D500 General Discussion Thread

autofocus

I can barely watch Fro. I have to mute the sound and scroll to a point where he's actually saying something relevant. I will say 20% of any of his videos is very good info. It's just a matter of listening to him scream into the mic for dramatic emphasis.

donaldejose

I don't like his "style" either. The most interesting parts to me were:

1. Autofocus was able to follow a golf ball being putted towards the camera. AF adequate for professional use.
2. High ISO prints looked better than viewing the image on the screen at 100%. Noise was less distracting in prints than it was on the screen viewed 100%
3. The fps were adequate for professional use.

I should add that the greatest thing about the $2000 D500 is that it has greatly reduced my lust for the $6500 D5 and that is a very significant accomplishment!

Ironheart

"Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire" - Metallica

autofocus

donaldejose said:

I don't like his "style" either. The most interesting parts to me were:

1. Autofocus was able to follow a golf ball being putted towards the camera. AF adequate for professional use.
2. High ISO prints looked better than viewing the image on the screen at 100%. Noise was less distracting in prints than it was on the screen viewed 100%
3. The fps were adequate for professional use.

I should add that the greatest thing about the $2000 D500 is that it has greatly reduced my lust for the $6500 D5 and that is a very significant accomplishment!

Concur with all

shootnikonfx

As an FYI B&H has new stock on the D500 and is shipping.

Coastalconn

My thoughts on the D500 are that's it's time to sell my Canon gear and head back home to Nikon... My 15 month expirment with Canon is coming to an end. I got to play with a D500 and it easily 1 full stop better than the newest Canon sensor in the 80D. The 7dm2 was nothing but a nightmare with nervous, unreliable AF and things almost being in focus.. Just my humble opinion....

heartyfisher

Coastalconn said:

My thoughts on the D500 are that's it's time to sell my Canon gear and head back home to Nikon... My 15 month expirment with Canon is coming to an end. I got to play with a D500 and it easily 1 full stop better than the newest Canon sensor in the 80D. The 7dm2 was nothing but a nightmare with nervous, unreliable AF and things almost being in focus.. Just my humble opinion....

There was no D500 when you decided.. I feel a frustration with nikon not letting us know about the D400/D500.. my version of the "experiment", (heck it was a compromise ) was to get the D7200 and D610.. now I have to decide to stay with it or sell them and my FX lense and get the D500. For me the new AF is great but.. I really dont need it as much as you. The AF on the D7200 is not shabby by any means. I have been shooting lots night shots recently(Vivid sydney, check it out !) and its holding up very well ! Much better than the D610 I had used for last year's Vivid event. Still the FX sensor on the D610 is really supurb..( when I can Focus !! ) sigh sorry for rambling.. still deciding..

DaveyJ

Got our Nikon D500. Seems like a spectacular camera! Now to put it to the Father'sDay Race Test!

manhattanboy

@heartyfisher I would sell the 7200 for the 500. The 7200 will not be used once you get the 500 so having both is not as useful as you would imagine. I would recommend a dual setup with a wide lens on the 610 and a telephoto on the 500. Use the 610 for landscape like shots (e.g. animal in habitat) and the 500 with relevant to zoom in for action.

@Coastalconn welcome back! The 300pf is like the 200 2.8 from Canon and should be on your short list.

Coastalconn

@manhattanboy Thanks! Except the 200 f2.8 was only $300! I have a 300 F4 AF-S from a friend.. He say the af motor squeaks so I'm not sure if I will buy it or not. I'll probably replace my Canon 500 F4 with either the Nikon 500 F4 AF-S II or the VR. Depends on which I find a good deal on. Other than that I might pick up another Tamron 70-200 VC.. Tuesday can't get here fast enough..

heartyfisher

@manhattanboy If I do get the D500 for sure it will be a replacement for the D7200 :-) .. Still considering it ... The thing is I am not a "wide"y I do shoot wide at times and its fun but I really like my long focal lengths. I have been testing myself and trying to figure out my exact "type". I am weird, however, I know my fav Focal length is about 170mm DX with 28mm FX and 70mmFX as my other focal lengths. So far my testing (of me) has shown the following.

1) My 70-200 and on my D610. seems the most comfortable in terms of getting images I want with Awesome sharpness and IQ. getting to my Dx 170mm by cropping. (but its not DX !! i feel a bit of a DX traitor)

2) My 18-200 was great on DX but It died ( and IQ was nice but not excellent ) My 18-140 is really nice but the reach just misses my primary 170mm. IQ is great but is weaker when cropping to the 170mm. Still an excellent walk around kit on DX. The D7200 with the 18-140 has been my main walkaround kit since its so easy to carry and so flexible a range. And with really excellent AF especially when the light gets low.

