If your phone simply isn’t doing it for you when it comes to taking photos, but you don’t really need a bulky DSLR camera, there is something that might be just perfect for you, especially if you don’t want to spend a lot of money.
Nikon B500 is a DSLR-styled travel super-zoom camera with a surprisingly powerful feature-set for the money. This is the improved version of L840 with the addition of built-in Wi-Fi and NFC pairing.
Most cameras that you could find on the list of the best digital cameras on a budget don’t contain many high-end features but with its main selling point, above-average 40x optical zoom range, as well as a few other handy features, Nikon B500 might be found on the top of the best point and shoot digital cameras list.
Nikon Coolpix B500 Features
Check Price and Reviews of the B500 on Amazon.
Build and Design
This isn’t exactly a small camera that can fit into your pocket. Actually, it is a little bulky for a point and shoot camera, but it’s still a lot smaller than a DSLR. Its size leaves room for large right-hand grip that allows you to hold the camera comfortably. It also has a 40X optical zoom lens, which provides a maximum 900 mm telephoto setting that should meet your needs much of the time, but larger zoom lenses are available in the market if you need them.
Battery
One of the things that make this camera my favorite is the combination of long battery life and Wi-Fi. This feature is quite easy to use and without having to worry about draining the battery too quickly.
Convenient AA battery power is especially useful when you travel out in the wild, abroad, or just lose the battery charger.
LCD
With the 3.0-inch LCD 90 degrees tiltable screen, it is easy to shoot when you have the camera attached to a tripod and it is a lot easier to shoot high or low-angle shot composition but it can’t be rotated 180° for selfie-snapping.
However, it doesn’t swivel horizontally and it doesn’t include the viewfinder which is a little disappointing since it is a lot easier to frame, focus and control camera shake with it.
Resolution
Nikon Coolpix B500 shares the same 16-megapixel resolution with its predecessor L840 and a sensitivity range of ISO6400. It also features full HD 1080p video recording with stereo sound and it’s able to shoot full-resolution stills at 7.4fps.
It is really easy to use with an intelligent scene-detecting automatic shooting mode and it includes some unique filter effects and an automatic panorama mode for creative shooting.
Physical Design and Controls
The design is basic as it comes. It is slightly larger than the camera it replaces with a typical bridge camera design, measuring 113.5 x 78.3 x 94.9 mm (4.5 x 3.1 x 3.8 in.) but this is still relatively compact for its class. It weighs 542g which is reasonable considering it’s powered by 4 AA batteries.
If you have used a regular compact camera before you will be familiar with the control layout instantly. The buttons are kept to a minimum, but they are sensibly laid out.
There are also the side-mounted zoom controls. The 921k-dot resolution and wide viewing angles LCD monitor replace the viewfinder. It doesn’t have a lot of ports (only HDMI and USB) and it takes ordinary SD cards for memory, as well as SDHC and SDXC. Performance (image quality) This probably isn’t the biggest strength of the Coolpix B500.
Image Quality
The small image sensor of 1/2.3-inch limits its capacity to make high-quality images. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t create poor photos, but its small image sensor simply doesn’t allow high-quality large print. Images snapped in daylight are colorful, vibrant and accurately exposed. They look very good viewed at typical sizes.
However, the camera’s small sensor limitations are obvious. Zoomed in to 100% image size you can see that details aren’t as crisp as you might expect. It becomes even more evident when shooting distant detail in landscapes.
Low Light Performance
Shooting in low light causes, even more, detail loss but grain is well subdued at ISO 800 and you can still get some usable images up to ISO 1600. Since it doesn’t have an optical or electronic viewfinder, it is really important that it has the Vibration Reduction system feature that works well on this model to prevent camera shake. This is especially important when you aren’t using the tripod, but hand holding the camera.
Burst Mode
The burst mode options are impressive. Usually, large zoom cameras have slow autofocus and burst modes which make them perform slowly, but this one can record full-resolution JPEG images at speeds of 7.4 frames per second. Isn’t it amazing how it outperforms some of the best DSLR cameras? There is one limitation: burst mode at 7.4 fps is limited to 7 frames.
However, the low light image quality you can achieve with this camera is below average, just as with any large zoom camera with a small image sensor, but Nikon provided a popup flash unit which is important for this kind of camera.
