Nikon greens L100 with NiMH battery option

(Credit: CNET/Sarah Tew)

It seems Nikon has realized the Coolpix L100's lack of support for rechargeable NiMH batteries wasn't the greenest move (or maybe it was a secret plan all along). The digital camera manufacturer announced Tuesday an eventual firmware update to correct the situation.

I get the convenience of AA batteries in pocket cameras, but the L100 requires four of them and only supports alkaline and lithium-ion disposable batteries, approximately good for 350 and 900 shots, respectively. The NiMH option will get you around 600 shots before you need to charge up.

According to Nikon, the firmware update will be available in summer 2009, making this budget point-and-shoot megazoom a more attractive option. Of course, this doesn't improve its merely OK photo quality or the fact that you can't control ISO. But for some, that comes second to having a 15x zoom lens and AA batteries as a power source.

Being released simultaneously with the firmware update are a four pack of Nikon AA NiMH batteries (EN-MH2-B4) and a charger/battery combo set.