Nikon Coolpix S500

Model Design / Appearance (7.0)
The Nikon Coolpix S500’s design is trendy in the same way pop songs attempt to be; it's the cool camera of the hour, but has the same design as many cameras present and past. It has a flat stainless steel body that departs from the wave-design of its S-series relatives. Its front has a cool brushed steel look and embossed logos that look classier than the typical printed logos. It also has an extending lens as opposed to the tiny internal lenses on many other Coolpix digital cameras. The lower-priced S200 looks very similar to the S500 but its body is constructed from cheaper aluminum. Overall, the Nikon Coolpix S500 is a slick digital camera with a tried and true design that looks like a lot of other models.

Size / Portability (7.75)
The S500 is very small and flat so it can be easily slipped into pants or jacket pockets. Convenience is one of this model’s best aspects as it can go anywhere in a small space. It comes with a cheap wrist strap that attaches to the right side, but there aren’t many other handling features to keep this camera from hitting the cement. Still, it’s very portable at 3.5 x 2.0 x 0.9 inches and with a weight of 4.4 ounces without the battery and SD card. The S200 is a little skinnier, but weighs the same as the S500.

Handling Ability (6.25)
This digital camera is about the size of a bar of soap and handles like one too. Perhaps not as slippery when wet, but I didn’t try getting it wet. I don’t recommend getting it wet either: the seams didn’t appear tightly sealed enough for even a foggy day. The Nikon S200 is flat on all sides except for a very subtle dip on the right edge of the back. To the right of the LCD screen and below the zoom control is a shallow divot large enough for a thumb but not deep enough to really hang onto the camera if palms are truly sweaty. On the right edge of the divot are five plastic bumps meant to keep the thumb from slipping - they aren’t entirely necessary. While all cameras are designed with two hands in mind, the Nikon S500 can be held with one hand. Its weight is balanced and the overall small size of the camera makes it easy to snap shots with one hand.


Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size (6.75)
In general, the S500’s controls are very similar to those on competing digital cameras. The only exception to that is the rotary dial that also functions as a multi-selector. This control on the back of the camera has tiny grooves and protrusions so it can be easily rotated to navigate through menus and images. It can also be pushed in the four directions like a traditional multi-selector – and it has icons by each direction to show what features it accesses when pushed in the shooting mode. The only problem is that the right side of the rotary dial is so far on the right edge that its coinciding icon is pushed around the corner onto the right side of the camera body – where it can’t be seen from the back.

There are two buttons above and two below the rotary dial for various functions like Menu and Mode. The Mode button replaces the more traditional mode dial, which there isn’t any room for on this digital camera. In the upper right corner of the back is a skinny zoom control that rocks right and left to control the lens. It is unnecessarily skinny as there is some space below it and its thinness doesn’t make for great handling. Atop the camera is the large shutter release button that is rectangular in shape but puffs up a bit so it isn’t flush with the camera body. The power button next to it, however, is flush with the camera body. There are two more buttons on the top for shake reduction and the one-touch portrait features. The left fingers will have to access these as they are far from all the other controls. Overall, the buttons are properly labeled and spaced. They are a bit on the small side, but that’s because the camera body itself is on the small side.

Menu (7.5)
Some previous S-series cameras had big, readable fonts but the new Nikon S500 takes it to a whole new level. Menus have a white background and gray lettering except for the selected item that has a yellow background and black lettering. There are live views in some of the submenus such as white balance and color options. The menus can be displayed in text or icons, although the icon layout is a bit too much for the eyes – I recommend the text. There is a Menu button, which makes it easy to find. The following is the shooting menu.

Image mode	7M High, 7M Normal, 5M Normal, 3M Normal, PC Screen, TV Screen, 16:9
White balance	Auto, Preset (manual), Daylight, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy, Flash
Continuous	Single, Continuous, Multi-shot 16, Interval Timer Shooting (30 sec, 1, 5, 10, 30, 60 min)
Best Shot Selector	On, Off
ISO Sensitivity	Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 2000
Color Options	Standard, Vivid, Black-and-white, Sepia, Cyanotype
AF Area Mode	Auto, Manual, Center

The menus aren’t divided into pages or tabs or anything; it’s simply one list that scrolls down and down and down. To find the setup menu, users have to push the mode button. When that is done, a screen appears with a ring on it and icons around the ring. Users must turn the rotary dial to scroll around the ring: there is a wrench icon that represents the setup menu, which is as follows.

Menus	Text, Icons
Quick Startup	On, Off
Welcome Screen	Nikon, Animation, Select an Image
Date	Set date, time, time zone
Monitor Setting	Photo Info (Show Info, Auto Info, Hide Info, Framing Grid), Brightness (+/- 2 in whole steps)
Date Imprint	Off, Date, Date and Time, Date Counter
Vibration Reduction	On, Response Priority, Off
AF Assist	Auto, Off
Sound Settings	Button Sound (On, Off), Shutter Sound (1, 2, 3, Off), Volume (Loud, Normal, Off)
Auto Off	30 sec, 1, 5, 30 min
Format Card	No, Format
Language	Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, German, English, Finnish, French, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai
Interface	USB (PTP, Mass Storage), Video Mode (NTSC, PAL), Auto Transfer (On, Off)
Reset All	No, Reset
Firmware Version	Coolpix S500 Ver. 1.0

The rotary dial is used to navigate through the lengthy list of items. Once the desired item is selected, users must push the right side of the dial like a multi-selector to access the submenu. Going back a menu is just as intuitive: all users need to do is push the left side of the dial. Simple. Just as it should be.

Ease of Use (6.25)
For those who have used digital cameras before, the Nikon S500 isn’t tough to figure out. It has labeled buttons and simple on-screen directions along with live views in some of the menus. Those who are making the transition from film to digital will wonder where the mode dial disappeared to. The Mode button and graphic dial takes some getting used to. It isn’t the easiest layout to access things like scene modes, but that’s the sacrifice that was made to fit all the features on such a tiny camera. Another hindrance to overall ease-of-use is the lack of a fully automatic mode. There is a generic “shooting mode” that allows access to all the features on the camera and is more of a program mode. It remembers features, so if you set it to the interval timer and turn off the camera, then turn it on again, you’ll be stuck in a rut of timed photos again. You’ll be wondering where that auto mode is. Not on the S500. In general the S500 is easy to use but if you’re not so sure about how you’d handle it, check it out at a camera store before purchasing it.

Components	Page 4 of 13		Modes
Nikon Coolpix S500 Digital Camera Review Navigation
Intro	Testing / Performance	Components	Design / Layout
Modes	Control Options	Image Parameters	Connectivity / Extras
Overall Impressions	Conclusion	Sample Photos	Photo Gallery
Specs / Ratings