Learn & Explore Tip of the Day

June 19, 2013

Take plenty of pictures. With the split-second nature of sports, it is extremely hard to capture every moment perfectly. Shooting a lot will increase the odds of getting the one great photo you'll want to share. Put the camera on continuous shooting to maximize your efforts.

June 18, 2013

Keep an eye on your LCD after you take photos of people, and when you find a particularly flattering shot, show it to them. Nothing makes a person relax like knowing that the photos you’re taking make them look good.

June 17, 2013

Sitting around a campfire and roasting marshmallows? You can get some great shots in the light of a fire, but remember that if the fire’s in the picture, the camera’s meter can be fooled by the brightness of the flames. Compose and meter your exposure on your subjects’ faces to expose them properly.

June 16, 2013

Take plenty of photos during your Father’s Day celebrations. Remember to print multiple copies, so everyone can have their own photographs of dad to cherish.

June 15, 2013

Planning to take a vacation by the beach? Look for a compact digital camera that’s waterproof, such as the Nikon COOLPIX AW110, S31 or get an underwater housing for your camera. You’ll be able to take your camera under water and capture what goes on below the surface.

June 14, 2013

Use panning for a different action shot. Slow down your shutter speed and follow the subject (panning) with your camera as you take the picture. This will blur/streak the background and keeps your subject in focus. Try to shoot about 1/30 of a second as you follow the action.

June 13, 2013

When shooting groups of five or more people, make sure you stagger them. Put tall folks in the back and the shortest ones in front. It may seem simple, but blocking out just one face can ruin a group portrait. Always tell them, “If you don’t have a clear view of me, the camera can’t see you.”

June 12, 2013

Want a unique video of sports action? Use the slow-motion mode that many Nikon digital cameras offer. By shooting the action faster than normal and played back at normal speed, your subject’s movements are slowed down and look more deliberate.

June 11, 2013

When shooting bodies of water, use a polarizer filter to reduce glare. It will increase the contrast of the overall image, making colors seem deeper and more vivid.

June 10, 2013

When photographing animals of any kind—pets, birds in flight, animals at the zoo—try to zoom in as close as you can or use a longer lens to isolate the animal from its background. By getting a close-up view you have a greater chance of capturing a wonderful expression on the face of the animal, which will give you a more interesting photograph.

June 9, 2013

Spend a day taking photos using the effects modes that your camera offers. Check your camera manual to see where to find the effects available on your specific camera.

June 8, 2013

Baseball games provide a lot of angles. Get low, near first base. From there you can see most of the infield action, plus home plate. Try shooting through the backstop with a long lens as the pitcher warms up. But don’t get too close to the action. You don't want to get hurt.

June 7, 2013

Check the weather before an outdoor event. Protecting your camera and lens is critical. Consider buying a rain hood for your camera. It will protect your camera and allow you to keep shooting. If you don’t have one, use a gallon-size plastic bag or trash bag with rubber bands to protect your gear.

June 6, 2013

When composing a sports picture, leave some room for the action. For instance, if a runner is going left to right, leave more room on the right side of the frame for him/her to run into. This will make a big difference on the impact of the image.

June 5, 2013

Change your white balance during a sunrise or sunset. Take your camera off auto white balance and switch to Cloudy or Shady white balance. This will add more strength to the reds, oranges and yellows. Auto White Balance tries to keep colors neutral.

June 4, 2013

Posing a bride and groom for photos is sometimes difficult. Concentrate on close shots of just the two of them, with clean backgrounds. Then create a fun group shot having them in the center, with others gathered around them. Just make sure no one gets in front of them. After all, it’s their day.

June 3, 2013

Use a polarizing filter to lessen or eliminate reflections from glass. This works really well on windows of stores or cars. But the trade-off is that your exposure will be a bit longer, as the light is cut down by almost two stops.

June 2, 2013

Try shooting panoramas if you’re at a sport stadium, beach or park, for more interesting images. Some Nikon Digital Cameras have an Easy Panorama mode or a Panorama Assist mode, which make these photos easy to capture.

June 1, 2013

Use a small flashlight to light up a scene. Put one behind or under an object at night to create an interesting glow or use it instead of a flash. Take long-exposure shots using a flash as a light source and you can create interesting glowing sections of your photos.

May 31, 2013

At a gathering of friends or family take an extra camera and let everyone know they can take pictures with it. Leave it out and let anyone grab it and shoot away. Then use one of the photo sharing sites to make sure everyone can get a copy of the photos they took.

