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Introduction
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01.Product Tour
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02.Color
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03.Noise
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04.Resolution
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05.Video
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06.Sample Photos
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07.Playback
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08.Hardware
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09.Controls
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10.Design & Handling
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11.Canon SX120 Comparison
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12.Kodak EasyShare Z950 Comparison
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13.Panasonic DMC-ZS3 Comparison
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14.Conclusion
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15.Photo Gallery
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16.Comments
Nikon Coolpix L100
Previous: Page 2
ColorNext: Page 4
ResolutionNoise
Noise was relatively low, but the ISO range is limited, and can’t be set manually.
Noise (8.00)
Because there is no way to manually set the ISO level on the L100, this camera flunked our noise test. We test noise by analyzing the amount of noise in images taken at different ISO levels, but there is no way to set the ISO level of the L100 directly: the camera sets it automatically. What we were able to determine was that the L100 had about 0.8 percent noise at the highest ISO level of 800 that it supports in normal shooting modes, which is an acceptable but unspectacular result. This odd approach to ISO also means that we can’t feature our usual graphs of noise or sample files: because we need to be able to set the ISO directly to make these tests work, we can’t produce them. More on how we test noise.
ISO (5.50)
The L100 has an ISO range of 80 to 800 , but as we noted above, there is no way to set the ISO directly; the camera picks the ISO depending on the shooting mode. The L100 also works in an odd way in that the ISO levels are not set in particular steps: instead the camera sets odd levels in between such as 329 (which you’ll see below in the ISO 400 slot). In the standard auto mode, the ISO range is from 80 to 800, but this can be expanded up to 3200 at the cost of reducing the resolution to 3 megapixels.
| ISO Comparisons | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Nikon Coolpix L100 | Canon PowerShot SX120 IS | Kodak EasyShare Z950 | Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 |
| ISO Low | |||
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ISO 80
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ISO 80
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ISO 100
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ISO 80
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| Nikon Coolpix L100 | Canon PowerShot SX120 IS | Kodak EasyShare Z950 | Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 |
| ISO 200 | |||
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| Nikon Coolpix L100 | Canon PowerShot SX120 IS | Kodak EasyShare Z950 | Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 |
| ISO 400 | |||
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| Nikon Coolpix L100 | Canon PowerShot SX120 IS | Kodak EasyShare Z950 | Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 |
| ISO 800 | |||
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| Nikon Coolpix L100 | Canon PowerShot SX120 IS | Kodak EasyShare Z950 | Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 |
| ISO 1600 | |||
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| Nikon Coolpix L100 | Canon PowerShot SX120 IS | Kodak EasyShare Z950 | Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 |
NOTE: The images above are not used in our testing or scoring, but are included here to show real-world examples of the differences between cameras at the various ISO settings.
Shop for the Nikon L100
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