Flash
The popup flash lifts well above the camera body which helps to avoid shadows and dark corners that might appear from the extended lens blocking the light provided from the flash. There are 4 flash modes: Auto, Auto red-eye reduction, fill, and slow sync.
The huge zoom is actually what sells this camera, but unfortunately, it comes with a flaw. The more you zoom the more sharpness you lose.
If you go and zoom in all the way you will see that the image quality decreases notably. It won’t ruin your image, you will still be able to use it, but you will also be able to notice the noise in your image if you are looking for it.
Learn more about the Nikon Coolpix B500 on Amazon.
What type of photography is Nikon Coolpix B500 good for?
Even if you already like this camera based on what you read above, you still might ask yourself is this camera for you. The first thing you have to clarify with yourself is what you are going to use it for (what type of photography).
When you know that it’s easier for me to help you by showing you what are the most important features that a camera has to have for each type of photography and how good they are on B500. In this section, we will review and Nikon B500 in 5 different photography areas.
Portrait Photography
| Image Stabilization |
| Sensor resolution 16.0 MP |
| Ergonomic & Handling |
| 1/2.3″ Sensor size |
| No RAW shooting |
| No External flash shoe |
| No Built-in viewfinder |
| No Manual focus mode |
| No manual exposure mode |
Image Stabilization diminishes the impacts of camera shake at long exposures and long focal lengths in this way guaranteeing sharper images which is great for portraits.
The sensor resolution of 16 MP certainly isn’t the best in its class but it can still manage relatively large prints of your portrait shots. Good handling with a camera is really important during portrait shooting, just as good placement of the physical controls on the camera body.
Ergonomics and handling of B500 are good, with a fairly large rubber hand grip and thumb grip on the back. Controls are well labeled and common settings for shooting mode and exposure.
There is no viewfinder, so you have to rely on the LCD screen for framing your shots. It tilts to help with viewing, and quality is good.
As far as the sensor, it is on the small side to achieve that shallow depth of field and blurry background that you absolutely need for portraits.
For a great portrait shot, you really need to nail the focus perfectly, and without manual focus mode, this can be a challenge.
All of that leads us to the conclusion that Nikon Coolpix B500 is a below-average candidate for portrait photography.
Street photography
| Live-view |
| Face-Detection Focusing |
| Tilting LCD Screen |
| Image Stabilization |
| 23 mm wide-angle coverage |
| Medium-sized body |
| No Built-in viewfinder |
| No Manual focus mode |
| No RAW shooting |
| 1/2.3″ sensor size |
Live-view is very useful for street photography where you don’t want to get people’s attention. It is a substitute for a viewfinder that this camera doesn’t have anyway.
The lack of viewfinder forces you to hold the camera away from the body and that is not very stable, especially if you are using some heavy camera lenses. Also, it can be really hard to read the LCD screen in the bright sunlight.
Thankfully there is the Image Stabilization that reduces the impact of camera shake ensuring sharper images and tilting screen gives you the ability to shoot in non-conventional positions (waist level, for example), which is great because it gives you the opportunity to be more creative and subtle in the streets.
A really helpful feature for street photography is a face detection focusing mode where you focus on the face (obviously). Isn’t it great how it allows you to focus on framing and some other adjustments while the camera focuses for you?
However, there are some things we don’t like about this camera when it comes to street photography, like manual focus mode. One of the most popular techniques amongst street photography is Zone focusing and it requires manual focusing mode. Well, with this camera you can’t do that.
Although the JPEG files are more attractive out of the camera, RAW files contain much more color information and it is great to have both shooting capabilities available.
RAW also gives you space for post preparing without huge quality loss and those files provide more extensive dynamic range and option to recover shadow and highlight cut-out to some degree. Unfortunately, L840 has only JPEG files available.
Above all, this camera struggles in low light situations because of its small sensor.
In the end, all of that makes it an average candidate for this type of photography.
Sports Photography
| 7.4 fps continuous shooting |
| 1/4000 Shutter speed |
| Battery life 590 shots |
| Built-in Wi-Fi |
| Image Stabilization |
| Ergonomics & Handling |
| Environmental Sealings |
| No Manual exposure mode |
| No Manual focus mode |
| No Built-in viewfinder |
| No External flash shoe |
| No RAW shooting |
Continuous shooting is one of the most important features when it comes to sports photography, along with the shutter speed. In this type of photography, faster is always better and 7.4 fps is pretty fast.