A D500 is the perfect camera for me though. but there are no lenses that is perfect for me on a DX (sad to admit!)

The 70-200 is an awesome lens on DX but 70 is just that little bit too long on DX for more general purpose shooting (for me). (Maybe the 55-300? very tempted! ). I have been considering a wide angle attachment (0.6x .. anyone tried them? ) to put in front of the 70-200 to get me down to about 50mm when I need. since I already carry a convenient macro attachment, the wide angle attachments may be able to replace it, as they can now do 2 functions in one device ! the new Sigma 50-100 F1.8 may also be an alternative. But then I lose the VR and will need to Crop much more or/and get a sigma TC (maybe my TC17 can work with it...).

Another option I am considering is to grab the 28mm F1.8 and add it to the D610 + 70-200 and be done !! seems the most perfect "do it all" fairly light kit for me .... and wait for the D820 !! :-) and then I realize I have the 24-70 VC and I flip flop and want the D500 !! LOL !!!

Oh yes BTW, I have also been enjoying the D7200 + 24-70 Tamron VC recently. Really nice street portrait setup! a bit out of my comfort zone as you need to get up close and personal to the subject.

Man! ... I am rambling again ... I should just go process some images :-)

One_Oh_Four

autofocus said:

No problems with the Lexar 64 GB 2933x so far.

One time with the Lexar 64GB 2933X, with the MB-D17 on the camera and 2X Li-Ion v.2 in the camera. It happened when reviewing images. ERR message, I switched the camera off, removed card, inserted card, switched camera on, problem solved. No images lost.

Cheers,
Erik.

starralazn

@heartyfisher I have heard the 55-300 is slow to focus something to keep in mind

manhattanboy

heartyfisher said:

I know my fav Focal length is about 170mm DX with 28mm FX and 70mmFX as my other focal lengths. So far my testing (of me) has shown the following.

When I have to shoot only one camera and cover all general purpose, I shoot the 810 with the 70-200 f4. That combo is light weight with good IQ. The 70 is not wide enough, but you could pocket a 1.8 prime or a J5 with the 10 2.8 pancake. The 810 can be had for about the same cost as the 500 now, so its something that you should consider as well given the pretty good DX crop mode in the 810 (e.g. with one camera and lens you would hit the 70mm FX and 170mm DX focal lengths that you like).

autofocus

Night video with the D500. At 16,000 ISO the screen was black. I used my little Ikan on-camera video light and it lit the scene lowering ISO to 2000. Shot at 4K/60 fps. An impromptu opportunity so it's handheld. I'm impressed with both the camera and video light.

One_Oh_Four

manhattanboy said:

@heartyfisher I would sell the 7200 for the 500. The 7200 will not be used once you get the 500 so having both is not as useful as you would imagine. I would recommend a dual setup with a wide lens on the 610 and a telephoto on the 500. Use the 610 for landscape like shots (e.g. animal in habitat) and the 500 with relevant to zoom in for action.



@Coastalconn welcome back! The 300pf is like the 200 2.8 from Canon and should be on your short list.

@manhattanboy, I did just that. I bought the D7200 just prior to the announcement of the D500. Although I can't say I really NEED the D500, it IS (the feature set for) the DX camera I longed for, ever since upgrading from the D80 to the D7000. Happily, it found a new home in the photobag of a good friend of mine!

heartyfisher

flip and a flop and a flip and a flop .... I am dizzy .....

One_Oh_Four

Dizzy because of wearing flip-flops?

heartyfisher

.. sigh ...

manhattanboy

@heartyfisher only you can decide what is best for you. I like the 500 a bunch, but I shoot it attached to the 300pf most of the time, so none of the focal lengths you like really. For myself, anything less than 300mm I would prefer to shoot on an FX camera as there are light weight and cheap lenses below that focal length. When I shoot the 500, half the time I will shoot in 1.3x crop for a total magnification of 2x. This is where a D500 or 7200 is cheaper and lighter than a super telephoto lens.

Pistnbroke

I assume the D500 has the Clarity control ...is it as useless on the D500 as it is on the D810 ie going + burns the highlights and going - makes it all soft ...

heartyfisher

@manhattanboy Thanks for your comments.. an honest, respectful perspective that is very similar and yet refreshingly different.

Ironheart

@Pistnbroke I haven't played much with the clarity on my D500. Is there a particular type of image that you are seeing these effects? I can try and reproduce...

Pistnbroke

I wondered if they improved it ...try at +3 it just burns out the highlights ..JPEG shooting of course. I don't think subject makes a big difference

spraynpray

Maybe using highlight protect metering will stop that... Worth a go.