The Nikon Coolpix 3100 has gone through a detailed moulding experience to make sure everything is in the right place. The grip on the front gives enough to hold with one hand, while the indent on the rear is just in the right place for your thumb to access the zoom controls and review button without too much effort. The back also sports a 1.5" LCD screen, which is sufficient to view images you're taking or have taken.

Power comes from a CR-V3 Lithium battery and Nikon has provided the charger in the box for you--a nice touch. Pictures are saved on CompactFlash and a 16 MB card comes in the box. Images can be transferred to a PC via USB or to the TV.

The 3.2 Megapixel camera will produce images up to B4 (250 x 353 mm) depending on settings. With the 3x optical and 4x digital zoom lens the camera offers the equivalent of 38--115 mm in a 35 mm camera with an F range of F2.8--F4.9.

When it comes to pre-programmed options though the Nikon Coolpix 3100 wins hands down, apart from the basic portrait, landscape, sports and night settings you can also set the picture via the scene option, which allows you to break down things further. Here you can chose from a range of options including party/indoor, dusk/dawn, close-up and museum. Add to this, four flash modes and seven white balance modes and you've got a camera with plenty of options.

Picture quality is very good and for a 3.2 Megapixel camera, the detail is very good on grass and greens; other surfaces such as brick and similar-patterned surfaces are slightly lacking in colour variation. The Nikon 3100 also coped well with depth of field being able to capture landscapes.