Nikon Coolpix L100 Review
- Nikon Coolpix Camera Problems
- Nikon Coolpix L100 Firmware Update
- Coolpix L100 Camera
- Nikon Coolpix L100 Manual
- Nikon Coolpix L100 Review
It's really pretty amazing what Nikon is able to offer on the Coolpix L110. For the same MSRP as 2009's L100 ($279.95), Nikon retains that model's wide-angle lens with 15x zoom and sensor-shift image stabilization, but increases the camera resolution from 10 to 12 megapixels and the 3-inch LCD resolution from 230K dots to 460K; added a 720p movie mode, a built-in stereo microphone, and HDMI output; added use of the optical zoom and autofocus while shooting video; and includes four AA lithium batteries for 840 shots or 7 hours of video out of the box.
Underneath all the features, though, is still an entry-level point-and-shoot camera. Shooting options are geared for automatic use. Photos taken with plenty of light are generally nice, but noticeably worsen in low-light conditions. And the shooting performance is best for still subjects, not fast-moving children, pets, and athletes.
| Key specs | Nikon Coolpix L110 |
| Price (MSRP) | $279.95 |
| Dimensions (WHD) | 4.3 x 3 x 3.1 inches |
| Weight (with battery and media) | 14.4 ounces |
| Megapixels, image sensor size, type | 12 megapixels, 1/2.3-inch CCD |
| LCD size, resolution/viewfinder | 3-inch LCD, 460K dots/None |
| Lens (zoom, aperture, focal length) | 15x, f3.5-5.4, 28-420mm (35mm equivalent) |
| File format (still/video) | JPEG/MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 (.MOV) |
| Highest resolution size (still/video) | 4,000x3,000 pixels/ 1,280x720 at 30fps |
| Image stabilization type | Mechanical and digital |
| Battery type, CIPA rated life | AA size (4 lithium included), 840 shots |
| Battery charged in camera | No |
| Storage media | SD/SDHC cards |
| Bundled software | Software Suite for Coolpix (Windows/Mac) |
The body of the L110, though compact, leans toward digital SLR size and not a pocketable megazoom. It'll fit uncomfortably in a large coat pocket, but basically you'll need to carry it with the included neck strap or in a roomy bag. Available in black and red versions, it's a nice-looking camera and the larger body makes it easier to steady its 15x zoom lens. The deep hand grip has a textured rubber strip on it, too, helping keep your fingertips from slipping. It's made mostly of plastic, but it doesn't feel cheap.
The controls and menu system are fairly uncomplicated, so out-of-the-box shooting shouldn't be a problem. The menu system is broken into three tabs: Shooting, Movie, and Set up. The layout keeps you from doing too much hunting through settings, not that there's all that much to adjust. (For example, you can't even turn off the digital zoom.) That's not to say it won't take a little effort to get the most from this camera, but the basics of shooting a photo or movie are easy and Nikon includes a full paper manual if you do need help.
As for controls, on top at the front of the hand grip is the shutter release surrounded by a zoom ring; the power button is behind it and though it's flush with the body, it is easy to find without looking. Down the right side of the LCD on back are the remaining controls. At the top, squeezed between the large thumb rest and the screen, is a record button for movies. (There is no Movie mode you have to enter, though it does take a couple seconds to start recording once you've pressed the button.) Below that is a shooting mode button labeled 'Scene' with a playback button to its right; a four-way control pad with a select button in its center; and then Menu and Delete buttons at the very bottom. The control pad is used for menu and image navigation as well as setting the 10-second self-timer (there are no other options), adjusting flash and exposure compensation, and turning on macro focus. All in all, it's a pretty standard digital camera arrangement.
Apr 25, 2009 Nikon’s new easy-to-use compact super-zoom. Like all super-zoom cameras the most obvious feature is the lens. The L100 follows the recent trend to include wide-angle capabilities, and has a 15x. Thank you for your purchase of a Nikon C OOLPIX L100 digital camera. This manual was written to help you enjoy taking pictur es with your Nikon digital camera. The Nikon CoolPix L100 has a 10-megapixel sensor and a 15x zoom lens with an aperture of f/3.5 at its widest point and f/5.4 at its maximum zoom point. It can take pictures as wide as 28mm, or zoom up to 420mm.
There is no viewfinder. You'll have to rely on the LCD for framing shots, which can make steadying the zoom lens a little frustrating. The LCD is bright enough for use in direct sunlight, however, and the high resolution helps sharpen images and text. If you use a flash at all, the one on the L110 has to be raised manually. The raising part isn't the issue, though; unlike most point-and-shoot cameras, the L110 won't tell you when to use the flash unless it is raised. Considering its entry-level positioning, it seems unusual to make the user decide when to raise the flash.
