Nikon Coolpix L20 Review

Together with different digital cameras on this sequence, the Nikon Coolpix L20 is essentially the most fundamental digital digicam I can bear in mind. Certain, a whole lot of that comes from its minimal options, however if you happen to’re searching for full simplicity, the Coolpix L20 may be very onerous to beat.

Key options embody 10 megapixels and a 3.6x optical zoom lens. This offers you adequate energy for bigger prints, and whereas the quantity of zoom accessible is near the anticipated minimal, it is nonetheless sufficient for quite a lot of commonplace social media photographs. Nikon has additionally included a big LCD display. It’s 3 inches tall.

As to be anticipated for one of these digicam, the value has been saved comparatively low. The case is plastic and whereas it is too large for many pockets, it is nonetheless a compact mannequin. There’s a raised grip space on the entrance. This may also help you retain the digicam regular when taking photographs.

The Coolpix L20 is one in every of fewer and fewer digital cameras that run on AA batteries. Cameras at this finish of the market nonetheless are usually battery hungry regardless of advances in know-how, so investing in good high quality, rechargeable batteries will prevent cash in the long term.

In case you take a look at the options accessible, you may get a default film mode and a alternative of predefined scene modes. The movies produced must be of enough high quality to be seen on a TV display, though it is value noting that there isn’t any widescreen TV mode or high-definition settings. I take advantage of the panorama scene mode for all panorama photographs I take with most Nikon digital cameras. I discover this helps stop sharpness from fading as you progress to the sides of a photograph.

In macro mode, you’ll be able to focus from a distance of 5 cm from a topic. I discovered my close-ups to be of fine high quality. When capturing brightly shiny objects in macro mode, it’s possible you’ll have to be careful for purple fringes that seem the place your gentle supply catches the topic. That challenge apart, you’d need to pay considerably extra to see a big distinction within the high quality of your close-ups.

A smile shutter mode has been included if you happen to like the thought of ​​routinely firing a shot when the digicam detects somebody smiling. I feel this can be a little bit of a gimmick, however you may discover it helpful from time to time.

The shutter lags for a single shot had been on par with different equally priced digital cameras, however I discovered that the digicam slowed down considerably when multiple shot was taken at a time. The digicam can also be a bit sluggish to activate and take the primary shot.

Within the spring of 2009, a glut of one of these digicam was launched. Nikon itself has launched two new cameras, with Canon, Olympus, Fuji, Panasonic, Pentax and Sony additionally stepping in with new choices. Of the cameras I’ve examined thus far, the Coolpix L20 is the simplest to make use of together with the Coolpix L19 and is only a contact behind the Canon Powershot A480 when it comes to picture high quality. I notably like the quantity of brightness Nikon brings to photographs, even with cheaper cameras like this one. One draw back when it comes to picture high quality is that the corners of photographs might be noticeably darker when the lens is not zoomed in in any respect. This is because of an imperfection within the lens and is tough to repair.