Nikon Coolpix L100

Shooting Modes (8.67)

For a low-end camera, the L100 contains a decent selection of shooting modes. In addition, there is a movie mode and two auto modes: Auto and Easy Auto mode. The latter puts everything into automatic mode, while the Auto mode allows the user to control some features of the camera (such as the flash mode and using exposure compensation). Conspicuously absent from this camera is any sort of manual mode: there is no shutter or aperture priority, and there is no way to set the shutter speed or aperture directly.

Auto Mode Features

Focus – The L100 uses a contrast detection focus system, and we found it to be somewhat slow, with the camera often taking a couple of seconds to find the right focus point. It was even worse in low light, where the camera often failed to find a focus point at all, showing a red rectangle in the middle of the screen to indicate it can’t focus successfully. This can be helped if you enable the AF Assist light, but this bright red light is rather bright and can almost blind the subject, and the fingertips at the top of the camera grip can often block the source of the light if the camera is held loosely in the hand. A macro mode is also included which can fous down to 1cm from the front of the lens. This is restricted to use in the middle of the zoom range, though: at the wide and telephoto ends, the minimum focus distance is much further out. A marker on the zoom indicator shows the optimum spot when the macro mode is activated.

Exposure – The only direct control the user gets over exposure is the ability to add +/- 2 stops of exposure compensation, with 1.3 of a stop steps. There is no option to automatically bracket shots in case the auto exposure gets it wrong.

Metering – The L100 offers a 256-segment matrix metering mode, center weighted and spot metering. However, you wouldn’t know it, as the camera decides which one to use in all of the modes: there is no way to set the metering mode directly.

Aperture – The aperture range of the lens built into the L100 is somewhat small; across the zoom range it is just f/3.5 to f/5.4. This is also not a real aperture setting: the camera uses a filter to reduce the amount of light coming in, not a proper aperture ring. This means that the camera has no way to alter the depth of field you get in photos.

Shutter Speed – The shutter speed range of the L1000 is equally small: in most modes it is restricted to 1/1000 to 2 seconds. In the sports mode, this can be extended to 1/4000 out to 15 seconds.

Self-Timer – Only a single self timer mode is available, which uses a delay of 10 seconds. There is also a smile shutter mode, which takes the photo when the camera detects a smiling face in the frame. There is no way to adjust the timing of this mode or any other options.

Scene Modes

There are 14 scene modes on offer (including the usual selection of portrait and landscape modes), plus three special modes for continuous sports shooting, high sensitivity and a smile mode. The latter uses the smile detection feature to take the photo when the subject is smiling.

Picture Effects (2.00)

The L100 only offers a few ways to tweak images in the camera: you can set the color options to shoot with vivid color, in black and white, sepia or to try and make the photo look like an old school Cyanotype.

None of these modes can be adjusted, and if you shoot with them turned on, you can’t undo the effect. So, it is best avoided unless you are certain you want the look. For the sake of the people who have to appear in and look at your photos, please at least take one photo with and another without the effects enabled.

Picture Samples
Standard Vivid Black and White Sepia Cyanotype More...

Manual Controls (5.18)

Five preset white balance settings are available: Daylight, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy and Flash. In addition, a full auto mode and a preset manual mode are offered, where the user points the camera at a white object and it measures the white point.

Drive/Burst Mode (2.00)

Calling the continuous mode of the L100 a burst mode is rather like calling a tortoise a fast animal because it’s faster than a snail; it is technically true, but hardly fair. The L100 can capture just 3 images at a rate of around 0.9 frames a second. You can get a quicker burst if you use the Multi-shot 16 mode, which captures 16 photos at a reduced resolution, and mosaics them onto a single photo. This captures 16 images in around 2 seconds, for an 8 frames per second frame rate. It’s a neat trick, but it doesn’t get around the fact that this is a slow camera. There is also a mode called BSS (for best single shot) where you hold down the shutter and the camera keeps taking photos at around a 1-second interval, but it only keeps the last shot. The idea is that you hold the shutter down until you see the best shot pop up on screen, then you release the button and it keeps the shot. Unfortunately, if you don’t take your finger off the button and miss a shot, there is no way to go back.

Shot to Shot (0.91)

We measured the frame rate of the 3 frames that the L100 can capture at around 0.9 frames a second.