Viewfinder (4.0)
The viewfinder on the Nikon Coolpix 3700 is small but usable. The zoom effects can be seen in the viewfinder, and an eye cup can be added to the viewfinder for more comfortable viewing. The viewfinder window is offset to the left on the front of the camera, so beware of wandering fingers if you plan on using the viewfinder for framing the image. Viewfinders in compact digital cameras are less accurate than the LCD in showing the full size of the image you are taking. The viewfinders on most point-and-shoot digital cameras only give 75-90% accuracy so keep that in mind when composing your images. The viewfinder does its job, and as far as small optical viewfinders go it does it pretty well. But overall I preferred the LCD screen to the small semi-accurate viewfinder.

LCD Screen (6.0)
The 1.5-inch 136K LCD screen is on the back left of the Nikon Coolpix 3700. The brightness can be altered within the setup menu, although this is discouraged as illumination levels may appear to be brighter than what they actually are. The LCD can become somewhat cluttered with icons in both manual and automatic modes, so the display on-off button may come in handy. The LCD screen itself is raised from the rest of the back, which makes a nice ledge for the left thumb to rest. The LCD itself is average in size, but if users are used to the also common 1.8-inch LCD, the difference is very noticeable. When real estate is so limited, a small LCD screen is understandable, but something larger could certainly fit and would be a nice upgrade. The 1.5-inch size is somewhat limiting, considering some similar cameras are pushing the 2-inch limit. For what it is, and because I prefer it over the viewfinder, the LCD performed well, and can be relied on as a guide during digital imaging. I say guide, as LCDs can be deceptive when it comes to judging image quality.

Flash (6.0)
The Nikon Coolpix 3700 has several flash modes, which can all be accessed by pressing the multi-selector joystick up towards the flash icon (lightning/arrow). This will engage the flash menu options, which consist of auto, auto with red-eye reduction, flash off, anytime flash, and slow sync.

The flash modes are responsive, and the various modes seem to perform accurately. To exit the flash mode menu, after making a selection, users can press the center of the multi-selector joystick to confirm the selection and close the menu. The flash setting icon will appear at the bottom of the LCD.

Lens (5.0)
The Nikon Coolpix 3700 is stocked with a 2x optical zoom lens that has a variable focal length of 5.4-16.2mm or 35-105mm equivalency in standard 35mm film cameras. This is pretty weak considering most other digital cameras on the market offer at least 3x optical zoom. There is also an additional 4x digital zoom, although we all know digital zoom is more for the manufacturers than the consumers as the magnification will only increase the size of the pixels and ultimately just distort the image.