Nikon Coolpix L100: Review

Posted to Digital Cameras 2009-06-11

Nikon Coolpix L100 Review:

If you're in the market for a fairly compact point-and-shoot camera and would like one with a long zoom range, give the Nikon Coolpix L100 Digital Camera a try. It's a 10MP camera with SLR-like design and a 15X image stabilized zoom lens. The focal length extends from a very usable wide angle of 28mm to a long telephoto of 420mm (35mm equivalent).

And the L100 is an advanced point-and-shoot camera with an auto mode that takes care of all the details for you. In fact, you won't find much manual control, other than exposure compensation and white balance. The Coolpix L100 features a bright 3.0-inch LCD display, 4 way VR Image Stabilization (optical, motion detection - detects motion and adjusts the shutter speed, high ISO mode, and Best Shot Selector - automatically takes up to 10 shots and selects the sharpest image).

Rating:

4.6 out of 5

Value

If you're ready to make the move from a basic compact point-and-shoot to something a little more advanced, the Coolpix L100 is hard to beat for the street price. It's priced well below most of the competition with similar features, and Nikon quality is included in the price. It won't give you a lot of control over settings, but the enhanced zoom range will change your picture-taking opportunities by itself. And the 4-way image stabilization provides sharp images, even in less than ideal situations.

Performance

One complaint about the performance of this camera is the fact that it tends to choose higher ISOs to minimize camera shake, and the image quality above ISO 400 is degraded by noise reduction. This is compounded by the fact that there is almost no manual control over ISO. But if you're shooting in bright light, and can keep the ISO at 200 or below, the camera produces excellent quality images. And you won't notice the noise at ISO 400 unless you're making prints larger than 8x10 anyway.

Summary

A couple of things to keep in mind about this camera - it uses AA batteries, which is nice, but if you want to use rechargeables, you will have to buy them extra as they are not included And even though it looks like an SLR, it doesn't include a viewfinder - you'll have to compose your shots on the 3.0-inch LCD, which is not a problem even in bright sunlight. But if you're looking for an advanced point and shoot, and the extra zoom range appeals to you, give the Coolpix L100 a test-drive.

Pros

10 megapixel resolution
28mm-420mm (15X) zoom range
3.0 inch LCD
4-way image stabilization
Operates on 4 AA batteries

Cons

There are no cons for this product