The Nikon Coolpix L12 is a seven megapixel digital camera with a three times zoom lens. There is also a four times digital zoom feature. The focal length of the lens is equivalent to 35 - 105mm in 35mm format. The maximum aperture is f/2.8 - f4.7.

The Coolpix L12 has a special 16:9 resolution for shooting wide photos ideal for playback on a widescreen television.

This is one of the few cameras in this price range to offer image stabilisation.

There are a small number of colour options you can use. These are vivid, black and white, sepia and cyanotype.

The Coolpix L12 can also be used as a voice recorder. Up to 20 seconds of commentary can also be add to each photo after it has been taken.

There is also a panorama assist mode for stitching together panoramic shots.

Special face detection software has been built into the camera. This helps the Coolpix L12 to focus for portrait type shots. For close up shots the camera can focus from 15cm away from the subject.

The LCD monitor is 2.5" in size. It is made up of approximately 115,000 pixels.

The flash unit has a range of 8m. This falls to around 4.5m when the zoom lens is in use. The flash modes are auto, red eye reduction, always on, always off and slow synchro.

A selection of preprogrammed scene modes are available. These are portrait, landscape, sports, night portrait, party/indoors, beach/snow, sunset, dusk/dawn, night landscape, close up, museum, fireworks, copy and backlight. When you use a scene mode it identifies to the camera the type of shot you are about to take. The camera will then use what it considers to be the optimum settings for the shot.

Movies can be recorded at a maximum resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. The maximum speed of a movie is 30 frames per second. Sound can be recorded and zoom can be applied during recording.

The Coolpix L12 has fewer advanced features than most digital cameras. Those that are available are: white balance (auto, custom, daylight, incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy and flash), continuous shooting, exposure compensation (+/-2 in 0.3 steps), best shot selector and multi shot 16. Multi shot 16 takes sixteen shots and builds them into a grid like single image.

Nikon supplies the necessary cables and software to connect the Coolpix L12 to a television set, computer and compatible printer. Nikon Coolpix L12

Description:	7 megapixels and a 3 times zoom lens
Ease of Use:	9
Features:	7
Colour:	8
Macro:	4
Indoors:	8
Value for Money:	9
Style:	8
Movie Mode:	8
Image Quality:	8
Build Quality:	8
Total:	77
Verdict:	The Nikon Coolpix L12 is a relatively inexpensive digital camera. The results of my tests suggest it is one of the better starter digital cameras on the market. I was particularly impressed with the sharpness of the photos. This camera has fewer features than similar models and this helps to make it easy to use.
Review Date:	June 2007
Click for:	Specification Sample Images Features

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Olympus FE-370	81
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Panasonic DMC LS80	79
Sony DSC S730	77

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Nikon Coolpix L12