The interface of the Coolpix
L5 presents current settings on the periphery of the image
without obstructing the view of the subject, using a mix of
white lettering and readily understandable icons. Moreover,
the level of information shown on the monitor can be changed
using an option of the Setup menu; however, whatever the level
of information superimposed on the monitor, the camera never
displays the aperture and shutter speed when the shutter release
is pressed halfway.
Menus can be displayed so as to show each option as text
or simply as an icon. The icon presentation has the advantage
of fitting on one screen, and is fine once the user is familiar
with the menus and their options. Text is best , however,
when starting with the camera. In addition, the camera is
able to display short help screens for each option when the
zoom control is pressed towards .
Whichever menu is displayed, the first option is always an
access to the Setup menu, which contains the following
options:
Shooting Menu/Playback Menu: returns to the previous
menu, either Shooting or Playback.
Menus: decides whether menu options are shown as
text or icons.
Welcome Screen decides what appears on the monitor
when the camera is turned on:
Nothing
Coolpix Logo
Animated Coolpix Logo
An image stored in memory
Date: serves to set the date and time on the Coolpix
L5. A sub-option allows selecting the home time zone and
that of a travel destination, making it possible for the
camera to automatically calculate the time difference and
show the local time when traveling.
Monitor Settings serves to control the monitor:
Photo Info controls the information superimposed
on the image:
Show Info shows some settings continuously.
Auto Info displays settings for 5 seconds.
Hide Info only shows the active capture
mode.
Framing Grid displays a composition grid
and the settings, the latter disappearing after
5 seconds.
Brightness: allows changing the brightness
of the monitor over 5 steps.
Date Imprint: decides whether the date or the capture
time, or both are permanently superimposed on the image.
Options are: Off (default), Date, Date and Time and Date
Counter, which allows setting a starting date, which then
allows the camera to imprint the number of days since that
date.
Sound Settings controls sounds for:
Operation
Shutter
Start-up
Auto Off serves to choose the time allowed to elapse
before the camera enters stand-by mode when it is not used:
30 seconds (default), 1, 5 or 30 minutes. Another sub-option
for Sleep Mode (On or Off) lets the camera enter
sleep mode when there is no change in the subject's brightness.
Format Memory/Format Memory Card serves to format
either the internal memory or a memory card.
Language sets the interface language: Czech, Danish,
German, English, Spanish, French, Indonesian, Italian, Dutch,
Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Finnish, Swedish,
Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean
or Thai.
Interface offers three sub-options:
USB allows setting the communication protocol
to PTP (to connect to a PictBridge compatible printer)
or Mass Storage (to connect with a computer).
Video Mode: sets the video out signal (NTSC
or PAL).
Auto Transfer: On or Off. The default is that
all images are marked for transfer when the camera is
connected to a computer. When this option is set to
Off, only those images that have been selected for transfer
will be transferred.
Reset All: returns all settings to their defaults.
Battery Type: to let the camera know whether Alkaline,
Ni-MH or Lithium are being used, which in turn allows the
camera to calculate the remaining charge more accurately.
Firmware Version: displays the version number
of the firmware (1.0 for the model tested here).
A printed manual accompanies the Coolpix L5, as well as a
Quick Start Guide. The Quick Start Guide is designed to provide
fast and easy instructions on using the camera, while the
camera manual gets into more detail and explains every function.
The manual is well written and progresses logically through
all the camera's features.
Software
In North America, the Nikon Coolpix L5 comes with two CDs:
PictureProject 1.7
The Reference Manual for PictureProject in PDF
(Adobe Acrobat) format, and in a variety of languages.
Picture Project is first and foremost an image browser.
It offers different ways of viewing images, which must be
first imported into the program so that they become part of
its database.
The program is able to show drives, USB connected devices
such as a camera or a card reader along with all file folders
on the left side of the screen. while the right side of the
screen serves to show the contents of folders as thumbnails
with the properties for the currently selected image.
The top part of the program's window
provides drop down menus and a series of buttons below, that
serve to print, save, start a slide show, etc.
Three buttons, aligned directly above the image and image
info areas, serve to Organize, Edit, or create Layouts for
albums.
Once an image is selected for correction, it opens on the
left side of the window. Adjustments to brightness, saturation,
and sharpness can be made to the images, or special effects
can be applied.
In addition, the program makes it possible
to eliminate Red-eye automatically, or change the orientation
of the image, or even apply D-Lighting, a process that
makes details appear out of the shadow areas without affecting
the highlights.
Panorama Maker 3.5 is specifically designed to assemble
series of images captured using the Panorama mode into seamless
panoramic images.
Finally, QuickTime 7 serves to view movies recorded
with the Coolpix L5.
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Interface & Software
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