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RussianNikon COOLPIX P500 12.1 CMOS Digital Camera with 36x NIKKOR Wide-Angle Optical Zoom Lens as well as Full HD 1080p Video (Black)
- 36x Wide-Angle Optical Zoom-NIKKOR ED Glass Lens.
- 12.1-megapixel CMOS sensor for high-speed operation as well as well-developed low-light performance.
- Capture 5 shots in the single second during full resolution
- Full HD (1080p) Movie with Stereo receptive to advice as well as HDMI Output
- 5-way VR Image Stabilization System
Zoom your universe with the high-powered, mind-blowing alliance of the Nikon P500. The 36x optical wizz breaks bounds with implausible energy to fire closer as well as wider than ever before. It’s installed with extraordinary facilities together with the CMOS sensor, that ensures higher images in severe light, twin EXPEED C2 image processors permitting shining tall speed capture.
Super-sharp images come standard with Hybrid VR for image stabilization. The High Speed Continuous Shooting Mode
List Price: 399.00
Price: 399.00
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Nikon Coolpix P500. Impressive,
Overall, the Nikon Coolpix P500 is pretty impressive. Although there are a few flaws, the camera’s features make up for them. Below are the major pros and cons I found after using the camera for a few hours.
Pros:
- HUGE 36x Optical Zoom (at full zoom I could see buildings 5 miles away as if they were two blocks away)
- Relatively lightweight and compact, much smaller than I expected.(compared to an entry level DSLR)
- Up to 240 FPS video, nice slow motion.
- Manual controls, a must for any experienced camera user.
- Buttons well laid out and simple to find and use.
Cons:
- Image quality was good but it was pretty much expected, nothing extraordinary for this price range. If you prefer higher quality images over features in this price range, an entry level DSLR such as the D3100 is the way to go.
- If you accidentally leave the lens cap on and turn the camera on, the lens will still try to come out and it will grind the motor. BE CAREFUL! I found this to be the biggest flaw, not having a “lens cap on” sensor or a resistance sensor that would stop the motor if it sensed something in the way.
- No supplied external battery charger. You have to charge the battery while it’s in the camera, via USB cable and supplied AC adapter. And while it’s charging, it won’t let you power it on, so you can’t use it as an AC power source either.
- As with all super high zooms, every tiny vibration is magnified so unless you have a tripod or some kind or support, it’s extremely difficult to get a clear shot at maximum zoom.
All in all, it is very user friendly. From the novice photographer to the experienced photo geek, the features on this camera are sure to impress. If you can deal with a few minor inconveniences, the Nikon Coolpix P500 is pretty nice camera.
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|Alaska trip under my belt and it did everything I asked.,
I just returned from the holidays that I got the camera for. 14 days in Alaska. The camera did nearly everything I asked of it. A couple points I would like to point out. *I used firmware version 1.0 while on holiday, I now see version 1.1 is out, but does not appear to address any of the points I had issue with*
One thing that has me puzzled is when taking a photo in the camera’s B&W mode, it will not focus properly if fully zoomed out. This appears to be a glitch to me, it makes no sense, however it is what I experienced while shooting. I got to work with the video more, and I had very bad luck getting it to focus. However I did notice if I ran the zoom out and THEN turned on the video, it seemed to be able to grab focus on the subjects much better. Again, doesn’t make sense to me, but I will be interested in others that try it and if they have the same experience. I met several folks both traveling with us and at the places I visited that own the P500. I was able to give some neophytes some pointers. Shared experiences with others and got some slick pointers from some too. Almost to the person the folks I interacted with were pleased to very pleased with this camera. Yes, we all shared some of the same gripes. One of the universal ones was the faux pas with a complete lack of filter attachment ability and the lens cap- power on/off.
In the still mode (non-video) this camera will pretty much do whatever you ask of it, IF you’ve studied the manual and played with it. I promise you that if you are putting it in “AUTO” and expecting it to figure everything out, you’ll be disappointed. Experiment, learn the camera. It IS an amazing piece of technology. If you’re interested in looking at some of the photos I took while in Alaska, feel free to visit my webshots page: [...]
<UPDATE> I went out and shot another 200+ photos this morning.
A few more notes on thing I’ve “discovered” while shooting today.
I shot a couple short vids, used flash, turned off the camera multiple times and allowed it to hibernate many times, zoomed in and out and still the camera showed 1/4 of battery life left. Obviously if you’re going to use this in a photo rich environment, carry a spare battery. Always better safe than sorry.
Some reviewers said they couldn’t find any usable photos using HDR. I found it more than usable and will attach a couple photos to allow comparison.
I was using a grade 6 SD card today. That is the minimum Nikon recommends. It took approximately 13 seconds for the camera to process an HDR photo and a couple more seconds to write it to the card. Camera continues to show practically no lag time when taking standard shots. Only panoramas and HDR slow things down, with HDR certainly taking the longest. Nikon does have a progress bar that appears across the bottom so you don’t think the camera is locked up.
