Date: November 16, 2006 - Author: Rob Williams - Editor: Greg King
Not everyone wants an expensive camera. Nikon realizes this, and their answer is the L series. We are taking a look at the recently launched L5, boasting a huge 7.2 megapixels!
With the camera market so rich with selection, it's difficult for a regular consumer to know what to choose. Even Nikons own inventory can be overwhelming. In the past few months, they have released 6+ new Coolpix models to replace older releases, including the L1 that I took a look at last year. What these current releases primarily bring to the table is upgraded CCD's capable of more megapixels. I find the megapixel race for point-and-shoot cameras to be a waste of time. A Smart car could have 500BHP, but it's not going to be that beneficial.
That aside, the L5 is quite similar to the L1, except of the 7.2 Megapixel CCD capable of spitting out 3072*2304 images which hog about ~1.5MB of your storage space. Also identical to the L1 is the Zoom-Nikkor lens, capable of a 6.3-31.4mm focal range. Modest, but not uncommon for "budget" cameras. Aperture is f/2.9-5.0 and optical zoom is rated for 5.0x. Not a bad lens at all really given the price range.
I am not sure who prices these new cameras when they are first launched, but the L5 had an initial SRP of ~$329.99USD. That to me, is rather high given the capabilities. I am a Nikon fan, as is probably evident by now, but $300 for a camera like this is unjustified. Luckily enough, most reputable camera e-tailers are selling it for $240 which is far easier to stomach. Some stores offer bundles for a few dollars more that may be worth paying attention to also.
All of that doesn't matter if the camera is less than great though.
Before we move on, I should make clear how Nikon classifies their cameras. We are taking a look at an L5, which is part of the Lifestyle series. These cameras are designed for everyday shooters who want a simple camera for the sole purpose of taking snapshots. There is extra functionality and control here, but not as much as on other higher-end models. It's a series perfectly suited for people who don't want to learn how to properly utilize a camera... they just want to turn it on and click the shutter release. The next step "up" is the S, or Style. These cameras are more compact generally than anything from the other series, coupled with far better styling. They are designed to be sexy, which is why they have Kate Moss rubbing her S9 in the TV commercials.
Lastly we have the P series, which is for Professionals. Of course professionals are likely to use SLR's, but these cameras are designed for photographers who know what they are doing, and don't want to lug a huge camera along with them. The P series is the most expensive of anything else in the Coolpix lineup, not surprisingly.
Now that you understand how the cameras are classified, you can likely understand what to expect from the L5 before reading any further. It's an entry level camera, that offers decent image quality, but is overall easy as pie to use.
As mentioned earlier, the lens used here is a 6.3-31.4mm f/2.9-5.0 which actually isn't too bad for a budget model, but nothing that will blow socks off either. The effective zoom is 5.0x which could prove fun to utilize in various situations. You can push the camera beyond it's normal 5.0x zoom by moving into digital zoom territory, which will give you around 126mm at max range. As you can imagine though, the overall image quality is horrible at this zoom. There's less noise at a Metallica concert.
The LCD screen is identical to other L series, including the L1. It's large, at 2.5", but only offers a 115,000-dot resolution. 115K may be suitable for a 1.5" LCD, but at 2.5" you cannot very well wager how good an image looks. Effectively, the screen is good only to make sure that you have the right proportion. Since the camera lacks a viewfinder like so many other Nikon models, this is your only option.
What makes this camera shine is the VR, or vibration reduction feature. I am unsure whether this is built into the actual lens or the body itself, but the fact is that the feature works well, so it doesn't really matter. If you are unaware, VR essentially reduces the need for a tripod. Canon has Image Stabilization which is essentially the same thing. Though it's a great feature to add, it does add more to the cost of the camera overall, but many will argue that it's well worth it. Personally, I love VR... well worth the extra cash if you want to go and walk around without a tripod.
The flash equipped is good up to the 18ft range, and the camera has built-in modes such as red-eye reduction and slow sync. There's also a slew of included color and shooting modes. The Vivid color mode will increase the intensity of the colors to give you overall vibrant images. Sepia and Cyan is also here, in addition to black and white. Portrait, Sports, Night Shooting, Landscape, Panoramic and Closeup are a few of the 11 scene modes. Panorama Assist is one feature I have come to enjoy with the Coolpix series. Essentially, with the camera attached to your tripod, you snap a photo, and the camera will show a 30% overlay on the screen. You then turn your camera to match up with the scene again, and snap another photo. It's a rather "simple" feature, but one that can prove useful for small panos.
Being the "Lifestyle" camera that it is, the performance is seriously lacking. In continuous shooting mode, the camera can keep up to 0.7 frames per second. The Multi-Shot 16 mode, which takes 16 simultaneous photos and places them in a single picture, is around 5FPS overall which is aided by the lack of a flash.