In combination with fast enough 1/4000s shutter speed this camera can track and freeze almost any sports action. However, this kind of shooting lasts for a long time in most sports events which drains the battery pretty fast, but with a battery life of 600 shots per change, you won’t have to change batteries a lot of times in the middle of an event.
Also, with the built-in Wi-Fi, you can transfer files simultaneously without having to change the memory card which is really useful in situations like sports events.
Since all of the subjects are moving in this type of photography, you will really be happy that you have the image stabilization that will reduce any kind of camera shake while you are tracking your subject.
The body might not be as good as a DSLR but it will be good enough for most of the conditions you might find yourself in.
However, a lot of sports events are held outdoors in all weather conditions, and you will need your camera to be ready for some bad conditions because exposure to dust and water is very common in this photography category.
Unfortunately, B500 didn’t prove to be really good in difficult conditions. Also, the lack of manual exposure mode in these conditions might lead you to a loss of shadow and highlight clipping while the lack of manual focus mode can lead you to a loss of the photo.
These compact cameras are already not great at focusing on moving objects and if it doesn’t lock the focus your camera may even not fire at all, so the manual focus would be very useful in these situations.
The viewfinder would also make it so much easier for a photographer to shoot in these situations, but as we already know B500 doesn’t have one.
We also know that it has an image stabilization that covers for the camera shake, but is that enough in these situations?
Sometimes is really hard to read the LCD, especially under bright sunlight and that is something that image stabilization can’t cover.
This is another type of photography where Nikon B500 Coolpix proved to be barely average.
Daily Photography
| Optical Zoom 38x |
| Medium body |
| Weight 538g |
| 1/2.3 sensor |
| No RAW shooting |
This great optical zoom of 40x is just amazing for daily photography because it gives you a lot of flexibility since this is going to be the only camera you’ll use during the day.
Also, if you are going to carry it around the whole day, you will want it to be small and lightweight. Well B500 is relatively smaller and lighter than any DSLR, but still not light enough.
The weight of 540g may not be very comfortable for you, but it’s still a good compromise between size, weight, and functionality.
The small sensor of 1/2.3 struggles in low light situations sometimes, and without the RAW shooting capability, it can lose color and overall quality in some situations.
Once again, this is the category where the Nikon Coolpix B500 proved to be an average candidate.
Landscape Photography
| 23 mm Wide-angle coverage |
| Sensor resolution 16.0 MP |
| No Manual exposure mode |
| No Manual focus mode |
| No RAW shooting capability |
| 1/2.3″ Sensor size |
| No environmental sealing |
Wide-angle lenses are just perfect for landscape photography because of their capability to capture wider scenes. That is why B500’s 23mm wide-angle coverage is just great for shooting landscapes.
However, the 16.0 MP sensor resolution definitely isn’t the best for capturing landscapes, but you can still achieve large prints with good framing.
That was the good part. Now, let’s see what’s not so good.
For a landscape, the shot is very important to have a correct exposure and most of the time auto exposure can do a pretty good job, but it may still fail in some difficult conditions.
Shooting landscapes are obviously done outside and difficult conditions are very common, that’s why we don’t like the lack of manual exposure. Without manual exposure in these conditions, you will have a lot of shadows and highlight clipping.
Another thing missing is a manual focus mode. We already mentioned it earlier in every section. It is really a big flaw in my opinion because it can cause you a loss of sharpness.
Manual focus mode minimizes the areas that are out of focus and autofocus might not always give you the best results.
With no RAW shooting capability that you might need in some conditions, you risk losing some color quality. Isn’t it enough that it already has a small sensor that struggles in low light situations?
It is obvious that in this category B500 is a poor candidate.
Conclusion
As you can see, we have a camera that we cannot claim to be perfect for any of these five types of photography, but it can still do a good job if you need it for street, sports or daily photography.
However, considering its price, this camera produces decent photos and videos. Also, being able to use batteries that you can find and buy at any store is more awesome than annoying.
This is an ideal option for those on a budget since it offers a portion of the best parts of today’s point-and-shoots with a portion of the well-known components of 90s cameras.
Certainly, you can’t mix up B500 with a professional camera, but it is great for traveling and get-away photos for Facebook and Instagram.
Research the Nikon B500 on Amazon.
