Customer Reviews

Nikon Coolpix L15 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Vibration Reduction Zoom (Silver)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This camera does everything I need it to. I was looking for:

-AA battery capable. I do a lot of hiking/camping and cannot afford to run out of power like my wife's Kodak rechargeable does.
-At least 6 MP, this exceeds that with 8, but you can adjust that down if you want.
-Large LCD display. This camera has a 2.8", which is the largest I have seen on a AA battery powered camera.
-Movie mode with audio. This is cool in a pinch for self-explanatory reasons. (There was no mention of this feature on Amazon's description, but I tested the camera out at a retail store, and it has it it!)
-Compact size. The L15 is only an inch thick. Just perfect.

Also, the interface is so user friendly. I can't believe how easy it is to use. The menus are simple to figure out. I never even looked at the manual.

The only draw back I can think of is the delay between shots utilizing the flash. I think I wait about 4-5 seconds before I can take another picture. This doesn't really bother me since I use this outdoors during the day.

It is simply a perfect point and shoot camera. If you are looking for the features I was, you willl not be disappointed!

Brief Version: Frankly, I'm shocked that a camera as poor as this ever made it past the Nikon quality control department. Perhaps the problems can be resolved with a firmware update and perhaps not (the firmware on my L15 is version 1.0 - there were no updates available on the Nikon site as of this writing). However, I am extremely disappointed with the L15 and am returning it. A note on the star rating: had I been able, I would have gone with 2.5 stars, if only for the inclusion of image stabilization at this price. However, in the context of this being a Nikon, one of the premium camera brands, I felt rounding down to a 2 was fair. Furthermore, I do hope this is a helpful review - I know that positive reviews have a tendency to be ranked as helpful, but I have tried to give a full and fair picture (pun unintentional but noticed) of this camera. I tend to think that those users that love this camera would have a coronary from the pleasure of using a camera not hobbled byt the issues that this one suffers from.

Verbose Version:

My Background: First of all, I'm relatively tech savvy. I'm a bit of a gadget and electronics geek and do a fair amount of reading on a range of related topics. When I get a technology item that does not live up to my expectations, I search the web, review the manual, and look for firmware updates when and where such a search is applicable. I have also done extensive work in the digital realm, including design and product photography. I mention this simply to help people avoid the mistake I made of assuming many issues detailed with this camera are user-error. Frankly - much of the time poor reviews are written by people that either have unrealistic expectations or do not understand how to use the product. That is not the case for this review.

My Expectations: A dependable point and shoot camera that simply works well. Exposures should be passable, focus should be relatively fast and accurate, shot to shot time should be within the realm of reason. I own and use a DSLR, so I'm not looking for a camera that I can use for my professional work, nor do I expect it to perform like a such a camera.

My Experience: With the exception of the first item in that list and one or two other things, my experience with the L15 has been extremely poor. Here's how it lays out:

The (relatively) good first:

Image Stabilization: The L15 has optical image stabilization and it actually works well. Yea.

Startup Time: Quite good actually. I pick it up, turn it on, and it's ready to shoot without waiting too long. My last Nikon (Coolpix 4600 as I recall) was much worse in this regard and there is nothing worse than a camera that you carry for those spur-of-the-moment shots that takes so long to start up that the moment has passed. At least this is not true of the L15.

Exposures: Average. Handles white balance and exposure about as well as any other camera in its class.

LCD: Nice 2.5 inch display, though it washes out pretty badly in sunlight. Most do though, so that's common. I'd rate this one worse than average in sunlight.

Stop-Action Movies: Very neat stop-action movie mode to make animated film. Takes patience, but it's fun. Unfortunately you can't delete an individual frame so if you make an error your whole film is shot. (Caveat: this wasn't a huge deal for me, so I might be mistaken about the ability to delete a frame - I was unable to figure it out or find it in the manual and decided to return the camera before investing any time in searching the web for a work-around). Downside here is the awful focus system that detracts from the fun of filming (see below).

Other: It's small enough to carry easily, and uses AA batteries. A requirement for me in a point and shoot.

