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Nikon D5 and D500 (1 Viewer)

Thanks Vespobuteo,
I guess that shutter firing so fast at 10fps is impressive fun to demostrate, although my Olympus E-M1 also fires that fast... It makes me wonder if there is a higher risk of wearing out the shutter ripping through all those shutter cycles*... I know I will try to be judicious about simply pressing and holding the shutter button just because when you take 10 frames, that is 10 frames you must later review/analyze to see which one is best... But I'm sure I'll end up with lots more frames to review anyway...

At the end of the video, he says the camera was "so long anticipated..." yes, I would add or finish that sentence by saying "it was anticipated for so long that most people gave up and decided it would never happen, so it was no longer anticipated!"

Dave :-O

*PS. Shutter life expectancy is rated at 200,000 cycles. So I guess that is about 5.5 hours of continuous high operation of the shutter at 10 fps? 200,000 / (10 X 60 X 60). I guess it will take me quite a while to do that...
 
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yep, you better be careful with that trigger finger...or you could end up with 1 TB of photos after only 1 hour of shooting.

My theory on the D500 "delay" is that Nikon realized that technology 3-4 years ago was not good enough to produce a true pro-dx body back then.
To equal the D500 and D5 in performance, but make the D500 more usable for video, is very clever. (or perhaps just limitations of sensors/overheating?).
And it also might well be the increased interest in video that saved the D500.
 
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Yes, I saw. Nikon seems to ignore high demand for certain products for a long time... Then they finally give in and launch the product, but somehow they are not prepared or surprised by demand, and then we have major delays following initial launch. For example, the recent new 300mm f/4E PF VR was basically unavailable for almost a whole year. They seem out of touch with customers; it is not a sign of a well-managed company. Too bad I won't have the D500 in April when I am planning a big bird photography trip, but I'll try to keep thinking positively. At least the D500 will arrive eventually. As I said above, most of us had given up that it would ever happen. Plus I have always said that a lack of better and better gear isn't the main thing keeping me from getting more and better photos. I just need to get out and shoot more often. Great photos are out there waiting for me right now if I will just get out. Of course I'm not retired yet...

Dave
B :)
 
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It has been a whole month since anyone added to this discussion. I'm stuck here inside with much-needed rain socking in all of northern California for the next few days. I guess there is not much to say about the D500 for almost another 2 full months while we wait for the first shipments, although the D5 will be shipping sooner for those who are getting that.

There was a nice review of some of the menu system/features on the D5/D500 recently on dpreview:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0467323998/cp-2016-features-you-need-to-know-about-on-the-nikon-d5-d500

Note that the slides might look better if you click the little icon in the upper right corner to increase the size/resolution of each photo.

I am looking forward to the new button layout & customization on the D500. I like the new ISO button on top. Ken Rockwell thought it was a big concern that there is no longer an exposure mode button near the shutter release, but I change ISO a lot more often than exposure mode, and the default ISO button position on the D7200 is tricky to manage without looking; it frustrated me more than once that I accidentally changed the image quality rather than ISO on the D7200. I might program one of the front function buttons to allow quickly changing exposure modes and try to deliberately do it a little more often. And I plan to try to start using the AF-ON button too. Quite a lot has been written about the "benefits of using back button AF." I am confused however on the different menu options for configuring the AF-ON button described by the guy on dpreview, who prefers "to assign AF-ON to 'AF-area mode + AF-ON' with Single-point AF... and keep 3D Tracking as the default AF mode (in AF-C)." Hmmm... I'm not sure I will go that route... But learning to use different AF options and AF-ON will definitely involve some practice and relearning for me...

The recent service advisory announcement for the D750 shakes my confidence in Nikon yet again... I think the "issue" with the D750 has been overblown, but hopefully it serves as a reminder to Nikon the importance of shipping a trouble-free product.

I also noticed on dpreview's informal survey that more than twice as many people clicked "I want it" for the D500 compared to the D5. Of course I'm sure a big part of that is the lower cost of the D500... But it will be interesting to see how popular or successful the D500 is after it has been out for a while.

Dave
 
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It looks to me as if you can reassign the af=on button to change the area focus mode (e.g. single, group, 3d, etc). So as I actually use rear button af and also only use single point, it won't affect me.
I've got the D5 on order and I'm just hoping for better tracking of birds in flight, better burst speed and a more professional performance generally.
PS Hope the rain at least pauses by later summer when I'm in your part of the world (well, the same state anyway).
 
Thanks Dave. Will be mostly whale watching, but some birding too, so any tips on what to watch out for would be appreciated.
 
opticoholic said:
I also noticed on dpreview's informal survey that more than twice as many people clicked "I want it" for the D500 compared to the D5. Of course I'm sure a big part of that is the lower cost of the D500... But it will be interesting to see how popular or successful the D500 is after it has been out for a while.
Click to expand...

