The Coolpix models are great but you have to be careful with which ones you get. Some of them have an awful battery life and will only last you a handful of shots. My mom has a Nikon Coolpix S50 and that thing won't lost more than 80 shots max. That might seem like a lot, but if you're like me and you don't turn off your camera after every shot, the battery will drain quickly. I used to work in a camera store and battery life was the main complaint with Nikons. It's been a while since I've really had a good hands on with a Nikon besides the S50 my mom has, but maybe things are better with a higher series of the Coolpix.
I recommend a Canon G5. Hear me out. It's a great (somewhat) compact camera with a swivel screen that will come in handy more often than you might think. It's a solid built camera and the pictures I've taken are stunning. I know a few other professional photographers who take this little guy on trips with them so they don't have to carry around a huge SLR. The newer G series got rid of the swivel screen (pretty disappointing to a lot of Canon followers who loved the G5). It's a great camera and you can probably find it for a great price by now. It's got a hot shoe for a flash so you don't have to deal with the built in crap.
I realize that its a bit of an older camera, but it takes some amazing photos.
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