Name: Coolpix L27
Brand: Nikon

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Performance

Colours on the LCD monitor appear darker than in real life, but they are brighter on a computer screen. Nevertheless, images taken using the auto settings without adjustments to the exposure compensation can appear washed out and faded.

Although the screen is advertised as having anti-reflection coating, the on-screen image is sometimes hard to see, especially in strong sunlight.

At times the L27 doesn't quite get the exposure right, but no more often than you might expect. Fortunately, all the exposure modes have access to exposure compensation so this is easily fixable, but not ideal.

Several of our test images have quite a bit of fringing in high contrast areas. This is not unexpected for a compact camera of this price-point, and shouldn't be too noticeable unless your images are printed at a large size.

The sensitivity settings aren't adjustable on the Nikon L27, so it's difficult to assess its capabilities, although the camera itself can choose from between ISO 80 and ISO 1600 depending on its mode.Although as you would expect images taken in low light, when the high sensitivity settings would be selected, have visible noise, it's nothing unexpected from a camera in this price range.

The white balance modes work well and the custom mode is simple to use and gives accurate results.

The images created by the L27 are of fairly good quality - certainly as good or better than most standard smartphone cameras. The colours are generally bright and vibrant, and the macro mode can pick up reasonably small details well.

With a full battery, the Nikon L27 has an acceptable shot length time, but when the batteries are low it can become very slow, so it's worthwhile carrying a spare set around. When using the flash the shot to shot time is noticeably longer, because the flash needs to recharge between fires.

During testing we experienced some issues with the battery indicator - several times the Nikon L27 showed a 'battery exhausted' message only to return to a battery full indicator after turning the unit off and on again.

The battery life does, however, seem fairly short with standard alkaline batteries, and the indicator did not seem to always be entirely accurate. It's possible this was due to the outside temperature during testing.

Overall the Nikon L27 is functional, quick and easy to use, but some of the menu placements and button functions may confuse at first.