megapixels

Had previously bought a Canon SD10 to replace a Coolpix 4300 since I needed a faster and smaller camera. Was confident of good picture quality after reading reviews on Amazon and CNET.

Much to my horror, no matter what settings I changed, the picture quality was blurry when compared with my old Nikon. So I returned the Canon and, with much trepidation, bought the 3700 even though it offered a megapixel LESS than the Canon, and for more money too.

In this case, it is obvious that you get what you pay for. Sharpness of photographs are amazing despite being a megapixel less. Definitely superior to the Canon and comparable to my old Nikon 4300. Upon reading the manual, discovered that Nikon has specifically built a algorithm to ensure sharpness in its digital processor. Makes a world of difference. Responsiveness is great too with imperceptible shutter lag. Would recommend to all looking for a compact camera. Just make sure that 3 megapixels are enough for your purposes. I eventually returned this camera to wait for Nikon to release a compact, fast, 4 megapixel camera. The extra megapixel is important if you crop your photos or otherwise want to be able to print larger than 4x6 genuine photo-quality prints.

I purchased the Nikon CoolPix 3700 after much research and chose it over the Canon S400. I've been extremely satisfied with the quality of the pictures and videos. This camera was rated #1 Best Buy by PC World and for good reason.

Pros:
-rediculously light and very sturdy
-has a long, narrow shape that is more natural in your hand and your pocket as compared with the more square Canon S400 and other Nikon Coolpix cameras
-almost NO SHUTTER LAG, a big plus when photographing people who don't like to hold still for too long.
-EXCELLENT PICTURE QUALITY, 3MP is PLENTY for most uses.
-takes such great videos (with sound) that it might just replace your video camera.
-easy to set up and fairly straightforward menus
-uses SD memory which is generally better than CF.
-pretty good battery life, recharges fast, most users probably won't need an extra battery.
-if you need it, Nikon's tech support line is very helpful (toll-free and 24/7!)

Cons:
-Performance in low-light isn't great, but that is the case with most other cameras of this type.
-No case included and only comes with 16MB SD card. A leather case and 256MB SD card will set you back about a hundred bucks. (256MB is the ideal size, I recommend Panasonic SD cards because they record at 10MB/s)
-on/off switch and zoom buttons are awkwardly placed/shaped, should be switched, takes some getting used to.
-included USB cord is a bit fragile, I had to get a replacement from tech support
-3x optical zoom isn't much. If you want a lot of zoom go 10x.

Overall a great camera with the best performance in this price range. Highly recommended, it's really a hidden gem. Perfect as a first digicam or for someone who wants to upgrade.

Pros:
-compact size, stylish
-metal body, nice build quality
-selectable AF sensor and metering in M-record mode, each AF bracket acts as spot meter, useful for tricky lighting
-framing guides on LCD
-generally competent metering, Auto white balance, focusing. again, for difficult lighting, the AF sensor acts as spot meter in M-record mode
-straightforward transfer with Nikon View, although a separate card reader is recommended instead of connecting camera directly to computer, this is to save those USB contacts in the camera from wearing out prematurely.

Cons:
-movie mode exhibits that notorious audio-sync problem
-hot or dead pixels on my unit, resulting to those annoying white spots on the image when viewed at full size
-Scene Modes disable features here and there, and that set up may not be what you really want
-no option to set ISO, camera adjusts ISO on its own, which may result in noisy images
-more on noise, you really need lots of illumination, either daylight or flash, to keep the camera from bumping the ISO up, and with it, the noise
-still having difficulty dealing with the green cast of fluorescent lighting (as do most cameras)
-button operated zooming, with those tiny Wide-Tele buttons, especially when in Macro mode, is not the easiest thing to do

Overall, a decent picture taker that requires well-lit scenes to perform well. That means it is a "flashy" camera. For someone used to the Olympus Stylus, this is not an issue, however, this camera is not for those who prefer shooting without flash, especially indoors. There's the auto-ISO issue mentioned above, which leads to noise, also, the lightweight and small size of the camera, not to mention all those buttons which get in the way of the left hand, prevents any decent steady handhold. This maybe the reason for those soft lens comments from other reviewers, among other variables (e.g. how is the Sharpness set?).

Many of the cons are limitations imposed by the small size of the camera. Regardless of make, for compact cameras, these limitations are something one must live by. If you want more control (to prevent the ISO from bumping up by itself), and you want to stay Nikon, the larger Coolpixes (4500, 5xxx) maybe the better choices. The Canon A70/75/80 also offer greater controls, but at the expense of compactness. However, I cannot believe that Nikon or any other manufacturer for that matter, cannot make a compact that allows manual ISO setting.

The decent build and finish of this camera are regrettably offset by noise issues, and in my sample, dead pixels, which prevents me from giving this camera a higher rating.