Nikon L12 Performance

Good to below average speed for a consumer camera.

The Nikon Coolpix L12's performance is a mixed bag, ranging from quite fast to below average. Startup time was average, at 2.7 seconds. Shutter lag is very good at both wide angle (0.37s) and telephoto (0.63s), and very fast when the camera is "prefocused" by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure. Shot-to-shot cycle times are about average for this class, at about 2.71 seconds for large/fine JPEGs, but the camera can capture frames continuously at this rate with a fast enough memory card. Continuous-mode speed is below average these days, at 0.81 frames/second, though again, the camera captures frames continuously at this rate until the card is full, provided your memory card is fast enough to keep up. Flash recycling time is also rather slow, at 12 seconds after a full-power shot. Connected to a computer, download speeds are a little above average, so you probably won't feel a need for a separate card reader. Bottom line, the L12 is responsive enough for most family photo opportunities, but its standard continuous shooting mode may be a bit slow for sports or active kids.

Battery
Shorter battery life with standard AA alkaline cells, but much better life with NiMH rechargeables.

The Nikon Coolpix L12 uses two AA batteries for power, and a set of ordinary alkaline batteries are included with the camera. Though runtimes are increased with the NiMH batteries over alkalines, we strongly recommend you pick up a couple of sets of good-quality NiMH rechargeable batteries and a good-quality charger, as they'll save you many times their cost over the life of the camera. While Lithium single-use batteries are quite expensive, they may make a good choice for a camera that's used only occasionally, as they won't run down sitting in the camera for long periods.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on either a fresh set of disposable batteries or a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage
The Nikon Coolpix L12 stores its photos on SDHC / SD / MMC memory cards or in approximately 21 MB of internal memory, and no card is included with the camera.

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity SDHC/SD memory card at least a 512 MB card, to give yourself extra space for extended outings. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp, a 1 GB card would give you more room for extended outings and video clips.)