Nikon Coolpix L6

CNET Editors' Rating

3.0 stars
    Overall score: 6.2 (3.0 stars)

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20 reviews

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Nikon Coolpix L6 - top Nikon Coolpix L6 - sides Nikon Coolpix L6 - back
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  • Nikon Coolpix L6 - top
  • Nikon Coolpix L6 - sides
  • Nikon Coolpix L6 - back

CNET Editors' Review

CNET Editors' Rating

3.0 stars Good
    Overall score: 6.2 (3.0 stars)
  • Design: 7.0
  • Features: 6.0
  • Performance: 5.0
  • Service and support: 6.0
  • Reviewed by: Philip Ryan
  • Reviewed on:

The good: Simple operation; small size; long battery life.

The bad: Slow performance; no ISO control; very slow flash recycle time.

The bottom line: The Coolpix L6 doesn't offer much control and is quite slow, but in good light, it can take nice photos.

Review: Despite all the fancy, feature-rich cameras we've seen this year, 2006 may make its mark as the year that features went by the wayside in digital cameras. Just as Olympus's FE series brings new meaning to the idea of point and shoot, Nikon's L series eschews features in favor of simplicity. Exposure control consists of scene modes and exposure compensation. Of course, if you don't want any control, there's always the full auto mode.

As you might expect, the camera's specs won't blow you away, but for its price, they're not bad.

... Expand full review
Despite all the fancy, feature-rich cameras we've seen this year, 2006 may make its mark as the year that features went by the wayside in digital cameras. Just as Olympus's FE series brings new meaning to the idea of point and shoot, Nikon's L series eschews features in favor of simplicity. Exposure control consists of scene modes and exposure compensation. Of course, if you don't want any control, there's always the full auto mode.

As you might expect, the camera's specs won't blow you away, but for its price, they're not bad. It has a 6-megapixel CCD sensor; a 3X optical, 38mm-to-116mm f/3.2-to-f/5.3 zoom lens; and a 2.5-inch, 115,000-pixel LCD screen. According to Nikon, the L6 can shoot up to 1,000 images on a pair of lithium batteries; the company even includes a pair of Energizer AA e2 lithium batteries with the camera. If you use alkaline AAs, the battery life drops to 400 shots, but that's still very impressive for a point-and-shoot camera like this.

The L6 is comfortable to hold and, with all its controls on the right-hand side of the camera, one-handed shooting is a definite possibility. Nikon makes use of the thickness of AA batteries to fashion a subtle grip on the L6's right side. Though certainly small enough to fit in a jacket pocket, the L6 has some heft; it weighed 5.4 ounces, with batteries and SD card, on our lab scale.

While they're not numerous, Nikon did include a few features. Unlike with the FE series, you can choose from a handful of white balance presets or set your own manual white balance. You can also choose various color modes, such as cyanotype, sepia, and black-and-white. The best shot selector mode in the L6 captures up to 10 images when you hold down the shutter and then saves only the one that the camera thinks is the sharpest. Unfortunately, you can't manually select your ISO. Nikon says it covers ISO 50 through ISO 800, and the camera chooses what it deems best for any given situation. Since noise always increases as ISO increases, we'd rather be able to choose a lower ISO occasionally.

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Average User Rating

3.0 stars out of 20 user reviews

Rating Breakdown

  • 5 star: 5
  • 4 star: 6
  • 3 star: 4
  • 2 star: 4
  • 1 star: 1

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Most Helpful User Review

4.5 stars 7 of 7 users found this review helpful

"Great camera for the price" By stabgod

Pros Outstanding pictures, great battery life, nice LCD screen

Cons Slow - long time between pics and for flash pics

Summary Even though cameras may have similar specifications, they are not all created equal. I was looking for a second camera for quick, good quality shots, so I spent about two hours at a BestBuy, testing every digital camera under $200. This camera was, by far, the best camera for the ... Expand full review

Specifications

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Quick Specs

  • Digital camera type: Compact
  • Product Type: Digital camera - Compact
  • Resolution: 6 megapixels

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