Nikon Coolpix L100

Opinion: I picked this up as a replacement for my SX100 after that was damaged. We had a replacement plan on it so I was restricted to what was in the store (Best Buy). I also wanted something with a better wide angle than the SX1X0 series. I'm planning on trying to take it back to the store and get a ZS1 instead.

The pluses:

The camera build quality is decent, it feels good in the hand and the camera looks good. At first the lens appears to be one of the best features, very fast to zoom in and out. Also the range is very useful with a real wide angle, 28mm-420mm. The flash is a decent unit, good reach but tones down nicely as well.

However the image quality is unacceptable. There is significant loss of detail at all ISO ranges. The camera will almost always shoot at ISO 400 indoors with the flash and when viewed at 100% even simple detail like hair is smudged and blurred. And significant noise still remains! This would be more forgivable if the noise was actually removed.

On top of that the highlight clipping and fringing is bad, much worse then that of my SX100 or even the A570 is before that. There is also significant blurring at the edges of the frame from the lens.

Also the interface is clumsy, the presets usually blow the white balance to heck and focusing is arbitrary and slow, especially in low light. The manual also says you are not supposed to use rechargeable batteries with this camera.

There are also NO manual controls, the only thing you can really adjust is the white balance (only in certain presets) and the exposure compensation. This is something I knew before I bought it, but some other reviews I read claimed the presets worked great. Not so in my experience, the only way I could get halfway decent photos was to keep it in standard Auto.

I give this a Don't Buy! Honestly is seems like they took a decent lens and put in the sensor from a $20 webcam. There are much better alternatives in the same price range.

Opinion: When I tested the camera, the contruction & feel felt good. The lens is fast & shutter speed is good.

What I did not like:
Picture quality is lousy. Pictures look as though you are looking thro' a foggy glass.
Cannot set ISO rating. All indoor pictures were 400+ ISO.
Has no manual controls.
Does not accept regular NiMh batteries. Need special NiMh batteries.

Opinion: I bought one for 200 Euro. I have not explored all the possibilities, but I would say that I am satisfied of the results so far. The first point is that the camera is targeted to the casual photographer, there is no histogram and the only possibility for manual control is +/-2 exposure compensation. There are no manual, aperture or shutter priority modes. There are instead quite a lot of "program modes": portrait, landscape, sport, ... museum, and this tells a lot about the intended customer. There is also no possibility to set the ISO, the camera does everything in auto mode.

The IQ is reasonably good and in line with my expectations for such a camera. I was not expecting DSRL quality and I did not get it, but as per any compact superzoom camera, I got reasonably good shots in bright light, and some noise reduction artifacts in low light. Anyway, the reason I bought this camera is that I was looking for a travel camera, and I like the handling, the fact that it works on cheap AA cells (I immediately bought a battery charger and eight NiMH AA cells), so I do not risk of not having power in the middle of a trip. An additional plus point is the standard lens cap and not the blades mechanism that tends to get stuck.

I managed to take about 300 shots with alkalines, I expect more with NiMH but I never went to the limit. Even if I have not that much control on the camera operation, I am starting to "teach" the camera to do what I want by using the canned program modes.

One last point, if you loose the cap, don't worry, a Nikon 52 mm cap fits nicely even if it is a little smaller. I also managed to take shots using a 52 mm polarizer filter and keeping in place with my left hand while holding the camera with the right hand.

Pros
- Good handling, "well built" feeling
- No lens shade mechanism (good 'ol "52 mm" cap)
- Uses cheap and worldwide available AA batteries (I recommend to buy a set of NiMH rechargeables)
- Easy to operate for a novice (almost no need to read the manual)
- Reasonable image quality (for the price)
- Reasonably fast performance (for the price)
- Manual flash activation (no pop up mechanism that might break and no risk of accidental flash activation where forbidden, e.g. in a museum)

Cons:
- No manual ISO setting
- No noise reduction control, noise reduction artifacts visible when shooting in low light (i.e. when the camera pumps up the ISO)
- Program mode only
- Canned programs of limited use
- No grid in the viewfinder (at least I have not found it)
- No filter thread (the lens could have been designed to accomodate 52 mm filters without problems)
- A little bulky and heavy (for me this is a plus), not recommended if you like small cameras.

All in all, the camera gives good performance for the price, but I would not recommend it to people willing to make their own choices. The camera does a reasonably good job, but leaves very limited control to the photographer.