Nikon Coolpix 7600 7MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Nikon camera not as advertised. Damaged lens.

I bought this for my girlfriend for Christmas. Believe it or not, it was to replace an older camera of this exact make and model which had broken years before and she simply never had the resources or energy to devote to purchasing. I did, so I bought it for her on our first Christmas together.She is in love with the camera, particularly its macro features, and she is brimming with nostalgic worship. She's still fidgeting with the settings and everything, trying to get back to how she used to run it, but she's enjoying every second of it. :)Her only complaint right now is that the autofocus can be a bit frustrating if you aren't holding perfectly still, again particularly with the macro features.

Tried this camera because of the positive reviews at the time. It is an OK camera for carrying around, due to its' small size, and takes decent landscape pictures. However, its' macro ability is non-existent. That is one of the main reasons I buy a camera. My favorite cameras for that feature are Olympus, and I am about to buy a new one. I gave the Nikon 2 stars because it is compact and I carry it with me every day so I can leave my more valued cameras safe at home.

Bought this for my wife about a year ago. I already had an old (ca. 2001) Nikon CP995 (3.1MP, 4x zoom) so was expecting the same kind of usability. The CP7600 is not as good, despite boasting 7M pixels. Here's my take on it:Pros:* Uses AA batteries, so no expensive replacement battery pack to buy* Very small and light - fits in a pocket or handbag* Lots of features - zoom lens, panorama, sunset, etc.* Optics are better than my CP995 - less purple fringing.Cons:* Chews through batteries like crazy - even 2300mAh NiMHs don't last long* Slow start up time and auto-focus* Very easy to get blurry pictures on anything above 3MP setting unless there's lots of ambient light. Annoyingly, this even happens when using the flash.* Auto color balance can be a bit screwy sometimes. I have had to use the manual setting and then forgotten to take it off. Lots of pink or blue pictures. Grrrr!* Easy to knock the mode wheel off setting and get an unwanted setting, or half-way between settings - whereupon the camera complains.* LCD is good resolution, but very small. If you have the info display on (necessary to remind you not to leave the camera on some weird manual setting) you can hardly see your subject matter.

This is my first digital camera. I am realatively pleased. The features to price ratio is great. In fact, Amazon's price beat most all competors, if you're shopping. I will agree with a previous reviewer, this is not a great one for action shots.. the delay throws me off. Or maybe there is a setting for action that I haven't gotten to; I'm certainly still learning. I've had pretty good luck with the photos that I've taken: mostly just macro-stills for website stuff. I can see that a larger screen might be more desirable. All in all, I wouldn't choose anything else.

Before I bought, I read these reviews. Lots of peopls like this camera. Some said it's great when you learn the shooting modes and scenes. A few say it takes very blurry pictures. I figured those people just hadn't mastered the features, and that it would be fine. It seemed great when I played with it at a retail store. I was WRONG.This camera is incapable of taking indoor pictures of subjects that move! INCAPABLE! I don't just mean shutter lag when the flash is being used. I can live with a little shutter lag. But when the camera does fire, if the flash is used and the subject moves even a tiny bit the shot is lost to BLUR. I bought the camera to take pictures of my kids, so even with all the things it does well I consider it a total waste of money. There are children of family and friends who I have lost all opportunity to photograph because they were wiggling, and entire events (like birthdays at Chuck E Cheese's) where I have not one single usable shot. (Hold still?? Yeah, right.)I think the problem is that there are NO MANUAL CONTROLS. You can force the flash on or off, and that's it. There is no way to manually set the ISO, which could improve pictures of moving subjects. Even my old Olympus 1.3 megapixel camera allowed me to set the ISO and take usable pictures of my kids (if they were still in the frame after a very long shutter lag). I am shocked that this camera, made by a company with such a good name, has such a major shortcoming. The camera does have some nice shooting scenes (read another review if you want the positives. I concede that it has some great capabilities in some shooting environments, most of which are outdoors.) But you are required to use the scenes as is, and there is no way to adjust them. I tried the Indoor/Party scene many times, and there are famiy gatherings, class parties, etc. where almost every shot is unusable due to the people moving and being blurry. The shots that I do have are posed, stiff, and unnatural, because everyone had to hold still through the shutter lag and the shutter release.So you still think it's my fault, right? Like there must be something I missed? (I thought that for so long. I should have returned it and got a refund. Instead I kept it for 8 months and lost $300, since I ended up buying another camera.) When I took the camera to my kid's class Christmas party, I tried several options. The auto mode sucks- you get dark AND blurry. Sports scene is great outside, but try it inside and your pictures are just black. So I used Indoor/Party scene with the flash off. This gave me pictures where the kids aren't all blurry, but which require LOTS of editing in Photoshop. I had to adjust the levels and lighting. Then they were so grainy and noisy that when I printed I got hair that looks like yarn. So I had to reduce the noice by a very high factor. This softens and blurs the overall look of the picture noticeably, but at least they were finally worthy of printing.My friend has a Sony Cybershot. and she's never had this problem. Pictures of her kids come out just fine. So I went back to the reviews and chose a Canon PowerShot A620. Many Canons have a shooting scene called Kids & Pets, which is optimized for photographing moving subjects. You can manually set the ISO, white balance, and other functions to optimize for your environment. Right out of the box I was able to set the Canon and take good pictures of my kids playing inside the house. Only after buying and playing with the Canon did I realize how much better the interface is, and how poor the Nikon's interface is. You shouldn't have to leave a shooting scene and switch the dial to Set-Up mode to adjust the camera's settings. WHY, NIKON, WHY?I see the Nikon Coolpix 7600 is still being sold for big bucks. If you want a camera for outdoor pictures, stiff portraits, or landscapes and scenery, then you may consider it. Some of its shooting scenes and features are very cool. But if you have children and you want natural pictures for their scrapbooks, please believe me and others who are warning you that this camera has a MAJOR defect. If you don't want to spend a grand on an SLR then leave Nikon alone and read reviews of Canon, Sony, Kodak, and Olympus.