Nikon Coolpix L21 Users Manual

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Technical Notes
Troubleshooting
If the camera fails to function as expected, check the list of common problems 
below before consulting your retailer or Nikon-authorized service representative. 
Refer to the page numbers in the right-most column for more information.
Display, Settings and Power Supply
ProblemCause/SolutionA
Monitor is blank•Camera is off.
•Battery exhausted.
•Standby mode for saving power: press the 
shutter-release button halfway.
•When flash lamp blinks red, wait until flash has 
charged.
•Camera and computer are connected via USB 
cable.
•Camera and TV are connected via AV cable.20
20
15, 24
31
60
58
Monitor is hard to read•Adjust monitor brightness.
•Monitor is dirty. Clean monitor.92
114
Camera turns off without 
warning•Battery exhausted.
•Camera has turned off automatically to save 
power.
•Battery is cold.20
99
113
Date and time of recording are 
not correct•Pictures taken while the clock is not set will 
have a time stamp of “00/00/0000 00:00” 
movies will be dated “01/ 01/2010 00:00”. (The 
“Date not set” indicator blinks during shooting 
to indicate the clock is not set.) Set the correct 
date and time using Date in the setup menu.
•Check camera clock regularly against more 
accurate timepieces and reset as required.16
89
No indicators displayed in 
monitorHide info is selected for Photo info.
Select Show info.92
Date imprint not available Camera clock has not been set. 16, 89
Date not appearing on pictures 
even when Date imprint is 
enabledDate imprint is disabled in the following 
situations.
•When the scene mode is set to Panorama 
assist
•Movies42
55
Camera settings reset The clock battery is exhausted; all settings were 
restored to their default values.90
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Troubleshooting
Technical Notes
Electronically Controlled Cameras
In extremely rare instances, unusual characters may appear in the monitor and the 
camera may stop functioning. In most cases, this phenomenon is caused by a 
strong external static charge. Turn the camera off, remove and replace the battery, 
then turn the camera on again. In the event of continued malfunction, contact 
your retailer or Nikon-authorized service representative. Note that disconnecting 
the power source as described above may result in the loss of any data not 
recorded to internal memory or the memory card at the time the problem 
occurred. Data already recorded will not be affected.
Shooting
ProblemCause/SolutionA
No picture taken when shutter-
release button is pressed.•When camera is in playback mode, press A.
•When menus are displayed, press d.
•Battery exhausted.
•When flash lamp blinks, flash is charging.10
12
20
31
Camera cannot focus.•The intended subject is one with which 
autofocus does not perform well.
•Set AF assist in the setup menu to Auto.
•Focus error. Turn camera off and then on 
again.25
97
20
Pictures are blurred.•Use flash.
•Use electronic vibration reduction or motion 
detection.
•Use D (Best Shot Selector).
•Use tripod and self-timer.30
95, 96
78
5, 32
Bright specks appear in pictures 
taken with flash.Flash is reflecting off particles in air. Turn flash off. 30
Flash does not fire.•Flash is off.
•Some scene modes that cannot turn on flash 
are selected.
•Movie mode is selected.
•Continuous or Multi-shot 16 or BSS is 
selected for Continuous in shooting menu.30
35
55
78
Optical zoom cannot be used. Optical zoom cannot be used while recording 
movies.55
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Troubleshooting
Technical Notes
Digital zoom cannot be used. Digital zoom cannot be used in the following 
situations.
•When Portrait or Night portrait is selected 
for Scene mode.
•When using smart portrait mode.
•Just before recording a movie (up to 2× can be 
applied while recording movies).
•When Multi-shot 16 is selected for 
Continuous.36, 37
46
55
78
Image mode not available.•Image mode cannot be adjusted when Multi-
shot 16 is selected for Continuous.78
No sound when shutter is 
released.•Off is selected for Sound settings > Shutter 
sound in setup menu. Even when set to On, 
the shutter sound is not heard depending on 
the current shooting mode or settings.
•Do not block the speaker.98
4
AF-assist illuminator does not 
light.•Off is selected for AF assist option in camera 
setup menu.
•AF-assist illuminator turns off automatically in 
some scene modes.97
36-42
Pictures appear smeared. Lens is dirty. Clean lens. 114
Hues are unnatural. White balance does not match light source. 76
Randomly spaced bright pixels 
(“noise”) appear in image.The subject is dark, so shutter speed is too slow 
or ISO sensitivity is too high. Noise can be 
reduced by:
•Using flash. 30
Pictures are too dark 
(underexposed).•Flash is off.
•Flash window is blocked.
•Subject is beyond flash range.
•Adjust exposure compensation.
