Nikon CoolPix L120 Review

INTRO

Today, I'm reviewing a camera that is not so new. I picked it up at a used games store in December of last year. It looked interesting, and I was looking to get a nice camera for a hot minute. Actually, I haven't had a really good one yet, and for the price that the sellers put up, it was impossible for me to pass up.

Despite this camera being somewhat dated, it is enjoyable to use, and I find myself looking out wherever I go and thinking "This would be great to take on this camera!" This is my review of the Nikon CoolPix L120, a camera of the CoolPix line that released in 2011 as a simple consumer point-and-shoot camera.

The camera has a number of useful features without being overly complex, making it great for amateur consumers who are not so interested in getting knees-deep in photography, and still produces good results.

This is not a scathing expose like the previous camera **review** (I doubt I'll make another like that one anyway), but it will follow a similar format to that review. Since then, I've gotten better at understanding cameras and photography. This time, my review is a little more grounded in shooting experience, so my opinion on it may have more legitimacy to those looking to buy a camera like this.

However, I am not a professional, and these reviews are not the result of months of extensive testing that a big brand may have the time and resources to invest in. They are mere recaps of my experience with the camera that I write for fun. So, please take what I say with a grain of salt.

THE CAMERA

PHOTOS

The Nikon CoolPix L120 shoots at a base resolution of 4320x3240 pixels; a little over 4K resolution, 14 Megapixels. There are options to crop and reduce the resolution of the image, too. I found that the picture seems to be down-sampled as you lower the resolution, although the difference is minimal. You're better off shooting at the preferred resolution, if storage allows, which it should, considering SD cards nowadays are much larger than they were over 10 years ago.

The camera includes numerous photo modes depending on the situation. These include but are not limited to a mode to take photocopies of images, photos of subjects where there is backlighting, fireworks images, sports images, and night time shots. I don't find some of them as useful as others but it's good that they're there as a basis for certain types of photos.

This camera was MADE for pictures. The quality for the resolution this camera shoots is quite good. The best thing about this camera, in my opinion, is the color quality that the photos produce. There is such a richness in the colors that this camera takes that I have never had before. I must admit, I don't have many cameras at all, so to the average photographer with multiple, high-quality, industry-grade cameras that are much more expensive, it might not be all that spectacular. But, my best camera up to this point for photos is my iPhone 13, which I've struggled with for the last year and a half with getting pictures that look really good (but of course, the photos that I took of the camera look great... lol). The iPhone 13 is poor in color quality compared to this camera, especially as it approaches darker colors. Where the iPhone camera might show a lowly-saturated, dark, "kind of" color, the camera has a rich, dark shade that feels natural and satisfying to look at.

There is a benefit to having an actual lens of some size that phone cameras will never be able to compete with, and using this camera (which is nearly a decade older than the iPhone 13), just proves that point so well that it's hard to even argue in favor of phone cameras.

My favorite part of taking pictures with this camera is the blur this thing has. I know that with a replaceable lens camera, there are a variety of options to get something that has a focus blur the same if not better than this camera, but for a camera that has no replaceable lens, it's great. I'm having a blast taking photos from different distances, and the camera even has a "close-up" and "food" preset for taking macro photos that I can't get enough of. A majority of my photos are taken at a distance so I can really take advantage of the background's blur. What can I say? It makes pictures look really nice.

A particular gripe of mine is that the detail falls apart when you zoom into the picture when viewing it on another device. On my computer, it's apparent that there's a small amount of denoising taking place when the camera takes a picture. If it's not that, then the best way I can describe it is that there's a smudginess to the image. The big picture is much better than the details in it, and it's mostly because of the resolution this camera can take pictures at.

VIDEOS

With the way I described my satisfaction with the photos, surely the videos are also great, right? Well, not quite. The highest resolution this camera can shoot video at is HD 720p. For its time, this must have been sufficient for general consumers. And compared to phone cameras of that time, it was also good. However, looking at it now compared to its photo quality, I believe it was more or less an afterthought of the camera. Recording videos is taxing on the batteries, and it's like each video file has a length limit of thirty minutes.

If you want to change zoom levels while recording, it's not very effective. The camera zooms out slower than in the photography mode, and it can't re-focus well at all. To take photos, you press down the shutter button slightly, and it will auto-focus. That does not work when recording, so it's almost like you're stuck with the same focus regardless of your zoom level, which kills the experience. Do not use this camera for recording fast-paced videos or with far-away moving elements unless you already have your focus set, and if you're thinking you'll be changing the focus quickly, good luck.

BATTERY

This camera takes 4 AA batteries to power it, which is not necessarily bad, but the battery life is less than satisfactory for 4 batteries. Recording video, again, drains the battery faster than the photo mode. There isn't much else to say about it.

OTHER

Here are some additional things I'd like to mention about the camera. There was one time I went to shoot with the camera and I forgot my SD card. So, when I looked in my photo album, all I saw were the photos I just took. I assumed they were stored on the camera's internal memory, which is probably correct. But, when I turned off the camera and put the SD card in, I expected those pictures I just took to still be there and I could maybe have a chance to transfer them to the SD card. But, when I put the card in and turned on the camera, those pictures I just took were all gone! I think that because opening the case technically disconnects the batteries, doing so made the camera forget. Don't forget your SD card, guys!

I do think the screen for this camera is ahead of its time. The colors are good on it, the resolution is high, and the darkest shade is almost like an OLED to me. They did a good job on the screen.

FINAL

Out of five stars? We're doing that for reviews from now on for consistency? I guess so... This is a four out of five. If the image resolution were twice what it is, it would probably be my main camera everywhere no matter what. I just love the color this camera gives. If I got that wish, I could easily excuse its poor video recording capabilities. This is a great camera to start out with, and as an amateur photographer myself, I can say that confidently.