Nikon COOLPIX L100

We pick apart this superzoom compact, revealing exactly what it has on show

Nikon’s portfolio of COOLPIX compact cameras is grouped into Performance, Life and Style: the L100 comes under Life. To understand this category better, it's a good idea to look at the other two falling either side of the L100. The company's slimmest and easiest to use cameras come under Style; offering slip-in-the-pocket, quick photography, while being stylish and fun at the same time. The upper-end of Nikon’s COOLPIX range is Performance, containing all the superzoom bridge cameras with maximum manual controls that a compact could possibly give. These are also without the extra lenses that you would have with a DSLR. This places the L100 in a category that’s in between with a select few others. It’s a blend of both Style and Performance, trying to create a happy medium.

 The L100 is a 10.1MP superzoom compact, with a wide-angle lens ranging from 28-420mm (35mm equivalent). The camera’s central focus is its large lens, which is supported by Nikon’s Vibration Reduction (VR) system; a technology that shines through in the company’s DSLR lenses, and also in the L100. The concern for blurred results is reliably taken care of, as the VR system comfortably performs when shooting at its full 15x optical zoom. The camera’s long zoom also means there is a large front element to lens, and gives hope to improved image quality. But, surprisingly, the L100 has a poor dynamic range when capturing important highlights and dark shadows in one shot. The solution is to control the lighting, either using the on-camera flash or with another light source. But this is not always possible; especially in natural light where sunlight is the over-powering source.

 This, unfortunately, leads to another negative when it comes to image quality. Purple fringing is a problem when reviewing images back on a larger screen. Where the camera struggles to capture details in the highlights, the contrast between the shadows is accentuated making the discolouration even clearer. It’s a disappointing discovery to make for a lens with such a dynamic focal length. And on the other hand, the 28mm wide-angle lens is a joy to use, and having a long tele-photo length of 420mm (15x optical), the camera suits most situations that you will likely come across.   

  The L100 has been built with the more active photographer in mind. Its grip on the side, which houses the 4x AA batteries, provides a comfortable enough handle to shoot with one hand, although room is tight between the grip and lens barrel. The flash has no dedicated pop-up button, and requires you to manually push it up when the time comes. All other buttons and controls are sensibly placed. The zoom control circles the shutter button, and the various scene selections and other mode settings, such as Movie mode, are all controlled with the buttons on the back. The design fault occurs, unfortunately, when you change or remove the SD memory card that’s stored behind the same panel as the batteries. All four AA batteries slide out of the compartment unwillingly, and remembering to point the camera up is a must.

 The variation of Scene modes is modest, but the L100 has an Easy Auto mode, requiring you to only set the image quality. Its Sports Continuous mode can capture 30 shots at a rate of 13fps, but this comes at the cost of image quality, reducing itself to 3MP for the fast succession. Smile mode is where the camera takes a shot whenever a smile is detected in a portrait, and the High ISO mode sets the camera to shoot up to its maximum setting of ISO 3200. With the exception of White balance, the camera lacks any significant manual controls. There are no separate adjustments for ISO, aperture and shutter speeds, and for the more experimental photographer this could start to feel very limiting. Noise in images is bearable but with no control over the setting it’s hard to know the final quality.  

 So where does the L100 fit in? For advanced photographers the camera is limiting, with no manual control for the aperture and shutter settings. Delving into the company’s Performance category of COOLPIX cameras would be more suited. If you’re interested in a camera with excellent zoom capabilities and fast reactions, then the L100 is ideal. 

Final Verdict The L100 offers simple photography in a well-built camera, but image quality needs to be improved to make it a great compact camera. OVERALL

Simon’s spent many experimental hours in a homemade, traditional darkroom, and has now transferred that knowledge into the realms of digital with a critical eye.