A compact, lightweight digital still camera with 2.0 effective megapixels and a powerful 3x zoom lens, the COOLPIX 2100 is an affordable, friendly and versatile model, even for... more
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A review by stellar371 on Nikon Coolpix 2100 June 25th, 2004
Author's product rating:
Picture Quality
Excellent
Range & Quality of Features
Excellent
Ease of Use
Easy
Durability
Good
Overall Look & Design
Satisfactory
Value for Money
Excellent
Advantages:
Small, light, very good quality pictures
Disadvantages:
A bit complicated
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I've had this camera for six months now, having been given it by my dad as a Christmas present. It has been a trusty companion in three European countries so far, and I'm hoping it will accompany me worldwide over the next decade or so - assuming it doesn't become obsolete as fast as some other technical gadgets!
First, what do you get for about £180 (it was a gift, but I know it's approximately that price)? The camera comes in a small box with charger, 2 NiMH Coolpix batteries, an 8MB Compact Flash (CF) Card, CD-rom for the computer, another piece of technical equipment I haven't used, a year's guarantee and many instruction leaflets for various components. I'm not a very technical person so do excuse anything I miss out on that score; I can only tell you about my experiences, so this won't be comprehensive. I have never used the CD-rom because my computer is not Windows, for example. In fact I bought a PC-line USB lead to transfer photos to my computer.
The camera itself, which I pounced on like a starving man grabbing for chocolate, is a squat little silver thing about 5 inches long, 4 high and 2 wide. Happily it doesn't seem to be delicate, but I've never yet dropped it. It has a dial on the top to switch between various modes, a twisting on/off switch and shutter button, a small LCD screen, a viewfinder if you prefer to take pictures the old-fashioned way, several buttons controlling the menu and delete functions, another dial-style button for flash and close-up modes, a zoom and a video cable socket. Whew. As well as the battery compartment and CF card slot. That is an awful lot to take in for someone new to digital photography - my brother had mastered it in about 10 minutes but it took me a few weeks to work out exactly what the 14 different modes do, and there are still variations I haven't tried. This is certainly a very versatile camera!
The two main instruction manuals, one for a quick glance as you first use the camera and the second more detailed, are both clearly laid out and easy to understand. All the modes are covered in the more detailed one, as well as trouble-shooting. Personally I prefer to experiment more than remain glued to the manual, however.
As it was a present, my dad had already charged it and done all the necessary settings, so I'm badly placed to comment on that. I could just point and click straight away! You'll be happy to know there is an "auto" mode, which is set to flash for normal daytime conditions. This produces some wonderful photos, and most of mine are taken in this mode.
The other modes include the following:
- close up - night landscape - dusk/dawn - sunset - beach/snow - party/indoor - museum - fireworks show - copy - back light - portrait (with lines on the screen to show a couple, a person on the right or left, etc), night portrait - architecture (with lines to show vertical and horizontal) - scenic view - landscape - sports, sports spectator, sports composite - manual, which you can edit as you wish - video (a 15s video clip without sound can be taken)
Some of these are identical, and some are simply frills - for instance the "scenic view" with the hills ready-drawn on the screen. However, it is good to know the camera "knows" what you are photographing!
The sports mode is particularly useful for moving shots, as it has something called "BSS" which means that the camera continually refocuses on the object. The party mode automatically adds red-eye reduction and a flash, while the museum mode is of course no flash. I have found the architecture mode handy for taking pictures of immensely tall cathedrals, while dusk/dawn mode has allowed me to take one or two lovely sunset pictures that look just like the real thing. The video would be great if I knew how to view them on my computer - but without sound, it's not an essential part of the camera's abilities.
In manual mode you can add flash, no flash or red-eye reduction, a close-up or BSS function or a 10-second timer. These can be added to other modes as well, which creates a fairly infinite range of functions. These are all denoted by little symbols on the camera screen (which can be removed while taking the photo if you wish), so you are rarely lost - unless you don't know all the symbols, and they do take time to learn.
The 3x optical zoom is one of the best parts of this camera. Not only can you use it while taking pictures - extremely useful when there's a bright yellow lorry parked in front of whatever scenic view - you can zoom in on pictures already taken (this would be the digital zoom), cut them if you wish, and see details you haven't noticed before. In display mode, it allows you to see up to 12 photos at once as thumbnails.