On the bottom is a locking door covering the SD/SDHC card slot and batteries. The camera uses four AA-size batteries. You can use alkaline, NiMH rechargeables, or lithium. Most manufacturers include alkaline batteries, which would only last about 270 shots; Nikon includes lithium cells that should last three times as long. NiMH is rated for up to 500 shots. On the right side of the body is a small DC input for an optional AC adapter. The left side has a covered panel with Mini-HDMI port and Micro-USB/AV ports.
| General shooting options | Nikon Coolpix L110 |
| ISO sensitivity (full resolution) | Auto (80-800), 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1,600 |
| White balance | Auto, Custom, Daylight, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy, Flash |
| Recording modes | Easy Auto, Scene, Sport Continuous, Smart Portrait, Auto, Movie |
| Focus modes | Center, Face Detection |
| Metering modes | Evaluative, Center-weighted (when using up to 2x digital zoom), Spot (digital zoom of 2x or more) |
| Color effects | Standard, Vivid, Sepia, Black & White, Cyanotype |
| Burst mode shot limit (full resolution) | Four |
Its design might lead you to believe that this camera would have advanced shooting modes, but the L110 is very much a point-and-shoot. There are two Auto modes on this camera. One is Easy Auto, which uses scene recognition (Nikon calls it Scene Auto Selector) and adjusts settings appropriately based on six common scene types. If the scene doesn't match any of those, it defaults to a general-use Auto. Then there is an Auto mode, which is similar to the program AE modes on other point-and-shoots, giving you a modicum of control over your end results. You can change ISO, white balance, and exposure compensation as well as color, flash, and continuous shooting modes. Light metering is locked to multipattern unless you're using the digital zoom, and the focus area is fixed to the center of the frame.
If you're able to decipher the type of scene you're shooting, it may correspond to one of the camera's 13 selectable scene modes. All of the scenes are standards like Portrait and Landscape, and there is a Panorama Assist for lining up a series of shots that can be stitched together with the bundled software.
Nikon's Smart Portrait System gets its own spot in the shooting-mode menu. Basically, it combines a Blink Warning, Smile Shutter, In-Camera Red Eye Fix, and Face Priority AF (autofocus) features into one mode. The System works well, in particular for self-portraits, allowing you to take pictures without pressing the shutter release or setting a timer.
Also in the shooting modes is a Sport Continuous option for capturing up to 20 photos at approximately 11 frames per second. In order to do this, the maximum resolution is reduced to 3 megapixels; the focus, exposure, and white balance are fixed at the first picture in the series; and the ISO is set to a range of 640-3,200. These things aren't unusual for burst modes on low-end (or even some high-end) cameras, but that doesn't make the results any more useable. You'll capture something, although you won't be able to do much with them beyond Web sharing.
- Pros
Easy operation. Inexpensive. Waterproof to 33 feet. Scene modes and filters. SnapBridge Wi-Fi.
- Cons
Low-res LCD. Smartphone-level image quality. Modest zoom range. Omits manual controls.
- Bottom Line
The Nikon Coolpix W100 is a tough, inexpensive camera at a reasonable price, but image quality isn't any better than a good smartphone.
The Nikon Coolpix W100 ($159.95) is an attractive rugged camera for families who want something they don't have to worry about dropping or getting wet. Simplified controls and large buttons make it easy for kids to use, and Wi-Fi and NFC are included for seamless image transfer to your smartphone. You won't get much benefit in image quality versus using your iPhone, although the W100 is equipped with a modest zoom lens. The real benefits are the low cost and sturdy design. If you're looking for a point-and-shoot you don't have to worry about breaking and that won't break the bank, give the W100 a shot.
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Design
The W100 measures 2.6 by 4.3 by 1.5 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.2 ounces. The body sports rounded edges, a lens that doesn't extend when zooming, and large buttons that are comfortable to press. You can buy the camera in blue or white.
The lens is a modest 3x zoom, matched to a 1/3.1-inch CMOS image sensor. It's roughly the same sensor size you get in an iPhone, but the W100 has slightly more pixels, 12.9MP. The lens covers a 30-90mm field of view in full-frame terms, with an f/3.3-5.9 variable aperture—you're going to want to use the flash for low-light photography.
Operation is almost fully automatic. You can turn the flash on or off, and select a Scene mode to fine-tune settings for specific shots—cityscapes at night, fireworks, underwater photography, fast action, macro, and other common options are included.
You can access the Scene options, and other settings, using the four buttons that run in a column on the left side of the rear LCD. An overlay menu runs next to them, and if you dive deeper into the menu their functions change. The menu isn't dense. You can change basic options, like set a self-timer, suppress the flash, adjust color output, add decorative borders to images, and connect the W100 to your smartphone.
If you're serious about photography, you'll miss the ability to set the shutter speed, aperture, or ISO manually. But that won't bother most casual users, who want the camera to capture pleasing photos without any fiddling. As such, there are only a couple of shooting controls—a four-way pad on the rear adjusts zoom using its up and down positions, and there are buttons on the top to snap images or start and stop videos.
Nikon Coolpix Camera Problems
The rear LCD isn't going to wow anyone. It's a little small at 2.7 inches, and not that sharp at 230k dots. Viewing angles are fine from the left or right, but if you hold the camera above your head or at your waist, you'll have a hard time viewing the screen.
