D500

This camera is for the enthusiast who likes to adjust the camera settings before each picture. There is no “green” AUTO setting where you set it and forget it. There is also no SCENE mode. Think twice before upgrading to this camera. If you want a high performance camera with the AUTO setting and SCENE mode, then consider the D7200. The D500 is akin to an expensive high performance racecar where you constantly adjust the settings, take practice shots, adjust again, shoot for real, and tweak in between. Upgrading from the D7000, the simplified one handed operation of ISO choosing is a huge welcomed feature. The ISO button can be pressed with the forefinger while scrolling with the thumb.

ISO: With the D7000, I cringed at using ISO 1600 because of the noise, and used ISO 6400 out of desperation (blurry picture with some grain, or still picture with lots of grain). I mostly take pictures of indoor high speed sports such as basketball and Karate. The D500 is absolutely amazing at shooting indoor sports because I can crank up the ISO to 6400 to 10000, and still get a good picture that can be cropped.

Metering: The metering can be finicky, so I use “spot” and then adjust the exposure compensation accordingly.

Focusing: I also use “spot” focusing otherwise the camera doesn´t always focus on the subject I want. The AF-S and AF-C work nicely as expected.

Bracketing: The “bracketing” feature is very good, just realize that if the camera is set for S (Single shot), then you´ll have to press the shutter button 3 times, or as many times as you set the bracketing for. If the shutter is set for CH, you will get as many shots as the bracketing is set for. So if it is set for 3 shots, then you won´t get 10 fps. The bracketing must be turned off to get the 10 fps.

Flash: There is NO built-in flash. I use an old SB-400 which works perfectly fine for outdoor “fill-in” during direct sunlight. For indoors; because the ISO can be set high without much grain, you won´t need a flash so you´ll get great results using ISO 1600 to 2000 inside a home or restaurant.

AF fine-tune: Ugh…my only beef. I must always take practice shots to determine if I need to turn it off, or turn it on, and in this case, with this body and this 16-80mm lens, the setting is . It seems anything up close and the AF fine-tune needs to be off. Anything far away, like basketball in a gym, and it needs to be on at . Still trying to figure this out and understand where the threshold is.

Memory cards: I did not know what an XQD card was. See picture below. I used a regular SD card without trouble when shooting normally. I did not try 200 shots at 10 fps. Eventually, I did purchase a Sony XQD “G” card and use the SD as a backup or overflow. I also bought a Lexar XQD card reader so the computer (Win 7 PC) will recognize it and allow other programs to access the pictures from that drive. When using the supplied Nikon dedicated USB cable, the pictures can only be transferred to a Windows folder because no other programs will recognize it.

LCD Monitor: It´s much brighter than the D7000. The best feature is that the LCD flips up AND down, so I can hold it up high above my head and still see what I´m aiming at. For some reason I see no advertisement showing the LCD in the down position. See picture below.

Color: What you chose for the “Set Control” function has a huge impact on color saturation. The only difference between Standard and Vivid is on the Sharpening selection, which makes all the difference in the world.

In the end, this D500 is well worth the cost if you want high quality pictures.

When I decided to upgrade from the D90, I struggled to choose between the 7200 or the D500. In that deliberation, I really liked the new ´´kit´´ lens (16-80 f2.8-4E) due to the expected benefits in low light. The 7200 with that lens was only a few hundred dollars short of the ´´package´´ price of the D500, which would also include the battery pack (which adds an extra handle). The D500 has rave reviews, and the tilting view screen and 4K video are ´´state of the art,´´ so they swayed me to the 500.
This is a great camera for outdoors and daylight in the house. Not having a pop-up flash worried me, but I´ve found the ISO capability makes up for that. Not having the pre-set ´´program´´ modes was a surprise, and a loss. I now have to ´´think´´ more on how to tell the camera what to do. I grew up in film, and became dependent on the D90´s help. Some will call this ´´creative´´ opportunity, and some will wish they´d bought the 7200. Once I got lessons on how set a function button to enact the spot-metering, among other things, I don´t have quite the anger I once had. There are two major issues with this camera I´m still struggling with.
1. Night photos are a gamble. Taking a picture of a Christmas tree in a dark house, hoping to capture the multiple colors of the decorations is impossible. The camera, if left to its ´´auto´´ functions, will ´´brighten´´ the photo to daylight level. To get close to the ´´darkish´´ view, one has to go manual and experiment with the settings, to include limiting the ISO range down to the 3-4000 area. Shooting a night street scene, hoping to capture the mixtures of the neon lights and shadows--it´s a guessing game on what variable to limit.
2. Battery consumption: The first hint is the ´´free´´ battery pack offered during the holiday sales. It´s good to have, not just for the extra grip with a heavy lens, but because this camera EATS batteries. Simply spending 30 minutes trying to program the WIFI to Pair to the smart-phone burned 50% of a battery. This camera seems to need BOTH Bluetooth and WIFI operating at the same time to move a picture to a smart phone, even when the photo is limited to 2MB to allow easy message movement. , The transmitters are always on, even if the camera is off, and there´s no way to verify if that is true. I suspect a day busy with actually shooting will burn out both batteries before the day is done.
For the VERY enthusiastic learner, I will be a fun camera to use. For a ´´retired´ guy who prefers tourism shooting, to include low-light--it´s difficult to manage the settings. The David Busch tutorial book helps a lot, but even that doesn´t have answers to my questions. Sometimes I wish I´d kept the D90; it served me with reliable comfort.