•Subject is backlit. Select the Backlight scene 
mode, or set the flash mode to X (fill flash).30
22
30
34
30, 41
Pictures are too bright 
(overexposed).Adjust exposure compensation. 34
ProblemCause/SolutionA
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Troubleshooting
Technical Notes
Playback
Unexpected results when flash 
set to V (auto with red-eye 
reduction).When taking pictures with V (auto with red-
eye reduction), or when taking pictures with 
Night portrait (either in easy auto mode or the 
Night portrait scene mode) and the fill flash with 
slow sync and red-eye reduction is used, red-eye 
reduction may be applied, in rare cases, to areas 
not affected by red-eye. Use any auto mode or 
scene mode other than Night portrait, and 
change the flash to any other settings other than 
V (auto with red-eye reduction) and try 
shooting again.28, 30, 
37
ProblemCause/SolutionA
File cannot be played back. File was overwritten or renamed by computer or 
other make of camera.–
Cannot zoom in on picture. Playback zoom cannot be used with movies, 
small pictures, or pictures that have been 
cropped to 320 × 240 or smaller.–
Cannot use D-Lighting, small 
picture, or crop options.•These options cannot be used with movies.
•Pictures taken at an Image mode setting of 
P 3968×2232 for L22 and P 3200×1800 
for L21 cannot be edited.
•Select picture that supports D-Lighting, small 
picture, or crop.
•Camera is unable to edit pictures taken with 
other cameras.57
74
51
51
Pictures not displayed on 
television.•Choose correct Video mode.
•Memory card contains no pictures. Replace 
memory card. Remove memory card to play 
back pictures from internal memory.101
18
Nikon Transfer does not start 
when camera is connected.•Camera is off.
•Battery exhausted.
•USB cable is not correctly connected.
•Camera is not recognized by the computer.
•Computer is not set to launch Nikon Transfer 
automatically. For more information about 
Nikon Transfer, refer to help information 
contained in Nikon Transfer.20
20
60
–
–
ProblemCause/SolutionA
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Troubleshooting
Technical Notes
Pictures to be printed are not 
displayed.Memory card contains no pictures. Replace 
memory card. Remove memory card to print 
pictures from internal memory.18
Cannot select paper size with 
camera.Even when using a PictBridge compatible 
printer, paper size cannot be selected from the 
camera in the following situations. Use the 
printer to select paper size.
•The printer does not support the paper sizes 
used by the camera.
•The printer automatically selects the paper 
size.66, 67
ProblemCause/SolutionA
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Technical Notes
Specifications
Nikon COOLPIX L22/COOLPIX L21 Digital Camera
TypeCompact digital camera
Effective pixelsCOOLPIX L22: 12.0 million
COOLPIX L21: 8.0 million
Image sensorCOOLPIX L22:
1/2.3-in. CCD; total pixels: 12.39 million
COOLPIX L21:
1/2.5-in. CCD; total pixels: 8.29 million
Lens3.6× optical zoom, NIKKOR lens
Focal length6.7-24.0mm
COOLPIX L22: angle of view equivalent to that of 37-134mm 
lens in 35mm [135] format
COOLPIX L21: angle of view equivalent to that of 41-145mm 
lens in 35mm [135] format
f/-numberf/3.1-6.7
Construction7 elements in 6 groups
Digital zoomUp to 4×
COOLPIX L22: angle of view equivalent to that of approx. 
536mm lens in 35mm [135] format
COOLPIX L21: angle of view equivalent to that of approx. 
580mm lens in 35mm [135] format
Vibration reductionElectronic VR
Autofocus (AF)Contrast-detect AF
Focus range (from 
lens)•Approx. 30 cm (1 ft.) to ∞ (W); approx. 70 cm (2 ft. 4 in.) to ∞ 
(T)
•Macro mode: 5 cm (2 in.) to ∞ (wide-angle position)
Focus-area selectionCenter, face detection
MonitorCOOLPIX L22: 3-in., approx. 230k-dot, TFT LCD with 5-level 
brightness adjustment
COOLPIX L21: 2.5-in., approx.230k-dot, TFT LCD with 5-level 
brightness adjustment
Frame coverage 
(shooting mode)Approx. 98% horizontal and 98% vertical (Compared to actual 
picture)
Frame coverage 
(playback mode)Approx. 100% horizontal and 100% vertical (Compared to 
actual picture)
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Specifications
Technical Notes
Storage
MediaInternal memory (Approx. 19 MB), Secure Digital (SD) memory 
cards
File systemDCF, Exif 2.2, and DPOF compliant
File formatsStill images: JPEG
Movies: AVI (Motion-JPEG compliant)
Image size
(pixels)COOLPIX L22:
•12M (High) [4000 × 3000P]
•12M [4000 × 3000]
•8M [3264 × 2448]
•5M [2592 × 1944]
•3M [2048 × 1536]
