Product Review: Nikon Coolpix L18 Digital Camera

The Nikon Coolpix L18 is one of the newest digital cameras in the Coolpix line. This digital camera is a point and shoot, and features a small, sleek body with a large LCD and minimalist controls.

The Coolpix is priced at $150 and can be purchased for around $100 used. The device is basic, and is designed for the average consumer that wants a camera that 'just works'. If this sounds like you, read on to find out if the Nikon Coolpix L18 is the right compact digital camera for you.

Body

The body of the L18 is very compact, and lacks protruding lenses and knobs. Once turned on, the lens zooms out a bit, and zooms out farther when the zoom feature is used.

The design is larger on the right side than the left, making it comfortable for the hand and easier to grip. The front of the camera simply features the lens, light sensor, and flash, as well as a nice Coolpix logo.

The back of the L18 is mostly taken up by the LCD, but all has a small navigation dial and a couple command buttons.

Features

The L18 has an 8-megapixel sensor and a 3x zoom lens. The features on this camera are modest, and encompass the basics the average consumer will need - auto focus, anti-shake, face priority, red eye fix, lighting enhancement for underexposed photos, ISO to 1600, macro, 21MB internal memory, and several modes, including AUTO.

Another nice feature is the wide range of colors available for the L18. The colors include standard black and silver, but also offer some off beat colorings. My personal favorite is deep purple.

Photo Quality

At 8-megapixels, the Coolpix L18 will be able to print in sizes up to 16" before it looks distorted.
The noise levels on this camera is actually reigned in pretty well. In daytime shots, the noticeable noise in a blue sky is hardly any at all. The noise at a low ISO in low light is also fairly low - low enough that noise-reduction software will be able to eliminate it with hardly any work at all.

At the highest ISO, there is definitely noticeable noise, but it isn't as harsh as you find on some cameras - it smoothed out pretty well and is mostly green.

Overall, the image quality is very nice.

Issues

There is some image distortion at the extreme edges of the barrel, which isn't noticeable for average shots, but will be if you need to capture a full frame.

The shutter speed is too low for fast shots - ie, sports, pets, and kids. You won't capture that split second smile, the goal that won the game, or your pet sneezing. The lag is fine for still shots, but other than that, it gets irritating.

Conclusion

This camera is cheap, and with that price tag comes poor performance. If you need a cheap camera, but you would like higher quality cameras, I suggest looking into a camera that was manufactured four years ago, such as the Olympus C60 or Cybershot H2. These cameras are higher quality, and in their prime, were priced in the $300 - $500 range.

The Coolpix, while stylish and with the right features, is bogged down by shutter speed and barrel distortion, both of which end up ruining the photos.