This camera totally covers all my needs for unprofessional family/children photography. Despite being professional grade device, it can work as a point-and-shoot camera in P mode with auto-ISO setting, albeit without flash.

Mostly I use it with my 9 year old AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens or Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8, and with SB-400 flash.

The only problem I found so far though is with the new Auto Fine Tune feature for the lens focusing. It is not producing stable and reliable results. I´m getting the suggested correction all over the place in the possible range from -20 to 20 for Sigma 17-50mm f2.8. The mirror and the focus target being properly aligned. Also it would be nice to have multiple correction settings for different focal distances for a zoom lens. So this feature is not yet mature, hope Nikon will improve it. This feature is not a major selling point on the other hand in my option since manual process for finding the right correction is always possible.

Overall - I love this camera.

The Nikon D700s were beginning to show their age. So in January, 2015, I rented a Nikon D750 from Adorama Rental Company (a very satisfactory experience) and tested it in marginally-lighted basketball gyms. The camera performed well; FX sensor, good high ISO noise control, dynamic range and color, but slightly slow on autofocus. Since I could not lock-in aperture and speed settings, I experienced dial-spinning changes as I moved about in the gym. The limited D750 controls made it unacceptable for my type of sports shooting.
I read the promising specs and early favorable reviews of the DX sensored D500. The decision to purchase one was made when the MB D-17 battery pack was included in the price. After reading the 400 page “how to” Manual, I decided to purchase a supplement “why to” book. There are several, ranging from writers Busch to Young, and worth the investment. Nikon has some very fine tutorials on its website; a Sports Setting Guide, a Useful Features Guide, and a Menu Guide.
The D500 controls are well-placed and settings support many configurations. Assigning Control functions and values is complex, but not confusing. This review is based on a configuration of continuous low shutter release, both manually-set aperture (f5) and speed (1/500 and 1/640) settings, as well as shutter speed settings alone. Because of lighting conditions, a floating ISO with 4000 and 5000 limits was set and “none” and “normal” noise reduction levels were tested, as was Pre and Auto white balance, matrix metering, and several AF area modes. Venues included indoor track meets and basketball games.
Both RAW and JPEG images were taken. JPEG post-processing was done in Capture NX-2. Post-processing primarily consisted of modifying light and adjusting high ISO noise reduction levels. There were only a few unacceptable images taken. In-camera noise reduction proved to be quite good. The images were sharp, but athlete faces were soft. With no noise reduction, faces were sharper but grainy. Autofocus search and lock-on was fast and accurate, even in low light conditions. In 3D AF area mode, focus following was impressive. Other AF area modes were similarly accurate. A portrait shot using a SB 900 flash and highlight-weighted metering produced an image superior to other metering modes. Sports image composition requires both vertical and horizontal shots. The D500 allows the focus point and AF area mode to be different for each orientation. This is a welcomed feature that I frequently employed in tests. The sub-selector is a new and well placed joystick-type control that is configurable. Settings of speed and aperture can be locked-in. Nikon configured settings and well-placed their controls in a way that promotes the ability to keep one´s eye in the viewfinder. Way to go, Nikon!
The D500 uses lots of battery power so power management becomes an important issue. Without a D-17 battery pack, the camera would not be suitable for my needs. So far, with the D-17 attached with its additional EN-EL 15 battery, I have not run out of power. Nikon batteries have proven to be very reliable.
During the first tests, on a few occasions the D500 locked up and displayed an error notification. Fiddling with controls had no effect. The Instruction Manual recommended Nikon be contacted (implying an equipment defect). One such failure lasted for seven minutes during a basketball game! I returned the camera to Adorama and they immediately sent another, so I did not miss an assignment .However, the replacement unit has exhibited the same defect, except there are fewer and re-pressing the shutter-release button in panic mode brings the camera back to life. In Sports events, this behavior is unacceptable. A test was made on January 10, 2017 at a basketball game. Test images were evaluated for autofocus area selection and noise. Camera settings were low noise, floating ISO to 6400, 1/640 shutter speed, apertures of f/5.6 and f/2.8 using high quality Nikon zoom lenses. The f/5.6 was selected to further evaluate image post processing, while f/2.8 was the widest opening on my zooms. The f/2.8 photos looked exceptionally good out of the camera and required no post processing. The f/5.6 images were also good after post processing. During the shoot the camera hung up three times. A few quick pressings of the shutter release button revived the D500 after the failure. There is a defect in the D500. Nikon may be facing a recall, if the problem is electro-mechanic, or hopefully, a software fix that would be distributed via the internet.
Excepting the random error behavior, the D500 test results and features make it an acceptable replacement for the D700s. The untested Snap Bridge function, if it works consistently, is another major plus. I can ace the shot of the winner breaking the tape and quickly send it to the media and to the event´s web site for immediate display. However, capturing the decisive moment such as an auto, or a horse, or a road race winner breaking the tape or a baton hand-off in a track meet is not guaranteed. As Murphy´s Law states, “The error will occur and at the worst possible moment.” Those of us who have to get those shots cannot depend on the Nikon D500.
Three stars are awarded based on high image quality and accurate auto-focus, when the camera works, and on random camera freeze ups followed by pop-up error messages that indicate equipment failure.

