Nikon Coolpix L2

Reviewed April 2006

Characteristics

Equipped with a 1/2.5 inch, 6.18 million pixel CCD of which 6 million pixels are effective, the Coolpix L2 captures a maximum image size of 2816 x 2112 pixels. Sensitivity ranges from 50 to 200 ISO, and is completely controlled by the camera at all times and in all shooting modes.

The lens is a 3X Zoom-Nikkor composed of 5 elements in 5 groups. Offering a focal length of 6.3 to 19.2 mm, the lens is the 35 mm equivalent of a 38 to 116 mm. At the wide angle end, the zoom's aperture starts at f3.2 while at the telephoto end, the aperture range starts at f5.3.

Nikon also provides a 4X digital zoom for the Coolpix L2. The digital zoom is constantly active, and displayed as an extension of the optical zoom. The digital zoom crops the image an interpolates it to the currently selected image size, lowering the overall image quality noticeably, especially if its maximum "magnification" is used.

The Coolpix L2 has a shutter speed range that covers from 1/1500 to 4 seconds, but the complete range is not accessible to all modes, and the Auto mode for example has a maximum exposure time of 2 seconds.

Exposure metering is totally controlled by the camera, and accomplished using Nikon's Matrix metering pattern. Alternatively, a Centre-Weighted pattern can also be used by the camera.

Four image sizes are available with the Coolpix L2:

• 6M: 2816 x 2112 pixels;
• 3M: 2048 x 1536 pixels;
• PC: 1024 x 768 pixels; and
• TV: 640 x 480 pixels;

And only at the largest image size, 6M, is there a choice of compression: High, or Normal.

The image quality and size are selected in the Coolpix L2's short Shooting Menu. The menu starts out with a link to the Setup Menu, the content of which is detailed in the first part of the Interface and Software section of this review, and continues with:

• Image Mode: to select the image size and quality, as explained above.
• White Balance: Auto, White Balance Preset (allows setting the white balance using a neutral or white surface under ambient light), Daylight, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy and Flash.

• Exposure Compensation: provides a compensation range of ± 2 EV in 1/3 EV increments.
• Continuous controls the capture rate:
  • Single: captures one frame at a time.
  • Continuous: captures up to 10 images at 1.7 frames per second with the camera set to 6M Normal while the shutter release is pressed.
  • Multi-shot 16: captures 16 images at a rate of 2 frames per second and saves them as a mosaic in one 2816 x 2112 pixel image (unlike the Sports Scene mode option which uses a 1600 x 1200 frame).

• Best Shot Selector: when active, this option allows the Coolpix L2 to capture up to 10 images while the shutter release is held down, and the image with the best overall sharpness is then saved. The mode does not allow the use of the flash.
• Colour Options serves to select the way colours are recorded by the camera:
  • Standard Colour records natural colours.
  • Vivid Colour accentuates colour saturation.
  • Black and White.
  • Sepia.
  • Cyanotype records images a blue-tinted monochrome image.

The Movie mode menu is even shorter, offering only 2 options in addition to the access to the Setup menu:

• Setup: is the access to the Setup menu (see the Interface and Software section of the review).
• Movie Options allows selecting the type of movie to capture (see the Ergonomics section of the review for more information about the types of movies that can be recorded):
  • TV Movie 640
  • TV Movie 640
  • Small Size 320
  • Small Size 320
  • Small Size 160

• Autofocus Mode:
  • Single AF: the camera focuses at the the first frame of the movie.
  • Full-Time AF: the camera constantly adjusts the focus.

When the Coolpix L2 is set to the Playback mode the menu also starts with an access to the Setup menu followed by:

• Print Set: serves to select images for printing, either when the Coolpix L2 is connected directly to a PictBridge compliant printer, or when images are printed by a service or with a device that is DPOF compliant. The number of copies to make of each photo, and whether or not the shooting date and time will be superimposed on the image can be decided as well.

• Slide Show: starts an automatic slide show of the images in memory using a 3-second interval.
• Delete serves to delete selected images or all images.
• Protect allows selecting images and making their file "read-only" so they cannot be accidentally deleted.
• Transfer Marking serves to select images for automatic transfer from the Coolpix L2 to a computer on which Nikon's software (Picture Project) is running.

• Small Pic allows making a smaller size copy of an image already captured at any one of three image sizes: 640 x 480, 320 x 240 or 160 x 120 pixels.
• Copy: allows copying images stored in the internal memory to a memory card or vice-versa.

Moreover, when an image is displayed on the monitor and magnified, pressing the shutter release will record the portion of the image currently showing on the monitor as a new image but at a smaller size than the original.

In North America the Coolpix L2 is not retailed with a memory card as it has a 23 MB internal memory. Nevertheless, the Coolpix L2 is compatible with SD (Secure Digital) memory cards, and a card slot is provided on the right side of the camera, behind a solid little door.

The approximate number of images and the length of movies that can be captured using the 23 MB internal memory and an optional 256 MB SD memory card are shown below:

The Coolpix L2 is powered by two AA-size batteries. In Canada, the camera is retailed with 2 Nikon brand rechargeable Ni-MH (EN-MH1) batteries and a 2-battery charger (MH-71) which charges fully depleted batteries in approximately 2.5 hours.

The charger offers a battery refresh option which can be used when batteries no longer hold a charge as long as they did when they were newer. Refreshing may need to be done a few times, each discharge cycle taking approximately 5 hours, and can return batteries to near their original capacity.

The Coolpix L2 has only one external connection, on the lower left side of the camera, near the LCD monitor. The connection serves both USB and AV (NTSC or PAL is selected in the Setup menu) and both cables are included with the camera.