Nikon COOLPIX P500 review

Nikon COOLPIX P500: Nikon flexes its extreme focal length muscles

Nikon has launched another offering into the superzoom camera market, and it’s clear that it means business. The P500 comes crashing through the ranks with an incredible 36x zoom, creating a 35mm equivalent of 22.5-810mm and giving this camera the largest zoom range currently available in a single fixed lens.

As well as this incredible zoom, the P500 comes equipped with a 12.1MP back-illuminated CMOS sensor with Vibration Reduction, full HD video, manual controls, and automatic scene modes.

The P500 feels comfortable in the hand, with a large, rubberised grip, and it’s a good weight that’s not difficult to deal with all day long. The position of the controls are excellent and will be familiar to DSLR users, with the top-mounted mode dial and rear scroll wheel for adjusting settings. The P500 has the ability to shoot in a number of ways, from full manual all the way to its variety of scene modes. As well as this, it can also shoot in full HD video and high-speed video up to 240fps. A dedicated switch to move between the video modes is located on the back of the body. The videos we recorded were impressive, and watching them back on the stunning rear LCD was even better.

A new design feature that Nikon has introduced to its superzoom range is the alternative zoom toggle found on the lens barrel. This second option is more natural and is great to have when composing a shot using the P500’s eye-level electronic viewfinder, which is offered as an alternative to the 3-inch LCD. Although it is a usable feature, the 220K-dot resolution meant that it was simply no match for the 921k-dot vari-angle rear LCD. Switching between the two is done by way of a dedicated button, but an automatic sensor would make this feature more usable while out shooting.

Taking photos with the P500 was a breeze, and the results were very pleasing in both Auto and manual modes. The ability to take up to 8fps proved excellent for moving subjects, and the built-in Vibration Reduction system really pulled its weight. Photos taken at full 36x zoom were not the best quality, but were improved when a tripod was used. The low-light performance of the P500 held up the standards of Nikon cameras, although noise levels at ISO 3200 made the image rather unusable.

The built-in scene modes allowed for some creative shooting, giving users the option to try something different. But it was the in-camera image editing that stood out as one of the P500’s best features. It’s simple and achieves some excellent results, giving any image a new lease of life. Every photo we took easily lived up to our expectations and, on many occasions, surpassed them.

As with any camera, there are a few things that we would change. However, the non-automatic pop-up flash, the lack of RAW capability and the limited movement of the LCD do not take away from the fact that the Nikon COOLPIX P500 is extremely impressive and will no doubt be fighting it out for the top spot among the superzooms.