While using full (or near full) zoom and in Auto mode, the camera did a fair amount of searching to focus on an item while in MACRO. Since my previous Lumix TZ5 was less than optimal in low light focusing, I am used to using either PROGRAM or Aperture priority on the Nikon to achieve focus on the intended target.
In what i consider “medium light” the camera refused to allow an aperture setting to maintain an narrow field of focus.
I’m certainly not down-grading my rating of the camera. I like it very much.
Just remember it is not a DSLR. In comparison it has a tiny sensor. There are always trade-offs. I am more convinced that this camera will suit my intended uses very well. The VR at extreme zoom still impresses me, as does the low light sensitivity and noise. Yes, there’s noise, even at 560 ISO. It’s not distracting however. Wait for the camera geeks to test and publish their data (i.e. dpreview.com) to get the hard statistics. My over all impression still stands and I’m glad I took a gamble and pre-ordered this camera and was on the initial round of deliveries from Amazon.
<ORIGINAL POST> I have had possession of my P500 for my second evening to this point.
I’ve gotten to “play” a bit with it and here are my impressions.
Is it “the perfect camera for everyone?” No.
I personally don’t believe such an animal exists nor will likely ever. Important factors to one shooter may be a non-factor or possibly a negative to another.
What is important is for each individual consumer (or gift giver)is consider the features that are most important to you.
Quickly summarizing me and my trigger points:
1)Travel friendly; great for nature shots, scenics, wildlife, architecture and has video capabilities. Do a reasonable job of photographing people when I must.
Size wise, very similar form factor (though a bit smaller)than my previous coolpix 8700. (Though nearly 3 times as thick and heavier than it’s immediate predecessor, Panasonic’s Lumix…
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|Good for What it is,
I’ve owned the Nikon p90 and p100, so I’ve got an idea of what these Nikon superzooms are like. I wasn’t planning on buying a new superzoom, but the big jump in zoom to 810mm made me plonk down the money again. ( I think I need help, I’m becomeing a camera junkie). While wide angles aren’t usually something I look for in most cameras, 22.5mm (35mm format) is really wide! The p500 is once again evolutionary, rather than revolutionary.
The Good:
- Light and easy to hold, which makes it a good travelling camera. Less than half the weight of my dslr with an 18-200mm lens attached.
- Tilting 3 inch LCD screen.
- Humungous zoom. I write before that the Fujifilm HS10 720mm zoom was huge. 810mm is even huger! (This is the zoom range it should have been in the p100 imho, but as they say, better late than never). You will truly see things you’d never thought you’d see when you zoom out to 810mm.
- Easy to use…relatively. Since I’ve already used several Nikons, I’m more used to it than you might be if you are new to the brand, so I didn’t find it especially difficult to navigate. If you are a pure point and shoot person using little compact cameras, you might find the functions available a bit daunting and you’ll need to look up both the manual, and a FAQ section of photography terms and functions to know how to alter things like shutter speed and aperture. I use shutter speed sometimes, but not aperture, since it’s nothing to shout about. If I want thin sections of focus, I go to my dlsr and f1.4 prime lens
- Photo quality is not bad for this type of camera. Definitely not dslr quality. But if you just want that photo (and you’ll take heaps with 22.5-810mm on tap) then this will more than satisfy you.
- Macros: macro photo quality have always been quite reasonable in the Nikon p90, p100, and this model too. In some ways, they give dslr’s a run for their money because while not in the same league pixel peeping wise, you can get a heck of a lot closer with the p90, p100 and p500, so the colour and detail is quite decent imho. Colour is not as full and bright as some other brands, but is quite acceptable in good light. It’s a bit faded indoors or in poor light.
- Now comes is red, as well as black! Ok, this isn’t really a big thing, but if you don’t want common boring black, you now have a choice. Maybe it will appeal to others
The Bad:
- They STILL don’t provide an external charger! As I wrote before in the p100 review- I’m lucky- I still have a spare from the Nikon s10. All you poor saps who don’t will have to charge your camera battery using the USB cable and supplied AC charger. I don’t know how much an external charger and spare battery are, but if you buy this camera, I’d suggest buying these too.
- If you turn on the camera while the lens cap is on, the camera will freeze up and the motor makes this sad grinding/whining noise as it tries to pathetically push the lens out against the lens cap. This is crazy! It was like this in the p90, p100 and they still haven’t fixed it!
- Still has the same form factor as before. That’s mostly good, but the small electronic viewfinder remains too. I don’t find it easy to use.
I haven’t used the video, so can’t comment.
Overall, it’s more of the same from Nikon, except the lens goes wider and further.
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