The W100 is waterproof to 33 feet. I didn't take it that deep, but I did submerge it in a bowl of water, and it continued to work without issue. The camera is also rated to survive drops from 5.9 feet, is resistant to dust, and can work in temperatures as low as 14 degrees Fahrenheit.
Connectivity
Nikon's Wi-Fi system is called SnapBridge. If your phone supports NFC, you can just tap it to the camera to pair, but if you have an iPhone you'll need to pair using the SnapBridge app. It connects the W100 and your phone via Bluetooth, which also means the W100 will automatically add GPS data to images and set clocks via information gathered by your smartphone.
If you're using the W100 for the occasional snapshot or event, you can set it up to automatically transfer photos to your phone via Bluetooth. This all happens in the background, without you having to do anything. This makes it easy to share images shot with the W100 on Facebook or Instagram. Photos are downsized to 2MP before transfer, so you won't fill up your phone's memory. Still, that's plenty of resolution for social media, and you can use a phone app to filter or edit images, as I did with the black-and-white shot above.
You can also use your phone as a remote. To do so you'll need to connect via Wi-Fi—don't fret, the app walks you through the simple process. You'll get a live feed from the W100 on your phone's screen and you can use it to adjust the zoom or fire an image. When connected via Wi-Fi you have the choice of sending full-resolution or downsized 2MP images to your phone as you shoot. Full quality files are saved to the W100's memory card.
The W100 has one access door, at the bottom, with a single-locking design. You'll need to pull the lock back toward the rear while sliding the door outward to the side in order to open it. Inside you'll see the removable battery, an SD card slot, and micro USB and micro HDMI ports. The camera must be recharged via micro USB, there's no external charger included. CIPA rates the battery for 220 shots per charge, but using SnapBridge will cut into that figure.
Performance
The W100 delivers pretty decent speed. It starts, focuses, and fires in about 1.6 seconds, a fine figure for a compact. Autofocus locks on in about 0.2-second, not the fastest we've tested, but also not slow. And if you enable the continuous shooting Scene mode you can fire off images at 4.8fps for up to 12 shots. You can keep shooting longer, but the camera slows to about 1 shot every 2.5 seconds. There is some recovery time needed after a full burst, about 30 seconds to write all of the images to a card.
Image quality is on par with a smartphone. Imatest shows that the lens resolves 1,700 lines per picture height at its widest angle on a center-weighted sharpness test, which is a bit less than the 1,800 lines we look. The very center is crisp, but edges lag behind, which is typical of a point-and-shoot. Quality suffers when zoomed all the way in, dropping to 1,077 lines. That's not as good as you get with the wide-angle lens found in an iPhone or premium Samsung Android handset, but it's better than what you'd manage with a digital zoom or crop of your phone camera.
See How We Test Digital Cameras
There's no manual ISO control, but I was able to test the W100 from its lowest sensitivty to light (ISO 125) through ISO 800 by adjusting the power of our studio lights. Nikon says the W100 can shoot at ISO 1600 at maximum, but I couldn't get the camera to use that setting, even when the lights were dim enough to force a 1/2.5-second exposure at ISO 800.
Noise never exceeds 1.5 percent, although the W100 uses some very agressive noise reduction to keep grain out of images at higher ISOs. We see the most detail at ISO 125, which is expected, but it won't blow you away. There's muddiness in the smallest areas of our test scene, with very close lines melding together due to lack of resolution. Lines with more space between them are distinct. At ISO 250 those distinct lines haven't quite melded togehter, but their edges aren't distinctly delineated—the result is a slightly blurred photo.
Nikon Coolpix L100 Firmware Update
Blur is more of a problem at ISO 400. The lines that were previously individual have now started to run together. There's some slight additional blur at ISO 800. Results are very simlar to what we see from the iPhone 7 and the Galaxy S7 at comparable settings, although the phones have the advantage of crisper, brighter prime lenses.
The 1080p30 video, captured in MP4 format, is slightly cropped, so you'll lose some wide angle coverage. Details are crisp, especially in the macro focusing range, and the camera refocuses as the scene changes, though it is a bit slow to do so. Audio sounds hollow and distant, which is typical for a waterproof camera.
Conclusions
Smartphone cameras, especially those on flagship models, have wiped out most of the market for low-cost digital cameras. The Nikon Coolpix W100 doesn't give you any sizable advantages over an excellent smartphone in terms of image quality—in some ways, it lags behind, omitting 4K video and delivering images that aren't quite as crisp as a high-end iPhone or Galaxy. But that's not the big appeal here. The W100 is an affordable, tough, waterproof camera that's a solid option for families with kids. It can be used at the beach or poolside without worry, and if you do end up losing it or breaking it, you won't be out a lot of money—the same can't be said about a flagship phone. If you're in the market for an inexpensive camera and don't demand top-end image quality, the W100 is worth a look.
Nikon Coolpix W100
Bottom Line: The Nikon Coolpix W100 is a tough, inexpensive camera at a reasonable price, but image quality isn't any better than a good smartphone.
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