D500 General Discussion Thread

Rmologic

Here at CES. Held the D500 with the 200-500 nice feel. The Grip felt the same as D750. Nice big viewfinder. Focus was wow. looking up into the dark corners of the ceiling and other low contrast areas was not fast but did not hunt. I need iso 51200, 1/250 f5.6 at 500mm of lens. 10fps sounded very nice. The focus points pretty much cover the entire field of view. Saw some other items in the menu but did not get to test like the focus fine tune and flicker. More to come as I am able. No cards allowed. all doors gaff tapped shut. ; (

pictureted

I ordered one. Now for the wait.

PB_PM

Yes, now how long before the first recall...

Nikoniser

Nikon, for its camera bodies, uses a type of low cost carbon fiber that is just random filling inside a die-cast plastic part, which is totally different to the very expensive weaved carbon fiber "cloth" lied on top of one another, glued together using epoxy and then cured under high pressure/high temperature inside huge autoclaves used in car and aerospace manufacturing, or in Nikon's case for its newest long, heavy tele lenses' hoods. Yes, you usually shoot a long, heavy tele lens attached with the lens' own shoe to a tripod/monopod, but what about when you are moving around with the camera/lens combo hanging from its strap? I don't own or have ever used a lens heavier than 3 pounds, so I will really like to know the repercussions of such mishandling of lens and body pairings.

The D500 and and D750 share the same construction, and the D5300 is all CFRTP. Where is the spate of broken mounts that should be happening? Crickets...

http://nikonrumors.com/2013/12/10/nikon-d5300-trivia-the-body-is-made-out-of-a-new-carbon-fibre-reinforced-thermoplastics-and-you-can-now-change-the-aperture-in-live-view.aspx/

The carbon fiber used in Nikon products is a specific brand of CFRTP call Sereebo, manufactured by a Japanese company named Teijin. The same formula is used in aerospace and automotive design.

http://www.teijin.com/news/2013/ebd131015_55.html

"Sereebo-branded CFRTP composites are made with three Teijin-developed intermediate materials that the company produces by impregnating carbon fiber with thermoplastic resin. U Series is a unidirectional intermediate offering directional strength on an ultrahigh level. I Series is an isotropic intermediate offering a balance of shape, moldability and multidirectional strength. P Series, which is a long-fiber thermoplastic pellet (LFT) made from high-strength carbon fiber, is suitable for injection molding of complex parts, a promising material that will enable the recycling of CFRTP composites."

I have a D3200 as a backup to my D810. I have had a variety of very heavy lenses, 400mm 5.6, Sigma 180 f2.8 Macro, 600mm f4 AFS, and 500mm f4 P fitted to it. Not once has it caused me a problem.

FreezeAction

In reference to the first recall, I've found nothing suggesting the number of shutter actuations before failure. Anyone seen anything anywhere on this? It is important for sports action.

spraynpray

@CaMeRaQuEsT: I attach my strap to the lens anyway if I have a foot. Makes no sense not to really.

tcole1983

In reference to the first recall, I've found nothing suggesting the number of shutter actuations before failure. Anyone seen anything anywhere on this? It is important for sports action.

I saw 200,000 somewhere.

Looked it up. On Adorama's page they have:
http://www.adorama.com/INKD500.html?hotlink=t&svfor=5m&utm_source=rflaid63773
"Controls and Rugged Construction Worthy of a Flagship
The D500 features an enhanced level of robust build quality, offering the same amount of rugged weather sealing as the Nikon D810. The durable body is a monocoque structure composed of magnesium alloy for the top and rear, while the front is reinforced with lightweight carbon fiber. The shutter mechanism has been tested for 200K actuations, helping to ensure maximum endurance. For further durability, the D500 excludes a pop-up flash, yet is compatible with Nikon's newest radio frequency capable flash, the SB-5000 Speedlight (with optional WR-R10 & WR-A10)1. "

tcole1983

Anyone notice this?

NEF (RAW): 12 or 14 bit, lossless compressed, compressed, or uncompressed; large, medium, and small available (medium and small images are recorded at a bit depth of 12 bits using lossless compression)
TIFF (RGB)

Can you shoot different size RAW with any of the other bodies out?

proudgeek

This sounds like a great camera. Never thought it would happen. Could have really used it on my trip to Africa last week.

Sports

Happy with the D500 specs, I started looking for prices:
Body is $2667 in Denmark (and I live in Denmark).
For comparison, D750 is $2095, which is, sort of reasonable.
D500 is 27% more.
In the US, the D500 is only 5% more.
Here, D500 is 134% more than D7200. In the US, it's just 82% more.
WTF. Nikon, you b.... this is insane.
(The D810 is also terribly expensive, while many other bodies are very reasonably priced.)

Ironheart

@sports, we've been down this road before. In the US the prices are typically given with no tax, and in EU the VAT is included. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples.

donaldejose

Something else which I think may be nice is the viewfinder. The pentaprizm looks more like FX size than DX size which might mean the D500 has a nice bright and large viewfinder.

rmp

OK, I give up. I have ordered a D500. I want to test it's low light capability against my D4. Now, what is the best "travel lens" for the D500? By travel lens, I mean light weight, small, and with a reasonable zoom factor.

Sports

Make sure you are comparing apples to apples.

