The Nikon Coolpix S500 is a seven megapixel digital camera with a three times optical zoom lens. The focal length of the lens is equivalent to 35 - 105 in 35mm format. The aperture works in the range f/2.8 - f4.7. 4x digital zoom is also available.

For when you would like to appear in the photo there is a self timer. The delay can be set to either three or ten seconds.

There is a special resolution setting for taking wide photos that are ideal for viewing on a widescreen television.

Image stabilisation is available.

The Coolpix S500 can be used as a voice recorder. 20 seconds of commentary can be added to photos you have already taken.

A number of colour options are available to you. These are vivid, black and white, sepia and cyanotype.

There is a panorama assist setting. This helps you to stitch together panoramic shots.

For close up shots the Coolpix S500 can focus from 15cm away from the subject.

Face detection focusing is available. This helps the camera to focus when taking a portrait shot.

The 2.5 inch LCD screen is made up of around 230,000 pixels.

The built in flash unit has a maximum range of 7.5m. This falls to around 4.5m when the zoom lens is in use.

A variety of preset scene modes are available. When you select a scene mode the camera will use what it believes to be the optimum settings for the shot. The scene modes are: portrait, landscape, sports, night portrait, party/indoors, beach/snow, sunset, dusk/dawn, night landscape, close up, museum, fireworks, copy and backlight.

TV quality movies can be captured at a maximum resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. The maximum recording speed is 30 frames per second. Sound can be recorded and zoom applied while the movie is being captured. Time lapse movies are also available.

There are a few more advanced features you can work with. These are white balance (auto, custom, daylight, incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy and flash), continuous shooting, exposure compensation (+/-2 in 0.3 steps), best shot selector, ISO (50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 2000) and multi shot 16. Multi shot 16 takes sixteen shots and builds them into a grid like single image.

All the necessary cables and software are included in the box for attaching the Coolpix S500 to a television, computer and compatible printer. Nikon Coolpix S500

Description:	Seven megapixels and a three times zoom lens
Ease of Use:	9
Features:	8
Colour:	8
Macro:	4
Indoors:	7
Value for Money:	8
Style:	8
Movie Mode:	8
Image Quality:	8
Build Quality:	8
Total:	76
Verdict:	"The Nikon Coolpix S500 is a fairly simple, pocket sized digital camera. Overall it performed well in my tests, but there were one or two areas where the camera does struggle. You should have no problems operating the camera and it has a pleasant no frills style."
Review Date:	June 2007
Click for:	Specification Sample Images Features

Camera	Rating
Canon IXUS 85 IS	86
Canon IXUS 90 IS	86
Canon IXUS 80 IS	85
Fuji Finepix F50fd	84
Panasonic DMC FS5	84
Panasonic DMC FS3	84
Panasonic DMC FS20	84
Sony DSC T2	83

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Nikon Coolpix S500