•PC [1024 × 768]
•VGA [640 × 480]
•16:9 [3968 × 2232]
COOLPIX L21:
•8M (High) [3264 × 2448P]
•8M [3264 × 2448]
•5M [2592 × 1944]
•3M [2048 × 1536]
•PC [1024 × 768]
•VGA [640 × 480]
•16:9 [3200 × 1800]
ISO sensitivity (Standard 
output sensitivity)Auto (ISO 80-1600)
Exposure
Metering256-segment matrix, center-weighted (when using up to 2× 
digital zoom), spot (digital zoom 2× or more)
Exposure controlProgrammed auto exposure with motion detection and 
exposure compensation (–2.0 to +2.0 EV in steps of 1/3 EV)
Range
(A (auto) mode)[W]: -0.7 to + 16.2 EV
[T]: 1.5 to 18.4 EV
(exposure values achieved with automatic ISO sensitivity 
adjustment converted to ISO 100 values)
ShutterMechanical and charge-coupled electronic shutter
Speed1/2000 - 1 s, 4 s (Fireworks show scene mode)
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Specifications
Technical Notes
ApertureElectronically-controlled ND filter (-1.7 AV) selection
Range2 steps (f/3.1 and f/5.5 [W])
Self-timer Approx. 10 seconds
Built-in flash
Range (approx.)COOLPIX L22: [W]: 0.5 to 7.0 m (1 
ft. 8 in. to 23 ft.), [T]: 0.5 to 
3.0 m (1 ft. 8 in. to 9 ft. 10 in.)
COOLPIX L21: [W]: 0.5 to 5.5 m (1  ft. 8 in. to 18 ft.), [T]: 0.5 to 
2.5 m (1 ft. 8 in. to 8 ft.)
Flash control TTL auto flash with monitor preflashes
Interface Hi-Speed USB
Data transfer protocolMTP, PTP
Video output Can be selected from NTSC and PAL
I/O terminalAudio video output/digital I/O (USB)
Supported languages Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and 
Traditional), Czech, Danish, 
Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Greek, German, Hungarian, 
Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, 
Norwegian, Russian, Spani sh, Swedish, Thai, Turkish
Power sources •
Two LR6/L40 (AA-size) alkaline or batteries
• Two FR6/L91 (AA-size) lithium batteries
• Two EN-MH2 rechargeable Ni -MH batteries (available 
separately)
• AC Adapter EH-65A (a vailable separately)
Number of Exposures 
Possible (Battery life)* COOLPIX L22:
•
About 240 shots when using alkaline batteries
• About 660 shots when using lithium batteries
• About 420 shots when using EN-MH2 batteries
COOLPIX L21:
• About 280 shots when using alkaline batteries
• About 780 shots when using lithium batteries
• About 500 shots when using EN-MH2 batteries
Dimensions (W × H × D) COOLPIX L22: Approx. 97.7 × 60.5 × 28.3 mm (3.9 × 2.4 × 
1.2 in.) (excluding projections)
COOLPIX L21: Approx. 92 × 61.1 × 28.3 mm (3.7 × 2.4 × 1.2 in.) 
(excluding projections)
WeightCOOLPIX L22: Approx. 183 g (6.5 oz.) (including battery and SD 
memory card)
COOLPIX L21: Approx. 169 g (6.0 oz.) (including battery and SD 
memory card)
Operating environment
Operating 
temperature
0 to 40°C (32 to 104°F)
Humidity
Less than 85% (no condensation)
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Specifications
Technical Notes
•Unless otherwise stated, all figures are for a camera with fully-charged EN-MH2 
batteries operated at an ambient temperature of 25°C (77°F).
* Based on Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA) standards for measuring the life 
of camera batteries. Measured at 23 (±2) °C (69 to 77°F); zoom adjusted with each shot, 
flash fired with every other shot, image mode set to L22: I 4000 × 3000/L21: R 
3264 × 2448. Battery life may vary depending on shooting interval and length of time 
menus and images are displayed. Supplied batteries are for trial use only.
BSpecifications
Nikon will not be held liable for any errors this manual may contain.
The appearance of this product and its specifications are subject to change without notice.
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Specifications
Technical Notes
Supported Standards
•DCF: Design Rule for Camera File System is a standard widely used in the digital 
camera industry to ensure compatibility among different makes of camera.
•DPOF: Digital Print Order Format is an industry-wide standard that allows 
pictures to be printed from print orders stored on the memory card.
•Exif version 2.2: This camera supports Exif (Exchangeable Image File Format 
for Digital Still Cameras) version 2.2, a standard that allows information stored 
with photographs to be used for optimal color reproduction when images are 
output from Exif-compliant printers.
•PictBridge: A standard developed cooperatively by the digital camera and 
printer industries, allowing photographs to be output directly to a printer 
without connecting the camera to a computer.
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