Nikon Coolpix S500

Reviewed June 2007

Characteristics

With a 1/2.5 inch, 7.38 million pixel CCD of which 7.1 million pixels are effective, the Coolpix S500 can yield images at any one of six images sizes using one of two JPEG compression levels at the highest resolution:

CCD sensitivity begins at 50 ISO and can climb to 1000 ISO when it is automatically controlled by the camera, and up to 1600 ISO when the Anti-Shake or High Sensitivity modes are used. In addition, the Auto Shooting mode allows setting the sensitivity manually from a range that starts at 50 ISO, and extends to 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 and even 2000 ISO.

The Coolpix S500 is equipped with a Nikkor 3X optical zoom composed of 5 elements in 5 groups integrating a VR (Vibration Reduction) image stabilizer that dampens involuntary movements by the photographer.

The focal length range of the zoom covers from 5.7 to 17.1 mm, the equivalent of a 35 to 105 mm on a 35 mm camera. Aperture values start at f2.8 at the wide angle end of the zoom, and f4.7 at the telephoto end. using an electronically controlled ND (Neutral Density) filter.

A 4X digital zoom, which takes over after the optical zoom, is a permanent part of the system, cropping the centre part of the image and interpolating it to the currently selected image size, causing a loss in image quality.

Shutter speeds are automatically selected by the camera and cover from 1/1500 second down to 4 seconds, although the maximum exposure time varies according to the lens' focal length, the shooting mode used, and whether or not the flash is used. Noise reduction is automatically applied to all images captured with a long exposure.

Set to the Auto or High Sensitivity shooting modes, the MENU button of the Coolpix S500 displays a Shooting Menu that offers the following options:

• Image Mode: to select the image size/compression as indicated above.
• White Balance: Auto, White Balance Preset (allows setting the white balance using a white surface under ambient light), Daylight, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy and Flash.

• Continuous:
  • Single: captures a single image each time the shutter release is pressed.
  • Continuous: captures up to 8 images at 1.6 frames per second using the 7M Normal image size.
  • Multi-Shot 16: captures 16 images at 1.8 frames per second and records them into a single image of 3072 x 2304 pixels (7M Normal).
  • Interval Timer Shooting: allows the camera to capture up to a maximum of 1800 images at a specified interval (30 seconds, or 1, 5, 20, 30 or 60 minutes).

• BSS (Best Shot Selector): On or Off. The camera captures up to 10 images while the shutter release is pressed, but only records the image that is the sharpest.
• ISO Sensitivity: Auto (50 to 1000 ISO) and, when set to , 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 or 2000 ISO.
• Colour Options serves to modify the way colours are recorded:
  • Standard is the default.
  • Vivid increases saturation.
  • Black and White.
  • Sepia captures colours as brown tones.
  • Cyanotype captures colours with blue tones.
• AF Area Mode controls how the auto focus operates:
  • Auto: allows the camera to select the focus point from the closest subject anywhere in the frame.
  • Manual: allows selecting the AF point from any 1 of 99 positions in the frame.
  • Centre: forces the camera to focus at the centre of the frame.

Moreover, when the One-Touch Portrait mode is used, a specific 2-option menu is presented:

• Image Mode: as explained above.
• Portrait Effect: serves to decide if the portrait is captured normally (Norma), or Brighter (reduces the vividness of skin tones), or Soft (softens sharpness).

Set to the Movie mode, the Coolpix S500 also presents a two-option menu:

• Movie Options: controls the frame size and frame rate (see the Ergonomics section of the review for more details).
• Auto focus Mode offers 2 auto focus modes:
  • AF-S: Single, focuses for the first frame at the beginning of the recording.
  • AF-F: Full-time AF, focuses continuously.

Set to the Playback mode, the menu contains the following options:

• Print Set.: allows selecting images that will be printed on a DPOF compatible printer or service. In addition, DPOF selections can be printed to a PictBridge compatible printer. Images can be selected to have the date and time at which they were captured imprinted atop the image, and the number of prints to make of each image can be selected.
• Slide Show: serves to review images in an automated slide show with a selectable on screen time for the images (2, 3, 5 or 10 seconds), looping or not.
• Delete: serves to delete images that have been selected, or all images.

• Protect serves to tag images so they cannot be accidentally deleted.
• Transfer Marking: serves to automatically transfer images when the camera is connected to a computer via USB. All images can be selected to be transferred, or images can be selected one at a time.
• Small Pic allows creating a copy of an image at any of three sizes: 640 x 480 pixels, 320 x 240 pixels, or 160 x 120 pixels.

• Copy: serves to copy all images from the internal memory to a memory card, or vice versa.

Still in the Playback mode, if an image is magnified on screen using the zoom control, the MENU button can be used to capture the visible portion as a new image, using an image size that is the closest to the size of the cropped section so as to avoid too strong an interpolation.

The Coolpix S500 is equipped with a 26 MB internal memory and with an SD (Secure Digital) memory card slot. The SD card slot is located underneath the camera and is covered by the same door that covers the battery compartment.

The chart below lists approximate capacities for the internal memory, and for an optional 1 GB SD card:

A thin rechargeable Lithium-ion (EN-EL5) battery powers the Coolpix S500. The battery is held in place by a spring-loaded clip, allowing the card to be accessed without having the battery slide out. A charger (MH-63) is included in the camera kit, recharging the battery in approximately 100 minutes.

The Coolpix S500 has a single external connection, located on the right flank of the camera and covered by a small flexible plastic door. The connection serves for A/V (Audio/Video) Out and USB depending on which cable is connected to it.