Nikon Coolpix L100 Camera Review

August 12, 2009

Looking for an economical digital camera with an exceptional optical zoom and user friendly profile, Nikon Coolpix L100, is the answer to all your needs. Though it has certain short comings, Nikon Coolpix L100 is well suited for people who like to capture everything in “Automatic” mode.

Mega Zoom Lens

The Mega zoom lens unusual for a camera this size, (not small enough to fit in your pocket though) the L100 has a NIKKOR lens of 15x optical zoom that has a wide angle of 28-420mm focal length on a 35mm camera. One thing commendable about the lens is that in the Macromode, it is capable of focusing finer details up to 1cm close.

Shooting Speed

Being a mega zoom camera, one wouldn’t and shouldn’t expect a speedy operation-however, Nikon Coolpix L100 fares well in this area to our surprise. In good lighting conditions, shutter lag time is 0.7 seconds that increases up to just 1 second in case of low light. In sequence shooting, 2.1 seconds is the mean time which increases to 2.3 seconds in case the flash is turned on.

Nikon L100 compromises of two burst modes; one is the High speed mode that shoots at a rate of 13fps up to 30 frames and the second one is the Full resolution continuous shooting mode which allows up to 7 photos to be shot in one go but at a frustratingly slow rate of 0.4fps. Good news for sports fans is the feature Sports Continuous Mode that allows 13 frames per second. So, now you can capture each and every shot, move and cheer.

Recording Modes

Apart from the above mentioned features, Nikon Coolpix L100 has a host of other modes just for your convenience. Scene Auto Selector is one such mode. Just select this option and all the technical aspects such as ISO sensitivity, White balance, zoom, etc. are adjusted according to the scene to be selected. In case, you are capturing human subjects, don’t forget to turn on the Smile Mode and Blink Detection so that the desired person is smiling at his/her best with eyes wide open! The in camera Red Eye Fix that eliminates the annoying red eye effect and the 15 scene modes available in the camera are one of the several features making photography easy for you. The active zoom, D-Lighting and Motion Detection also help out a user in improving the image.

Anti Blur Feature

Capturing a fast moving object or shooting in low light, both lead to a blur and shaken picture. There are 4 Anti Blur features available including the Image Sensor Shift VR image stabilization. In case, you are shooting a football player, it’s highly important to keep your object in focus. The Motion Detection Option detects the moving object and camera shake and thereby automatically shifts to a higher ISO setting (e.g. 3200) and a faster shutter speed.

Short Comings In The Deal

The point and shooting cameras usually indicate the user when the flash is to be used. But in Nikon Coolpix L100, until the flash is raised (and that too manually), there is no indication. There is no view finder, just the LCD to preview your shots.
A much bigger problem is that it cannot be recharged with AA batteries. It requires the alkaline or lithium cells for its functioning.

Nikon Coolpix L100 is a compact user friendly camera with a large hand grip and easy to use buttons and controls. Suitable for both indoor and outdoor photography, Nikon Coolpix L100 is a gem.

Nikon Coolpix L100 Key Specs

Dimensions: 4.3 inches wide by 2.8 inches high by 3 inches deep
Weight(with battery and media): 15.8 ounces
Mega pixels, image sensor size, type 10 mega pixels, 1/ 2.3 inch CCD
LCD size, Resolution: 3 inch LCD, 230 K dots
Lens (zoom, aperture, focal length): 15x, f3.5-5.4, 28-420mm (35mm equivalent)
File Format (still/video): JPEG/AVI
Highest Resolution size (still/video): 3,648×2,736 pixels/ 640×480 at 30fps
Image Stabilization type: Mechanical and electronic
Battery type, rated life: AA alkaline (4), 350 shots
General Shooting options: Nikon Coolpix L100
ISO sensitivity (full resolution): Auto (80 to 800)
White Balance Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Manual, Flash
Recording Modes Auto, Easy Auto, Scene, Sport Continuous/High sensitivity/Smile, Movie
Focus Face Priority. Center Metering Matrix, Center-weighted, Spot
Color Effects Standard, Vivid, Black and White, Sepia, Cyanotype
Burst mode shot limit(full resolution): Seven Photos