The 8MB CF card that comes with the camera will fit a fair number of photos on it - I don't know the exact number - but my 64MB one has more than 300 on it and shows no sign of running out of space. There is no multiple delete function on the camera; deleting lots at once has to be done on the computer.
I've only had a couple of difficulties with this camera. First of all the charger that came with it was faulty, so I had to have it repaired (I think it was actually replaced). This was happily covered by the Dixons guarantee and repair scheme. The 2000mAh batteries that come with the camera aren't as reliable, in my opinon, as some 23000 mAh ones I bought, which last longer. Nikon of course says that only the original Coolpix batteries are recommended for use in the camera, but you can interpret that as you wish.
The second disadvantage is that the on/off dial and the mode dial can change position when the camera is off, sometimes meaning it turns on saying "mode dial not in proper position", or that it runs down the battery being turned on while not in use. The camera doesn't come with a case, and not having £20 to purchase the Nikon Coolpix one, I bought a cheap Samsonite one, which, not being adapted to the dials, sometimes causes these problems.
I develop my photographs through a website, which has worked brilliantly and is pretty cheap. The print quality on my own printer isn't very good, but it's not designed for high resolution colour printing.
All in all this is a high quality camera for amateur use. Its long list of modes is daunting to look at, but I find I only use a few - and it's good to know the others are there, should I want them. The display on the screen is good quality and the photos that come back from the website I use are as good as, if not better than, normal photographs. I'm still in love with my Christmas present!
Advantages: good quality, reasonably priced, easy to use Disadvantages: no case
...onto you PC it installs Nikon View 6, and Arcsoft Panorama maker, Nikon view is where you can manage all of your pictures and where you control where they are uploaded to. The panorama maker is a very clever program where you can put in a few pictures you have taken of a building etc, that you have had to take more than one picture, it then puts all of them together to make one big, high quality, picture.
The camera comes with a 8mb card, which ... ...quick enough!! It then opens Nikon view for you where you can manage or edit them.
o0o0o0o Main Features o0o0o0o
2.0 Effective Megapixels
36-108mm 3x Zoom-Nikkor Lens (35mm equivalent)
14 scene modes
One touch transfer
Accepts type I CompactFlash cards
Overall this is a very good camera, it is small, light and very easy to use, creates very good quality pictures which upload very quickly, it has basically everything possibly wanted from a ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Compact, User Friendly, Quality, Fun, Good value Disadvantages: Not Robust, Not the most up to date model
This camera was the first digital camera I got and I have enjoyed using it although there are a few drawbacks. When I first got this camera it was about a year ago and it was reasonably advanced technologically speaking for that time. It certainly provided excellent value at the time for the features it had. From the research I did I felt that Nikkon were a good and trusted make in the field of digital cameras. First impressions of the camera were ... ...compact but not too awkward for people with big hands like me! Ergonomically it was excellent. The camera is great because it is as complicated as you want it to be. For example you can begin by just taking simple photos or you can explore the different settings to get the most out of the camera. There is an option on the camera to take small video footage although this is not fantastic as it is only for a short period and the quality of the footage ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Small, compact, user friendly, great picture quality Disadvantages: not robust, drains batteries
This was my introduction into the world of digital cameras, had used an old (and abused) kodak at work so had a pretty good idea.
I bought it 12 months ago at a cost of £180 which at the time was damn good for a 2million pixel camera, I went for it as I thought it nice and compact, looked really good and the demo I had from the shop. After spending 2 mins playing I'd already sussed out how most of it worked, using the zooms, taking and deleting ... ...it was very easy to pick up.
To be fair I don't get a fantastic amount of use out of the camera, which is a shame but I think for what i paid for it, it is certainly excellent value for money. The zoom is very good but I was amazed at the picture quality, on all resolution settings however the 8MB flash card that came with it isn't really big enough. In fairness flash cards are dirt cheap anyway but I would have thought maybe a 32MB would have been ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Battery life, good quality photos Disadvantages: shutter speed
I've had this camera since 2004 and it's been great! It's a lot bigger than the average digital camera you get these days but if you're looking for a basic first camera it does exactly what is says on the tin for a good price.
