It is with regret that I must edit my review on the Nikon L24.
Because of a weak design on the battery cover door I cannot recommend this camera. However, I am leaving the original review below this addition because everything I originally wrote about the operation still stands. The 1-star rating I'm now leaving reflects the inadequate closure design and Nikon's refusal to replace the battery cover under warranty.
The battery door cover on mine broke just like the others who have written about the L20 / L24 series Nikon cameras. My defect made itself known to me after 6 months of use. There was never any abuse, no drops, no bumps, camera was kept in a case except when I was taking or transferring pictures.
The lip on the inside of the battery door gave way as I was taking a picture the door popped open and the batteries dropped at my feet. It took me a minute or two with reading glasses to see exactly what happened and where the breakage/weakness was.
For those interested, I have close-up pictures of the broken area and they can be seen on this page:
[..link removed..]
When I contacted Nikon about this, I was instructed to send in the camera for evaluation. I did (it was worth a $6 gamble). After they got the camera, I was told that the repair would cost approximately $50. I replied back stating that I felt that it was a design flaw and that the repair should be covered under warranty. In a subsequent reply, I was told that the issue is not repairable under warranty but the repair itself would be warrantied for 6 months in case another similar failure occurred.
I chose to NOT pay $50 to repair a $100 camera and will attempt a repair myself later. In the meantime, I'll tape the door closed with electrical tape.
Again...
*** I cannot recommend the purchase of this camera due to the weak design of the battery door ***. The cover is under constant pressure from the battery springs and the design of the plastic lip is inadequate to take this pressure.
My advice to existing owners whose cameras have not broken YET is to take the pressure off of the poorly designed door that is subject to breaking by stretching a piece of good-quality electrical tape to secure the door.
Other than the flimsy battery door design, this IS a good camera. Nikon really should be covering this repair under warranty and I'll be sure the check for similar design flaws if I ever consider another Nikon camera purchase.
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Original review below
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Disclaimer: This particular review isn't being written from an avid photographer's point of view.
I needed a small, inexpensive, good-quality, easy-to-use camera for my job. My main use for this camera is taking good, clear indoor before/after photos of various electronic devices and related components. My requirements are a large LCD viewer, the ability to use common AA batteries, have my settings (date/time, photo mode) retained after batteries were removed and replaced, and a quick way to transfer images to my PC's that doesn't rely solely on a USB cable.
Preferring not to have to deal with camera angle or cumbersome tricks to reduce flash reflection from shiny surfaces, I was hoping to find something that would allow effective non-flash settings where a semi steadily-held camera could take clear, acceptable indoor pictures as required by the companies that I do work for.
As much as I tried, I could not get good, consistent results with the e510 but I seem to have found that camera with the L24.
So far with the L24, I've taken pictures of HDTV televisions (displays powered both on and off), PCB boards, product labels, macro shots of venting capacitors, etc. *all without flash*, using only ambient room lighting.
For me, time is an important factor and with these onsite job shots, I do not have the time or desire to do pre-shot adjustments or after-processing like resizing, gamma-tweaking, or cropping. The shots I take need to be ready to be attached to an email or be uploaded to technician portals. The settings that I have found that work for me is the "white balance" and "motion detect" set for auto, resolution set for 1024x768 (for email-ready small file and dimension), and flash set for "off".
As long as my subjects aren't in the shadows, the camera is held relatively steady, and the images framed properly, my pictures are clear and all I have to do once I return home is transfer to my PC, attach and send. The settings as described above allow clear pictures for my uses in both regular and macro modes.
The camera remembers my settings with its AA batteries out and its 3" LCD viewer lets me verify a good shot (they've all been pretty good so far).
Connectivity:
All of my PC's have a card slot that accommodates the SD type, so if the included UC-E6 cable isn't handy, I remove the SD card from the camera and transfer images that way. If I needed more of these cables, I can get them for $4 each on eBay.
You don't have to use a SD card (camera has 17MB built-in) but I do recommend using a card for the extra storage and image-transfer/connectivity options.
When buying a SD card, consider the card-reading compatibility with your existing equipment if you intend on using using the card to transfer images. Some card readers do not read SDHC (high-capacity) cards, I was aware of this potential compatibility issue beforehand and bought a standard SD 2GB (not a SDHC) card.
I'm sure once more people buy this camera, more features than I covered will be discussed. There are settings on the L24 that I will probably never use. In my quick tour through the menu settings (haven't read the manual yet haha) I didn't see where you can manually adjust aperture or shutter speed independently but there is an exposure control. The lack of manual settings might be a minus for serious photographers but like I said before, photography isn't a hobby for me I just want to take good pictures easily and quickly.
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