Nikon Coolpix L2

Reviewed April 2006

Test Photos

STILL LIFE PHOTO

This subject is photographed in a room that has a mix of fluorescent and incandescent light, but which is not brightly lit. The camera's flash is used to add fill light. The backdrop is 1.95 m (6.5 ft) from the camera.

The Coolpix L2 does not provide any control over the sensitivity of the CCD, the camera adjusting it as necessary. However, the camera's program seems to favour low ISO settings — these avoid noise — and the result is that with flash photography the range of the flash is quite limited. To brighten the image, an exposure compensation setting of +1.3 EV is used, resulting in the image presented here.

ZOOM PHOTO

Now we zoom in on a specific area. The intent is to test the sharpness of the image at the zoom's maximum setting. The camera remains at the same distance as with the preceding photo.

At the greatest magnification of the optical zoom, the maximum aperture available to the L2 is f5.3. Although the L2 automatically increases the sensitivity to compensate for the loss in brightness caused by the smaller aperture, it is still necessary to add +1 EV of exposure compensation to brighten up the image.

Again the image retains a very good level of detail and is a bit less compressed (6.7:1) than the wide angle shot above.

The optimal Macro focal length of the Coolpix L2 is indicated by the macro icon turning green on the monitor. In Macro Mode the L2 is able to focus on a subject that is approximately 10 cm from the front element of the lens.

In the Macro mode, the zoom remains partially useable, and it can be used to narrow the field of view considerably from 9.4 cm (3.66 in.) to 6.3 cm (2.45 in.). Worth noting however, if the "Blurred picture" warning is enabled in the Setup menu, shots using the zoom will generate a warning, but an inspection of the image at 100% on a monitor usually reveals it to be sharp.

BUILDING PHOTO

This image is our outdoor test. The architecture of the building, in particular the angled girders, immediately show the presence of jaggies. The shadowed entrance can also often reveal the quality of the exposure.

The wide angle photo of the building reveals no chromatic aberration, and no barrel distortion. Similarly, the photo highlights the efficiency of Nikon Matrix metering system — the default for the L2 — and its accuracy: the image shows no over- or underexposed areas. Still, the compression is quite strong, and although in this case it has no serious impact on the details captured by the camera, a bit of marbling can be detected in the blue sky.

ZOOM PHOTO

Zooming in on the entrance of the building, the shadowed entrance takes on a greater importance for the metering and can cause an overexposure of sections that are directly lit.

As with the wide angle shot, the telephoto image reveals no chromatic aberration, even in areas of the image that contain strongly contrasting areas. Likewise, there is no observable pincushion distortion, and the image elements aligned to the edges of the frame are straight.

While noise is undetectable in this 50 ISO image, a slight softening of the overall image sharpness is detectable, and can most likely be attributed to the compression, in this case 8.1:1.

NIGHT PHOTO

Since this camera offers a long exposure, a photo taken at night is included here.

In most modes, including the Night Landscape mode, the Coolpix L2 is limited to a maximum exposure time of 2 seconds. The only mode that guarantees a 4 second exposure time is the Fireworks mode, which also has the advantage of setting the focus to infinity, preferable for this subject.

Regrettably, after a number of attempts, the Fireworks mode consistently selected small apertures and 50 ISO, which in combination resulted in dark images.

The Night Landscape Scene mode, albeit limited to a maximum of a 2 second exposure, still managed to produce the brightest images as it used larger apertures, and increased sensitivity up to 200 ISO.

While images such as this one produce very acceptable prints at sizes up to 4 x 6 inches, when seen at full size on a monitor, they appear soft-focused and somewhat noisy, even after noise reduction.