Just when I had thought of buying a new handy carry round compact to back up my faithful D300 along came Nikon with the P500. So here are some early images illustrating a few of its many features. It would have been nice to include originals but alas I have already over 26,000 images on the site and I am approaching my maximum allowance!
My first impressions have been very good. It's light but comfortable to hold and control. The flexibility of the LCD helps in sunny weather and is great for low shots. The viewfinder is adequate considering the size. The ultra zoom lens is really amazing going from 22.5mm to 810mm and I have yet to use a tripod for the longer focal length. So first a series of images illustrating the amazing zoom lens feature of this camera. On some of the images I have put a small yellow rectangle to show the destination of the zoom. All images have been hand held unless mentioned otherwise. Many images have larger versions so just click on them.

Using the zoom - 22mm to 810mm
Both images hand held and taken from the same spot. Click on images for larger version and exif info
Using the zoom - 22mm to 810mm
Both images hand held and taken from the same spot. Click on images for larger version and exif info
100% crop of original 810mm image
Nikon P500 53mm 1/800 f4.4 program mode 160 iso
Using the zoom - 22mm to 810mm
Both images hand held and taken from the same spot. Click on images for larger version and exif info
Using the zoom - 22mm to 810mm
Both images hand held and taken from the same spot. Click on images for larger version and exif info
Using the zoom - 22mm to 810mm
Both images hand held and taken from the same spot. Click on images for larger version and exif info
Using the zoom - 22mm to 810mm
Both images hand held and taken from the same spot. Click on images for larger version and exif info
Using the zoom - 22mm to 810mm
Both images hand held and taken from the same spot. Click on images for larger version and exif info
Using the zoom - 22mm to 810mm
Both images hand held and taken from the same spot. Click on images for larger version and exif info
Now for some close-ups. Although maximum f number is f8 there is a fair depth of field. At wide angle you can really get close to your subject. As there is no filter thread you cannot screw on supplementary lenses but I will try holding one or two in front later. As you use longer focal lengths you have to be further away from your subject. Here are a few early examples. All hand held with no flash.
70% crop from original 23mm 1/400 f3.4 160 iso
100% crop from original 28mm 1/400 f3.7 160 iso
60% crop of original 23mm 1/320 f3.4 160 iso program
30% crop of original 31mm 1/250 f5.4 160iso program
810mm 1/125 f5.7 160 iso hand held program
466mm 1/100 f5.7 200iso hand held program
340mm 1/80 f5.5 hand held 160 iso program
669mm 1/50 f8 hand held 160 iso aperture priority
810mm 1/500 f8 800 iso aperture priority hand held
32mm 1/500 3.7 160 iso program hand held
263mm 1/250 f5.2 160 iso program hand held
32mm 1/500 3.7 160 iso program hand held
Below are a few automatic easy panoramas. You just push the button and pan and these were the results.
I have not yet tried the 'assist' mode.
25mm 1/1250 f3.5 160 iso orig size 3200 x 560
25mm 1/1500 f3.5 160 iso part original size 3200 x 560
25mm 1/250 f3.5 200 iso part original size 3200 x 560
25mm 1/1000 f3.5 160 iso orig size 3200 x 560
an automatic 360 degrees 1/20 f3.5 160 iso orig size 6400 x 560
Below a few mixed images covering different focal lengths - all hand held
309mm 1/200 f5.4 160 iso program
84mm 1/400 f4.4 160 iso program
1134mm 1/800 f5.7 160 iso program hand held
forgot to switch off digital zoom!
176mm 1/1000 f5.4 160 iso program
23mm 1/800 f5.6 160 iso program
25mm 1/320 f3.5 160 iso program
Strong backlighting - 810mm 1/320 f5.7 160 iso program hand held
