Nikon CoolPix 3200

Front (8.0)
The front façade of the Nikon Coolpix 3200 positions the 3x optical Nikkor zoom lens in the lower portion of the right side of the camera body. When viewing the camera from the front, the lens is nearly at the edge of the right side, placing it in the way of the left hand and making it easy to mask the lens during shooting. The lens is covered by a retractable lens cover, which opens automatically when the camera turns on, and closes when the camera is turned off. Above the lens ring, in the upper right corner, the user will find the real-image optical viewfinder. It should be noted that the image in the viewfinder will not be that of the final image per se, as the image will be cropped and composed differently because of the physical separation of this viewfinder window from the lens of the camera.

To the left of the real-image optical viewfinder is the built-in camera flash, centrally positioned and spaced so that it is not covered by wandering fingertips. Beneath the flash, and parallel with the top of the lens ring, are the self-timer lamp, red-eye reduction lamp, and the AF-Assist illuminator. The left side of the camera’s front face features a convex contour that allows the user to grip the camera more easily during shooting.

Back (7.5)
The back of the Nikon Coolpix 3200 features the nicely sized 1.6-inch LCD screen, slightly recessed and framed by the camera body. Above the LCD screen is the real-image optical viewfinder window, with two LED lights located directly beside it in the same frame. The top light indicates whether the flash is On, Off, or Charging. The lower light tells whether the subject is in focus, or if the camera is having difficulty setting the focus for the shot. To the right of the viewfinder is the mode dial for the Nikon Coolpix 3200. The mode dial turns both clockwise and counter-clockwise, and allows the user to select from the following settings: Movie, Setup, Auto, Scene, Portrait Assist, Landscape Assist, Sports Assist, or Night Portrait Assist. Within each of these settings, the user can choose from a variety of control options, either through the four-way controller or through the onscreen LCD menu.

In the upper right hand corner of the camera is the Wide Angle/Telephoto control for the zoom lens, which doubles as the Multi-up and Playback Zoom controls when the camera is in playback mode. Beneath the mode dial and to the right of the LCD screen is the clearly labeled Menu button, which allows the user to access the onscreen LCD menu. Directly under this, in the center of the right side, the user will find the standard four-way controller, with a centrally positioned select button. The four-way control, like the wide angle and telephoto controls, pulls double duty when in playback mode. The up arrow doubles as the flash mode controller, the down arrow controls macro mode, and the left arrow controls the self-timer for the camera. The directional element of these controls is used when the user is navigating the on-screen menus and moving between control options and choices. To view images in playback mode, the user must press the play button located next to the lower right corner of the LCD screen. The camera will immediately enter single-image playback mode, and can change to multi-up mode if the user presses the Wide Angle button on the telephoto zoom in the upper right hand corner. To the right of the playback button, and in the lower right corner, the user will find the delete button, which allows the user to either save or erase the selected image shown on the LCD.

Left Side (8.0)
The left side of the Nikon Coolpix 3200 is devoid of any essential controls; the only features are the AV out and USB ports in the lower right corner. These ports are covered by a gray rubber tab, which can be lifted from the bottom to reveal the connectors underneath. This port cover is attached somewhat tenuously via a small rubber strand, and appears to be on the verge of breaking — delicacy is essential.

Right Side (8.0)
On the right side of the camera body is the SD memory card slot, which is opened by flipping the front tab backwards. This Nikon packs 14.5MB of internal memory, which is enough for the beginner, but additional memory cards will likely be desired in the future.

Top (7.5)
The top of the Nikon Coolpix 3200 has two control features available: the shutter button and the power button. When viewed from the front, the shutter button is on the left side on top of the handgrip. This button is nicely sized, easily engaged, and quickly found. Towards the center of the camera body is the ovoid on/off button, which has a green LED light slightly to the left of it.

There are two other features located on the top of the camera body: the logically placed speaker, and the illogically placed microphone. Depending on how the user holds the camera, the microphone might be covered by the right thumb during movie mode. The other major drawback comes from the "sound envelope" that will be gathered via this positioning. The microphone will primarily gather audio information projected from above. This is perfectly fine if a user is doing voiceover; however, due to its directional quality, the user will be unable to gather sound from a frontal source unless the camera is turned or the source is extremely loud or overbearing.