For my first digital camera, I did not want to make a decision in a hurry and went through numerous reviews on the internet and compared a lot of cameras falling in my budget. Nikon is the best name in photography and that was one of the biggest reasons for buying a coolpix 2500. Its sure to get attention from everyone with its sleek look and a very compact, easy to handle design. the swivel lens makes it very easy to take pictures in crowded places where u can hold the camera above the crowd, with the lens facing down. It does not have an optical viewfinder (which most people are used to), but with a very good LCD panel, u r unlikely to miss it. The menu is very user friendly and there is no need to go through the bulky user manual to operate it. Its small rechargeable battery packs a lot of power and even with extensive use easily lasts for a couple of days. Coolpix uses a Flash memory card. A 16 MB card that comes with the camera, my be insufficient and u may want to buy a new card with more memory. This camera can also record movies upto 15 seconds, but without sound. Now the biggest negative: The flash is so close to the lens, that this camera gives a lot of red eye.
There is a red eye reduction mode, which does not help much. You can get great outdoor pictures in normal lighting conditions. But while using indoors, be prepared for a lot of red eye. Even with ample artificial lighting, I’ve noticed red eye in almost all indoor pictures. This is the only, but nonetheless a big sore point about this camera. I’d bought in US for $250 (Rs.12, 500). Now its freely available in India, but I think the price is around Rs.22, 000-23, 000.