Nikon Coolpix L120
Nikon Coolpix L120 is a model which Nikon released in March 2011 to replace Nikon Coolpix L110.
Letter ‘L’ in L120 stands for ‘Life’ and it marks the mid range model in the whole Coolpix series. With it, you get a look and feel of a DSLR camera, but at the lower price and ease of use.
This camera, Nikon Coolpix L120 is intended for an average amateur user that does not need many manual controls that he or she can or should adjust to be taking great photos. Nikon L120 takes beautiful photos with very little or no settings adjustments, is easy to use and has an incredible zoom.
The price is being kept at the level of L110 (approx. $250 in US), but some features have been pimped up:
- Lens zoom has been increased from high 15x to incredibly high optical zoom of 21x!
- 14.1 megapixel CCD sensor, up from 12.1 megapixel in Coolpix L110. This is the best in class!;
- LCD monitor high resolution has been doubled, now containing 921,000 dots and with 5 level brightness adjustment;
- Added electronic Vibration reduction to videos as well, not only to still pictures. This means no more blurry photos or videos!;
- Continuous shooting speed has been increased to up to 20 shots at approx. 15.3 frames per second;
- Nikon Coolpix L120 now recognizes SDXC memory cards.
Look at this video for some more information about this amazing Nikon Coolpix L120 and the whole Coolpix range:
On our Nikon Coolpix L120 Facebook fan page, there are already several hundreds of fans, happy with their cool gadget, posting their photos and discussing about the Nikon L120. Join us here and feel free to browse around and ask any question!
So, what are the features that Nikon L120 fans are the most happy about?
Nikon L120 users love its different modes of shooting which makes it so easy to get specific settings needed for a specific situation without having to know how to manually select them. For example Close Up (Macro) mode for subjects very close to the lens (up to 1cm/0.4in.) or Panorama Assist mode for easy making of a panorama photo out of several shots for stitching the shots together perfectly!
If you want to shoot some sport action, there is a Sport Continuous mode that takes photos continuously and in quick succession to capture fast moving objects. It is perfect for sports, animals, or fast traffic or racing!
Another great thing with this Nikon Coolpix L120 is the colors intensity. The colors really turn out as in reality, vibrant and intensive, even in lower light conditions. Check out this video with the photos made by the fans of our Facebook page:
As you can see in the video, with Nikon L120 you can take clear shots of the moon! That is because it has a very high optical zoom of 21x which is the biggest zoom among the competition in this class of the camera!
Battery life is quite good, you can go for about 300 shots per pack, depending on your settings and how long you keep the camera on. If you want longer battery life, you can buy lithium batteries, or another set of rechargeable batteries with the charger. The good thing with AA batteries that Nikon L120 uses is that they are quite common, and you can buy them in almost any shop in any part of the world!
And what are the shortcomings of Nikon Coolpix L120?
With Nikon L120 you cannot manually control your aperture and shutter speed settings. They are automatically selected by the camera. There are some shooting modes that you can use that have different aperture and shutter speed settings, and you can play with them to get what you want, but it will be more improvisatory than the real thing as with DSLR cameras. If you want to have more manual options in your digital camera, you need to consider moving a class above, for example to Nikon Coolpix P500.
If you want to use flash, you need to manually open the flash compartment; otherwise it will not auto pop up when needed, even if you are shooting in auto mode.
Here are the full features of Nikon L120:
- 36x Wide-Angle Optical Zoom-NIKKOR Glass Lens;
- 14.1-megapixel CCD sensor for superb image quality;
- Focus range approx. 1 ft. 8 in. (50cm) to infinity, to 5 ft. (1.5m) to infinity;
- Full HD (1280x720p / 30fps) movie with AAC stereo sound being initiated by one push of a dedicated button;
- 5-way VR Image Stabilization System for blur reduction;
- with ISO speeds up to 6400 to capture fast moving or low-light scenarios;
- Sensor size 1/2.3 in.;
- Storage media: SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards;
- Top continuous shooting speed: up to 20 images at the rate of approx. 15.3 fps;
- Macro close up mode up to 0.4 in. (1cm) to infinity;
- Smart Portrait System includes a Blink Warning that warns you when your subject may have blinked. It also includes in-camera Red-Eye™ technology that automatically fixes red-eye, a Face-Priority feature that can focus up to 12 faces and a Skin Softening feature that smoothes out skin tones;
- 17 Scene Modes that adjust camera settings to selected scenes, assuring great pictures at school plays, backyard barbecues or athletic events;
- 3 inch LCD monitor, with wide viewing angle, anti reflection coating, 921K dots resolution and 5-level brightness adjustment;
- AA batteries;
- Weight of 15.3 oz. (431 grams).