Field Review: Nikon D500

by adamhanlon Wednesday, October 26th, 2016

Field Review: Nikon D500

By Adam Hanlon

D500, Tokina AT-X 107 AF DX 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5, Zen 170mm dome, 1/160@f8, ISO400

Nikon has persistently confused its customers with what seem to be idiosyncratic product releases. At a time when the industry was suggesting that resolution was a red herring, they released the D800 series. Despite launching the D4 in February 2012 they did not follow their pattern of launching a pro cropped sensor camera at the same time. Die hard Nikon DX (cropped sensor) enthusiasts found themselves buying high resolution FX (full frame) cameras, and the lenses to suit. Scroll forward to 2016 and we find the company launching the D5 and the D500. No one outside of Nikon knows why there was no D400, but that does not mean that there are not numerous attempts to second guess Nikon’s aims.

My thoughts are that Nikon are largely an engineering driven company and that for each new camera release, they set out a series of performance goals. They then attempt to find the technology to fill these criteria. Sometimes, they cannot do so and a release is delayed, hence the lack of a D400 model.

Yet the removal of a new DX line caused a ripple of effects: Many underwater photographers have held on to their D300 bodies and housings. Others have moved on to the prosumer D7000 series. Yet others have moved over to Nikon FX models or perhaps to mirrorless cameras.

D500, Tokina AT-X 107 AF DX 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5, Zen 170mm dome, 1/100@f8, ISO1000

The arrival of the D500 has thrown all these choices into some doubt. Wetpixel has set out to thoroughly review the camera and has been shooting it for over a month continuously during the Wetpixel Raja Ampat Expedition on Damai 1 and Wetpixel/Alex Mustard Lembeh Macro workshop at Lembeh Resort. During these events, we have produced just under 8,000 images in a wide variety of conditions and photographic genres. Many thanks to the crew, staff and fellow guests on both trips.

There are numerous people without whose support this review would not be possible. Ryan Canon and Reef Photo and Video supplied the camera body and a Tokina 10-17mm lens. David Gordon then kindly hand carried these over to Indonesia. Edward Lai and Phoebe Lu of Nauticam did an amazing job of getting their NA-D500 housing and 45° viewfinder to me on the Damai 1 in the harbor before she sailed. Their support is very much appreciated.

I would also like to thank Blake Stoughton and Carolina of Aquatica who moved heaven and earth to try and get their housing to me before I left. I had hoped to review both their and Nauticam’s housings, but thanks to UK Customs intransigence, this did not work out. Thank you very much and I am truly grateful for your efforts.

D500, Tokina AT-X 107 AF DX 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5, Zen 170mm dome, 1/250@f8, ISO400

I also borrowed both Inon Z240 strobes (thanks to Chris Boardman and Nick More) and Sea&Sea YS-D2 strobes (from Ryan Mack). Many thanks for all the kind loans.

On both trips, I was also shooting a D810 in a Seacam housing, allowing some comparisons between the FX and DX formats.

D500, Nikon 60mm f2.8, Nauticam SMC 1/250@f29, ISO160

During the macro workshop, Wetpixel Associate Editor Alex Mustard was able to use the camera and housing a little, and has kindly added some thoughts to this review.

This review is primarily going to be focused on the camera’s performance, but underwater it is almost impossible to separate camera and housing.

I wonder how the D500 compares to its predecessor the D7200? I guess the shooting speed and buffer must be the major improvement. A reason to make the switch to new camera and housing?

Posted by Albert Kok on 2017-04-15 11:41:12

Hi Jose,

I have not used the OM-D E-M1 Mark II, so cannot really comment a great deal. My understanding is that it is a very good camera, but in common with all mirrorless cameras, does not perform quite as well as new SLR models.

Posted by Adam Hanlon on 2017-04-09 05:24:39

Hello Adam, thanks for the review.
What would be your opinion now vs the one em1 mark2?

Kind regards,
Jise

Posted by José Alonso Luna on 2017-04-08 09:37:46

Regarding battery life on the D500 I found that turning off wifi by turning flight mode on the camera is a great benefit in getting more battery life out of the D500

Posted by Mark Gray on 2016-11-05 20:29:37

(1) Must use a 2933x XQD 2.0 (or faster). (Note Lexar Pro XQD 2.0 cards are also available in a slower 1400x speed)

(2) If the Qual is 14-bit uncompressed RAW or TIFF, the max continuous shot count will be less than 200. All other RAW and jpg modes will give 200 with the fast XQD card.

Posted by Dogs Of Marymoor Park on 2016-10-31 13:36:21

So in short the Nikon D500 when used in conjunction with Lexar Pro XQD 2.0 cards can take 200 continuous RAW images at top speed of 10fps and the number 200 has nothing to do with the "Buffer"

Posted by Mark Gray on 2016-10-31 13:23:19

The cameras buffer is a fixed amount of high speed memory which “buffers” the transfer of data from the imaging hardware to the storage card. Just as your computers RAM is a fixed amount, the buffer is a fixed amount. The top LCD shows the free space remaining in the buffer at any given time in terms of the number of shots of the current sized images.