Now the bad:

Shot to shot time: this has been written about repeatedly. The amount of time this camera takes to write photos to the card is ridiculous. It can range from 3 or 4 seconds to over 5. This is WITHOUT the flash. Using the flash, it can climb to over 10. Absurd. And the annoying hourglass on the display just rubs it in. It can take so much time to write shots to a card that it's just pointless to even consider taking a series. Since there's no optical viewfinder you can't even set up your next shot while you wait. Completely unacceptable. Now, you might think it doesn't sound so bad, but believe me: the first time you are waiting around like a dope holding a brick while your shot disappears you'll think differently.

Auto Focus: Slowwwwww. Can take a ridiculously long time to find focus, and often just can't at all. Grinds away, creeping towards focus, then can't lock. No real rhyme or reason to why it's good or bad in any situation: the lighting can be great or it be low enough to require the focus assist, it still just WON'T focus sometimes. And I'm not talking about focusing on something with no contrast or no image information like a flat wall. I'm talking about a photo of people sitting at a table, taken from a reasonable distance, and it just can't focus. No manual focus ability means you are just hosed: you have to move around, try different zoom depths and angles until it can find focus. Seriously the worst auto focus system I have personally used in any digital camera, and I've been shooting digital since 1997 and have owned well over a dozen cams.

Flash: Double flashes every time, in any flash mode. Really weird.... This isn't when it's set to red-eye reduction - it's ALL the time. Pre-flash followed by flash. So people look away or blink just in time for the actual photo. Others have posted on this.

Synopsis: The bad far outweighs the good on this camera. All the things that really matter in a point and shoot fail miserably with the exception of startup time and image stabilization. Using this camera in real life situations is an exercise in frustration to say the least, and I can't imagine having to keep using it without at some point hurling it into a wall in frustration.

I'm returning it and getting the Canon PowerShot A570IS 7.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom for the same price (as of this writing, $140). The focus is faster and more accurate, shot to shot is faster, it has image stabilization, and my experience with Canon Powershots has been good thus far. I'm hopeful I'll have a better experience. In the same price range I was also considering the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7S 7.2MP Digital Camera with 6x Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver) which has a wonderful 6x optical zoom, but decided on the Canon for reasons I'll outline in another review.

If you are dead-set on this cam, I urge you to try it out at a local store before buying it. If you can't I'd advise looking elsewhere unless you love to be frustrated.

Another really well done and documented review is here:

http://www.cameras.co.uk/reviews/nikon-coolpix-l15.cfm

The Good:
The camera takes great pictures with vivid true color in many different lighting conditions. Image stabilizer works great, I've taken many zoom and low light shots with no blur. In a low light restaraunt, I was able to take clear, sharp and non-noisey pictures with no flash.

Camera has many scene selections and settings as well as a simple point and click mode so it can take good pictures in most conditions.

The L15 has a larger than normal screen for this type of camera that is very clear and bright. Very impressive display, have received may comments about it.

Video quality is very good for a small digital camera. Looked smooth and decent even when played back full size on a laptop disply and a TV.

The Bad:
As others have commented, the shutter speed is slow. It took me several attempts to get a decent picture of my three year old. She would blink or move in the period of time between pressing the shutter release and the camera taking the actual picture. The delay is far less with no flash but it still creates a challenge getting a pictures of kids or capturing quick moments.

After taking a flash picture, you'll need to wait a couple/few seconds before taking the next shot. I didn't find this to be a very big deal, it has never tken more than a few seconds but some may get annoyed with it, as you can read with other reviewers.

Overall:
I think the L15 is a great bang for buck digital camera. I purchased it mostly to take pictures on a trip over seas where I will primarily be taking the usual shots of scenary and people standing in front of scenary so the slow shutter is not a big deal for me. I wanted an inexpensive small digital that took good pictures in various conditions and I'm very satisfied with this camera.

Good camera, but it takes a full second from pressing the shutter button to actual shutter action. That's a big problem when taking pictures of children, sports, animals, moving objects ...

I was looking for the best 2 AA powered *pocket* camera - Something fairly thin without the handhold bulge of the Nikon p50 or the Canon A570. Price was not that important, but it seems that no one makes a really high end 2 AA powered camera. All of these are pretty cheap (under $150). I already have a Canon S5IS (uses 4 AAs) and did not want a new battery type for my small camera (Sanyo Eneloops work great BTW). I bought the L15 after looking for months.

Good: Uses 2 AAs, thin enough, some nice picture modes (like best shot), image stabilization, pretty good image quality (but I am not a pro).

