Beautiful pictures, simple to use, so many different features
Disadvantages:
I have just one little niggle .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I have enjoyed digital photography for five years now and have taken some thousands of photos. My last camera, which I reviewed, seems to have something wrong with it! I am not sure why but some of the pictures display a broken file error on the pc instead of the photo and this can be very frustrating because I can see the thumbnail which means I can see what I can't retrieve from the camera.
Anyway, enough of that, I decided that it was time to go and buy a new camera.
So, after work one afternoon I popped into my local Currys store and went and looked at the cameras on show behind a security glass case.
This was where I had some fun, reading all the blurb on several different cameras. I have had two Olympus cameras and was thinking of purchasing another, but comparing them to the Nikon I decided to change makes and hope for the best.
What was I looking for?
My last camera had 4 mega pixels so I wanted one with more than that, it also had a 3 x optical zoom lens so I wanted one with more of course. Olympus are known for good camera lenses so I wanted a camera with a good lens as well.
What did I buy?
A Nikon Coolpix L1 is what seemed to be the best value for money to me.
This camera has 6.2 Mega pixels for really clear pictures. Also it has a 5 x optical zoom. Face priority auto focus. It has a generous 2.5-inch LCD on the back. And the price was £199.00, which I thought was really reasonable.
So, after chasing round and round the shop trying to find someone to serve me, I was told they didn't have one in stock, having been in the shop for over half an hour I really wanted to leave with my camera so asked if I could have the display one.
Anyway, to cut a long story short (I am not reviewing the shop) I eventually left with my camera in it's box and went home.
What's in the box? And what's on the box?
The box is grey and has a nice picture of the camera on the top, on one side a pic of the front of the camera with system requirements listed in three different languages and on the other side a pic of the back of the camera and a list of features, once again in three different languages.
And in the box, along with the camera itself, there is a strap, USB cable, audio/video cable, 2 x AA batteries, picture project CD, a quick start guide and an instruction manual.
The instruction manual isn't very big but it is all in English and I sat and read it quite thoroughly before taking any pictures. It is well laid out and the instructions clear with pictures and diagrams showing you what they mean and what part of the camera they are explaining.
Using the camera.
When you first turn the camera on there is a general set-up screen to follow. This allows you to set the date and time, the language and browse through all the special features this camera has. I had fun playing with these, took some close ups, some garden shots, some pictures of the dogs and even some sport shots, which means you click once but get sixteen shots a fraction of a second apart, I got the dogs wandering up and down the garden and picked the best shot to save on the pc.
And then I ran out of memory!
I didn't actually take much notice in the shop when told there was 10 mb of internal memory and for more than that I would need to buy a SD memory card, well I did but it didn't register.
So I transferred my photos and off I went again, I took some pictures of the grandchildren and some close ups of myself.
The test for me is always how my pictures print.
The camera comes with Picture Project editing and printing software. I can't comment on that because I didn't even load it, I love my photo editing software and have used it for some time so know what I am doing with it.
I plugged the camera in via the usb lead and almost immediately I could transfer the photos onto the computer.
I have been really impressed with the red eye reduction element of this camera, more so than previous ones I have used. For once there is no red eyes glaring out at me in the faces of my grandchildren making them look like little devils.
I have printed a few pictures up to A4 size and they are clear, sharp and with no pixelation at all, very impressive but only to be expected.
There is an option when you print pictures to have the date and time on them, this feature can be turned off but is quite useful if you are a bit like me and forget to date or name your pictures when you transfer them to the computer sometimes.
The lens.
I am not going to wax lyrical about the beauty of a good lens, only to say that however many millions of pixels a camera has it shoots pictures only as good as it's lens can deliver. The Nikkor lens with 5 x optical zoom and 8-x digital zoom shoots wonderful pictures. The Nikon cameras of the past and future are well known for their quality lenses and professionalism of their photographs.
I have looked at the Nikon Website and read a lot about lenses that I don't pretend to understand so have included the address in case anyone wants to look and learn.
The Coolpix L1 has loads of features that you can play with to make your pictures either more beautiful or amusing.
Nikon has an exclusive feature called D lighting. This will lighten and brighten the picture you have just taken, on the camera with no need to plug it into a pc. So if you have taken what looks like a really good picture but the flash failed to go off or the subject is in shadow you just have to click and the camera gives you a side by side image of the original picture and a new brighter picture which you can save simply on the camera.
