Nikon Coolpix L110

The Nikon Coolpix L110 offers the versatility of a 15x zoom lens with the convenience of a point-and-shoot camera. The lens spans 28 mm to 420 mm and one-ups many compacts with its ability to zoom in and out in movie mode. Rod Lawton at CNET Asia says it "performs well across the whole range," and Cliff Smith at TrustedReviews.com notes "very effective" sensor shift stabilization. While the L110 looks a lot like its predecessor -- the Nikon Coolpix L100 -- it has upgrades that include double the resolution (460,000 dots) on the 3-inch LCD display, a boost from 10.1 to 12.1 megapixels, and the addition of 720p HD video with stereo audio and a dedicated movie button.

Despite the perks, the Nikon Coolpix L110 remains a point-and-shoot camera. It lacks full manual controls and a viewfinder, but experts and users agree it's easy to use, and there's some flexibility with ISO and white balance settings. "What I like specifically about the camera is that I can take stunning photographs with little thought," says an owner at Amazon.com. Smith, however, says photos appear over-processed with color gradients that "look like complete guesswork" at around ISO 400, users at Amazon.com complain about poor video quality in low light, and Lawton reports jittery audio. For a step up in video quality, the highly reviewed Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40 (Discontinued) has an 24x zoom lens, and shoots video in the AVCHD Lite format.

TrustedReviews.com and CNET Asia provide detailed reviews of the Nikon Coolpix L110, although they only compare it to one product -- the Nikon Coolpix L100. Enough users have weighed in at Amazon.com to establish a consensus on performance.