Buying Nikon Coolpix L22 12.0 MP Digital Camera With 3.6x Optical Zoom And 3.0-Inch LCD (Red-primary)
Shouldn't modern technology be better than it was 2 years ago?
I had a Samsung L100 that was probably the best camera I'd owned until it broke earlier this year. It seemed like the camera couldn't do anything wrong when it came to taking pictures, though the video recording left a bit to be desired. When it broke, I first tried my luck with the Fujifilm FinePix JZ300...and it was the first camera I ever rated 1 star (and I don't just give that rating out). So my next attempt was this Nikon Coolpix L22 here. I'd owned a Coolpix a few years earlier, and it took decent pictures. Oddly enough, this one takes slightly worse pictures, and there's a trick to getting non-blurry ones. That shouldn't be the case with what's considered a simple point and click camera. Keep in mind that I'm no professional photographer, nor am I one of those people who calls themselves one just because they take a lot of pictures and thinks the title fits. It's just a hobby, plain and simple. But I do know clarity and detail when I see it, and when it's missing.
First things first, yes, most of the time your pictures will be blurry when using this camera on the Auto setting. You can set the camera down on a table or something with the self-timer on, and take a picture of something that's immobile, and chances are that it'll be blurry in the picture. Why? I don't know. But get this- there's a trick to getting an ok picture on Auto: zooming in just a little bit. I know, it sounds stupid, but the only time I'm ever able to get good pictures if when I turn the Macro setting on, and when I zoom in a tiny bit. If I zoom a little more or not at all, the picture is a mess, and not worth keeping. Some of the special settings like Sunset and all that can make for good pictures and set the mood beautifully, but after trying out all of them several times over the last 4 months, only 5 have been helpful.
Other poor features worth mentioning include the random times it takes to process a picture. Sometimes you'll take a picture, and it'll be done immediately, ready for another. But then there'll be times when you'll wait between 5 and 20 seconds (yes, TWENTY seconds) before you can take another. And the times really are random too, they don't depend on how complicated the image was. Taking a picture of a full moon: just the black night sky and the white moon took 11 seconds once, while a ton of gorgeous fireworks that filled took a quick 2 seconds. Another time, the same full moon picture was 1 second deal. Crazy, but true. Something positive I can say for it though is that the battery life is very good. I've never even seen the Low Battery warning pop up, even on the 4th of July when over 300 pictures and a dozen or so 5+ minute videos were recorded.
When it comes down to it, this camera isn't worth the full price I paid for it. At the current price it's going for, you could certainly do worse (Fujifilm, I'm lookin' at you), but if you can try out cameras in the store or have friends with cameras that you can test out, do that before blindly ordering this. Maybe I'll try hunting down another Samsung L100...
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