Nikon Coolpix L11 review

You shouldn't ignore budget cameras just because of the price tag -- some offer surprisingly good picture quality for very little money. The Nikon Coolpix L11 is one such camera, a 6-megapixel point-and-shoot that produces very acceptable pictures, with a price tag of less than £90.

Design
With its simple, relatively compact design, the Coolpix L11 won't win any beauty contests. Its control scheme is direct and simple, with a large joypad and buttons that feel comfortable even for big-thumbed users. The mode slider and zoom rocker feel rather narrow, but they can still be manipulated easily.

The 176g, 28mm-thick, plastic-bodied camera uses two AA batteries for flexible power. While alkalines are plentiful enough, we recommend buying a set of rechargeable NiMH batteries instead. If you plan on shooting with any regularity, these more expensive, rechargeable batteries will pay for themselves very quickly.

Features
Given the sub-£100 price tag, the Coolpix L11 is clearly designed for the frugal rather than the fancy. The 6-megapixel camera sports a 37.5mm-to-112.5mm-equivalent 3x zoom lens and a relatively small 61mm (2.4-inch) LCD screen. While its hardware hardly impresses, however, the camera offers some surprisingly useful features.

The L11 includes Nikon's In-Camera Red-Eye Fix and Face-Priority AF. In-Camera Red-Eye Fix supplements the camera's red-eye reduction flash mode with a processing system that removes red-eye after the photo is taken. Face-Priority AF detects and tracks faces in photos, and adjusts focus to stay on those faces, instead of just the closest subject. Both features come standard on most Nikon Coolpix cameras, but are still handy for casual shooting.

You should probably steer clear of the L11 if you want a great deal of control over your photos. Like most budget cameras, the L11 automates almost every aspect of its operation. Besides white balance, exposure compensation and a handful of scene presets, you can't change any image settings on the camera. Despite these few options, the L11 does offer a manual white balance, granting slightly more flexibility than most budget cameras' presets.

Performance
For such an inexpensive camera, the L11 shoots surprisingly quickly, outperforming even its bigger brother, the Coolpix L12. After only a 1.8-second wait from pressing the power button to taking the first shot, the camera could snap off a new photo every 2.2 seconds with the flash turned off. That wait increased to 4.6 seconds with the onboard flash turned on.