Nikon Coolpix S500

Manufacturer: Nikon Inc. Part number: 25559

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CNET Editor rating:
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Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 1 review

More product information:: Editors' review; Product brief; User reviews; Specifications; Manufacturer info

Bottom Line:: The Nikon Coolpix S500 may look and feel pretty, but its slow performance and noisy high-ISO images hold it back.

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CNET editors' review

Nikon Coolpix S500

price range: $169.00

The Nikon Coolpix S500 may look and feel pretty, but its slow performance and noisy high-ISO images hold it back.

The good: Small, light stainless steel body and click wheel interface are great design touches; optical image stabilization; fast burst shooting.

The bad: Slow performance; way too much noise at high ISO settings.

The bottom line: The Nikon Coolpix S500 may look and feel pretty, but its slow performance and noisy high-ISO images hold it back.

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Editor's note 6/14/07: We erroneously referred to our time-to-first-shot test results as "startup time" in the initial publication of this review, thereby overstating the time it takes the camera to simply power up. Error corrected.

Nikon really shows off its style with its Coolpix S500, a sleek, compact camera that feels every bit as good as it looks. This little shooter has some of the nicest design points we've seen in a small shooter, plus a few handy features normally seen on higher-end cameras. Unfortunately, looks and tricks aren't everything, and the S500 simply doesn't live up to its potential.

The 7-megapixel shooter's brushed-stainless-steel body stands out as its most notable feature. Its simple, blocky design and steel shell give the camera an elegant look and a surprisingly sturdy feel. The S500 is hardly the only metal-bodied camera out there, but it is one of the very few made of stainless steel; many Canon PowerShot SD and Sony Cyber-shot T cameras sport aluminum shells that look quite stylish, but don't feel as durable.

Despite its steel frame, the S500 is surprisingly small and light. Its 0.9-inch-thick frame cuts a slimmer profile than the Canon PowerShot SD750's. It weighs just over five ounces with battery and SD card, making it one of the lightest cameras we've picked up this year. The small size and weight let the S500 fit into almost any pocket comfortably; you won't feel bogged down when carrying around this camera.

An iPod-like click wheel controls most of the camera's commands. While derivative, the wheel is a welcome upgrade over the conventional joy pad that most cameras use. Like the iPod's click wheel, the S500's spinning wheel makes navigating menus and browsing photos in its 2.5-inch LCD screen a simple, intuitive, and speedy process. If you don't like the change, however, the wheel can also work like a regular joy pad by pressing it instead of spinning it.

Underneath the shiny steel body and behind the click wheel sits a relatively cookie-cutter camera with a few very useful features. The 35mm-to-105mm-equivalent 3x optical zoom lens has a maximum aperture range of f/2.7 to f/4.7 and uses Nikon's Vibration Reduction optical image stabilization to help reduce blur. Face-detecting autofocus can recognize faces and automatically adjust settings when shooting people. The camera can reach up to ISO 2,000 sensitivity, a slightly higher setting than the ISO 1,600 maximum found on a lot of snapshot cameras.

A painfully slow shutter capped off the S500's consistently poor performance in our lab tests. The shutter lagged a slow 1.1 seconds with our high-contrast target and a full two seconds under low-contrast conditions. After a 2.9-second time to first shot, the camera could snap off only one shot every 2.8 seconds without flash, and once every 3.1 seconds with the flash enabled. The burst mode was quite fast at least, taking three full-resolution photos in 1.1 seconds for a rate of 2.8 frames per second. Still, it fires off only three shots at a time, so the burst mode isn't nearly as useful as some other cameras' continuous modes that can take many more pictures in one burst.

While the S500 can reach ISO 2,000 sensitivity, we wouldn't recommend it. The ISO 1,600 and 2,000 settings produced some of the highest levels of noise we've seen in the last year; photos taken at those sensitivity levels look more as if they were painted on shag carpets than shot with a digital camera. Shots taken at lowers ISO levels don't look quite as bad, but the noise is still present. A gentle grain starts to show up in shadows at ISO 200, and becomes quite noticeable on computer monitors at ISO 400. At ISO 800, that grain becomes full-blown fuzz that dulls colors and destroys details.

If you can stay at a low ISO setting and keep your subjects well lit, the S500's photos can actually look quite good. Fine details come out crisp and sharp, remaining generally unmolested by processing artifacts. Colors appear neutral and saturated. Of course to get these results, you need to keep your ISO sensitivity low or you'll just find yourself with a noise-filled mess.

The stainless steel body and handy click wheel are two great touches I'd love to see on any camera, but they can't make up for the S500's flaws. It shoots too slowly and generates unreasonable levels of noise at ISO 400 and higher. It's a nice, if sluggish, snapshot camera in bright light, but don't expect to get any decent fast or low-light shooting done with it.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Shutter lag (low light)

Typical shot-to-shot time

Time to first shot

Shutter lag (typical)

Canon PowerShot SD750

0.9

1.6

0.5

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W80

1.4

1.2

1.8

0.6

Nikon Coolpix S200

2.6

1.9

1.7

0.6

Nikon Coolpix S500

2.8

2.9

1.1

Typical continuous-shooting speed (frames per second)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Nikon Coolpix S500

2.8

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W80

2.7

Canon PowerShot SD750

1.6

Nikon Coolpix S200

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Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 1 review

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4 stars

Useless ISO 2000

by ibig82 on June 11, 2007

Pros: Small, 2.5" LCD, stainless

Cons: High price, below average performance

Summary: ISO 2000 is useless because of high noise. Even at ISO 400 the noise is noticeable. Not worth paying $300 for this. Consider other cameras.

