Nikon Coolpix L100

	Color
	Product Tour	Page 3 of 16	Noise

Color Accuracy (9.50)

We test color by shooting a Gretag Macbeth color chart under tightly controlled lighting conditions, then analyzing the accuracy of the resulting images. We found that, like most Nikons, the L100 had pretty good color accuracy: most of the colors on our test chart are pretty close to the originals, although we did notice a slight shift in some of the blues and the reds. But these shifts were minor. We test all of the color modes that cameras offer and we found that the best results were, perhaps unsurprisingly, from the Standard color mode: the Vivid mode overly saturated the colors. Click here for more on how we test color

The following chart show samples of the color values captured by each of four comparable cameras in their most accurate color modes. The color names are taken directly from the X-Rite Colorchecker chart.

	Camera Color Comparisons
	Ideal	Nikon L100	Canon SX120	Kodak EasyShare Z950	Panasonic DMC-ZS3
Dark Skin
Light Skin
Blue Sky
	Ideal	Nikon L100	Canon SX120	Kodak EasyShare Z950	Panasonic DMC-ZS3
Foliage
Blue Flower
Bluish Green
	Ideal	Nikon L100	Canon SX120	Kodak EasyShare Z950	Panasonic DMC-ZS3
Orange
Purplish Blue
Moderate Red
	Ideal	Nikon L100	Canon SX120	Kodak EasyShare Z950	Panasonic DMC-ZS3
Purple
Yellow Green
Orange Yellow
	Ideal	Nikon L100	Canon SX120	Kodak EasyShare Z950	Panasonic DMC-ZS3
Blue
Green
Red
	Ideal	Nikon L100	Canon SX120	Kodak EasyShare Z950	Panasonic DMC-ZS3
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan

NOTE: Because of the way computer monitors reproduce colors, the images above do not exactly match the originals found on the chart or in the captured images. The chart should be used to judge the relative color shift, not the absolute captured colors.

Color Score Comparisons
		Compare to Canon SX120
		Compare to Kodak EasyShare Z950
		Compare to Panasonic DMC-ZS3

Color Modes (4.00)

There are 5 color modes on offer, ranging from the standard options (Standard and Vivid color) to the novelty (Black-and-white, Sepia and Cyanotype). The latter three are best ignored; the effect cannot be undone if you don't like it after shooting, and better results can be produced by any image editing program.

See how the competition stacked up against the Nikon L100
Canon SX120	Kodak EasyShare Z950	Panasonic DMC-ZS3