A swivel lens is a lens that freely rotates while attached to a camera body. They are used on some compact digital and video cameras (camcorder

Camcorder

A camcorder is an electronic device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit. Equipment manufacturers do not seem to have strict guidelines for the term usage...

s). These lenses make it easy for a photographer to aim a camera without moving around too much. Swivel lenses come in different sizes and shapes. A swivel lens is also known as a swiveling lens, swivelling lens, and rotating lens.

In contrast, swivel LCDs (also known as articulating screen

Articulating screen

In digital photography, an articulating screen is an LCD which is on a pivot, allowing it to swivel. Articulating screens can be useful in many circumstances; for instance, if one wanted to take a picture of themselves while holding the camera at arm's length, they could flip out the LCD and...

) are displays that freely rotate while attached to a camera body. Usually, the camera body is much larger than the swivelling display. Swivel LCD devices can be considered to be swivel lens devices because the camera body with lens can swivel around the small display; albeit, aiming the camera is more difficult. Most camcorders have a swivel LCD.

Uses

• Enables the user to take pictures from unique perspectives and camera angles
• Easy composition of images without the need to bend, crouch, or move around
• Shooting self-portraits
• Shooting candid photos

List of cameras that have swivel lens

• Nikon Coolpix 2500 , 3500, 4500
  Nikon 4500
  The Nikon Coolpix 4500 is a digital camera - the last of the famous 950-995 lineup of swivel lens models. Most of its features match the Nikon 995.It's a 4 MP model with 4x optical zoom lens and has many manual controls...
  
  
• Nikon Coolpix S4
  Nikon Coolpix S4
  The Coolpix S4 is a brand of digital camera produced by Nikon. Its image sensor is a CCD with 6.0 million pixels. It has a thin-film transistor liquid crystal display device with 110,000 pixels. The S4 incorporates Nikon’s popular swivel design which allows the addition of a powerful Nikkor 10X...
  
  , S10
• Nikon Coolpix 900, 950
  Nikon Coolpix 950
  The Nikon Coolpix 950 was a digital camera released by Nikon in early 1999. The 950 model superseded the Coolpix 900 in the Nikon Coolpix series. The Coolpix 950 was a durable camera with swivel lens, magnesium body, a maximum resolution of 1600×1200 , 3× optical zoom and a minimum...
  
  , 990, 995
• Sony DSC-U50
• Sony DSC-F77, DSC-F77A , DSC-F88
• Sony DSC-F717, F828
• Sony Webbie HD MHS-PM1
• Sony Bloggie MHS-PM5 and MHS-PM5K
• Bushnell Nighthawk 260900 (night vision)
• Panasonic D-Snap SV-AS10, SV-AS30
• Casio QV-10, QV-11, QV-2900UX, EX-TR100
• Contax SL300RT*, U4R
• Pentax Optio X
• Agfa ephoto 1280
• Kyocera SL300R, SL400R

List of other devices with swivel lens

• Sony Clie
  CLIÉ
  The Sony CLIÉ was a series of personal digital assistants running the Palm Operating System developed and marketed by Sony from 2000 to 2005. The devices introduced many new features to the PDA market, such as a jog-wheel interface, high-resolution displays, and Sony technologies like Memory Stick...
  
   PDA (various PEG-XXXX models)
• Sony PlayStation Portable
  PlayStation Portable
  The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
  
   camera
  Go!Cam
  The PSP Camera is a digital camera peripheral by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable handheld video game system. In Japan, the PSP-300 was released as the Chotto Shot on November 2, 2006. In Singapore, the PSP Camera released in the same year. For PAL territories, it is named...
  
  
• Game Boy Camera
  Game Boy Camera
  The Game Boy Camera, released as in Japan, is an official Nintendo accessory for the handheld Game Boy gaming console and was released in 1998. It is also compatible with the Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Light, Game Boy Color, Super Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, and Game Boy Advance SP...
  
   which swivels horizontally for self portraits
• Veo SD camera for Toshiba e805 pocket pc
• Notion Ink Adam
  Adam tablet
  The Adam Tablet is a tablet computer designed by Bangalore-based firm Notion Ink. The worldwide launch occurred on December 18, 2010 via a video released by Notion Ink detailing their Eden Interface...
  
  

Cellphones with pseudo swivel lens

Some cellphones have lens that rotate and allow users to take self-portraits but are limited in the angles where the camera can take pictures.

• Samsung SPH-A900
  Samsung SPH-A900
  The Samsung SPH-A900 is a CDMA cellular telephone . In the US it is currently discontinued, but supported by Sprint-Nextel, and by Bell Mobility in Canada. Its design is considered to be largely similar to the Motorola RAZR V3 by some, a popular model of thin clamshell-style cellular phones...
  
  
• Samsung SGH-T809
  Samsung SGH-T809
  The Samsung SGH-T809 is a mobile telephone released by Samsung and increasingly common in the United States due to a distribution deal with T-Mobile. It is also known in some countries as the Samsung D820...
  
   (also known as Samsung D820)
• Samsung A930
• Nokia 3250
  Nokia 3250
  The Nokia 3250 is a cellular phone which features a unique 'twist' design that transforms the traditional phone keypad into a camera and dedicated music control keys . It can store up to 2 gigabytes of music and other data thanks to a microSD memory card slot, and features a two-megapixel camera...