Nikon Coolpix S500 review

At 125g, the S500 is the smallest, lightest camera we've seen that includes optical image stabilisation to reduce blur from camera shake.

Its controls and menus are easy to operate and the brushed aluminium finish, 2in 230,000-pixel screen and five-way navigation pad that doubles as a wheel for adjusting settings give it a classy look.

Face recognition is built in to help expose and focus on faces, but it's slow and unreliable next to similar features on Canon and Fujifilm cameras. Performance in other areas is below average, too: the camera takes three seconds to switch on and shoot, and the same amount of time between shots. The continuous mode shoots in random bursts and averages only 0.5 frames per second (fps). Battery life is disappointing, too.

Image quality is the S500's weakest area. Detail was a little soft at the centre of pictures and deteriorated badly towards the corners. The macro mode needed 20cm between the camera and the subject before it could focus. Zooming in reduced this to 10cm, but it's a shame this isn't better advertised. Colours were often excellent, but a significant number of photos looked undersaturated, and the automatic white balance mode handled artificial light poorly. The camera often used ISO 50 for outdoor photos, which is just as well because noise was visible at ISO 100. ISO 400 shots were passable but ISO 800 images were messy. The automatic exposure performed well, coping sensibly in low light. However, activating image stabilisation blocked access to almost every other setting and set the ISO speed to 1600, resulting in blur-free but blotchy, ugly photos.

For image stabilisation in a compact package, Panasonic's DMC-FX3 (What's New, Shopper May 2007) costs less and takes better pictures.

Author: Ben Pitt