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Nikon P500 vs Pentax Q7 Comparison

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Nikon P500

12 MP | 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) BSI-CMOS Sensor

Nikon P500
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Pentax Q7

12 MP | 1/1.7" (7.44 x 5.58 mm) BSI-CMOS Sensor

Pentax Q7
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Nikon P500 vs Pentax Q7 Comparison Overview

Here we are comparing two cameras with different body types: Nikon P500, which was introduced in February 2011 is a Small Sensor Superzoom camera with a 12.0MP 1/2.3-inch sensor whereas Pentax Q7, which was introduced in August 2013 is a Entry-Level Mirrorless camera with a 12.0MP 1/1.7-inch sensor. As you can see, P500 is 2 years older than Q7. Let's see if this age difference between two cameras makes a big difference.

Comparing an interchangeble lens camera to a fixed lens camera is a bit tricky but we will do our best to make this a fair comparison.

Here is a brief look at the main features of Nikon P500 and Pentax Q7 before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Nikon P500 Key Specs

  • Announcement Date: 2011-02-09
  • 12MP - 1/2.3-inch BSI-CMOS Sensor
  • ISO 160 - 3200
  • 23-810 mm F3.4-5.7 Zoom Lens
  • Sensor-shift Image Stabilization
  • 3" Tilting Screen
  • Electronic viewfinder
  • 1 fps continuous shooting
  • Full HD - 1920 x 1080 video resolution
  • 240fps High-Speed Video
  • 494g. 116 x 84 x 103 mm

Pentax Q7 Key Specs

  • Announcement Date: 2013-08-08
  • 12MP - 1/1.7-inch BSI-CMOS Sensor
  • ISO 100 - 12800
  • Pentax Q Mount
  • Sensor-shift Image Stabilization
  • 3" Fixed Type Screen
  • 5 fps continuous shooting
  • Full HD - 1920 x 1080 video resolution
  • 200g. 102 x 58 x 34 mm
  • Replaced Pentax Q10 Compare

Nikon P500 was replaced by Nikon Coolpix P510. You may also be interested in these comparisons:
Nikon Coolpix P510 vs Nikon Coolpix P500
Nikon Coolpix P510 vs Pentax Q7

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Nikon P500 and Pentax Q7 compares and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one is better for you.

Reasons to choose Nikon Coolpix P500 over Pentax Q7
LCD Screen
Tilting vs Fixed Type Flexible shooting positions
Viewfinder
Electronic vs Optical (Optional) Better framing and control
LCD Screen Resolution
921k dots vs 460k dots 100% higher resolution screen
Flash Coverage
8.0m vs 4.9m 3.1m longer range


Reasons to choose Pentax Q7 over Nikon Coolpix P500
External Flash Shoe
Yes vs No Better for flash photography
RAW Support
Yes vs No Better image quality
Max ISO
12.800 vs 3.200 300% higher Max ISO
Max Mech. Shutter
1/2000s vs 1/1500s faster mechanical shutter
Continuous Shooting
5.0fps vs 1.0fps 4 fps faster
Battery Life
250 shots vs 220 shots 30 more frames with a single charge
Weight
200 g vs 494 g 294 g lighter
Timelapse Recording
Yes vs No creative shooting
Sensor Pixel Area
3.46µm2 vs 2.34µm2 47% larger pixel area
AE Bracketing
Yes vs No Useful for tough lighting conditions and HDR

Common Strengths of Nikon Coolpix P500 and Pentax Q7
Image Stabilization
Sensor-shift vs Sensor-shift Sharper images at longer focal lengths and long exposures
Built-in Flash
Yes vs Yes Useful in low-light
Face Detection Focus
Yes vs Yes very handy for portraits
Common Weaknesses of Nikon Coolpix P500 and Pentax Q7
Environmental Sealing
No vs No not suitable for tough conditions
Nikon P500 vs Pentax Q7: Physical Specs and Body features Comparison

Size and weight is a big decision factor when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs. In this section, We are going to illustrate Nikon P500 and Pentax Q7 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Nikon P500 has external dimensions of 116 x 84 x 10 mm (4.57 x 3.31 x 4.06″) and weighs 494 g (1.09 lb / 17.43 oz) (including batteries). Pentax Q7 has external dimensions of 102 x 58 x 34 mm (4.02 x 2.28 x 1.34″) and weighs 200 g (0.44 lb / 7.05 oz) (including batteries).