After long long wait, D300s successor is here loaded with pretty great features. The focus system is blazing fast and tracking is super accurate, focus points are on entire of the viewfinder. Low light photography never been this easy, set ISO on 6400 and shoot. The expeed processor is remarkable, touch screen is really nice and you have deep grip design just like D750.
200-500mm f5.6 kit lens option is the best sports and wildlife photography combo on the planet!
Great job Nikon!

This might seem counter-intuitive, but the D500 actually allows me to take better pictures more easily - perhaps because it just does what I want, without concern over limitations like focus-acquisition, low light/high shutter speed issues, white balance, etc...

I owned a D7000 for many years and loved the U1/U2 quick settings, and thought I would miss it, but the lack of it in the D500 actually made me work a little more and actually be more thoughtful and take better pictures. The ability for the camera to repeatedly acquire correct focus and exposure helps a lot too, of course.

Like many reviewers said - the wifi and bluetooth implementation is very lame, and the memory banks for settings don´t quite seem to do anything useful (or at least I haven´t figured out a use case or workflow for them yet).

I primarily use it for sports, but went out and did some macro photography with it the other day and was very very happy with the results.

I own the D500 with the kit lens (because my older normal zoom would not take advantage of all 99 cross sensors).

I´ve been shooting with my D500 for about a month now and I absolutely love it. I upgraded from the D7200 I purchased in 2015 and haven´t looked back. I´m not going to rehash the typical Pros about this camera, but I will mention some of the less subtle things that I have found to be great.

First is the auto white balance. The auto WB on the D500 is good. I keep mine on Auto (reduce warm colors) and it get´s the job done.

Second is the size. The size trend in reviews seems to lean towards smaller cameras and I´m not sure why. I prefer large cameras and struggle with smaller sizes. I like the fact that the controls are easier to reach and the camera feels more robust, heavier, and can handle outdoor conditions. I almost always shoot with an attached battery pack, which makes it even larger.

Third is no pop up flash. I´ve never liked the pop up flashes anyway and this camera has been labeled the ´´baby D5´´ which also doesn´t have a pop up flash. Removing the internal flash helps keep the elements out of your camera. It reduces the risk anyway.

Auto focus and shutter speed are nuts. Not much to say here. Check it out yourself. I will say this, when shooting birds in low light in a ´´spray and pray´´ situation, you get a nice surprise when you get home and process your images (when shooting in RAW of course).

Price is steep for DX, but i´m glad I have it in my bag.

Look at the attached images, It shows the performance of the D500. I´m not a professional, I acquired a press pass from a friend of mine at the Nevada Camera Club to shoot my first ever football game. The media dept. of UNLV loved my photos, they´re now using them on the schools football page, Twitter and Facebook. I was uploading Jpeg images to my phone directly from the camera using Snapbridge, then texting them to the schools media dept. upstairs in a suite overlooking the field, they were then uploading the images live to Twitter as backgrounds for score updates. This camera makes me look like a pro. The ability of this camera to focus on a fast moving subject in low light is super impressive. I shot over 500 images from the night time game and only a dozen images in the first quarter focused on the wrong subject, then I changed the settings and had 100% success. Because of the programable ISO/shutter speed no images were shot to slow leaving me with over 500 acceptable, sharp images. Having a programable Auto ISO, takes your mind off of everything except choosing the aperture and subject. I absolutely love this Camera. The school gave me a season press pass good for the remaining home games.

A simple review. This camera just does everything I need it to. I often hear, online, this camera is for Sports/Wildlife etc... No, this camera is ready for anything you want to throw at it. Low light? No problem. Sports? It laughs at keeping up with Usain Bowl. Wildlife? Not an animal in the sky it can´t capture. Landscapes? Absolutely. Weddings? get off your high horse, this thing can do great wedding photos with ease..