Nikon Coolpix L830: Design, features, performance, price & review
Are you planning to buy the new Nikon Coolpix L830? The new Nikon Coolpix L830 is an update to the popular Coolpix L820. Read the article to know its design, features, performance, price & review.
The Coolpix range of cameras by Nikon is doing very well in market. The company has recently updated the Life (L) series of the Coolpix cameras. The new Nikon Coolpix L830 is an update to the popular Coolpix L820. The new L830 is a smart looking bridge camera with 34x optical zoom lens (a little less than the competitor Sony DSC-H300's 35x optical zoom). It was first showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and is only now available in India. There is a lot of buzz around this new Coolpix camera and as I am passionate about photography, I was passionate to try it out for myself and see if it is capable of capturing great images. Continue reading the article to know more. Design
As you can see in the picture, the Coolpix L830 is a pretty compact camera. It is no ordinary but a super zoom digital camera encased in a small DSLR frame, thus bridging the large gap between compact digital cameras and DSLRs. It is available in plain black and plum red color options. Though I had the black colored variant for review, I would have loved to have the plum red one which looks absolutely striking. The plastic body has a glossy coat of paint on top and looks premium. It feels sturdy too. I liked the rugged feel of it. It is a budget camera but looks attractive as well as durable.
The rubber padding provided is to enhance the grip but it isn't actually very useful. Due to its small frame, holding it with both hands wasn't easy and this is very unlike a DSLR. It weighs heavy- 508g (including batteries) and this adds to the already existing image stabilization issues in super-zoom cameras.
On the top, there is the power button with shutter release, zoom ring and an ugly-looking perforated speaker that spoils the otherwise decent look of the L830. There is a toggle control around the shutter button as well as to the side of the lens. Both work well and which one to use to zoom is entirely your choice. On the side of lens barrel, there is a second zoom control and above it is a button to pop the flash open. On the left side, there are micro HDMI & PC connection ports. On the right, there is the DC input connector. On the bottom, you will find compartment for a memory card & 4 AA batteries and the tripod socket. Features
Lens & screen
The Nikon Coolpix L830 has 34x optical zoom lens which goes from 22.5mm on the lower end all the way to 765mm zoom at the top end. Most compact cameras do not offer this wide angle for vista shots and the maximum zoom they give, makes subjects away from the lens appear much closer in the frame. You won't have such problems in the super-zoom L830.
Its variangle LCD monitor is the most striking feature as it can be tilted & lowered to an angle of around 85 degrees, making it super easy to capture dramatic shots. The 3-inch TFT LCD with 921k dot resolution has great viewing angles. Even in average lighting conditions, subjects were quick to focus on Coolpix L830's rear tilt angle LCD screen. The autofocus was very speedy and the optical image stabilization feature was excellent at keeping the preview steady.
Sensor
It has a 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor which captures pictures at 16 megapixels. This is very unlike the current trend where many manufacturers are packing too many pixels on small surface area but it is a good thing. Image quality is thus good. The sensor measures 1/2.3-inch which is a class standard. It captures 1080p videos at 30fps. The Coolpix L830 operates in 125 to 3200 ISO sensitivity range.
Modes
There are many different modes available. These are Auto, Easy Auto, Smart portrait, Special effects and Scene. Scene includes many options such as Snow, Dusk/dawn, Sunset, Night portrait, Night landscape, Landscape, Beach, Museum, Party/indoor, Sports, Fireworks show, Pet portrait, Portrait, Close-up, Food, Black & white copy, Backlighting and Easy panorama. But while using the L830, I found that the camera software buries these options deep due to which it becomes difficult to locate them. It was only after using the camera twice or thrice that I discovered these wonderful options.
Now, let me also talk about the absent features. Unlike some higher-spec super-zoom models, there are no manual controls which implies that there is no flexibility in photography. Also, there is no Wi-Fi connectivity which is extremely disappointing for someone like me who uploads & shares photographs regularly.Performance
Image & video quality
The image quality was average. Surprisingly, despite the small size of the sensor, it lets in good amount of light. In low light mode, it performs better than most cameras in this segment. When zoomed in all the way to 34x in daylight, it captured excellent details. However, there was some noise and an overall cool tonal quality to the images when zoomed in. Thus, printing pictures at full resolution would not be a very good idea. The flash module lights up the surroundings evenly and is the best that I have used till date.
The quality of 1080p videos captured was good. The sound quality is exceptionally good as the microphones provided perform an excellent job at filtering out background noise.
Battery life
The Coolpix L830 uses four AA batteries. So, the battery life depends on the type of battery you use. I used 4 regular alkaline batteries which gave me 75 shots before dipping down to 70 percent.Price & verdict
The Nikon Coolpix L830 is a low-end bridge camera priced at Rs. 15,450. It is bulky but has a great feature set and captures decent shots even in low light, making the overall package a killer deal at this price.
My ratings
Design- 4/5
Features- 3.5/5
Image quality- 3.5/5
Video quality- 4/5
Battery life- 3.5/5
Value for money- 4.5/5
Overall- 4/5
Also Read: Top 5 point and shoot cameras within Rs.10,000/-
