In my own hands-on tests, image quality ranged from very good to average depending on the focal length and, more important, the ISO. The lens seems to deliver the best sharpness to about midrange; even then, however, images are slightly soft, especially in the corners. That isn't to say that the P500 can't capture details--it can, and in some cases they're razor sharp. I also found exposures to be spot-on in general, and I saw little chromatic aberration even in high-contrast scenes.

Lens distortion was less of an issue than one might expect, given the ultrawide-angle 22.5mm lens. That said, I did notice some curvature of straight lines at wide angle, so you'll want to stay away from the wide-angle setting for portraits unless you're after some science-fiction-like effects.

Colors are a little muted but natural, although some shades of red tend to come out more pink. Using the Vivid image-optimization option helps pump up the color volume when necessary.

In PCWorld Labs tests for video and audio quality, the Coolpix P500 did a serviceable job. We rated its video quality as Good, as it produced less-than-crisp sharpness in , and disappointing . Audio pickup through the P500's top-mounted stereo microphones rated as Very Good.

You can view the test videos we shot with the Nikon Coolpix P500 below. Select 1080p from the drop-down menu in each player to see the highest-resolution footage.