If you are looking for a easy to use, point and shoot camera with good optical zoom(8.3), this is the rigth camera for you. I bought last week and took some awesome picture just clicking it on auto mode without any adjustments. You can see my pictures at amazon.com. I used Nikon3200 ealier but this is better than that. I highly recommend this camera.

I purchased this camera to replace my aging Olympus Camedia 2.1 megapixel (1999). I read every single review there is about the Coolpix 4800 and finally, after being convinced this was 'the' camera, I took the plunge and bought it. Well, I must say it was one of the most regretable decisions I've made. The camera, first of all, has the longest shutter button lag I've seen in any digital camera I've tested. You have to practically beg your subjects to stay still for an extra 3 seconds before the camera is 'decides' to save the pic--extremely annoying! If the subject moves even the slightest, the picture comes out blurred--this is a major problem with most Nikon cameras I read about. Second, the menu appearantly consist of a straight forward process, but it ends up being quite confusing once you actually start using it--the manual alone is over 100 pages long! Can anybody remember all the features after reading it once with the detailed explanations? The features also are extremely confusing and not turning results as the manufacturer claims. For example, if you use the "Party" mode instead of the regular "Night" shot while indoors during a reunion (at night), the results are quite frankly horrendous. On other occasions, even shooting outside during broad daylight produced extremely mediocre pictures--with whashed out or fake colors. Only a handful of the pictures I took (out of an excess of 500 both indoors and outdoors) turned out to be acceptable and even less what I would consider outstanding. Moreover, the 8x manual zoom did absolutely nothing for me. As soon as you zoom all the way in, the subject becomes so unstable that when you finally take the picture it comes out blurry, therefore losing the fine detail you're aiming at. In addition, the camera is bulky and the design awkward--it's really hard to find the right case for it. It appears to be really cool, but after the 50th time you take it out of it's tight case, it becomes annoying as well.
Finally, the QuickTime videos I took were also quite mediocre--unlike my Olympus Camedia with only 2.1 megapixels!
On a positive note, I did feel that the battery life was longer than most cameras and I liked the small size of the SD cards it takes. If you have a card reader, it saves you the hassle of using the USB and software accessories.
All in all, if you're looking for an easy to use point-and-shoot 4 megapixels digital camera, look at Kodak or Olympus and stay away from Nikon--at least from the Coolpix 4800.

I bought this camera before leaving the country. Now that I'm back and am looking at the pictures I took, I am amazed. The quality of the pictures is great, and the zoom works very well. There are almost no blurry images no matter how much zoom I used as long as I used the right setting, which was always easy to get to.

The only problems were that it is a little larger than most other cameras, and the battery life was less than expected. I made sure to buy a second battery, which was essential, and I also had the car charger. Whether at home or in the car, I could charge one battery while using the other. I found that if I left the battery in the camera, the battery would be dead in a few hours. We made sure to remove the battery when we were not about to take a picture and put it in the case, which had enough room for the battery and camera in the main compartment and a spare battery and spare memory card in the front compartment.

All in all, I am very pleased with the camera. I did not find the battery issue to be too bad, and I think the camera itself is worth the price. Hopefully someday digital cameras will be able to hold their charge for a longer time. Until then, I recommend this camera to anyone looking for a powerful zoom at a good price.

I previously owned the Olympus c2100 - loved the macro and image stabilization. I could have purchased a camera with more mega pixels for less money, but the optical zoom was really important to me and Nikon is known for good optics. I purchased this digital camera because of the 4MP, automatic settings, and 8.3 optical zoom. I have been using it for the past couple of weeks and find it to be very versatile. The auto settings do a good job and the ability to over ride the auto works well. I purchased one of the faster 1GB SD cards as well as 2 extra rechargeable batteries. Even using the zoom and electronic through the lens viewfinder, the batteries have a much better life than the AA's in my previous camera. The two drawbacks are the lack of image stabilization and the lack of ability to view pictures already taken through the Electronic Viewfinder - viewing is only available via the LCD monitor which I find difficult for assessing picture quality in bright sunlight. Overall, if you are interested in a compact camera with better than average optical zoom with multiple extra features, I would recommend this as a good buy.

I just received my camera 2 days ago and immediately I began to test it.

It is very nice and it feels very nice to hold.

I like that the zoom stops when it reaches the maximum of the optical zoom (if you keep pressed for 1 second it will go to the digital zoom).

The battery last for more than 200 shots which is not bad at all. It charges in less than 2 hours.

The quality of the pics is excellent.

Please read the manual so you can obtain professional photos