is fantastic, much better than I needed or expected. It does a good job in low light situations too, which was something I was looking for. 3. Scene modes: These are very useful for someone like me who wants to be creative and get good shots, but doesn't have the time or patience to figure out the correct shutter speed and what-not. I don't have any negatives that are bad enough that I would take the camera back, but just so you know... Things I don't like: 1. People have complained that the flash is too bright. For this reason, I usually rely on natural lighting when photographing people. Fortunately, the camera is usually able to handle this. You have to hold it steady because the shutter speed is slower. I'm usually able to get one that is clear if I snap several. The nice thing is that it is digital, so you can see what you are getting, and retake if necessary. 2. Buy a 128 MB or at least 64 MB memery card the same day you buy the camera. I have not even messed with the starter card they give you. Way too small. 3. This is just an oddity, not really a problem. When you are in close-up mode, the lens is constantly refocusing and/or resetting the lighting, not quite sure. Consequently, it makes a lot of clicking and buzzing sounds. Not so great if you are trying to sneak up on a butterfly or something. Hasn't really bothered me, except that I thought my camera was broken. I decided it wasn't when my replacement camera did the same thing. 4. If you can afford it, buy a second battery. It lasts a decent amount of time, but it would be nice to have an extra. So, these are minor problems, with solutions. I'm very pleased with the camera. It's great to have a digital. My photographic skills have improved just by buying this camera because 1. I can take as many pictures as I want, without worrying about wasting film 2. I can re-take until I get the shot. 3. I always have it with me, so I rarely miss that awesome photo-op. 4. It's a Nikon!
Rating:
Summary: Nikon Coolpix 2500
Review: I really liked the small size, swivel lens and general ease of use.Because the lens swivels inwards when the camera is not in use, and in zoom mode the lens is still in the camera body, it is virtually indestructible. My cat grabbed the wrist strap and dropped the camera onto a cement floor from a 5' height and it didn't hurt it one bit. HOWEVER, I am sorry it has no viewfinder. In bright sunlight it is very hard to see the LCD screen. Also unlike a regualr camera, if longsighted you will have to put your reading glasses on to see the display!
Dowloading to the PC is a snap, and the software was easy to use.
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