As it is, the specs match what you'd expect for a "Lifestyle" camera but are not horrible by any means. The addition of the VR as I mentioned, is a large benefit. Though it seems like such a small feature, it's actually very useful and one I've come to rely on quite often.
Over the course of the few weeks I had the L5, I didn't take that many photos. Usually I focus on different scenarios, because for a camera of this size/price range, a slew of photos is not going to prove anything.
All of the thumbnails in the review can be clicked to load the original, unaltered image. Just be warned that each image is 1.5MB so they will take a few moments to load.
The first thing I like to test with any digital camera is the range of the zoom. Since the L5s lens is capable of 5x, we should see some decent distance here. As always, I stood at the window and took a picture at the low end, 6mm.
From this picture I can see the camera is capable of pretty good color, although the overall contrast was a little higher than it actually appeared. The fall browns and greens came through great though, no real complaints here. Here is the 3x zoom mark, approximately, which equates to 19mm.
One thing you will notice immediately, is that this image is a lot darker than the first. Nothing was changed options wise, except the zoom. It was a dark day to begin with, which didn't help matters. At this range, the camera chose f/4.2 while the first image at default used f/2.9. That's no doubt why the second image is so much darker. At first I believed the aperture to be lower in the second image is the fact that I had it on Macro mode at the time. But after further testing, it didn't matter either way. Macro mode simply decreased the shutter speed by a small amount.
At 31mm, the image is even darker, this time the camera chose to use f/5.0. If you compare the first picture and this one, you can see that the zoom really darkens the picture overall. I do admit, choosing the Landscape mode helped a bit, but not very much. This won't prove to be a problem on sunny days, but if it's dark like it was the day of these photos, you will not likely want to zoom in very far. At 6mm though, the picture quality and brightness is fine.
Finally, there is an example of some of the worst noise you can see from an image. That was at 126mm, and clearly digital zoom is never a preferred mode. Gross. That was an example of landscape zoom, but how about indoors? To say the least, the results are much better. Here are pictures taken at 6mm, 17mm, 31mm and 126mm, respectively.
In this specific instance, 126mm actually proved to be quite good. The game cover is still rather clear, and the type is hardly even blurred. So maybe there is a use for the digital zoom, in some cases.
I mentioned earlier about the various color modes that the L5, and all other Coolpix cameras offer. Now here are some examples. They are in the order of Standard, Vivid, Black and White, Sepia and Cyan.
My personal favorite is the Vivid, easily. Colors are brighter, especially when comparing the white piece of paper.
Another important test is to see how the camera handles chromatic aberration, or purple fringing. One test I find works quite well is taking a closeup picture of the Nikon logo on their D-SLR's, because fringing and bleeding tends to happen frequently around bright white edges. Overall, there is no noticeable fringing here, at all. Although the picture is a little under exposed, the image turned out good overall.
Finally, here are a few random photos to show what else the camera is capable of, primarily with macros.
I can't say I am completely unhappy with the L5, but it screams "budget" in the grand scheme of things. As part of the Lifestyle series, the camera boasts ease of use. Your little brother can use it, your grandmother who's never touched a camera before can use it. It's generally easy to grasp, with no need to get into the advanced modes unless you want to experiment.
As it stands, this camera to me would be appropriately priced at around the $200 mark, but perhaps I am being a little more harsh than needed. The image quality did not impress me at all, although the camera had a rather crisp image at 6mm and was not affected by purple fringing in any of the photos I took. Going beyond the 6mm range though, the quality quickly deteriorated. Even at the max range of 31mm, the picture overall was a lot darker than it should have been, as evidenced by the example earlier. This could be due to lack of experimentation with various scene modes, but I this is a problem I never ran into with a Coolpix using defaults, that includes the L1.
What sells this camera is the vibration reduction, it's a great feature. The ability to walk around and feel confident with any photos you are snapping is great. It won't help you capture a speeding car any better, but it will allow you to not stand like a statue while taking the picture.
Like the other Coolpix cameras, the L5 boasts a slew of options including the various color modes. By default, the camera will use a PTP interface, which I personally hate. This can be switched to USB interface easily though, so when plugged into the PC it will act as a normal thumb drive or external storage device.
The comfort level is nothing to complain about, it's typical of what you'd expect a small point and shoot to feel like. All of the buttons are well placed, including the VR which is located right under your left index finger when holding the camera. That gives you the ability to disable it on the fly, which is wise as it eats through batteries quicker when enabled.
Overall, this is a good camera but could be better. It's best suited for people who don't particularly care about a sharp picture quality, but rather enjoy ease of use and a good price. Although I feel the camera should be priced a little lower than it is, the inclusion of VR makes up for the extra cost in my opinion. If you enjoy photography though, and -do- care about picture quality and features, you'd be well to spend extra on one of the better Coolpix cameras, such as the P3, S4 or similar.
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