Average to below average speed for a consumer camera.

The L1's performance ranges from just average to slow, depending on what you're trying to do. Start up time is slightly slower than average among cameras with telescoping lens assemblies. Shutter response when the lens is set to its wide angle position is rather slow (just under 1.2 seconds), and at the telephoto end of the lens' range, the lag time of 1.00 second is also on the slow side of average. (The average numbers among competing cameras range from 0.8 to 1.0 second respectively.) On the other hand, if you "prefocus" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure, it's much more responsive, with a shutter delay of only 0.29 second. Shot-to-shot cycle times are also slow, at about 4.3 seconds for large/fine JPEGs. Continuous-mode speed is about average, as well. The flash takes about eight seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, about average for this class of camera. Connected to a computer, download speeds are fast enough that you probably won't feel a need for a separate card reader, but nonetheless aren't as fast as many cameras currently on the market.

Battery
Modest battery life.

The Coolpix L1 uses two AA batteries for power. Because it uses a non-standard AC adapter, we weren't able to perform our usual direct measurements of power consumption, and so must rely upon Nikon's claims for battery life. Nikon states that alkaline AA cells will provide power for about 100 shots, NiMHs for 230 and lithiums for 400. These are reasonable numbers, but aren't up to the levels of some current cameras with which the L1 competes. We strongly recommend that you purchase a couple of sets of high-capacity NiMH batteries and a good charger: The investment will pay for itself many times over, compared to the cost of constantly having to buy alkaline cells. Read Dave's NiMH battery shootout page to see which batteries currently on the market are the best, and see his review of the Maha C-204W NiMH battery charger, his current favorite.

Storage
The Coolpix L1, which has 10MB internal memory, uses SD cards for external storage but does not come with a card.

I strongly recommend buying a large capacity SD/MMC memory card (at least a 128MB card, preferably a 256MB one), to give yourself extra space for extended outings.