Strong backlighting - 435mm 1/250 f5.6 160 iso program hand held
23mm 1/640 f3.4 160 iso program
145mm 1/200 f5.1 160 iso program
23mm 1/800 f3.4 160 iso program
23mm 1/800 f3.4 160 iso program
Nikon P500 23mm 1/500 f3.4 160 iso program
Nikon D300 Sigma 12-24mm 22mm 1/250 f8 400 iso
Digital Camera
Nikon D70
Nikon D200
Sigma 18-200
Casio F1
Nikon D300
Have I got views for you
A short 6 second time lapse illustrating the interval recording of the P500. One shot was taken every 30 seconds at 4000 x 3000.
Yes a tripod was used!
It would be great if future firmware would allow shorter times - perhaps in lower resolutions - say 5, 10 and 15 seconds
Below a comparison between the P500 and a Nikon D300 with a wide angle lens of the same scene
My assistant George demanded he take part in the trial too!
23mm 1/60 f3.5 400 iso
115mm 1/30 f5.6 400 iso flash
The above AVI is compressed using xvid
I have yet to check out the HD (1920 x1080) or HS video options ( 15/60/120/240 fps) and the quality of the sound. I will be adding action shots and many others over the next few weeks. The image stabilization is very good and the tilting viewfinder very useful. The only snags so far include the lack of a really small aperture to allow for slow shutter speeds in good weather ( blurring moving water for example). As there is no filter thread you would have to hold a strong ND filter over the front of the lens. The duration of the battery is not wonderful either and you cannot change the battery when the camera is on a tripod if you were doing a long time lapse for example .
Index
A few images from the Manchester City v Sunderland game. I found that focussing was slow and reaction time nothing like as good as a DSLR ( as expected) Images needed noise redduction , some work in shadows and highlights and sharpening. Images from the game using D300 here
From the 23mm wide shot ( 1/1250 f4.5 1600iso shutter priority) to the shot of manager Roberto Mancini
( 810mm 1/1250 f5.7 1600iso shutter priority)
500mm 1/1250 f5.7 1600iso shutter priority
46.7mm 1/1250 f5.2 1600iso shutter priority
810mm 1/250 f5.7 1600iso program
Bollywood star Katrina Kaif presents a cheque
340mm 1/400 f7 program 1600iso
Balotelli on left
A slow motion example from the P500. Shot at 240fps. Xvid compressed avi. Original was a bit over-exposed.
810mm 1/60 f5.7 400iso program
810mm 1/200 f5.7 160iso program
500mm 1/200 f5.7 160iso program
25mm 1/800 f3.5 160iso program easy panorama 3200 x 500 orig res
53mm 1/200 f4.4 160iso program
32mm 1/800 f4 160iso program
466mm 1/250 f5.7 160iso ptogram
670mm 1/500 f5.7 160iso program
Manchester City 1 Manchester United 0
Semi Final day out
38mm macro 1/400 f4.5 160iso
38mm mcro 1/500 f4.5 160iso
810mm 1/800 f5.7 800iso
46.7mm 1/160 f8 160iso
A few shots from the 40 over Clydescale Bank competition game
25mm 1/1000 f5 160iso program
810mm from same position 1/400 f5.7 160so program
Nikon D300 70-300mm 300mm 1/320 f9 program
Nikon P500 810mm 1/800 5.7 160iso program
100% pixel views of original unsharpened images from D300 and P500
810mm 1/1250 f6.3 800iso program
620mm 1/1500 f5.7 800iso shutter
Maharoof batting
810mm 1/1500 f5.7 800iso shutter
620mm 1/1500 f5.7 800iso shutter
538mm 1/1500 f5.7 800iso shutter
Thornley b Chapple 6
620mm 1/1500 f6.3 800iso shutter
Knappett b Procter 25

Above are four images chosen from a sequence of 12 shots taken of Chapple bowling. The limitation of the pre-shooting cache continuous mode is the low resolution of 1600 x 1200

On the left is an animated Gif taken from a sequence of 25 shots of Benham batting.The images were lined up in PS before cropping and resizing and saving as a gif

Manchester City 1 Stoke City 0
FA Cup Final Wembley May 14th 2011
Community Shield - Man City 2 Man United 3 Wembley August 2011
Manchester City 2 Everton 0
Manchester City 2 Bayern Munchen 0
Manchester City 2 Chelsea 1
FA Cup Semi-Final April 2013