Nikon Coolpix P500 First Look

Carrying on with the P100 and its 26x zoom lens while competitors Fuji, Olympus and Canon all produced models with at least 30x lenses, Nikon has finally answered back with the Coolpix P500 and its 36x Nikkor ED lens that covers the 22.5 to 810mm focal range in 35mm equivalents.

Here’s a look at both ends of that zoom:

Wide Angle, 22.5mm

Telephoto, 810mm

While its 36x zoom multiplier leads the pack at present, the P500’s 810mm telephoto comes up a bit short of the 840mm of some other brands, but offers a bit more on the wide angle end. At any rate, the P500 now has a competitive focal range not enjoyed by the P100 when the newer competitor cameras were introduced.

Camera resolution ramps up to 12.1 megapixels on a same-sized 1/2.3″ backside illuminated CMOS sensor as the P100, and features Nikon’s EXPEED C2 dual image processor.

ISO range remains at 160 to 3200. The P500’s 3.0-inch monitor gains resolution as well, up to 921,000 dots, and internal memory jumps to about 102MB from 43MB in the P100. A 1080 HD video capability is also provided.