D500 General Discussion Thread

Photobug

DaveyJ +++

FreezeAction

Very happy with my D500. Yes it can be improved but please not at the risk of making it subject to the elements for wildlife users. I'm not sure it can be improved for my uses unless up to 14 fps and an H size cropped sensor which Nikon doesn't use. Same pixel count with larger pixels for lower light usage would be nice but I know it would never happen taking sales from the D6 as long as people can and will fork out the 6+K they demand. I need to add more glass long before updating a D500 body and/or add another full frame body to the rolling mini van camera bag.

mhedges

I think the big issue is that there isn't all that much to do to improve on the D500. You could put a Z50 sensor in there for good live view/video AF, but I don't think a lot of folks buy a D500 for that.

As far as the flash - AFAIK no Nikon "pro" style camera has a built in flash. I guess they think the market doesn't want it? Heck, they even took it out of the D750 update.

PB_PM

Stand alone flash sales must be dropping, got get people to pony up somehow.

Dredden85

Santa brought a D500 for me to replace my D7000. I will miss having that pop up flash to use in a pinch.

Photobug

Dredden85 - sell that D7000 and go buy another electronic flash. Nikon has some nice small ones and large ones to fit your requirements.

DaveyJ

The onboard flash I’d give up quickly! Photobug has pretty much summarized the reality that a small Nikon Electronic flash Should be purchased and used as needed. Two things though I really like to see D500 Pro introduced with,ExSpeed 6, and better full DX Frame video like the Z50 ( easily achievable). Maybe call it a D500X.

retread

I went the other way and bought the big flash. I actually use it most on the D7200 that does have a built in flash. I often need the extra height of a mount to clear a lens and hood if not bouncing it. Inside I bounce it a lot and outside I need the extra range. Outside it may be on the D500. I must admit though, I do not use it much.

There are a few other things I would add to a D500X if I could build one.

You don't suppose we will get a surprise DX along with the D6? That would be nice.

DaveyJ

I think if a D500 were on the pipeline we would already have rumors about it! The reason it isn’t at any R&D stage I guess is it’s dominance and sales continues to make Nikon money. It is hardly a recent introduction but I having tried ALL the mirrorless versions of.most manufacturers (to me lead by Nikon) and the various DSLRs I’d still take a D500 over everything out there Thank goodness it has at least an ExSpeed 5 processor.

retread

I don't recall much, if any, roomers of a D500 when it was announced.

Dredden85

I already carry a SB900. A referb SB300 looks good.

DaveyJ

I think an updated D500 would outsell almost any other Nikon update. Now that the D780 is becoming available, and after the price settles down, Nikon will be able to assess that introduction. I regard that D780 as tremendously important and when the updated D500 ever got manufactured I would preorder immediately, unless of course I had to wait for the usual Nikon initial intro price gouge.

mhedges

The thing about a refresh selling well is, to me, the original model needs to sell well. Nikon sold loads of D600/610/750, and the D780 can reasonably be thought of as the successor to all of them.

From what I have seen the D500 didn't really sell that well. At least, not as well as Nikon was hoping. It's a great camera for a certain group of users, but it's really a specialty camera.

Do you think the D500 users would be interested in a D780 style update? So basically using the Z50 sensor and adding much better live view performance? But not really that much else? A lot of the other D780 improvements (buffer, FPS) aren't really applicable to D500 since D500 is much better in those areas to start with.

retread

I could very well be interested in a D500 upgrade. Not sure what D780 style means but it would have to be more than that and not loose anything the D500 has.

I would still keep my D500.

mhedges

D780 style means basically taking the equivalent mirrorless camera (in it's case Z6) and stuffing those components and functionality (sans IBIS) into a DSLR body. D780 is basically a DSLR Z6, but without IBIS, with two card slots and more hard buttons, and much worse FPS when using mechanical shutter in live view. Also it supports AF-D lenses and likely has a slightly bigger buffer.

What else would you add? The only obvious shortcoming is the very poor live view AF. Putting the Z 50 sensor etc. in fixes that. I just can't think of anything else. Unless they do a new AF module for D6 - if that happens then D500 refresh would probably get it. But I don't think they will.

PB_PM

The D750/D780 lose the extremely nice round viewfinder eye piece, which might seem like a small thing, but when you are shooting all day it is just easier on the eyes. Less of a screen door feel.

retread

Lets keep the D500 body and stuff some more goodies into it. No vertical grip is a deal killer for me.

Yes to the round eyepiece. I like shutting it when shooting with my eye away from it. Don't like having a little piece to cover it to keep track of.

Keep two card slots. Make them both compatible with XQD and CFexpress.

The list could go on.

DaveyJ

The current card types in the D500 would be best to continue. One HDSD one QCD and or CF Express, sure not both QCD, too expensive. Too much space required. The Z50 HDSD battery and card slot works quite well, sure is compact! Personally I could deal with the D780 style with two SDHD cards. That seems to have great speed, reliability, and lower cost.......Which is a virtue!

retread

It seems the SDII card does slow me down some when shooting BIF or some fast action soprts. Two XQD cards could be put in if Nikon wanted. The large buffer does help but if the frame rate goes up and/or more pixels in a upgrade that could stress the buffer more.

NSXTypeR

I mean, Nikon really should give the D500 replacement a proper sendoff and make a D5 style body with a vertical grip and dual XQD cards.

The D7500 replacement can then go farther up in features.

retread

NSXTypeR said:

I mean, Nikon really should give the D500 replacement a proper sendoff and make a D5 style body with a vertical grip and dual XQD cards.

Assume idea. Can we have a D6 and a D5XX announcement like we did the D5 and D500?

mhedges

I would be pretty surprised if both D7500 and D500 got DSLR updates. I think the Z50 is as close as we will get to the D7500 update.

NSXTypeR

mhedges said:

I would be pretty surprised if both D7500 and D500 got DSLR updates. I think the Z50 is as close as we will get to the D7500 update.

I also have a gut feeling that F-mount DX is dead, but Nikon hasn't announced that the line is dead yet, so who knows.

To be fair, Nikon also kept the 1 series around for a while even without announcing it's death.

With the release of a D780, there at least is some hope.

DaveyJ

I am more interested in a D500 than any other Camera! I own the Z50 and it is a good camera. But it doesn’t hold a candle to the D500 or even the D7500!

NSXTypeR

DaveyJ said:

I am more interested in a D500 than any other Camera! I own the Z50 and it is a good camera. But it doesn’t hold a candle to the D500 or even the D7500!

For me, I'm looking at a D7500 replacement (if Nikon makes one) as "my last camera". No use changing camera mounts as I already own all the lenses I want and I'll get a big boost in ISO performance. The D7000 was announced 10 years ago, and I notice that it has trouble keeping up with fast moving objects and in low light.