Nikon Coolpix L100: easy, compact and with super 15x zoom lens, perfect holidays partner
Sunday, July 5th, 2009It goes like this: the Nikon Coolpix L100 is a “bridge-style” camera that combines ease of shooting with the compositional freedom of a 15x zoom lens that covers everything from 28mm wide-angle to 420mm super-telephoto shooting.
As part of the ‘Life’ series, the Nikon Coolpix L100 sits in the Nikon range towards the bottom end. Still, a 10Mp sensor and 15x optical zoom aren’t anything to be sniffed at. On the surface it does seem that the only reason this camera was released was to satisfy the consumers who wanted a big zoom and nothing else.
The Nikon Coolpix L100 holds in a 15x optical zoom with Vibration Reduction for the zoom and distortion control for the wide shots.
On the back is the expected 3in LCD screen and very little else for simplicity’s sake.
Again, a few buttons are sat to the right of the screen for changing the mode you’re in or selecting macro, flash and drive options. The main modes are brought up for selection when you press the camera button. Easy auto makes everything point and shoot to a level I don’t normally experience. In this mode, the main menu allows you to change the resolution. That’s basically it for that mode, if you want to do anything else, you’ll have to choose the normal auto mode found at the bottom of the list.
There are only fourteen modes in the scene menu which is a little unusual for a camera that essentially takes control away from you. This could be down to the predictive auto systems that all cameras are having installed in them since Panasonic developed it. It works in the normal auto system and detects what type of photograph you’re taking then adjusts the mode the camera is in to suit. Of course, it can’t tell when you’re in a museum so there’s an option for that in the scene selections.
Looking at the menu and it’s just as simple as the rest of the Nikon Coolpix L100.
In auto mode there’s only two tabs to choose from for recording options and set up. You can also change the resolution, white balance, drive modes, colour options and take advantage of the distortion control. This could be a distinct advantage with the wide angle lens as it will cause distortion otherwise they wouldn’t include the feature on the camera.
Full info on Nikon’s L100 page.
It’s an all-time compact and easy camera: the Nikon Coolpix L100 retails for US $ 239.95, give it a try!