Nikon Coolpix 3100 Review

The Coolpix 3100 may be small but it is equipped with a 3x Nikkor optical zoom lens with a 38 - 115mm (in 35mm equivalent) focal length coverage. The maximum aperture is F2.8 to 4.9 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 (23.6 in. to infinity in telephoto) and from 1.6 in. to infinity in Macro 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 82% 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. 1.2 - 9.8 ft. (Wide angle) and can be set for Auto Flash, Red-Eye Reduction, Fill Flash or Disabled.

The power on/off switch is built around the shutter release. The Mode Dial has positions for Setup, Movie, Manual Record, Auto, Scene, Portrait, Landscape, Sports and Night Portrait.

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

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

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

Sports - Sports, Sports Spectator and Sports Composite.

Night Portrait - 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.

Under the color LCD (left to right) is the image delete button, the button turns the LCD on/off and controls the information overlays. The MENU button calls up the onscreen menu system. The button puts the camera in Play mode and also serves as the one-touch download button when the USB cable is connected.

The top port is a combination connector 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 lower port is the DC INput jack for an optional AC power supply or external battery pack.

The Coolpix 3100 is equipped with a CompactFlash Type I card slot and is supplied with an 16MB size Nikon/Lexar Starter Card. Cards are easily removed by pushing the ejector button.

The camera can be powered by two AA type batteries, NiMH or NiCd rechargeable type or a single CR-V3 type one-use lithium battery. The AA NiMH batteries are highly recommended and can power the camera for up to 80 minutes, the CRV3 will last for up to 150 minutes (using the LCD sparingly.)