Overview
The Nikon Coolpix L4 is a straightforward digital camera. With a fairly minimal set of features it is very easy to use. It has four megapixels and a three times optical zoom lens. Being so easy to use the Coolpix L4 is likely to appeal to anyone who is looking for a no fuss digital camera. You will be able to start taking pictures with this camera as soon as you have loaded the batteries.
Main Features
Megapixels:
Zoom:
LCD Screen:
Dimensions:
Weight:
4
3x
2 inches
86.5 x 60.5 x 34.5mm
115g
Macro:
HD Movies:
Manual Controls:
Batteries:
Memory Cards:
4cm
No
No
AA
SD/MMC
Image Quality
As with many digital cameras in this price bracket you can neatly divide the pictures taken by the Coolpix L4 into two distinct groups. These are photos taken outside in good light and those taken in lowlight. Not surprisingly it is the photos taken in good light that the Coolpix L4 is able to handle more easily.
In fact I was very pleased with most of the outdoor photos. Taking into account the price of the camera the Coolpix L4 is able to take a very sharp photo. In terms of sharpness it is better than many more expensive cameras. Photos retain their sharpness as you move towards the edges of each photo as well. There was no great difference in picture quality with the zoom fully extended or when the zoom was not in use at all.
Another area I found pleasing was in the very light areas of photos. Many digital cameras have a tendency to lose detail from a picture and to struggle to cope with reflection caused by bright sunlight. This camera handled these problems well. This can be seen in my first test shot where the level of detail in the white boats is very good indeed.
Colours in the photos are o.k. without hitting the depth of colour managed by other digital cameras. The scenes are a fair reflection of how they looked at the time the photo was taken. Some people will certainly prefer the colours to have a bit more life in them. The level of colour in a photo is often a matter of personal taste, but looking at the dedicated test for colour I would say a more vivid feel would not go amiss.
Perhaps the outdoor portrait shot also underlines this. The photo was taken on an overcast day I and I used the cloudy white balance setting. Although this has added some warmth to the colours the majority of cameras I tested at the same time produced a more punchy shot.
Moving indoors the camera struggles to focus. This is fairly typical of many cameras in this price bracket. This problem shows up in both the indoor portrait and the shot of beer bottles taken in more or less complete darkness. This is a shame as the Coolpix L4 is one of the few smaller digital cameras to produce an indoor portrait that was not blighted by red eye.
The final test shot is a macro shot. I would describe this shot as about average although there are certainly many digital cameras available that can take a stronger close up shot.
Normally I also test for how the camera reacts to a high ISO setting. As you do not have control over the ISO levels with the Coolpix L4 I was unable to carry out this test.
Shutter Lag and Recycling Times
I managed to take a single shot in 1.68 seconds. This is a very slow time. It took 19.97 seconds to take five consecutive shots. At just under four seconds a shot this camera is noticeably slow than the vast majority of digital cameras.
You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.
Features
The 3x optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 38 - 114mm in 35mm format. The lens aperture works in the range f2.8 - f4.9. There is also a 4x digital zoom feature available. For close up work the camera can focus from 4cm away from the subject.
For composing images and accessing the menu system there is a 2" LCD screen. This is made up of around 115,000 pixels. You can adjust the brightness of the LCD screen. There is no viewfinder.
There are a number of predefined scene modes you can use. When you select a scene mode the camera is aware of the type of photo you are planning to take. It will then adjust its internal settings accordingly in an attempt to take the best possible photo. The scene modes are Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night Portrait Party/Indoor, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Dusk/Dawn, Night Landscape, Close Up, Museum, Fireworks Show, Copy, Back Light and Panorama Assist.
The built in flash unit has a maximum range of 3m. This falls to around 1.7m when the zoom lens is in use. The flash modes available are Auto, Auto with Red-eye Reduction (In-
Camera Red-Eye Fix (TM)), Flash Cancel, Anytime Flash, and Slow Sync.
When you would like to appear in the picture yourself there is a self timer. The delay on the timer is around 10 seconds. After you have taken a photo you can make a small copy of it. The copy is a suitable size for emailing or using on a computer.
Among the more advanced features are white balance (custom, daylight, incandescent, florescent, cloudy and flash), exposure compensation (+/- 2) and colour options (vivid colour, black and white, sepia and cyanotype). A best shot selector is also available. This allows you to take a number of photos and the camera selects what it considers to be the best one in terms of exposure to save.
As well as this there is a special continuous shooting mode. This lets you take sixteen photos and places all sixteen into one image.
Movies can be recorded up to the capacity of the memory card. The maximum resolution is 640 x 480 pixels. The maximum speed a movie can be recorded at is 15 frames per second. Zoom can be used while shooting a movie, but sound cannot be recorded.
Nikon supplies all the necessary cables and software to connect the Coolpix L4 to a television set, computer and PictBridge compatible printer.
Ease of Use
The Coolpix L4 is certainly easy to use. It does not have a massive amount of features giving it an advantage in this area. Most of the controls you will need to access can be found on the back of the camera. Here you will find controls for zoom, picture review, macro, flash, shooting mode and accessing the menu. When you do need to dip into the menu there is so little in there you should have no problem finding what you are looking for.
In addition help text is available for all menu options. You can also choose between a text based menu and an icon based one.
Cost
You can pick up a Nikon Coolpix L4 for around £100. This compares to around £105 for a Pentax Optio E10, £90 for a Fuji Finepix A400 and £105 for a Canon Powershot A430.
As you can see you have quite a lot of choice around the £100 mark. If you plan to use the Coolpix L4 mainly for outdoor shots then I would say this camera is well priced.
Style
The Coolpix L4 is a neat and tidy digital camera. Compared to other digital cameras in this price bracket it feels somewhat smaller and the build quality also seems to be a bit better. In many ways it is a typical shiny, silver rectangle. It has a raised grip area on the right hand side to help you hold the camera steady when you are taking a shot.
It weighs 115g and has dimensions of 86.5 x 60.5 x 34.5mm.
Batteries and Memory Cards
Two AA batteries are used to provide power to the camera. Nikon estimates you should be able to take around 250 shots with the Coolpix L4 before the batteries need changing. This is with a standard set of alkaline batteries.
The camera is compatible with SD cards. No card is supplied as standard with the camera as there are 10mb of storage built into the camera. I was able to take ten photos before the memory was full. Therefore I would suggest buying a high capacity memory card to go with the camera.
Click here to save money on SD cards..
Points I like:
Ease of use
No red eye in test shot
Outdoor landscape type shots
Where it is not so hot:
Indoor shots
Shutter lag
Summary
The Nikon Coolpix L4 is certainly an option if you are looking for a very simple digital camera at a reasonable price. I cannot describe it as the perfect digital camera, but it is capable of taking a good photo. As with many cameras in this price bracket it is a lot happier outdoors in good light then it is indoors where the light is low. Shutter lag is also a definite problem.
Nikon Coolpix L4 Front View
Nikon Coolpix L4 Back View
Nikon Coolpix L4 Top View
Sample Menus
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Related Pages
Nikon Coolpix L4 Review Nikon Coolpix L4 Specification Nikon Coolpix L4 Sample Images
Review Date
May 2006
