Strengths: wide angle lens, night/indoor mode, great micro shots, good battery life.

Weaknesses: picture review doesn't rotate with the camera. CANNOT switch between picture review to shooting mode by clicking the shutter. shutter leg is a little bit long.

Summary: all things has been said. the few things that bugs me are, in picture review mode (play), the pictures don't rotate with the camera like my canon, the camera cannot switch between picture review mode (play) to shooting mode by clicking the shutter, which is a bit annoying because you have to remember press the play button everytime you want to get out of play mode and shoot pictures. overall, this is the best compact i've had interms of lens, dark modes and micro mode.

Strengths: Size, Metal body, Style, Wide angle lens

Weaknesses: Lack of features for the price, Small buttons

Summary: I replaced my Canon A570 IS for this because I needed something that would fit in my pocket more comfortably. When it arrived I was very surprised how small it was when I opened the box. Just what I was looking for. I know there are thinner cameras out there but I really wanted optical image stabilization like the Canon had. I was also very impressed with the look and feel of this camera; very high quality. That is why I didn't go with the Canon ultra compacts in this price range, they felt like cheap plastic (even the demo I saw at Costco had the color rubbing off). When using it I found the zoom button to be too small and it was difficult to press the "OK" button. The menu is OK once you get used to it but it's not as good as the Canon. I don't like that you can't exit it by simply pushing the shutter release. Same with when previewing pictures. Picture quality is why I purchased a Nikon. Once you learn how to access all of the pictures settings it takes great pictures. The auto face detect is not near as good as the Canon. This is one of the most disappointing aspects of the camera. Also it seams to be missing some features that I would think would be included in a camera in this price range, like auto rotation and more advanced in-camera editing. I have found the battery life to be good and with a high speed SD card this little camera is very fast. I can't seem to find a leather case that fits it well I've purchased three only to return them because they don't fit. I wish Nikon would Make a custom case for this. Good news is it is very rugged. Bottom line is that if you want a very small, fast, rugged camera that takes very good pictures, this one won't disappoint. If you want a camera with all the latest technology and bells and whistles you may want to shop around.

Strengths: Small size, excellent resolution, good image quality

Weaknesses: Noise on pictures when using the digital zoom, screen easily gets dirty with fingerprints

Summary: Decided to try this Nikon camera instead of the Canon SD1100s because it is a 10MP camera instead of the 8MP for the Canon. Also, this Nikon has optical image stabilization which reduced the blur especially with moving objects. The camera menu takes some getting used to when trying to make adjustments like the flash. The image quality is excellent for a point and shoot. I compared this with shots from a 10MP Digital SLR and it matches up pretty good. My only main negative with this camera is that the screen easily shows a person's fingerprints, but is easy to clean with a tissue or soft cloth. Overall, this is an excellent point and shoot camera for anyone to use.

Strengths: Small size Fast startup

Weaknesses: Picture quality, Price, High ISO noise, !!!Shutter Lag!!!

Summary: The quickest in world startup time sounds really amazing, but its not really true. The camera does turn on, and you can see the live view in less than a second, but you can't actually shoot or go into the menu for another second or so. It is fast, just not as fast as advertised.I returned this camera because the picture quality was not what I expected from a camera in this price range. Also, moving between menu and shooting mode is frustrating because you cannot exit the menu by depressing the shutter.D-Lighting seemed like cool feature when I used it on the camera, but when I viewed the images on the computer, it was way too noisy.I really like NIKON, but this camera was simply disappointing.

Strengths: price is low enough for great point and shot digital camera

Weaknesses: I wish it could be slim as nikon S52

Summary: I am always a nikon camera fan, to its solid quality and long traditional reputation! 8 years ago, I bought my first digital camera coolpix 900, amazingly, it still works perfectly even now. I know from my experience, Nikon provides the solid quality! I have a cute Sony T1 as my PS DC. But after I tired with T1's image quality, I decided to buy myself a new solid quality point and shot DC, with budget around 200$. Nikon new line of coolpix coming out early this year, catches my eyes. the price is right, functions are more than sufficient to amateurs. Comparing with nikon slim version S52, S600 just a little bit thicker, but smaller and hell a lot of powerful! oh, and almost half price cheaper too. I made my decision right on spot. I bought mine black version from amazon for $250. pink/red ones are much cheaper around $210 if you don't care the color on amazon.

Strengths: Small SizeRugged SS caseLarge very very bright LCD screenFastest camera I have used

Weaknesses: None really but it would be nice to have a docking station for recharging the battery.

Summary: I wondered if the S600 was really worth the extra cost over the S550. I gambled on it and I am so glad I bought the S600.It is a simply amazing camera! It is built like a tank with a stainless steel housing. It is instant on and shoots so fast I was not sure I was getting the pictures because there was no delay or screen blank between shots. It is far faster than my Coolpix 8700 and my Son's D80. He had to buy the Nikon D2Xs to get the fast startup time that I have with the S600. Normally I have to wear reading glasses to see the LCD screens but the S600 screen is so bright that I can see it in full sunlight without my glasses! And that is at the default normal brightness. It can be adjusted to a wide range of brightness. The controls on this camera are also a big improvement over other cameras. I can go to macro or movie or sound recording modes without pulling out the manual. I always had to fumble with the controls to use the movie mode on my 8700 and then have difficulty getting back to normal mode! This is a great camera and both Ashton Kutcher and I love it!