Using a fast XQD card, such as the Lexar 2933x XQD 2.0, allows the camera to transfer fast enough that there is no back log of image data in the buffer. The 200 shot continuous limit is imposed by the firmware to keep the cameras internals from overheating. The number 200 has nothing to do with the “buffer”.

In short, by using and writing only to a fast XQD card, the D500 can shoot 200 continuous images (other than 14-bit uncompressed RAW) without pausing. Using a slower card, or writing to an SD card will drop that number significantly as the buffer size and need to "buffer" the data will come into play.

Again, the number 200 has nothing to do with the “buffer”.

Posted by Dogs Of Marymoor Park on 2016-10-31 09:59:46

Using a fast XQD 2.0 card and only shooting RAW in CH @ 10fps you get 29 shots displayed in the buffer. But when your shooting in CH the buffer drops down only to 20 shots left and stays there for the whole 200 shots. So if you want the 200 shot buffer you need to run Lexar pro ZQD 2.0 cards.

Regards Mark

Posted by Mark Gray on 2016-10-31 06:51:13

Brian going by your post the only major reason to jump from your current Nikon Dx setup to 4/3's Olympus is due to the fact that the housings are approximately $1500 cheaper than a housing for the D500. Since you already have a Nikon D7100 the most practable and affordable choice that I see is that you stick with Nikon as you already have a collection of lens, ports, domes, extension which go straight on a D500 housing. On the other hand if you went 4/3's you have to purchase a whole new set of lenses, ports, domes, extensions and some of those Zuiko lenses are not cheap. I believe that the Oly 7-14mm f2.8 is $1800 and the Oly 8mm f1.8 is $1000. All of a sudden the total cost of the 4/3 Olympus OMD EM1 mk2 with lenses, ports, domes, and extension doesnt make the most practical move, but only you can decided.

Regards Mark

Posted by Mark Gray on 2016-10-31 06:20:54

One note on the D500's buffer. It's only 29 shots (as reported on the top LCD) and not 200 as a lot of people incorrectly report. When shooting on CH with a fast SD UHS-I card, you may get only around 39 continuous shots before the camera starts to stutter as the buffer fills. But using a fast XQD card, the XQD can be written pretty much as fast the camera can shoot. After 200 frames the firmware will cause the camera to pause to prevent overheating. So in terms of our previous cameras, using a fast XQD card, the camera acts like it has a 200 frame buffer. But when using a slower XQD card or an SD card (or writing to both) you won't get the 200 continuous shots.

Posted by Dogs Of Marymoor Park on 2016-10-30 19:01:31

Hi Brian,

In my opinion that are a few holes in your argument!

1. The D500 is not "4th line". It is a pro camera which shares many features with the D5. It is just a DX version rather than an FX one. It will outperform the D800/810 or Df in almost all circumstances underwater.
2. The AF system is a long way in front of what is available on any mirrorless camera to date. For macro/supermacro, there is bluntly no comparison. Phase detect is simply better and faster than contrast.
3. For all wide-angle photography, higher ISO performance is a bonus. That said, we don't know how the new Olympus will compare yet.

Adam

Posted by Adam Hanlon on 2016-10-29 03:37:36

Thank you Adam (and Alex) for the first field review of the D500 that I’ve seen out there.

However, this has my head spinning. I hope one (or both) of you can spare a few minutes in the coming days to respond to my questions. I’m sure many others will also find it helpful. I apologize in advance that my thoughts are a bit scattered!

This all seems like an awesome camera for UW. I’m probably the “typical” type of person to want this. I’ve used the D7100 for a few hundred dives and have dabbled with some full frame on land (D750, Leica Q). Although I don’t need to upgrade, I could always use a boost in AF and tracking ability and can’t help but peer 6 months into the future to see my potential options.

Here’s what gives me pause. The D500 now seems to be priced exactly where the new Olympus OMD EM1 MarkII will be priced when it’s released very soon. Why should I consider staying with the Nikon line and their D500 vs jumping ship to the M43 world with Olympus’ flagship camera? The D500 is Nikon’s 4th-highest line?? D5, D8xx, df, d500….thats’s the order they price them, right? Is Nikon technology that much further ahead of what Olympus has that they’d be willing to give away their best tech on something that doesn’t retail for $3500-6500?

My diving consists of mainly macro/supermacro and some shark action. Probably 80/20 split. I don’t envision myself doing much free diving (or other situations where I wouldn't be using strobes). Is the increased high ISO ability of the D500 (I assume it's better) worth anything to me underwater (when compared to what I’ll have to work with when shooting that OMD-EM1 mark ii. The total size of the setup isn’t that important to me. I’ll have big strobes, wet lens, focus light, etc...so there’s no getting around that. I do see lenses that seem to be well reviewed for what I would find useful (Oly 8mm FE f1.8 PRO, Oly 60mm Zuiko f2.8 Macro, and possibly something like the Oly 7-14mm f2.8 PRO for some skittish sharks is the 8mm is too wide).

If nothing else, the huge discount that the UW housing manufacturers are giving to M43 users vs DSLR users is worth talking about. Nauticam has the D500 housing at $3500 while they seem to have the M43 housings sub-$2000.

Thank you in advance!
Brian

Posted by brian on 2016-10-28 13:00:50