May 30, 2013

At a wedding, watch what the photographer is doing and pick something different to shoot. If the photographer is shooting the cake cutting, take pictures of the band. If the photographer is shooting the bouquet toss with a wide-angle lens from behind the bride, use a telephoto to capture people trying to catch the flowers. You’ll capture a part of the wedding that wouldn’t have been documented otherwise.

May 29, 2013

Look around you when you’re shooting at sunset. The objects that look boring during the day magically come to life when the rays of the sun hit them. Buildings, cars and anything reflective take on a special quality at sunset.

May 28, 2013

Patience is a virtue. But it’s a necessity when taking pictures of children and pets. Slow down, watch and keep shooting. A healthy dose of patience can really pay off in much better pictures.

May 27, 2013

Bring your camera when you go to your local Memorial Day Parade. You can make great pictures of your children as they get ready, as well as while they’re marching on the parade route.

May 26, 2013

When photographing cars, try getting a different perspective. Use a wide-angle lens to capture the hood ornament with the hood stretched out behind. Get low and shoot up on the car. Grab a ladder and shoot a bird’s eye view. You’ll create a photograph that captures a car as art.

May 25, 2013

Babies are great subjects because they’re so darn cute. Focus on the teeny body parts with a macro lens. Pudgy hands, small ears, and teeny elbows—they’re even cuter when they’re the subjects of your photo.

May 24, 2013

Ask people to write down their e-mail address on a piece of paper and take a photo of that paper along with their photos. That way you’ll always have their e-mail address on file. Send them a copy of the photo as a thank-you for their time.

May 23, 2013

May 22, 2013

Planning to take a vacation by the beach? Look for a compact digital camera that’s waterproof, such as the Nikon COOLPIX AW100, AW110, S30, S31 or get an underwater housing for your camera. You’ll be able to take your camera under water and capture what goes on below the surface.

May 21, 2013

When shooting nighttime landscapes, use a low ISO (400 or below if possible) while working from a tripod. Open your aperture to F/4 or F/5.6. This will allow you to have a shot full of detail and of good quality. Remember that night shots need a subject, just like day shots.

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Get closer than ever to your active family with the powerful, affordable Nikon COOLPIX L120 Your images will zoom to the next level with its 21x optical Zoom-NIKKOR glass lens.

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Product Number: 26253

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Key Features

Zoom in on a high powered camera at an easy to handle price.

Great photos and superb HD movies begin with Nikon’s high power 21x wide-angle optical Zoom-NIKKOR glass lens. This powerful zoom lens, with a 25-525mm range equivalent, closes the distance between you and your subjects. Capture your son firing off the game-winning lacrosse shot or your daughter’s first ride on a two wheeler. Whether it’s a panoramic shot of the entire family on a favorite sledding hill, or a photo of your children playing in the backyard, you’ll shoot effortlessly and accurately with the COOLPIX L120.

If you’re new to photography, no worries, this camera has intelligent features to help you out. Five-way VR Image Stabilization uses sensor shift to minimize the effects of camera shake, virtually eliminating blurred images. Trick-or-treating with the kids? The COOLPIX L120 has a high ISO speed up to 6400 to capture fast moving or low-light scenarios.

One-touch HD movie recording puts friends and family in motion.

As photo keeper of family memories, you can rely on the COOLPIX L120 to capture great still images that you can print and save. But a band concert without sound is incomplete and a 60-yard touchdown drive without the fleet-footed runs isn’t as exciting. That’s where the COOLPIX L120’s advanced One-Touch HD Movie recording capabilities come in. With the push of a button you’ll instantly be shooting 720p HD movies in full stereo. While shooting you can activate the camera’s zoom function to capture tight shots and close ups. And when you’re ready to share your movies with family and friends, you can use in-camera playback or the convenient HDMI output for simple hookup to an HDTV or computer.

Shoot snowboarders, Frisbee throwers and T-ball players with a single, versatile camera.

Low-light conditions and fast action can defeat some cameras, but not the COOLPIX L120. With high ISO speeds up to 6400, you can be sure that still images and movies will be ideally captured. With Nikon’s Sport Continuous Shooting mode, this camera takes photos continuously and in quick succession to capture fast moving objects.
You’ll get great use of the in-camera editing functions, including D-Lighting for adjusting contrast and fine details often lost when shooting in glaring or intense light. You can pick from five color options: Standard, Vivid, Black & White, Sepia and Cyanotype. And when you want to take close up photos, the COOLPIX L120 will zero in as close as 0.4 inches. Don’t hesitate to click away, because you’ll get about 330 stills from the four AA alkaline batteries that come with the camera.

A camera so smart it knows when your subject smiles, warns you if someone blinks, and gets the red out of grandma’s eyes.