Below you can see the front view size comparison of Nikon P500 and Pentax Q7. Pentax Q7 is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 14mm narrower, 26mm shorter and 69mm thinner than Nikon P500. As you can tell, actually this is not a fair size comparison since Nikon P500 has a built-in lens but Pentax Q7 doesn't. Once you put a lens on Q7, its thickness will increase significantly.

Nikon P500 vs Pentax Q7 Camera Size Comparison - Front View
Comparison image of Nikon P500 and Pentax Q7 Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View

Here is the back view size comparison of Nikon P500 and Pentax Q7.

Nikon P500 vs Pentax Q7 Camera Size Comparison - Back View
Comparison image of Nikon P500 and Pentax Q7 Size and Weight - Back View

Now lets look at the top view comparison of Nikon P500 and Pentax Q7.
Nikon P500 vs Pentax Q7 Camera Size Comparison - Top View
Top View Comparison image of Nikon P500 and Pentax Q7 Size

Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day. Pentax Q7 is significantly lighter (294g ) than the Nikon P500 which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.

Again, this comparison may not be very useful in real life as we are comparing the weight of a camera with a built-in lens to the body-only weight of an interchangeable lens camera. Once you put a lens on Q7, the total kit will weigh much higher.

Weather Sealing

Unfortunately neither Nikon Coolpix P500 nor Pentax Q7 provides any type of weather sealing in their body, so you have to give extra care especially when you are shooting outdoors. If weather sealing is a must-have feature for you, check these sections:
Top Bridge Cameras with Weather Sealing
Top Mirrorless Cameras with Weather Sealing

LCD Screen Size and Features

Nikon P500 and Pentax Q7's LCD screens has the same diagonal size of 3".

On the other hand, Nikon P500 features a Tilting screen where you can change the angle of the screen to make it easier to shoot from waist or over the head levels whereas the Pentax Q7 has a fixed type screen which provides less flexibility in shooting positions compared to P500.
Nikon P500 vs Pentax Q7: Sensor Comparison

Both Nikon P500 and Pentax Q7 have 12.0 MP resolution sensors but Nikon P500's sensor is 1/2.3-inch (6.17 x 4.55 mm ) and Pentax Q7's sensor is 1/1.7-inch (7.44 x 5.58 mm ).

Since Pentax Q7's has a larger sensor area with the same resolution, this means that it also has a larger pixel area hence better light collecting capacity for a given aperture compared to Nikon P500.

Below you can see the P500 and Q7 sensor size comparison.

Nikon P500 vs Pentax Q7 Sensor Size Comparison
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Nikon P500 and Pentax Q7 Cameras


As seen above, Pentax Q7 has a 1.5x Larger sensor area than Nikon P500. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.

What types of Photography are Nikon P500 and Pentax Q7 Good for?
In this section, we rank and compare Nikon P500 and Pentax Q7 for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.

Nikon P500 for Portrait Photography

AVERAGE

Pentax Q7 for Portrait Photography

AVERAGE
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
Average Ergonomics&Handling
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
Read the details
Image Stabilization
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
Optional External Viewfinder
Average Ergonomics&Handling
Small 1/1.7" (7.44 x 5.58 mm) sensor
Read the details

Nikon P500 for Street Photography

GOOD

Pentax Q7 for Street Photography

GOOD
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Tilting LCD Screen
23 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Medium sized Body
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
Read the details
Image Stabilization
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Optional External Viewfinder
Medium sized Body
Small 1/1.7" (7.44 x 5.58 mm) sensor
Read the details