My impression is that it will be hugely successful even if some of the expectations on the quality at high ISO seem a bit over the top. But shooting at 3200 and, possibly, 6400 should be OK, with careful post processing.

There are actually a lot of people who'll go for the D500: Pros getting a DX body in addition to their FX bodies, sports shooters and wildlife shooters. I know quite a few people who still use their D300/D300s for wildlife, simply because the D7200 doesn't really cut it for them, and they'll jump at the chance to get a body that allows them to go over 1600 ISO.

And if Canon doesn't manage do do something about their sensors, especially the dynamic range, I can also see some Canon shooters switching to Nikon, now that Nikon has the D500 and the 200-500 zoom. That may well be a killer combo for many people, especially as Nikon also has the amazingly light 300mm/F4 which seems ideal as a walk-around lens.

As to the problems with the D750 - from what I've heard there aren't many people who've actually noticed the "problem" in real life. A friend of mine who's a pro and uses the D750 as a back-up to his D4 reckons he's had some 20 or 30 shots showing the problem - out of a total of >50000 shots with that camera. And his D750 is in the affected range.

That said, I'd always wait a few months to see if there are any bugs. I've been burnt a few times with new products already, so I'm not prepared to work as a beta tester for free for anyone over the years. I'll stick to my combination of V1+FT1+300mm for a while, despite the (fairly) low IQ and all the ergonomic quirks of the V1. And I've also still got my old D200 which is OK up to ISO 800 ... ;)

Hermann
 
Well two months on and there's a few non Nikon photos to be seen here.

Nikon has really been struggling for photos that show something that can't already be taken on existing cameras. The high ISO noise is better up to 102,400 and the AF is better but is it worth it for the price?
 
Hermann said:
My impression is that it will be hugely successful even if some of the expectations on the quality at high ISO seem a bit over the top. But shooting at 3200 and, possibly, 6400 should be OK, with careful post processing.

There are actually a lot of people who'll go for the D500: Pros getting a DX body in addition to their FX bodies, sports shooters and wildlife shooters. I know quite a few people who still use their D300/D300s for wildlife, simply because the D7200 doesn't really cut it for them, and they'll jump at the chance to get a body that allows them to go over 1600 ISO.

And if Canon doesn't manage do do something about their sensors, especially the dynamic range, I can also see some Canon shooters switching to Nikon, now that

That said, I'd always wait a few months to see if there are any bugs. I've been burnt a few times with new products already, so I'm not prepared to work as a beta tester for free for anyone over the years. I'll stick to my combination of V1+FT1+300mm for a while, despite the (fairly) low IQ and all the ergonomic quirks of the V1. And I've also still got my old D200 which is OK up to ISO 800 ... ;)

Hermann
Click to expand...

The IQ improvement (DR, SNR) from D300s to D7200 is actually bigger than from D200 to D300s.
The D300s was acceptable up to ISO800 just,
the D200 more ISO400:ish to me,
D500 will be up to ISO3200, and perhaps even usable at ISO6400, good enough for most, probably.
I've owned both D200 and D300s. But preferred the D700.

http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Comp...-Nikon-D300s-versus-Nikon-D200___1020_614_203

(see under "measurements", I think 10 stops of dynamic range is the low point for acceptable results in most conditions)

D500 will be good, but perhaps a bit too good for people on a budget, most expensive APS DSLR camera ever.??

Canon 80D looks promising, new sensor-generation, with better DR.
The EF 400/5.6 is still good and the standard lens for many birders.
VR/IS is nice but not much of use for BIF.
 
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Bill Claff has published his D500 results and as suspected, the D500 is better but not that much.

Make your own judgements but I generally use my D300 at ISO800 and the D500 at a similar PDR (Photographic Dynamic Range) is ISO2000, so about one and half stops better.

The D500 has been very warmly received IMO, so far. :t:
 
JPAC said:
Bill Claff has published his D500 results and as suspected, the D500 is better but not that much.

Make your own judgements but I generally use my D300 at ISO800 and the D500 at a similar PDR (Photographic Dynamic Range) is ISO2000, so about one and half stops better.

The D500 has been very warmly received IMO, so far. :t:
Click to expand...

Low light ISO:
D500 - 2452
D700 - 2225
D300s - 865
D5 (DX) - 2835
D5 - 6982

The diff up to D5 is a bit more than the larger sensor size would give, considering it's the same sensor generation etc. D5 is also better in DX mode.

The D700 worked OK up to ISO3200 so I guess the D500 will also, looking att theses figures.

I think that is as good news as could be expected. No revolution but solid evolution.
 
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JPAC said:
Wonder why the RAW files look so noisy?
Click to expand...

Not alarmingly noisy, and better than Canon 7d mk II,
compared to the D4s, the D500 most likely have better noise reduction,
+ more pixels (almost 21 vs 16)
and also no AA-filter,
probably why the RAW files look sharper for the D500.
 
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