Behind every great photo and HD movie is the COOLPIX L120, a camera brimming with technological advances. Smile Timer detects when a subject smiles and automatically takes the photo. Blink Warning identifies when a subject may have blinked and signals you to retake the shot. Face-Priority AF is an innovative face-identifying technology that detects and focuses up to 12 faces automatically.

Red-eye will no longer ruin family photos. In-camera Red-Eye Fix automatically fixes the problem before it occurs. Blotchy, uneven complexions are also a thing of the past with COOLPIX L120’s Skin Softening, which smoothes skin tones. This versatile camera also has 17 Scene Modes that adjust camera settings to selected scenes, assuring great pictures at school plays, backyard barbecues, or athletic events.

A dazzling three-inch color display brings your stills and HD movies to life.

You’ll enjoy composing images from the COOLPIX L120’s bright three-inch LCD color display, which features a dazzling 921,000-dot screen that showcases still images and HD movies in rich detail and enhanced contrast. And for easy photo composition, improved picture viewing, and instant sharing, the LCD monitor’s wide viewing angle and anti-glare coating lets you capture and view high quality images in virtually any lighting condition, every time.

LCD, Video and Photo Gallery images are for illustrative purposes only.

Specifications

Type

Compact Digital Camera

Effective Pixels

14.1 million

Image Sensor

CCD

Sensor Size

1/2.3 in.

Total Pixels

14.48 million (approx.)

Lens

21x optical Zoom, NIKKOR glass lens

Lens Focal Length

4.5-94.5mm (angle of view equivalent to that of 25-525mm lens in 35mm [135] format)

Lens f/-number

f/3.1-5.8

Lens Construction

12 elements in 9 groups

Lens Zoom

21x

Digital Zoom

Up to 4x (angle of view equivalent to that of approx. 2100mm lens in 35mm [135] format)

Vibration Reduction

Combination of
Image-sensor shift and Electronic VR (still pictures)
Electronic VR (movies)

Autofocus (AF)

Contrast-detect AF

Autofocus (AF) Focus-area selection

Center
Face detection

Focus Range

[W]: Approx. 1 ft. 8 in. (50 cm.) to infinity
[T]: Approx. 5 ft. (1.5 m.) to infinity
Macro close-up mode: Approx. 0.4 in. (1 cm.) to infinity(Middle zoom position)

Focus Lock

Yes

Monitor Size

3.0 in. diagonal

Monitor Type

Wide Viewing Angle TFT-LCD with Anti-reflection coating
5-level brightness adjustment

Monitor Resolution

921,000-dots

Monitor Frame coverage (shooting mode)

97% horizontal (Approx.)
97% vertical (Approx.)

Monitor Frame coverage (playback mode)

100% horizontal (Approx.)

Storage Media

SD memory card
SDHC memory card
SDXC memory card

Internal Memory

Approx. 102MB

Storage File System

DCF
EXIF 2.3
DPOF compliant

Storage File formats

Still pictures: JPEG

Movie

Audio file format: AAC stereo
HD: 1280x720p / 30fps
Movie file format: MPEG-4 AVC H.264

Image Size (pixels)

4320 x 3240 (14M)

ISO Sensitivity

ISO 80-6400
Auto (auto gain ISO 80-800)
Sport continuous (ISO 400-3200)

Lowest ISO Sensitivity

Highest ISO Sensitivity

6400

Exposure Metering

256-segment matrix
Center-weighted

Exposure Control

Programmed auto exposure with motion detection

Exposure Modes

Programmed Auto
with Motion Detection & Exposure Compensation

Automatic Exposure Scene Modes

Yes

Scene Modes

Back Light
Beach
Black and White Copy
Close Up
Dusk/Dawn
Fireworks Show
Food
Landscape
Museum
Night Landscape
Night Portrait
Panorama Assist
Party/Indoor
Pet Portrait
Portrait
Snow
Sunset

In-Camera Image Editing

Crop
D-Lighting
Small Picture

Exposure Compensation

± 2 EV in steps of 1/3

Exposure Lock

Yes

White Balance

Auto
Manual

Shutter

Mechanical and charge-coupled electronic shutter

Shutter Speed

1/1000-1 sec. (when ISO sensitivity set to Auto)
1/4000-1/60 sec. (sport continous mode)
4 sec. (when scene mode is set to Fireworks show)

Top Continuous Shooting Speed at full resolution

Up to 19 shots at approx. 0.7 frames per second

Continuous Shooting Options

Continuous

Self-timer

Can be selected from 10 or 2 seconds duration

Built-in flash Range (approx.) (ISO sensitivity: Auto)

[W]: 0.5 to 6.0m (1ft. 8in. to 19ft.)
[T]: 1.5 to 3.0m (5ft. to 9ft.10in.)

