Nikon Coolpix L5 Review

The Coolpix L5 is equipped with a 5x Zoom-Nikkor zoom lens with a 35mm equivalent to 38 - 190mm), the maximum aperture is f/2.9 - 5.0. The lens is constructed of all glass and has 9 elements in 7 groups and has Nikon Super Integrated Coating (SIC) applied. When powered down the lens is retracted into the body and protected by a builtin lens cap.

The L5 features Nikon's Vibration Reduction (VR), an innovation that minimizes the probability of blurry images by compensating for various levels of camera shake by shifting the lens elements. The VR has 2 user-selectable modes: Normal and Active and gives you the ability to shoot at slower than normal shutter speeds (up to 3 stops) in lower light levels.

Auto focus is handled by a contrast detect TTL system, low light focusing is aided by an AF-assist LED. Single AF and Continuous AF modes and Center or Multi Area options are available, the focus range is:

20 in. (50cm) to infinity in normal mode and

1.6 in. (4cm) to infinity in Macro mode

The built-in speedlight has a flash range is approx. 0.5 - 5.5m (1 ft 8 in - 18.0 ft) [W], 0.6 - 4m (1 ft 9.6 in - 13.1 ft) [T] (at ISO auto) and can be set for Auto Flash, Auto+Red-Eye Reduction, Fill Flash, Slow Sync or Disabled. The L5 also features In-Camera Red-Eye Fix which will automatically detect and remove most occurrences of flash red-eye in people pictures.

The large 2.5-inch color LCD serves as the viewfinder and is also used to review/share your images and movies and access the menu screens. The display automatically dims when no buttons are pushed to conserve battery power. The screen resolution is lower than average for this size display, it has only 115,000 pixels.

Controls on back:   Above the LCD is the Record/Scene/Movie mode switch. The W-T is the zoom lens control and functions as the Index-Magnify control in playback. Pressing the "T" button when a menu is displayed will show a Help screen. The Menu button calls up and dismisses the menu system. The 4-way selector is for navigating menus and selecting pictures, press it straight in to accept selections. In record mode pressing it "Up" selects the flash mode, "Left" activates the selftimer, "Right" sets an exposure override value and "Down" enables the macro focus mode. The "blue arrow" button switches between Play and Record mode. The Trashcan button deletes images in playback mode.

Controls on top: The VR button turns the Vibration Reduction system on/off. The Face-Priority AF button. The speaker, power on/off button and the shutter release.

The single interface connector is a combination port that is used to connect either the USB 1.1 cable for downloading images to Mac and Windows computers or to connect the Audio-Video cable for viewing on a TV set. The video signal is selectable for either NTSC or PAL standards. The USB port is PictBridge compatible for direct printing without a computer.

The Coolpix L5 is equipped with ~8MB of internal memory and a SD memory card slot, no card is supplied with the camera. Images and movies can be copied from internal memory to SD card or vice-versa. Any SD card up to 2GB or any capacity SDHC card can be used.

The L5 is powered by two standard AA-type batteries, alkaline, NiMH (nickel metal hydride), or lithium cells. Nikon claims with AA Alkaline batteries you can capture approx. 150 shots, or approx. 250 shots with NiMH cells (using CIPA standards.)

Check out our NiMH rechargeable battery page for more info on NiMH battery types.