The one big disadvantage I've struggled with is the sutter release speed due to the auto-focus function. The manual says that you should half-press the photo button to allow the camera to focus and then press it fully once ... ...few seconds delay between pressing the button and the shot being taken. Not a problem if you're only photographing people but if like me you're attending concerts and sporting events you'll miss the shot of your dreams by a matter of seconds. I must admit, this could be user error on my part and maybe there is a special setting I should have put the camera onto.
The display screeen is smaller than todays standards, but the rechargable battery has ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Great size & useful features Disadvantages: None
...pack up. I knew the Nikon would be better, but had bought it to play around with and keep my APS camera for "proper photos".
- Boy, was I wrong! -
This Nikon is unbelievably good, and far better than any film camera in my opinion. 2.1megapixels is plenty. I took a picture in standard mode and printed it out on A4 paper. The result is indistinguishable from a photograph, with no loss of detail, and no grain. Try doing that in Boots!
What's really ... ...proof, with settings for almost every environment. Can't wait for bonfire night when I can use the fireworks setting. It automatically selects a slow shutter speed and long focus instantly, so you can quickly snap those displays! Brilliant.
It doesn't come with a carry case, and the power-on button is situated in such a place that it snags when you use a shop bought case. The support software is also excellent. Particularly love the panorama maker, ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Great price for a 5 megapixels camera, good battery life, easy to navigate menu Disadvantages: Poor picture quality, bad shutter lag,indoor pictures very poor, poor flash and so on...
...I was a big fan of Nikon, but this Nikon L3 really disappointed me.
I still have a professional, traditional, film Nikon camera and the pictures are just great. I had then a NikonCoolpix2100 as a point-and-shoot digital camera and it was absolutely fine. Then in October last year I decided to upgrade the Coolpix2100 to something better. I thought 5 million pixels would be enough, so I bought a NikonCoolpix L3, the new generation of Coolpix. Big mistake
The camera looks great, it has a sturdy, elegant and smooth finish and on paper it has a lot of features:
- 5 megapixels
- Nikkor 3x optical zoom lens (38-116mm in 35mm equivalent)
- Macro focus with AF as close as 1.6 inches
- The D-Lighting function that selects and creates a copy of images with excessive backlight or insufficient flash illumination, adding light...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Compact, light, good picture quality Disadvantages: Easy to switch on by mistake, have to carry separate charger
...for the Nikon bag, choose your camera pouch carefully. A neck strap would also have been more useful than the wrist strap.
Overall, a great purchase, and a very versatile camera for the money. It's widely available from photography specialists, electrical retailers, and online, with prices ranging from £270 to £315.
Update December 2003: You will still find this camera available new in a few stores, but the price has fallen to around £170. Ebay generally has one or two listed as well. If you are considering purchasing new, do compare it with the NikonCoolpix2100, which has mostly the same spec except there is less of a delay in starting up/reawakening the camera, and between pressing the shutter button and the camera taking the picture (shutter lag). These aspects of the 775 were pretty standard for the technology of the time so weren...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Simple to use, excellent picture quality, compact. Disadvantages: None that we have encountered yet.
...Knowing we wanted a digital camera, we did quite a bit of research in this country before buying in the States. We had decided on a NikonCoolpix2100, but found that we could get a 3100 in the States for less £££ than a 2100 here!
Although this was the first time we had gone digital, we have owned Nikon cameras in the past and always found them reliable and easy to use. The Coolpix 3100 is no exception. It is soooo easy to use. You can edit the pictures both in the camera and once you have loaded them onto your pc. (Putting them onto the pc has been a little slow, but I think this is more to do with the vagaries of our somewhat elderly pc rather than being the fault of the camera).
There are a number of different "modes" for taking photos with, not all of which we have yet had a chance to exploit fully - looking forward to trying...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
A compact, lightweight digital still camera with 2.0 effective megapixels and a powerful 3x zoom lens, the COOLPIX 2100 is an affordable, friendly and versatile model, even for those who are using a digital camera for the first time. The COOLPIX 2100 is ideal for people who want an easy-to-use digital still camera that offers great image quality, and who are looking to get more fun out of digital photography. The camera's compact body fits easily in a pocket for carry-anywhere portability.
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