Nikon Coolpix 3700 Review

The Coolpix 3700 may be small but it is equipped with a 3x Nikkor optical zoom lens with a 35 - 105mm (in 35mm equivalent) focal length coverage. This is an all-glass lens constructed of 7 elements in 6 groups, Nikon Super Integrated Coating applied. When powered down, the lens retracts into the body and is protected by a built-in lens cap.

The maximum aperture is F2.8 (W) to F4.9 (T) and it has a dedicated macro mode that covers from 1.6 in. to infinity. Auto focus is handled by a contrast detect TTL system with auto or manual selection of the AF area. User selectable Single AF or Continuous AF modes. The focus range is 11.8 in. to infinity in wide angle and from 23.6 in. to infinity in telephoto.

If you complain about something long enough ... Nikon has finally put a low-light focus-assist illuminator on a Coolpix camera!  

The eyelevel optical viewfinder zooms in and out with the lens and shows about 80% of the captured image. The two LEDs indicate the flash and focus/SD card status. There is no diopter adjustment.

The built-in speedlight has a shooting range of approx. 1'4" - 9'10" (Wide angle) and can be set for Auto Flash, Red-Eye Reduction, Fill Flash or Disabled.

The power on/off switch is built around the shutter release. The built-in speaker is also located on the top, the microphone is on the front.

Controls on the back: Upper right are the zoom lens buttons. Just above the LCD is the Monitor button to turn the color LCD on/off and control the amount of information displayed on it. The 4-way joystick selector is for navigating menus and selecting pictures. In record mode pressing it "Up" selects the desired flash mode. Pressing it "Left" activates the selftimer. Pressing it "Down" enables the macro focus mode. Pressing it "right" enables exposure compensation. Pressing it in the center accepts menu selections.

Under the 4-way joystick is the image Delete button and the Menu button. The Mode Dial has positions for Setup, Movie, Manual Record, Auto, Scene and Voice recording. The button puts the camera in Play mode and also serves as the one-touch download button when the USB cable is connected.

On the side is a combination connector used to connect either the USB 1.1 cable for downloading images to Mac and Windows computers or connect the Audio-Video Out cable for viewing on a TV set. The video signal is selectable for NTSC or PAL.

The Coolpix 3700 is the first Nikon to have a SD card slot and is supplied with an 16MB size Nikon/Lexar Starter Card. Any size SD card can be used, shown here is the speedy and spacious SanDisk 256MB Ultra II.

The camera can be powered by the supplied Nikon EN-EL5 3.7v 1100mAh rechargeable lithium battery or with one of the new CP1 one-use photo lithium batteries. Nikon supplies a compact MH-61 AC rapid charger.

With the EN-EL5 you can capture up to 200 shots, with a one-use CP1 you can capture up to 250 shots.