Nikon P500 for Sports Photography

AVERAGE

Pentax Q7 for Sports Photography

AVERAGE
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
810 mm Tele Lens
Average Ergonomics&Handling
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
Slow Continuous Shooting: 1.0fps
Environmental Sealings
Slow Max shutter speed: 1/1500s
9 Focus Points
Poor Battery Life: 220 shots
Slow Lens at Tele: f5.70
Read the details
Image Stabilization
Optional External Viewfinder
Average Ergonomics&Handling
Average Continuous Shooting: 5.0fps
Average Max shutter speed: 1/2000s
Environmental Sealings
Unknown Focus Points
Poor Battery Life: 250 shots
Read the details

Nikon P500 for Daily Photography

AVERAGE

Pentax Q7 for Daily Photography

AVERAGE
35.2X Optical Zoom
Medium size Body
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
494g
Body Thickness 103mm
Read the details
200g
Medium size Body
Small 1/1.7" (7.44 x 5.58 mm) sensor
Read the details

Nikon P500 for Landscape Photography

POOR

Pentax Q7 for Landscape Photography

POOR
23 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Live-view
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
Small 1/1.7" (7.44 x 5.58 mm) sensor
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details

Nikon P500 vs Pentax Q7: OUR DECISION

You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Nikon P500 and Pentax Q7, below you can find their scores in five different aspects. Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 63 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.

Here is a summary of how Nikon P500 and Pentax Q7 scores compare:

Nikon P500
Imaging
Features
Value
Portability
Overall
Ranked #50 out of 113 in SLR-like (bridge) cameras
Ranked #556 out of 1223 in all Cameras
Pentax Q7
Imaging
Features
Value
Portability
Overall
Ranked #84 out of 127 in Rangefinder-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked #373 out of 1223 in all Cameras

Pentax Q7 is the clear winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Nikon P500 in all criteria.
It has better general image quality, more features, more compact body and offers more value for the money

Nikon P500
Nikon P500
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Pentax Q7
Pentax Q7
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Pentax Q7 vs Nikon P500 Specs Table
Detailed comparison of specifications
General Nikon Coolpix P500 Pentax Q7
Brand Nikon Pentax
Announced 2011-02-09 2013-08-08
Body Type SLR-like (bridge) Rangefinder-style mirrorless
Sensor
Type BSI-CMOS BSI-CMOS
Size 1/2.3-inch 1/1.7-inch
Dimensions 6.17 x 4.55 mm 7.44 x 5.58 mm
Area 28.07mm2 41.52mm2
Megapixels 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Max Resolution 4000 x 3000 4000 x 3000
Max Native Light sensitivity 3,200 ISO 12,800 ISO
Min Native Light sensitivity 160 ISO 100 ISO
RAW Support
Autofocus
AF Touch
AF Continuous
AF Single
AF Tracking
AF Selective
AF Center
AF Multi Area
AF Live View
AF Face Detection
AF Contrast Detection
AF Phase Detection
Number of Focus Points 9 n/a
Lens
Manual Focus
Lens Mount fixed lens Pentax Q
Lens Focal Range 23-810 mm (36×) no lens
Max Aperture F3.4-5.7 no lens
Macro Focus Range 1cm no lens
Screen
Type Tilting Fixed type
Size 3" 3"
Resolution 921k dots 460k dots
Touch Screen
Viewfinder
Viewfinder Electronic Optical (optional)
Photography Features
Max Mechanical Shutter 1/1500s 1/2000s
Shutter Priority
Aperture Priority
Manual Exposure Mode
Custom White Balance
Image Stabilization Sensor-shift Sensor-shift
Built-in Flash
Flash Range 8.00 m 4.90 m (ISO100/m)
Max Flash Sync n/a 1/2000s
External Flash
Continuous Shooting 1.0 fps 5.0 fps
Multi-Segment
Average
Spot
Partial
AF-Area
Center Weighted
AE Bracketing
WB Bracketing
Video Features
Max Video Resolution 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080
Video Formats MPEG-4, H.264 MPEG-4, H.264
Microphone Port
Headphone Port
Connectivity
Wireless Connectivity None Eye-Fi Connected
HDMI
Physical
Environmental Sealing
Weight 494g 200g
Dimensions 116 x 84 x 103mm 102 x 58 x 34mm
Battery Life 220 shots 250 shots
Other Features
Timelapse Recording
GPS None None
DxO Sensor Scores
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