The Nikon P500 is ideal for both serious and amateurs photographers as the camera boasts of a comprehensive feature set with cutting edge functionality. The digicam has a 10.0 megapixels of sharp resolution and .5x optical zoom capability. The camera includes a 36-126mm Zoom-Nikkor lens (35mm equivalent) which gives a lot of versatility to the user.

The Nikon P5000 has been equipped with a 2.5-inch LCD and the on board VR image stabilization compensates for camera shake and combats image blur. The Movie mode also uses VR! The P500 has a light sensitivity range up to ISO 3200 and uses a new image-processing engine with enhanced noise reduction and an improved signal-to-noise(S/N) ratio preserves high image quality, even when shooting at high ISO settings.

The digicam has a number of nifty shooting modes and includes a Mode dial which lets you access four exposure modes. These include; "Programmed Auto [P] mode automatically selects shutter and aperture settings for optimal exposure. Shutter-priority Auto [S] lets the photographer select a desired shutter speed, and the camera sets the optimal aperture setting accordingly. Aperture-priority Auto [A] offers 10-step manual control over the aperture setting in 1/3EV increments to let the photographer decide depth of field, while the camera automatically adjust the shutter speed to achieve optimal exposure. Manual [M] exposure mode gives the photographer full control over both the aperture and shutter speed settings."