The Coolpix 4100 may be small but it's equipped with a 3x Nikkor optical zoom lens with a 35 - 105mm (in 35mm equivalent) focal length coverage. The maximum aperture is F2.8 (W) to 4.9 (T) and it has a dedicated macro mode. Auto focus is handled by a contrast detect TTL system and the focus range is 11.8 in. to infinity in normal wide angle mode and from 1.6 in. to infinity in Macro mode.

Nikon have finally understood that their cameras are often used in low ambient light, and have equipped recent Coolpix cameras with a focus-assist LED. Its maximum effective range is limitedto 6'7" at full wide angle and 4'6" at full telephoto. The LED does double-duty as it is also used for the flash's red-eye reduction mode.

The zoom lens is controlled by two buttons on the back of the camera. These buttons also function as the zoom and index controls in Playback mode.

The eyelevel optical viewfinder zooms in and out with the lens and shows about 80% of the captured image. The two LEDs indicate the flash and focus/CF card status. There is no diopter adjustment.

The built-in speedlight has a shooting range of approx. 1'3" - 11'2" (Wide angle) or 1'3" - 6'6" (Telephoto), and can be set for Auto Flash, Red-Eye Reduction, Fill Flash, Slow Sync or Disabled.

The power on/off switch is adjacent to the shutter release on the top of the camera. The speaker is to its left, and the microphone to its right.

The Mode Dial has positions for Setup, Movie, Auto, Scene, Portrait, Landscape, Sports and Night Portrait.

Scene - Party, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Dusk/Dawn, Night Landscape, Close Up, Museum, Fireworks, Copy, Panorama assist and Back Light.

Portrait Assist - Portrait, Portrait Left, Portrait Right, Portrait Close-up, Portrait Couple and Portrait Figure.

Landscape Assist - Landscape, Scenic View, Architecture, Group right and Group left.

Sports Assist - Sports, Sports Spectator and Sports Composite.

Night Portrait Assist - Night Portrait, Portrait Left, Portrait Right, Portrait Close-up, Portrait Couple and Portrait Figure.

Controls on the back: Upper right are the zoom lens buttons. The 4-way selector is for navigating menus and selecting pictures. In record mode pressing it "Up" selects the desired flash mode. Pressing it "Left" activates the 10-sec selftimer. Pressing it "Down" enables the macro focus mode.

Surrounding the 4-way selector are the image delete button, the MENU button, which calls up the onscreen menu system, and the button, which puts the camera in Play mode and also serves as the one-touch download button when the USB cable is connected.

The interface connector is a combination device used to connect either the USB 1.1 cable for downloading images to Mac and Windows computers or connect the Video Out cable for viewing on a TV set. The video signal is selectable for NTSC or PAL.

The Coolpix 4100 is equipped with an SD memory card slot, however no card is supplied with the camera. In the absence of a SD card, image files are stored in the 4100's 14.5MB of internal memory. Cards are easily ejected by pushing them.

The camera can be powered by two AA type batteries; NiMH rechargeable or alkaline type or a single CR-V3 lithium battery. The AA NiMH batteries are highly recommended and are claimed by Nikon to power the camera for up to 350 shots.

The CR-V3 type batteries offer the longest life of all battery types but the one-use batteries are expensive. Thankfully we now have an alternative, check out our list of CR-V3 rechargeable batteries.

An optional EH-62B power adapter allows the Coolpix 4100 to be powered from an A/C wall outlet.

The Coolpix 4100 has a menu option to set the Battery type - offering choices of Alkaline, COOLPIX (NiMH) and CR-V3. Its purpose is to allow the 4100 to more accurately measure the remaining capacity of the installed batteries.