Didn't want to like it, like it anyway!

I was shopping for a new digital camera. I already have an excellent Sony that I'm very happy with, but I wanted something that would be more convenient to carry around.

My two major limiting criteria were that it had to have zoom, and it had to use CompactFlash media.

I wanted to stay with CF because it is very economical to buy, I already have several CF cards, and a CF card reader on my computer. Replacing these items with another memory card format would have cost about $80-90.

This pointed me towards the Coolpix 2000. I have to admit, I tried to find some alternative; as I've disliked the name "CoolPix" (sounds like a kids' toy).
Admitting this was a dumb reason to not buy it -coupled with an amazingly good deal on eBay (Brand new in the sealed retail box for $90!)- I decided to buy one.

I have been really impressed!

Most of the usual things have been well covered in the other reviews, so I will try to highlight the less obvious.

Most important overall of course is image quality, and I am well satisfied with the color and resolution in normal and macro modes. Note that images on the LCD viewfinder sometimes appear to be overexposed, but when downloaded and viewed on the computer, they're fine. Tilting the camera forward and viewing the LCD at roughly a 45-degree angle results in an image that much more closely duplicates the actual image.

Startup time is negligible; not *quite* faster than you can say "Jack Robinson" (as the old expression goes) but... faster than you can say "Arnold Schwarznegger"! Speed of autofocus lock varies with the subject, but seems very good to me. Once AF gives the green light (literally) there is no appreciable delay between shutter press and shutter trip.

The media card that comes with it is 16Meg. That's actually pretty good (considering they give it to you with the camera). At full resolution (1632 X 1224), you can figure on about 16 pictures; but I always shoot at 1024 X 768 anyway, so I get more like 32 pictures on the card, in FINE image quality mode. In NORMAL, you can get an estimated 63.

(FINE, NORMAL, and BASIC have to do with the color resolution, which affects how much the file is compressed. Even though you are recording the same number of pixels, the shades of color difference between them are more coarse or more fine depending on this setting).

Menu selections seem intuitive to me, icons are either clear enough immediately, or are done well enough that once you know what it is, it's really easy to remember. (As noted in another review, the 'lady in a hat' is kind of hard to figure out at first)

Movie mode is limited to 20 seconds, has no sound, and disables zoom.

Other photo modes disable all picture taking menu options except image quality and resolution; but this is their purpose -to allow you to quickly switch to a set of picture taking parameters best suited for the situation (Party, Portrait, Night Portrait, Beach/Snow, Backlit). Otherwise, the full menu of options is available in 'A' mode.

REALLY compact! Very easy to keep with me.

Not so small as to be a problem holding it. The buttons and controls are placed really well; making it very simple to operate the camera with one hand (for me, as I'm right-handed).
Let me expand on that a bit:
I can take the camera out of the belt pouch in which I carry it, turn it on, access the menu and change a mode (BSS or resolution or whatever), take the picture or pictures (control zoom, flash mode, macro mode), view the pictures, edit out the ones I don't want to keep, turn it off, and put it back in the pouch; very easily, never having any need to take a two-handed grip on it.
All of this without inadvertently sticking my fingers in the lens or covering the flash or any of the sensors (they're all on the far left [as viewed from the rear] side).
The shape lends itself well to easily slipping in and out of the pouch or pocket.
This can be very valuable when climbing, hiking, or otherwise getting oneself into a photo opportunity requiring the use of the other hand.
At first, the case does seem to feel a little slippery, but I've never felt like I was in any danger of dropping it.

I'm really impressed with the way the menu mode automatically gets out of your way if you press the shutter button -if you're playing around with the menu and you see your shot; you can just press the button and take a picture, it doesn't force you to have to manually exit menu mode.

Flash, Macro/Distant, and Self-Timer modes are instantly accessible with a dedicated button for each that cycles between modes, with a clear and obvious icon on the viewfinder LCD to indicate which mode it's in.

Likewise with anything else that's important to know. Example: if you are in Best Shot Selector mode (take a rapid series of pictures, the camera automatically determines the least blurry one and saves only that one -for use when handholding with long exposures) there's an indicator in the viewfinder to tell you that.

Also, an icon lights up any time the shutter speed is slow, to warn you that you'll need to hold the camera very steady (good time to use BSS!).