Built-in Flash Control

TTL auto flash with monitor preflashes

Interface

Hi-speed USB

Interface Data transfer protocol

MTP
PTP

Video Output

NTSC
PAL

HDMI Output

480p
720p
1080i

I/O terminal

Audio/video (A/V) output
DC input connector
Digital I/O (USB)
HDMI Mini Connector (HDMI output)

Supported Languages

Arabic
Chinese (Simplified and Traditional)
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
Finnish
French
German
Greek
Hungarian
Indonesian
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Polish
Portugese
Romanian
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Thai
Turkish
Ukranian

Power Sources

4 AA-size batteries

Battery / Batteries

AA (Alkaline, NiMH, Oxyride or Lithium)
Four rechargeable EN-MH2 NiMH batteries(optional)

Battery Life (shots per charge)

AA Alkaline: 330 shots
AA Lithium: 890 shots
EN-MH2: 520 shots

Tripod Socket

¼ in.

Approx. Dimensions (Width x Height x Depth)

4.4 in. (109.9 mm) x 3.1 in. (76.5 mm) x 3.1 in. (78.4 mm)

Excluding projections. Method of noting dimensions and weight is in accordance with CIPA DCG-005-2009 guideline.

Approx. Weight

15.3 oz. (431 g)

with battery and SD memory card. Method of noting dimensions and weight is in accordance with CIPA DCG-005-2009 guideline.

Supplied Accessories

Camera Strap AN-CP22
Four LR6/L40 (AA-size) alkaline batteries
UC-E6 USB Cable
Audio Video Cable EG-CP16
Nikon ViewNX 2 Software CD
Lens Cap LC-CP22

*Supplied accessories may differ depending on country or area.

**Specifications and equipment are subject to change without any notice or obligation on the part of the manufacturer.
***Refer to the product manual or the Compatible Lenses Specification for additional details.

LCD, Video and Photo Gallery images are for illustrative purposes only.

EH-67 AC Adapter$44.95

AN-CP22 Strap

UC-E6 USB Cable$10.95

EG-CP16 Audio Video Cable$17.95

EN-MH2-B4 Rechargeable Batteries (set of 4)$29.95

EN-MH2-B4/MH-73 Kit (4 Rechargeable Batteries + Charger)$79.95

COOLPIX Black Fabric Case$40.00

LC-CP22$13.95

ViewNX 2

{%= nikon.tmpl_queue.add(function() { YAHOO.ksv.relatedProducts.normalizeProductTileHeight({ "id": "ProductDetail.ProductTabs.Accessories_product-list-3", "region": "product-details" }) }) %}

LCD, Video and Photo Gallery images are for illustrative purposes only.

ViewNX 2

{%= nikon.tmpl_queue.add(function() { YAHOO.ksv.relatedProducts.normalizeProductTileHeight({ "id": "ProductDetail.ProductTabs.Software_product-list-4", "region": "product-details" }) }) %}

LCD, Video and Photo Gallery images are for illustrative purposes only.

COOLPIX L120 4.2 5 193 193

Love it! I'm a photographer and own a range of cameras; however, this one is the best for the money. The only thing I would change is there is no 'rapid shoot' option. It takes amazing photos and is very easy to use. Below is a photo I took with the camera, from probably 20+ feet away. Those who say it doesn't focus well apparently are doing something very wrong! July 15, 2012

Easy to use and just perfect! I use my Nikon L120 mostly for filming videos, usually when I play guitar. I must say it makes a really good sound and picture. It really makes good pictures, I really like to take pictures of my dog and flowers with bees. It's easy to use and it makes stunning photos. :) July 14, 2012

Amazing Camera! Way worth the money. I absolutely love this camera. It takes great clear pictures. The effects that it offers are amazing! June 14, 2012

Best nikon point and shoot AWESOME CAMERA. The bast camera ever I recommend it to everybody over the age of 10. Great quality pics, High ISO, HD movie. A lot in one small camera June 12, 2012

"OUTSTANDING" in every way !!! The Nikon L120 is easy to use, fun to use and the picture quality is awesome. I have digital cameras of different brands that cost twice as much as this Nikon L120 and they are no match in picture quality. The macro is fantastic. This camera takes the common double A battery that can be found anywhere and they seem to last almost forever...over 900 shots with rechargable Ni-MH batteries. For all it's great features, and it's fantastic picture quality, no other brand can match it in it's price range. The Nikon L120 is my favorite digital camera of all time. May 31, 2012

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1 answer

How can I edit movies taken on my L120 in movie maker?

Mar 18, 2012 by

L12345h

on COOLPIX L120

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