@Ironheart, that's what I am, using % differences between bodies here vs. in the US.
D750 and D7200 are good deals here, as opposed to the D500 which has the worst conversion rate ever.

donaldejose

I too ordered a D500 and am wondering what would be the best lens to pair it with for general use? Sigma 18-35 f1.8 or Nikon 16-80 f2.8-4E DX or the old Nikon 17-55 f2.8 DX? Anyone have an opinion? The Nikon 16-80 has a nice range but I suspect the Sigma 18-55 is sharper and can create better bokeh in portraits. However, simply zooming from 55 to 80 will create more isolation between the subject and background and therefore should also increase bokeh and that increase may be as good as or even better than the bokeh increase you get by going from f2.8 to f1.8. So, all in all, I am leaning towards using the Nikon 16-80 as my "standard lens" in the D500. What are your opinions on this?

proudgeek

If I were to buy this camera it would be for wildlife. That being the case, the new 200-500 would be perfect. I guess it depends largely on how you plan on using it though.

manhattanboy

If I were to buy this camera it would be for wildlife. That being the case, the new 200-500 would be perfect. I guess it depends largely on how you plan on using it though.

The 200-500 is huge. I would think you get better mileage with the 300Pf and TCs if you need 400mm+

@Rmologic Thanks for the post. If you get a chance can you shoot in QC mode and report how loud it is? Thank you!

proudgeek

The 200-500 is huge. I would think you get better mileage with the 300Pf and TCs if you need 400mm+

Huge is relative. I've been lugging a 300 f/2.8 with a teleconverter around Costa Rica, Alaska, and Africa. But I see your point.

PB_PM

Anyone notice this?

NEF (RAW): 12 or 14 bit, lossless compressed, compressed, or uncompressed; large, medium, and small available (medium and small images are recorded at a bit depth of 12 bits using lossless compression)
TIFF (RGB)

The D810 was the first to have these pseudo TIFF "RAW" files.

tcole1983

I too ordered a D500 and am wondering what would be the best lens to pair it with for general use? Sigma 18-35 f1.8 or Nikon 16-80 f2.8-4E DX or the old Nikon 17-55 f2.8 DX? Anyone have an opinion? The Nikon 16-80 has a nice range but I suspect the Sigma 18-55 is sharper and can create better bokeh in portraits. However, simply zooming from 55 to 80 will create more isolation between the subject and background and therefore should also increase bokeh and that increase may be as good as or even better than the bokeh increase you get by going from f2.8 to f1.8. So, all in all, I am leaning towards using the Nikon 16-80 as my "standard lens" in the D500. What are your opinions on this?

Just me I am not sold on the 16-80. I still enjoy my 17-55 and with the higher ISO of the D500 I suspect getting good shutter speeds to keep the shakes away will be no problem. I find I struggle slightly without VR on the 17-55 inside in darker situations. Even bumping the ISO to 1600-3200 just to keep it at 1/30. But I love my 17-55 and it takes sharp pictures and I have been pleased with it. DXO says some of the kit lenses are sharper (18-140 and 18-105, but not sure what that means or at what focal length and aperture it equates for. I have never found it to be unsharp....maybe not my 105 F2.8 sharp, but never where I was worried about it.

autofocus

OK, I give up. I have ordered a D500. I want to test it's low light capability against my D4. Now, what is the best "travel lens" for the D500? By travel lens, I mean light weight, small, and with a reasonable zoom factor.

24-120mm F4 considering the spec'd low light ability.

BVS

Here at CES. Held the D500 with the 200-500 nice feel. The Grip felt the same as D750. Nice big viewfinder. Focus was wow. looking up into the dark corners of the ceiling and other low contrast areas was not fast but did not hunt. I need iso 51200, 1/250 f5.6 at 500mm of lens. 10fps sounded very nice. The focus points pretty much cover the entire field of view. Saw some other items in the menu but did not get to test like the focus fine tune and flicker. More to come as I am able. No cards allowed. all doors gaff tapped shut. ; (

Any chance you could visually confirm how long the 4K videos can be? Nikon USA claims 3 min, but other Nikon sources say 30 min. Could you just pick it up, hit record, and see if it goes longer than 3 min?

Ironheart

There is no discrepancy. The Nikon USA site is unclear, but nowhere does it say 3min. The D5 is 3min, not the D500. The corporate nikon site is the most definitive resource:

http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/microsite/d500/

4K UHD
4K UHD video recording for up to 29 min.
59 s, to meet the demands of
professionals

http://chsvimg.nikon.com/lineup/microsite/d500/common/pdf/technology-digest.pdf
Sec section 4.1 in this doc.

Maximum duration for movie recording
4K UHD                                                     Full HD / HD

D500
29 min. 59 s (recorded in separate files)                      29 min. 59 s

D5
3 min.                                                       29 min. 59 s

Ironheart

OK, I give up. I have ordered a D500. I want to test it's low light capability against my D4. Now, what is the best "travel lens" for the D500? By travel lens, I mean light weight, small, and with a reasonable zoom factor.

24-120mm F4 considering the spec'd low light ability.

Isn't that an FX lens? The 16-80 is the "kit" lens for the D500. If you need more reach, turn on the 1.3 crop mode

heartyfisher

Re: lense to go with D500.. If I get it (most likely) I think I will be just using the 18-140 dx and more likely the tamron 24-70 F2.8 for general use -- depending on my mood :-) also the 70-200 F4 :-) I do find I am not a Wide-angle shooter and 24-70 on FX I find uncomfortably wide and not long enough.. for more normal people I think the 16-80 would seem rather nice.. especially for travel. I went for a US and a Japan holiday with just the D70 and 18-70 some time ago and that was sufficient range.. the new 16-80 with more MP (crop mode?) would be much better...