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Details at a glance
Megapixels: 6
Zoom: 3x (opt), 4x (dig)
LCD screen: 2 inch
Storage: SD, 23mb int
Size: 91 x 60.5 x 20mm
Weight: 120g
(full details at the bottom of the page)
We clicked with
Excellent design, advanced features which actually work
Shots in the dark
3x optical zoom (4x would be nice…), very short battery life (50-100 shots with normal usage)
Links
More Nikon information
www.nikon.co.uk
Price Comparison:
Nikon Coolpix L2
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Appearance and features
Weight and appearance make this feel like a quality piece of equipment. The model I tested came in gunmetal grey, which will not scuff or mark too quickly. It also has a pleasing grip surface for your right hand (sorry southpaws!) and an attractive chrome coloured strip along the top and down one side. Whilst the L2 looks like a “camera”, I would also give it ten out of ten for understated styling. It runs on two AA batteries, which on cheaper cameras are preferable to manufacturers' own batteries. There's also a separate cavity for the SD media card, which is better than just having the one space shared with the battery.
The position of buttons on the camera is conventional, with the shutter and the on/off button, plus the microphone housed on top. On the back of the unit, to the right of the 1.8” screen there are (top to bottom) a zoom rocker switch, menu button, menu “compass” switch (called the “multi-selector” button in the manual), with the image recall and erase buttons underneath. At the very bottom is a slider switch with 3 settings - automatic camera mode, scene mode and movie mode. This conventional, by which I mean sensible, design means that (if you are right handed) the forefinger has access to the shutter and the thumb can access the zoom and other buttons.
Because the L2 has a slightly smaller screen than is found on some other cameras (1.8” is significantly tighter than the 2.5 or even 3 inch standard in this price range), you will generally have to hold the camera about 30cm from your eye to view the screen before taking the photo. This actually makes a lot of sense and I think this camera is an ideal point-and-shoot solution for most people.
Under standard automatic camera mode, the menu button offers speedy access to:
- five resolution options including 2 high quality 6 mega pixel modes and a medium resolution 3 mega-pixel mode
- plenty of white balance options
- exposure compensation up to +/- 2 E.V.
- single, continuous and multishot modes (multishot takes a timed sequence of 16 shots and pops them onto the same picture)
- best shot mode
- ...and a good range of colour modes.
Advanced Features
For the advanced user, Scene mode opens the set-up menu, with a wide selection of more specialist options. Some of these are found on almost all cameras in this price bracket (portrait, sport, night shot etc.) Others are less obvious, but definitely have their uses: backlight, for example, accounts for sunlight behind the subject. Dusk/dawn compensates very well indeed for low but ambient light. There's also a voice recording mode- but quite why you'd want to use your camera as a dictation machine remains a mystery, although you'll fit five hours of audio on a standard 256MB SD card…
The range of modes is excellent and you're invited to experiment a little- on other units the algorithms behind these modes can be cloying and functionally disappointing; here I found they really did do what was promised. The picture-driven scene menu is a real delight to use and it's not over shadowed by some over-designed manufacturer's theme. One very quickly recognises the symbols and, as a result, the camera becomes familiar and easy to use as quickly as possible.
While the L2 is basically an automatic point-and-shoot camera, it does have some more sophisticated features. D-lighting works well to enhance brightness and contrast after you have taken the picture. We found it very effective at adding colour to areas of shade. Panoramic mode works superbly (and does so on all Nikon digital cameras).
Software
Increasingly, the software that comes with a camera is being perceived as important. This is because people are, I believe, using it more and more. That's no doubt because manufacturers' software is slowly catching up with standalone software; whereas five years ago it was a cheap imitation. Nikon's Pictureproject is designed to be easy to use and to do what it does well. It helps to organise your photos, offers basic editing and allows users to share photos by offering simple email, print, slideshow and movie functions. It's no Photoshop, but it does live up to its promises.
The ability to import from other sources is now a standard feature with most camera software, allowing the user to marshal and store photos in one central place. Nikon Pictureproject builds on this with the ability to sort collections of photos and individual images by shooting date, import date and file type. Editing features include auto enhance and redeye reduction, as well as the basic rotate and crop.
Suits...
This camera suits non-technical users who want fast access to some fairly advanced functionality. It really is a camera that you can just pick up and start using immediately. The colour photos I took at 6 megapixels came out very well, and it coped admirably with overcast conditions. The colours were sharp and the borders between different areas of the photo produced the right amount of contrast.
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Ease of use 
Functions
Value for Money 
Overall 
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The Nikon L2 is compact, stylish and easy to use. Beneath this camera's sleek exterior lies a good range of features which are genuinely effective, not gimmicky. Perhaps designed with the youth market in mind, it deserves to be considered by a wider audience.
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Nikon L2 specification
| Mega-pixels: |
6 |
Photo: |
JPEG |
| Optical Zoom: |
3x |
Aperture: |
f/3.2-5.3 |
| Digital Zoom: |
4x |
Focal Length: |
38-116mm |
| LCD: |
2.0 inch |
Movie: |
MPEG (640x480 @ 30fps) |
| Dimensions: |
91 x 60.5x 26mm |
Microphone: |
Yes |
| Weight: |
120g |
PictBridge: |
Yes |
| Storage: |
SD, 23mb internal |
Battery: |
2 AA |
| RAW: |
No |
Interface: |
USB, AV |
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Included accessories: Rechargeable Ni-MH Battery EN-MH1 x 2, Battery Charger MH-71,
USB Cable UC-E6, Audio Video Cable EG-CP14, Strap, PictureProject CD-ROM |
