Design and Build Quality
The metallic-finished maroon P500 that we got for review drew the most attention in the office for its colour. Its build quality is not the best that we have seen, but in all fairness, appears reasonably okay.
The hand-grip is rubberised, deep and comfortable. The lens does not have markings for the focal length but instead, has an additional zoom lever on the left side of the lens housing. The lens projects about 54mm at its longest focal length. The 3-inch LCD has limited movements but offers a very high resolution of 921,000 dots, like the Sony HX 100V. The electronic viewfinder does not seem to have tunnel vision (which is good), but the resolution is acceptable. The built-in flash has to be raised manually when required and the camera does not have an accessory shoe for external flash. A Li-ion rechargeable battery powers the camera.
Ergonomics
The hand-grip is deep and comfortable. A rubber lining at the thumb position offers additional grip. The user interface is simple with a standard Nikon-style appearance and is easy to navigate. The tripod socket is placed too close to the battery chamber and will hinder the door opening when placed on a tripod. The camera weighs approximately 494g with battery and card.