Nikon Coolpix L830

The new member of Nikon’s Coolpix L series bridge camera has several new features. L830 packs powerful 34X zoom lens with focal length range of 22.5-765mm (in 35mm camera terms) that ensure sharp shots at such long focal lengths. Coolpix L830 boasts a 16.0-megapixel CMOS sensor capable of a maximum ISO3200 sensitivity and Full HD video capture. It also utilizes Nikon’s Hybrid Vibration Reduction system.

Is it bulky to carry? It’s not that bulky, yet only marginally smaller than Nikon’s entry-level D3300 DSLR. With 508g weight and 111 X 75.8 X 91.2mm dimensions, it can easily be garbed. Its excellent ergonomics though, with a chunky finger-grip and sizeable rubberised thumb panel make the camera feel particularly secure in the hand. As like other Coolpix series cameras, it also has two automatic modes, ‘Smart Auto’ that intelligently select one of 18 different scene presets according to your subject and apply optimal shooting settings and standard ‘Auto mode’ to control ISO sensitivity and white balance.

Alternatively each of the 18 scene presents can be manually selected, as well as Easy Panorama mode is also there. Unfortunately, the panorama feature didn’t work properly with us and the final result is resized to just 920 vertical pixels and you’re restricted to either a 180 or 360-degree pan.

High zoom to click long distance objects: Though, it feels bulky and has resemblance to a DSLR, it has a small image sensor that can capture anything. With the powerful 34X optical zoom capacity, it can even capture longer distance object easily. The 34x zoom lens achieves a maximum wide-angle focal length equivalent to 22.5mm, and is capable of a telephoto reach of 765mm (in 35mm-camra terms).

Using the 34X zoom you can click detailed image, but going further would introduce noise and produce muddy images. The camera lens performs well and is capable of handling barrel distortion. In addition, the chromatic aberration is also very less.

Sharp image production without barrel distortion: Nikon L830’s lens performance is much better, with good corner sharpness and almost no barrel distortion at wide angle. It can shoot a high contrast scene with a little chromatic aberration. Nikon’s Vibration Reduction system works well, an even reduces vibration while clicking images when zooming in. With the six sensitivity settings ranging from ISO125 to ISO3200, it enables you to click images with rich colors and details.

With a boost in sharpness, it delivers smooth images but suffered from a little chromatic aberration in areas of high contrast throughout the frame. Using the L830 you can click macro shots even from 1 cm distance. However the depth of field becomes very shallow at this extremely close distance. Night photography is easy with the Night Landscape mode, which works regardless of whether you’re shooting holding it in your hand or through a tripod.

It has eleven color effects - Soft, Nostalgic sepia, High-contrast monochrome, High key, Low key, Selective colour, Pop, Super Vivid, Cross process, Toy camera effect 1 & Toy camera effect 2. The backlighting feature enables you to automatically capture two exposures of a high-contrast scene to record shadow and highlight detail separately, and later merges them into a single HDR image.

The power-packed AA alkaline battery: Four alkaline batteries keep it on to click more than 370 shots. These rechargeable batteries allow you to click images without worrying about power, and in case they’re drained out, you can easily grab them from the market place.