The Nikon CoolPix B500 Review

October 10 2025

INTRO

Today, I'm writing about an upgraded model of the CoolPix series: The Nikon CoolPix B500. I wanted some more oomph to the camera I had, the CoolPix L120, but I had a budget. Turns out, when people don't know how to fix corroded battery terminals, they just sell what would have been a 200 something dollar camera for an eighth of that price. I paid LESS for this B500 than I did the L120. It's a HUGE plus in my mind. I've been using it for about a month or two, and I already have a lot of thoughts about it since I started using it. It has quickly become my daily driver, and since it is still in the CoolPix line of cameras, it was easy to adapt to using.

What caught my attention immediately was that it felt different. As I held it for the first time, I could tell there was a difference in quality. I investigated and quickly found that the CoolPix L120 from 2011 was manufactured in Indonesia, and this B500 from 2016 was manufactured in China. Either within that time, Nikon switched manufacturers, or they have different factories for different series of the CoolPix Line. I won't know definitively, because I don't intend to purchase another L or B series CoolPix.

This camera features a physical scene selector, unlike the L120. It's a nice visual flair to me. Unfortunately, as of learning how to use the auto mode, I don't see myself doing anything but keeping it stuck on auto. Fun fidget toy though! The color scheme is almost pure black here, too. I think it works, aesthetically. The barrel is also wider, and the camera overall is bigger. It's only obvious once you hold the L120 after.

There is also a flip out screen in this model! It's a neat feature that gives it more potential for certain things, like shooting at strange angles and whatnot. I have yet to fully take advantage of it, but it is a welcome feature, as well as yet another fun fidget toy. Makes moon photography easy!

PHOTOS

So, how are the photos? You won't be surprised to find that they're just like the L120's. But, I upgraded from 14 Megapixels to 16 Megapixels, so there may be a slight enhancement in photo resolution. It seems to me that these CoolPix cameras overshoot the sensor resolution in relativity to the optical resolution. But, I might have just a bit more oomph if I were to downscale images to more web-friendly resolutions. I'm setting my photos to 8 Megapixels when I shoot, because higher resolutions meet diminishing returns in regards to optical resolution, and the photos are web-friendly right as I shoot them.

This does bring into question my camera settings, because surely there are ways to make my photos sharper by tweaking the aperture and whatnot, but I can only change these settings so much. I do notice some of my photos are muddy, so there is probably a sweet spot.

I mainly got this camera for its upgraded zoom capabilities. It features double the zoom potential of the L120. I am a HUGE fan of zoom photography, which make the CoolPix cameras suitable for me since that's a major focus of the modern designs. It's possibly the most affordable optical zoom for a decent camera out there. Cameras with purchasable lenses will most likely cost ten times as much as you can find this camera for online. Obviously, there are nuances, but in terms of zoom, buying a camera like this may be more worth it to a regular consumer than a DSLR/Mirrorless with a super telephoto lens attached.

VIDEO

I do not record videos often at all. This model was bought for parts/repair on eBay, and one issue with it is that the video record button doesn't work. There's no click. Gonna have to fix that. However, the specifications say that it records up to 1080i 60fps, or 1080p 30fps. Not much else needs to be said.

OTHER

The battery life on this camera is strange to me. I use Duracell rechargeable batteries. It seems to me that they're not working well with this camera. The camera also doesn't properly communicate the battery life in my opinion. There are three states: Full, Half, and dead. I'd like a little more info than that if it were possible.

The interface is nearly identical to the L120's, but with a couple enhancements and changes. Like I said, the scene selector is now a dial instead of a button. I like how in place of the button, there is now a display button. It gives more info on an image and can pull up composition guides on the viewfinder. It's great for viewing images since I can look at the color and exposure distribution as well as the metadata.

A complaint of mine is that I can't find where to disable the shutter and menu sounds. Sometimes, I'm inside a quiet building in public, and I can be heard taking photos with this fake shutter sound, and it makes me feel like I'm using a toy camera in public. Kind of embarrassing, lol.

Another issue I had after fixing up the camera is the interface. It's laggy. The L120 was able to keep up with anything I could throw at it. This one struggles sometimes with changing view distances and exposure. It's like the manufacturers used a chip that was just strong enough to handle most tasks on this camera. But, it's really bad when I'm scrolling through full resolution images in the media viewer. It's painfully slow with that, whereas the L120 was instantaneous. Yet another issue that likely stemmed from changing manufacturers.

The B500 also supports Nikon's service called SnapBridge, which is an instant-transfer software that allows you to take photos on your camera and send them to your phone through bluetooth. This software is extremely useful, but I don't use it as often as I'd like. My camera is capable of sending 2 Megapixel sized photos to my phone. It's a good size for sharing, but if I want to put photos up on things like this blog post, I'm still left with using an SD card reader or a USB cable that tethers the camera to my computer. I'm not particularly bothered by it, but SnapBridge is technically quicker in terms of getting the images to my phone, and not my computer. It all depends on what I need to send the image to. Anyway, highly recommend SnapBridge to users of Nikon cameras. Solid program.

I also like how between the L120 and the B500, there is the same file structure. That allowed me to just pop in my SD card on the new camera and keep shooting. As a bonus, the L120 can view my 16 Megapixel images; it just can't zoom in on them!

FINAL

Out of five stars? 4. Great camera, good upgrade, slight shortcomings, but more of what I want! I highly recommend this camera for regular consumers, but if I wanted a CoolPix camera and I had much more money to spend, I'd go straight for the newest models.