Nikon CoolPix 3100

That shape looks as if it’s going to be more comfortable to use than it actually is. The moulded handgrip where the fingers of your right hand curl round the front of the camera proves too small to be useful. Indeed, a flat-fronted design would be easier to hold.

This is where the 3100′s batteries are stored, though, and this represents a slight departure for Nikon because it’s gone for a pair of AA cells rather than the lithium-ion cell used in cameras a little higher up the range. Although spares are inexpensive and disposable (AAs are available everywhere and okay for an emergency), even NiMH types don’t have the power characteristics of lithium-ion cells. It’s not their capacity, but their tendency to drain slowly – even when not in use – and give up suddenly as they run down. On the other hand, you do get two rechargeable NiHM cells with the camera, plus a charger, which is a lot further than most other makers will go. It’s also interesting to see Nikon sticking with CompactFlash memory card storage, while most other low-end cameras seem to be opting for Secure Digital (SD) cards.

Nikon CoolPix 3100 is mainly designed as a point-and-shoot camera, and while the mode dial does offer a Manual setting, all it does is let you adjust white balance, image sharpening, drive mode (single/multi-shot/continuous shooting modes) and apply the Best Shot Selector. This is a feature that is unique to Nikon and found on just about all of its digital cameras. The camera keeps taking shots for as long as you hold down the shutter release, then compares them all and saves only the sharpest.

There are 14 scene modes, offering customised settings for Party/Indoor, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Dusk/Dawn, Night landscape, Close up, Museum, Fireworks show, Copy and Back light shots.

What’s interesting here, though, is that Nikon has added four ‘Framing Assist’ modes. These go a little further than the scene modes, in that as well as adjusting the camera settings to suit the specific subject type, they also display framing guidelines on the LCD. There are Framing Assist modes for Portrait, Landscape, Sports and Night Portrait shots. Adults might find Framing Assist a bit silly, but it may prove handy for kids, who can often produce the most bizarre and wildly-framed photos.

Having said that, Casio produces a Best Shot system for its snapshot cameras that doesn’t just offer more options than Nikon’s, but presents them far more attractively, too.

The CoolPix 3100′s menus seem a bit of a step back. We’re used to Nikon menus being compact and neat, with very legible text and a logical structure, but here the designers have opted for a semi-graphical interface with bigger text. It doesn’t work. The text is bigger but the font is less readable and, in some Instances, with more wordy menu options.

Nikon CoolPix 3100 Features and handling

At least the 3100 is pretty handy to use, though. The start-up time’s okay at around three seconds, and the AF system focuses most shots in no more than half a second – though telephoto shots will take a fraction longer.

There is a movie mode, but the Nikon doesn’t record sound to go with them, but it will shoot at a surprisingly high resolution of 640 x 480. You can also cut the start and end of your movie clips. This allows some judicious in-camera editing, which has the benefit of chopping out bits you won’t want to see later and freeing up space on the memory card.

The 3100 will carry out a number of in-camera functions on saved still images. You can resize and crop your images, produce black and white or sepia copies, and even generate a ‘halo’ soft-focus effect for portraits. I wonder how long it will be before we get a portable version of Photoshop for digital cameras…

The LCD display is pretty good, with crisp detail and fast, blur-free refresh rate. It works just as well indoors as outside, too. However, the navipad on the back is small and, like others with a combined four-way action, it can lead to errors and vagueness. It does at least offer shortcuts while shooting to the flash mode, macro mode and self-time, and the macro mode’s 4cm minimum focusing distance is especially impressive.

While Nikon CoolPix 3100 is a bit on the plasticky side, it works pretty well. Image playback performance is particularly good in a digital camera of this price. The images it produces are good quality, too. In fact, it produces the some of the best results you’re likely to see from a 3.2-megapixel camera, with sharp detail, good colour, plenty of saturation and a level of contrast that, altogether, gives images real ‘punch’.