16 shot mode. A child running or jumping, have you ever stood at the edge of the sports field snapping away only to find your little darling is just out of shot every time? This feature takes shot after shot a fraction of a second apart so you are sure to get what you are hoping for.
Automatic red eye fix. Now I understand why I no longer have that dreaded red eye on some of my best shots. When you take a shot the cameras technology analyses the picture and automatically fixes any red eye, and this really is a brilliant thing for me.
BSS. Best shot selector. The camera takes a series of images and automatically selects the best shot. I haven't used this feature but now I will and see what a difference it makes.
The face priority auto focus mode means that if you are taking pictures of people they don't need to be in the middle of the picture for the camera to focus on their face. The camera will find a face and focus on it wherever it is in the picture. Nice one Nikon, makes taking pictures simple and having so much help with the focus means more time for fun pictures.
The camera has a setting for seamless panoramic views, and a setting for close up copying of documents, both these I haven't used much but in testing them out I was very impressed.
I did want to take some pictures of fireworks for New Year but by the time I found where I put the camera the best of them was over, this setting will be one I use in the future.
I can take photos in standard colour, vivid colour, sepia, black and white and cyanotype, which is blueish. The auto focus can be centred or automatic, this is useful for things that you want to take off centre. White balance can be set for cloudy conditions or for indoor flash conditions.
Update.
With this camera I can take short movies with sound. I hadn't even thought of that when I first wrote this review, but after looking at the features and movie icon on the top of the camera I realised I had left that out.
There are various options for making movies. I first set the camera to large file for watching on television and took an 8 second movie before my 10mb of memory had been used up. then I set it on small size and got 38 seconds of movie out of the 10 mb of memory. The middle size which is actually called small size takes 10 seconds of movie before using all the 10mb of internal memory, so not bad I guess. The sizes for the movies are 640 for the larges size, 320 for the medium size and 160 for the smaller size. I guess this refers to pixels.
The sound quality on the camera is somewhat tinny but on my pc the sound quality isn't bad at all.
The larges size movie you could watch on your tv which is pretty good and I should think with a memory card you could record longer movies.
The other thing that you can do with this camera is plug it into the television, that is if the television has the audio/video plugs and watch yourselves in the room and record yourselves. My grandchildren love to see themselves on the television screen and play and sing with such enthusiasm it is worth doing every so often.
There is also a help button with various help features and a movie making button. Making a short video with sound is great fun, but not what I do most of.
Was it worth the money?
I think so, I can't comment on the durability because I haven't had it more than a few weeks, but if this one goes the same way as my last camera in under three years at least this time I bought Currys three year replacement insurance.
I am having fun with the camera and at the end of the day taking photos for me is a fun thing to do.
The Nikon Coolpix L1 was made in China, on the base of the camera there are some specs, a screw hole so you can mount it on a tripod and set it to take timed photos so you can press the shutter button and run round the front to stand in the photo with your family or friends and an easily opened battery and card compartment.
When you turn it on by pressing lightly the little button on the top it plays a little tune, you can change the on/off display and have an animated one but that would be heavy on batteries I should think.
It is simple to use really and on the automatic settings takes some very good pictures, so if you are a novice with digital cameras you will get some great results and if you know a bit about what you are doing then you will get some really wonderful results.
High spec batteries are supposed to last for about 320 pictures, I am not sure I believe that but I have some good rechargables in mine and haven't had to change them yet, am up to a couple of hundred photos. I used to take more pictures but my daughter got her own digital zoom camera for Christmas and so doesn't use mine any more.
The only thing I found odd to start with was the fact that there is no viewfinder on this camera, this is the first I have had without one and it came as a bit of a shock, but the LCD is large enough and bright enough to use to line up your photograph even in sunny conditions so it isn't something I have missed yet.
Just one little niggle.
The cover for the usb lead is plastic and you lift and then twist it round, the first time I lifted it and tried to lift it right up, I didn't snap it off but think that it could easily be done, this is the only thing that I didn't think was good about the camera so still a great product.
I hope this review helps someone out there with choosing a camera, it really is a great camera that is affordable and a well known make.