Summary: ISO 2000 is useless because of high noise. Even at ISO 400 the noise is noticeable. Not worth paying $300 for this. Consider other cameras.

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Specifications

Manufacturer: Nikon Inc.
Part number: 25559

General
Product Type Digital camera - Compact
Color Silver
Weight 4.4 oz
Width 3.5 in
Depth 0.9 in
Height 2 in
Body Material Stainless steel
Main Features
Resolution 7.1 megapixels
Image stabilizer feature Optical stabilization helps prevent blurry pictures, especially for handheld cameras at slow shutter speeds or when using high optical zoom.
Sensor resolution 7.1 megapixels
Optical Sensor Type CCD
Effective Sensor Resolution 7,100,000 pixels
Total Pixels 7,380,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size 1/2.5 in
Light Sensitivity ISO 200, ISO 50, ISO 800, ISO 400, ISO 2000, ISO 1600, ISO auto (50-1000), ISO 100
Digital Zoom 4 x
Shooting Modes Frame movie mode
Shooting Programs Back light, Copy, Landscape, Sports mode, Night portrait, Close-up, Fireworks, Panorama assist, Party/indoor, Sunset, Dawn/dusk, Portrait mode, Museum, Beach/snow, Night landscape
Special effects Cyanotype, Vivid, Black & White, Sepia, Neutral
Exposure Modes Automatic, Program
Digital video format QuickTime
Still Image Format JPEG
Color support Color
Image Stabilizer Optical
Face Detection Yes
TV Tuner None
Video Capture QuickTime - 160 x 120, QuickTime - 640 x 480, QuickTime - 320 x 240
Memory / Storage
Integrated Memory 26 MB
Floppy Drive None
Image Storage JPEG 640 x 480, JPEG 2592 x 1944, JPEG 3072 x 1728, JPEG 1024 x 768, JPEG 2048 x 1536, JPEG 3072 x 2304
Supported Flash Memory MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card
Lens System
Type Zoom lens - 5.7 mm - 17.1 mm - F/2.8-4.7
Focal Length 5.7 mm - 17.1 mm
Lens Construction 5 group(s) / 5 element(s)
Additional Features
Self Timer Yes
Additional Features Cropping an image, Display brightness control, DPOF support, Audio recording, PictBridge support, Face-priority AF function, Digital noise reduction, Blur warning, Direct print, Digital image rotation, In-camera red-eye fix, Auto power save, Date/time stamp
Camera Flash
Effective Flash Range 1.6 ft - 25 ft
Type Built-in flash
Flash Modes Flash OFF mode, Fill-in mode, Slow synchro, Auto mode, Red-eye reduction
Red Eye Reduction Yes
Effective flash range 1.6 ft - 25 ft
Viewfinder
Viewfinder Type None
Display
Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 2.5 in - Color
Mounting Built-in
Resolution 230,000 pixels
Digital Player (Recorder)
Type None

Microphone
Type Microphone - Built-in
Connections
Connector Type 1 x Composite video/audio output, 1 x USB
Expansion Slot(s) 1 x SD Memory Card
Lens Systems
Auto Focus TTL contrast detection
Type Zoom lens
Focal length 5.7 mm - 17.1 mm
Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera 35 - 105 mm
Focus adjustment Automatic
Min Focus Range 19.7 in
Macro Focus Range 15cm
Lens Aperture F/2.8-4.7
Optical Zoom 3 x
Zoom Adjustment Motorized drive
Lens construction 5 : 5
Miscellaneous
Cables Included USB cable, A/V cable
Included Accessories Strap
Power
Power Device Battery charger - External
System Requirements for PC Connection
Operating system MS Windows ME, MS Windows Vista, MS Windows XP, MS Windows 2000, MS Windows 98 SE, Apple Mac OS X 10.1.5 or later
Peripherals USB port, SVGA monitor, CD-ROM drive
Battery
Supported Battery 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery ( Included )
Software
Type Drivers & Utilities, Nikon PictureProject
CNET Labs' Benchmarks
Labs information All values are expressed in seconds. Please visit our labs information page for information on how digital cameras are tested.
CNET Labs Flash shot to shot time 3.2
CNET Labs Shot to shot time typical 1.9
CNET Labs Shutter lag bright 0.6
CNET Labs Shutter lag dim 2.6
CNET Labs Typical burst speed 1.0
CNET Labs Wake up time 1.7

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Nikon Coolpix S500

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CNET editors' review

Product brief

User reviews

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Specifications

General

Main Features

Memory / Storage

Lens System

Additional Features

Camera Flash

Viewfinder

Display

Digital Player (Recorder)

Microphone

Connections

Lens Systems

Miscellaneous

Power

System Requirements for PC Connection

Battery

Software

CNET Labs' Benchmarks

Manufacturer info

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