Not so good (or at least strange):
Autofocus struggles at times, and not always when light is low. I'm not sure why.
Flash recycle is slow and entire camera locks during flash cycling - but this is so for all 2xAA powered cameras so I can't fault NIkon for this. It would be nice if someone solved this however.
Plastic case (but it *is* only $130)

Not necessarily bad, but could be better:
Menus are not complex (that's good) but extra button pushes are required that should not be needed. On Canons, pressing the shutter immediately kicks out of any menu and shoots. Nikon requires you to get out of the menu first.
Changing a setting like flash, requires you to go to the selection and then hit ENTER. The ENTER is an extra unneeded button push.
The flash always seems to do the red eye "double flash" no matter what the setting.
Wider angle (like 28mm) wide setting would be nice.

Summary: This is a pretty good camera but with compromises. Given the limited choices for this type of camera, I'd buy it again, but if Canon made an SD870is that ran from 2 AAs, I'd have bought that. Unfortunately, they don't. Now that that hybrid NiMH batteries don't self-discharge, these are great cheap batteries for digital cameras. I really hope to see some high quality 2 AA compacts soon, but this will tide me over for now.

I got this camera for cheap and its nice litlle camera
its slow but it takes nice sharp pictures
no red eye no blurr just what i wanted

Excellent addition to my Nikon point-and-shoots. Easier to use than both the Coolpix 4300 and Coolpix 7600. I'm comfortable with the Nikon operating methods so this one was easy to learn. Battery life and writing speed seems to be greatly improved over the 7600. I'm very satisfied with the picture quality of all three cameras. L15 is light-weight and the optional 2GB SD cards ordered through Amazon/Cameta Camera work very well. Excellent camera and bang-for-the-buck as they say.

All I want is a camera that I can carry in my suit pocket to take visual "notes." This camera seems like the perfect solution.

I previously owned a Nikon Coolpix L11. I had it less than four months, carrying in my suit pocket. One day I found the screen broken, rendering the camera unusable. I don't recall ever bumping the camera and I certainly never dropped it.

Thinking I might be somehow responsible for the broken screen I did not return the broken L11 to Nikon. Instead I bought a new camera, this time a L15 since I wanted vibration reduction. I also bought a Nikon case to protect the screen (although the added thickness make the camera less pocketable.)

In two weeks the screen on the L15 broke under the same circumstance -- it was in my suit pocket, never bumped (as far as I can recall) and never dropped. The camera is just too fragile for everyday use.

I've carried cell phones and blackberries in my pocket for ten years. I have never broken any of these devices. I'm a 59 year old. I'm careful with my things. If the #%@^# camera breaks in my pocket, imagine how long it will last for your average teenager. The L11 and L15 are lemons.

I bought a 4MP Coolpix a few years ago and I really loved it. The pictures were great, it was easy to use, and it was small enough that I carried it in my purse all the time. But after my grandson was born this summer, I realized that with 4MP I couldn't take pictures of him and crop them very much without losing quality. I stumbled onto the 8MP version at Sam's Club, but went online for a better deal, which I got through Amazon.

The camera is similar to my old one, but enough different that I'm having to learn how to operate it. The pictures are fabulous. Nikon uses a glass lens which is wonderful. The viewing screen on the back is larger than the old one making it easier to review shots. The thing I was hesitant about was that my old one used a special rechargeable battery. I did not want a camera that used AA batteries because I know those use a lot of them. But Nikon recommends the Energizer Lithium and claims you can get 1,000 pictures on a set of those as opposed to 440 shots with regular AA batteries and 520 with rechargeables.

I had read about the delay between pictures. The old camera didn't do that. When I take a picture, an hour glass pops up and I have to wait to take the next shot, so this camera would not be good for rapid fire. The exception is outdoor pictures. I went to NYC to be in Times Square for New Year's Eve and I got some fabulous pictures with the new camera. During the day, on the outdoor setting, there was no delay. I'm very pleased with it but understand that I really need to take an afternoon, sit down with the book, and learn how it works.

Some of the features of this product are impressive. The screen is wonderful: easy to view in any light, and large image. The quality of the photos is wonderful. The problem I have had is that the camera goes through batteries too quickly. Each day I use it, it completely drains the batteries (two AA). I am going to try another battery type (the camera has settings for several types) but AA is what the camera came set for and had included with it.