My daughter ordered this with birthday money after researching cameras online. It was one of the cameras recommended by Ken Rockwell, and one of the few low-end digitals that still has an optical viewfinder. My pragmatic daughter insisted on this, since sometimes in bright light the LCD is hard to view.The camera is tiny! Even after seeing a picture of the camera hiding behind a credit card I was not prepared for how small it is! The buttons are recessed and the whole camera slips easily into a pocket without snagging on anything. Despite its small size, the LCD is easy to view, and the buttons are very usable.The second moment of awe was powering on. The camera turns on and off very quickly! Some other point-and-shoot digitals we've had have had a considerable delay before they are ready to shoot, extending the lens and running through the self-test of the software. This camera is not quite instantaneous, but it's very fast!The pictures are good quality, and it's easy to switch between photo and video mode. Another fun surprise was that the auto-focus places the camera in macro mode when you try to focus on something right in front of the lens. In short, the features of the camera are very well done.I can't comment on the battery life or sturdiness/durability because we've only had the camera for a short time and my daughter is fastidious about taking out the battery when she isn't actively using the camera. 

Question: How do you rate the video?
Answer: fast!The pictures are good quality