Nikon's 2007 AA-powered budget compact — 5MP CCD, 3x 38-113mm lens, 2in LCD, SD storage.
The Nikon Coolpix L10 was the entry model of Nikon's L (Life) series, announced on 20 February 2007 alongside the 6-megapixel L11 and shipping in the US from March 2007 at around $120. The L-series was Nikon's line of simple, AA-powered compacts for absolute beginners, and the L10 was its most affordable member.
It combined a 5-megapixel CCD with a 3x Zoom-Nikkor lens covering roughly a 38-113mm equivalent range at f/2.8-5.2, the lens retracting flush into a slim 89.5x60.5x26mm body. A 2.0-inch, 153k-pixel LCD replaced any optical viewfinder, and sensitivity ran from ISO 64 to 800. Nikon fitted its usual helpers: D-Lighting shadow recovery, Best Shot Selector (which fires a series and keeps the sharpest frame), in-camera Red-Eye Fix and Face-Priority AF. It ran on two AA batteries — NiMH cells were supplied — and stored images on SD cards.
Reviewers praised the L10's build quality, sensible design and long battery life for such a cheap camera. It suits first-time users, children and anyone wanting a dependable snapshot camera whose AA power means it can always be revived from a corner shop. Its limits are poor low-light focusing and unremarkable fine detail, and there is no stabilisation, so it rewards steady hands and daylight.
The AA-power design is the big used-market advantage: no discontinued proprietary battery to hunt down, though fresh NiMH cells give far better life than alkalines. Check the battery-compartment contacts for corrosion from cells left in storage, confirm the flash charges promptly, make sure the lens extends without error messages, and test writing to a plain SD card (large SDHC/SDXC cards may not be recognised by cameras of this generation).