Viewing pictures is very well thought out. There are two modes, Quick View and Playback. The difference between Quick View and Playback mode is that Playback (selected by changing the Mode dial on the top of the camera) has more file management options. Quick View is immediately accessible with a press of the Quick View button, and the camera instantly returns to picture taking mode automatically when the shutter button is lightly pressed. The zoom buttons function in Quick View and Playback modes; in selecting a single shot, 4 shot view, or 9 shot view; or you can even zoom in for a magnified view of a single shot; using the four-way menu navigation control to pan the image.

This is a really terrific feature that allows you to get a good close look at your picture to look at the details and see if you got it in good focus. In a group shot, you could see if anyone's eyes were closed, for example.

While viewing your pictures in Quick View mode, you can mark the ones you want to keep, or mark the ones you want to discard, or mark the ones you want to transfer to your computer (via the USB cable). This is done very well; simply highlight the picture in question, and press the trash can button to mark it for deletion, or press the transfer button to mark it for transfer.
In the PlayBack menu, additional options include Slide Show, marking an image Protected, or to be downloaded or printed.
When exiting viewing mode, you then tell the camera to delete all frames except the ones marked to be kept (marked Protected), or it will ask you if you want to delete all of the frames you marked for deletion.
Default mode tags all images for download to the computer, but you can de-select any images you don't want to transfer, and they will stay on the memory card in the camera.

Memory settings (date/time) do not reset when you change the batteries (they shouldn't! But on my other pocket digital, they did).

Another thing that impresses me: when using the zoom, when the camera reaches the optical zoom limit, it pauses briefly before extending into the digital zoom range. (also clearly shown on an icon in the display -which also changes from white to yellow when entering the digital zoom range). This makes it very easy to zoom to the limit of the optical zoom, and stop.

Zoom range is 5.8-17.4mm (38-114mm 35mm equivalent)

I am using 2000mAh NiMH AA's, and find the battery life very satisfactory. I have been using the camera intermittently over the last few weeks, and still show half a charge on the set I first put in it.

I'm somewhat uneasy at the inability to put a good solid lens cover on it. The camera retracts the lens and covers it automatically with a shutter type lens cover, but this is barely adequate to ward off dust, and opens readily if something pushes against it. Lens protection is thus more psychological than actually effective. The design of the body and the lens preclude any possibility of fitting any kind of a more robust cap, filters, or auxiliary lenses.



One weird thing: I can't get Multi-Shot 16 mode to work. It shows Multi-Shot 16 as a submenu option, but won't allow it to be selected, cycling instead between the other two submenu options: 'Single' and 'Continuous' modes.

I called Nikon Customer Tech Support, and the tech I spoke to tried two CoolPix 2000's he had... and had the same problem!

I was told that someone would get back to me on this, but it has been a few days now and I haven't yet heard from anyone.

This is the only shortcoming I've noticed of an otherwise excellent product.


Update
Having heard nothing back, I called Nikon tech support again. This tech was able to access Multi-Shot 16 mode. When we compared settings, we found that hers was set to highest resolution (1632 X 1224), where mine was on 1024 X 768. THERE IS NO REFERENCE to this in the manual (as she confirmed) but as we found, Multi-Shot 16 mode is only available in 1632 X 1224; and if in MS16 mode, the resolution is locked in 1632 X 1224. (just take it out of MS16 mode to change it).

Additional notes: 'Continuous' mode takes pictures in rapid-fire sequence. It's very fast. I'm not sure exactly how fast, but it's definitely faster than my 5 frames/second motor drive on my film camera.

In highest resolution mode, it is limited to four pictures. In medium and low res modes, it will shoot up to eight pictures at this rapid-fire rate. It takes pictures as long as you hold down the shutter button, or until it reaches the limits as noted.

Multi Shot 16 fires much more slowly, taking its 16 frames in approximately 12 seconds. Once you press the shutter button, the sequence continues until all 16 pictures have been taken.

Multi Shot 16 results in a single image, composed of 16 images 408 X 308 each, arranged in a 4X4 grid; whereas Continuous mode pictures are individual images at the full resolution to which you're set (1024 X 768 or 640 X 480).

Battery life: I am now realizing that what I thought was a half-charge indicator was actually the 'battery low' warning indicator. Still, the camera has been running on the same set of a batteries (with intermittent use) for the last couple of weeks, so I still find the battery life acceptable, but I have to admit, it's not as good as I had first thought! :)
You get quite a bit of (intermittent) use well after the 'battery low' indicator comes on, and even after the 'Batteries Exhausted!' message comes on, you can turn the camera off for a few moments, switch it on, and successfully get another shot or two... but I always carry a spare set of fully charged batteries.