How do you pause a video recording on this camera?

The default is to start a new clip every time you press the stop button, but in settings you might be able to tell the camera to continue with the same clip provided you press record again with a set time. Not sure why you want to do this though - it's much easier to edit using small clips than very large ones.

Press the shutter release button, to start the video. (mode dial is on the video camera) Press the shutter release button again, to stop the video. When you press again, the recording starts again.
So that is like pause, because the camera is in standby waiting for the next recording.

there should be a button on the back of the camera with a red dot on it. push to record, push again to pause.

I understand that you wish to Pause and Continue recording to record several scenes in a single file. Unfortunately, HDD Camcorders(regardless of manufacturer) do not have the option to pause and record in a single file. Once you press STOP, it will save the current file and When you press the Record again, it will start record as a new file. This is because of the characteristics of the HDD media. If you wish to have the video as a single file, please use a video editing software to combine the videos.

Thanks for understanding. Please let me know if you require any clarifications.

you can't sorry this was of no help..unless you mean just stop recording if so just his the red button again.

For the Nikon Coolpix series, I don't think it's possible.

Well... If you are looking for the pause function for the playback kepp reading. if you are trying to pause while filming go to the next paragraph.
It is verry unfortunate that while you are trying to view your video on your camcorder or while hokked into your T.V. there is no way of pausing. You can only stop and play your video and once you stop it it will restart at the beginning of the recording. To view it better and have more controll over all of the settings your best bet is to attach it to your computer,

Now if you are trying to record something then want it to stop recording all you need to do is press the little button with the picture of the video camera once more,as soon as what you want to record is complete. This will stop the recording untill you press it again when you want to record something else

To pause the camera in the middle of filming, fully press the shutter at the top of the camera to the right, the recording will be paused. (i.e the shutter that you pressed while the camera is in recording mode, that enables recording while pressed fully. You press it, it will pause and when you press again, it starts recording). This is possible because the camera is already in recording mode.

You're right, you can't pause it; at least not that I can find. However, the "stop" kind of acts like a pause, because ... if you stop recording and then start it up again, even though it records as two different videos, you can easily add them together in "edit"mode, which is basically the same thing as pausing.

As far as I can tell, and yes the documentation is skimpy, when you press the 'record/play' button the video recording pauses. Make sure you press the video icon button, not the 'record/play' button to get it started again. If you press the 'record/play' button, it goes into a 'play back' mode.

Hope this helps...