Cameras
Camcorders
Cell Phones
Components
Desktops
HDTV
Home Theater
GPS
Laptops
Monitors
MP3 Players
Networking &
Printers
Storage
Print
Digg
Twitter
Facebook
More…The Nikon Coolpix S500 delivers top-notch image quality. At $300, it may seem a little pricey for a compact camera with a relatively standard 7.1-megapixel sensor, a 3X zoom lens, and a 2.5-inch LCD. Into its tiny and tough metal body, however, Nikon has also packed such features as automatic face detection and optical image stabilization, though most compact cameras now offer those features.
Nikon Nikon Coolpix S500
Pricing
$139.00 From 1 Vendor Get Best Prices »
- Spec Navigator
- Digital Format
- Display
- Exposure
- Image Processor
- Lens
- Shutter
- Storage
- LCD Screen
- Exposure Controls
- Dimensions
- Power
- Flash
- Lens Features
- Connectivity
- Other Features
Image Processor
| Number of image sensor pixels | 7.1 megapixels |
| Image sensor | CCD |
| Maximum horizontal image resolution | 3072 |
| Maximum vertical image resolution | 2304 |
| Image sensor quantity | 1 |
| Image format | JPEG |
| White balance | 0 |
Lens
| Accessory Lens | No |
| Lens Model | 3x Zoom-Nikor Lens |
| Telephoto Aperture Maximum | 4.7 mm |
| Wide-Angle Aperture Maximum | 2.8 mm |
Exposure Controls
| Maximum shutter speed | 1500 |
| Minimum shutter speed | 4 |
| Bulb setting | 0 |
| ISO equivalencies |
|
| Exposure settings | 0 |
| Exposure compensation range | 0 |
| Number of scene modes | 15 |
3
1 User Review Add your own »
$139.00
From 1 Vendor
Get Best Prices »
- Lab Tested
- How We Test Cameras »
Pros
Optical image stabilization
Face detection
Cons
Pricey
No optical viewfinder
Bottom Line
The S500's face detection and optical image stabilization help it deliver top-quality shots.
Nikon Coolpix S500 Compact Camera
Nikon Coolpix S500 Review, by Paul Jasper November 28, 2007
I got some great shots with the Coolpix S500 during a rainy weekend trip to Oregon. The face detection usually set accurate focus and exposure for my indoor portrait shots, but it sometimes failed to find people who slightly tilted their heads or wore glasses. The optical image stabilization helped me avoid blurry images in dull lighting conditions or at maximum zoom, by reducing the effect of any hand movement during the exposure.
I also found useful Nikon's Best Shot Selection (available on many Nikon cameras), which takes a series of shots and keeps just the one it determines is the sharpest. You can increase the camera's sensitivity up to ISO 2000 to cope with moving targets in low light, but even daylight shots at this level contained so much noise that they were barely worth having. I noticed little noise, however, in images shot at ISO 400, a big improvement over how most compact cameras performed until recently.
You operate most of the controls with your right thumb; they might be a little small for users with big fingers. A scroll wheel makes navigating menus and quickly adjusting a few settings easy. Especially handy is the ability to click to the right and spin to alter the exposure compensation, but I was disappointed to find no histogram display to help you judge the effect. The camera also has no room for an optical viewfinder, so you must compose all of your shots on the LCD screen. (For more on important features to look for when buying a camera, consult "How to Buy a Digital Camera.")
In our image-quality tests, the Coolpix S500 earned impressive scores. We saw very accurate exposures both with and without flash. Some of the images could have been a little sharper, but we observed especially natural-looking color and little distortion. The camera took a commendable 234 shots on a single charge in our battery tests.
For a compact camera so small, the Nikon Coolpix S500 delivers very good image quality. Features such as face detection and image stabilization make shooting faultless photos easy, every time.
--Paul Jasper
Show Less 
0 Comments | 0 Topics | Print Only This Review
PCWorld Lab Results
- Rating Breakdown
-
81
-
78
-
80
- See Complete Lab Results »
Performance Comparison with Similar Cameras
81
69
73
77
Performance
| Battery Life (minutes) | 128 |
| Battery Life Score | Good |
| Image Quality Score | Very Good |
| Image Quality, Color | 73.3 |
| Image Quality, Distortion | 57.1 |
| Image Quality, Exposure | 67.5 |
| Image Quality, Exposure--Flash | 61.7 |
| Image Quality, Exposure--Normal | 70 |
| Image Quality, Overall | 67.9 |
| Image Quality, Sharpness | 38.1 |
| Number of Batteries | 1 |
| Number of Shots | 234 |
User Reviews
Average User Reviews for Nikon Nikon Coolpix S500
1 Review Add your own »
- Latest User Reviews 1 review
-
Reviewed by: talldude123
Duration of ownership: 1 Day
Strengths: Image stabilizer, face detection, optical zoom, rechargable battery.
Weaknesses: construction, quality needs work.
Overall: Looks like a nice camera for travelling, just be sure to get a case for it. Also the internal memory is a joke, only holds 7 pictures. Be sure to get a memory card, preferrably 2GB, as it holds 500 pictures.
Review Now! Already own it? Tell us What You Think
Shop for the Nikon Nikon Coolpix S500
Cameras similar to the Nikon Nikon Coolpix S500
We recommend these Cameras for their similarities to the Nikon Nikon Coolpix S500 in features, specs, ratings, and user interest.
- Before you buy
- How to Buy a Digital Camera
People who looked at the Nikon Nikon Coolpix S500 also looked at:
Pricing
$139.00 From 1 Vendor Get Best Prices »
Start New Topic Don't see the answer to your question? Ask it here!
X
0:00
Dell's December Days of Deals
-
Dell's December Days of Deals 8 days of deals December 4th to 11th.
Check each day for big savings on Laptops, Desktops, HDTVs, Games and more!
