Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 12 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 5Mb.

During the review, the Nikon Coolpix L22 produced images of perfectly acceptable quality for a camera that will almost exclusively be used for snapshots. In the middle of the zoom range and at around the telephoto end the lens is really - even surprisingly - sharp from corner to corner. At the wide end though, the off-centre areas are a lot less sharp than the image centre. Colours on the whole are pleasing, and while auto white balance does not always work well, the camera has a custom WB option that gives nearly perfect results. Chromatic aberrations and geometric distortions are very well corrected in-camera, and while the flash has a propensity to produce red-eye in portraits, its red-eye reduction mode has turned out pretty effective. The only real issue with image quality is noise, or should we say, noise reduction. Given that the camera does not allow the photographer to set the ISO speed manually, it will inevitably use a high sensitivity setting in certain circumstances, which produces photos with smeared details. This is not going to be a major issue for the target customer though.

Noise

The Nikon Coolpix L22 does not provide photographer control over ISO speeds, so we were unable to complete this test.

Focal Range

The Nikon Coolpix's 3.6x zoom lens provides a focal length of 37-134mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

37mm	134mm

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops - he right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are slightly soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can't change the in-camera sharpening level to suit your tastes.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

File Quality

At full resolution, there are two JPEG quality settings available including Normal and Fine, with the latter being marked with a star in the menu. The camera does not save images in a Raw format.

Fine (100% Crop)	Normal (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

Chromatic aberrations are a non-issue with the Nikon Coolpix L22. This is probably a result of firmware-based CA removal.

Macro

The Nikon Coolpix L22 has a macro mode that allows you to get as close as 5cm to the subject. While this may not sound very competitive, it does allow you to zoom in a little, so the resultant magnification is not bad at all - and it’s nice to have a bit of working distance. The image quality is very good, with little distortion, no chromatic aberration and good sharpness across the frame. Of course the camera may pick a high sensitivity setting, which can result in some noise. The example below was taken at ISO 800 for instance.

Macro Shot	100% Crop

Flash

The available flash modes in Auto mode are Forced Off, Forced On, Red-eye Reduction, Auto, and Auto with Red-eye Reduction. In other shooting modes you may not have access to all of these settings. These shots of a white ceiling were taken from a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (37mm)	Flash On - Wide Angle (37mm)
Flash Off - Telephoto (134mm)	Flash On - Telephoto (134mm)

And here are a couple of head shots. The flash caused a lot of red-eye, but the red-eye reduction setting managed to get rid of most of it.

Flash On	Flash On (100% Crop)
Red Eye Reduction	Red Eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

With no photographer control over shutter speed and sensitivity, the Nikon Coolpix L22 is hardly the ideal tool for night photography. Certain scene modes - such as Night landscape and Fireworks - are better than others, but your chances of getting a shot that is both properly exposed and clean are pretty slim. In the below example the camera chose a shutter speed of 4 seconds at ISO 80, which resulted in an underexposed image. Dialling in some exposure compensation would have caused the L22 to pick a higher sensitivity setting and a better exposed but noisier shot.

Night Shot	Night Shot (100% Crop)

D-lighting

While the Nikon Coolpix L22 doesn’t offer the Active D-lighting functionality of the manufacturer’s DSLRs, it does offer D-lighting as a post-capture option. The examples below demonstrate what a difference it can make when shooting a high-contrast scene.

Off	On

Colour Options

The camera offers a range of colour options including Standard, Vivid, Black-and-White, Sepia and Cyanotype. The images presented here show the differences across these options.

Standard	B/W
Cyanotype	Sepia
Vivid

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Nikon Coolpix L22 camera, which were all taken using the 12 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Front of the Camera

Isometric View

Isometric View

Rear of the Camera

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

Rear of the Camera

Rear of the Camera

Top of the Camera

Bottom of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Nikon Coolpix L22 is easily the most simple camera we have reviewed thus far. Providing no user control over aperture, ISO or shutter speed, it gets about as close to embodying the true meaning of "point-and-shoot" as possible. It is therefore not the ideal choice for an experienced photographer looking for a compact to complement their DSLR. However, it was likely never meant to be. There are a lot of people out there that are looking for an intelligent, fully automated little camera that takes "good enough" snapshots and represents a step up from the ubiquitous camera phone. The Nikon Coolpix L22 fits the bill perfectly. It’s small yet reasonably sturdy, takes easy-to-obtain AA batteries, has a zoom lens that’s actually pretty sharp, and does a lot of things - like start-up, shut-down or zooming - surprisingly quickly, all at a price point well below £100. If all is not rosy it’s mainly because low-light focussing is both slow and indecisive, meaning those shots of your buddies in your favourite restaurant may indeed come out blurry. If you can live with that - and the afore-mentioned lack of manual control - the Nikon Coolpix L22 is unlikely to disappoint. Of course if you are a stickler for image quality or want to make action shots or poster-sized prints, you should look elsewhere - but in that case, you probably know perfectly well that an entry-level compact like the L22 isn’t what you’re after.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	3
Features	2.5
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	4
Value for money	4.5

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Nikon Coolpix L22 from around the web.

Specifications

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