Nikon D500

10 FPS, 21MP DX, 4K, Flip LCD
Nikon's Best Sports DSLR short of the D6

Sample Images   Intro   Lens Compatibility

Specifications   USA Version   Performance

Compared   Usage   Recommendations   More

Nikon D500

Nikon D500 (10 FPS, 20 MP DX, 4K stereo video, 29.6 oz./839g. with battery and SD card, $1,600 new (gray market) or about $900 used if you know How to Win at eBay) and 35mm f/1.8 DX. bigger. Also available used at B&H, used at Amazon and used at Amazon with lens.

This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to my personally-approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Nikon does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, store demo or used camera. Buy only from the approved sources I use myself for the best prices, service, return policies and selection. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.

 

February 2024   Nikon Reviews   Nikon Lenses    All Reviews

Pro DSLR Comparison 03 February 2016

Nikon D500

Nikon D500. bigger.

 

Nikon D500

Nikon D500. bigger.

 

Sample Images

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Red Mercedes 190 SL

Red Mercedes 190 SL, 19 May 2016. 2016 Nikon D500, 2006 Nikon 18-55mm DX II at 45mm, f/9 at 1/320, Auto ISO 100, Vivid Picture Control at +3 Saturation. Bigger or camera-original file to explore on your computer (mobile devices rarely display all the resolution properly).

 

Red Mercedes 190 SL

Red Mercedes 250 SL, 19 May 2016. 2016 Nikon D500, 2006 Nikon 18-55mm DX II at 42mm, f/11 at 1/125, Auto ISO 100, Vivid Picture Control at +3 Saturation. Bigger or camera-original file to explore on your computer (mobile devices rarely display all the resolution properly).

 

Blue Car

Blue Headlights, 19 May 2016. 2016 Nikon D500, 2006 Nikon 18-55mm DX II,at 18mm, f/4 at 1/60, Auto ISO 100, Vivid Picture Control at +3 Saturation. Bigger or camera-original file to explore on your computer (mobile devices rarely display all the resolution properly).

 

Panther Chameleon

Panther Chameleon, 18 May 2016. Nikon D500, Nikon 35mm f/1.8 DX, f/2.8 at 1/60, Auto ISO 200, Vivid Picture Control at +3 Saturation. Bigger or camera-original file to explore on your computer (mobile devices rarely display all the resolution properly).

 

Nikon D500 at ISO 20,000

Palm at night, ISO 20,000, 17 May 2016. Nikon D500, Nikon 35mm f/1.8 DX, f/1.8 at 1/60, Auto ISO 20,000. Bigger or camera-original file to explore on your computer (mobile devices rarely display all the resolution properly).

 

Nikon D500 at ISO 20,000

Palms at night, ISO 51,200, 17 May 2016. Nikon D500, Nikon 35mm f/1.8 DX, f/1.8 at 1/40, Auto ISO 51,200. Bigger or camera-original file.

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Introduction

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New   Good   Bad   Missing

Adorama Pays Top Dollar for Used Gear

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio

Crutchfield

I buy only from these approved sources. I can't vouch for ads below.

This D500 is Nikon's best DX sports camera because it's the fastest DX camera ever: 10 frames per second, it can shoot through the flicker of typical sports arena, pool and gymnasium lighting, and it shoots at ridiculously high ISOs like 51,200 and still looks great.

It has superb auto white balance, giving great colors in all sorts of crummy artificial lighting like LED, incandescent, fluorescent out in the real world.

The D500 is the first consumer Nikon that's worthwhile considering for serious sports shooting. For sports, it's a complete winner.

It has the same autofocus system as the top-of-the-line D5, which is fast and hot in any light.

As expected, it has more AF points than ever before, but you can't select them all. You have only 55 selectable points, even if there are a claimed 153 AF points hidden somewhere.

I'd get mine used at eBay (How to Win at eBay), new at Amazon or the kit with lens, used at Amazon.

 

New

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com All the buttons on the top left and back left light up in white anytime you flick the power switch around the shutter button. Finally most of the buttons in my 2016 DSLR light up as well as all of the buttons in every cell phone I've owned since 1992 do, which is a life saver when shooting in dim light. They are exactly as bright as they should be, just enough to see but not so bright that they blind you. The buttons on the top right and back right are still dark.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com More buttons along the left of the camera, including a new programmable Fn2 button on the bottom left.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com The second card slot is now an XQD slot; we now have one SD card slot and one XQD card slot.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com 10 FPS with AF and AE tracking — fastest Nikon DX camera ever.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com 79-frame buffer at these speeds, even in 14-bit uncompressed raw (with a fast enough card).

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com 153 AF points that are rated down to LV -4 (full moonlight on sand), but you only can see and control about 55 of them.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Automatic ability to shoot-through flickering lighting (think fluorescent, mercury-vapor sports stadium lighting, LCD screens and dimmed LED lighting).

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Touch Screen.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Tilting Screen.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com MODE and ISO buttons swap locations compared to earlier Nikons. The exposure MODE button moves to the top left with the QUAL, WB and Metering buttons, and ISO moves to near the shutter button.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com ISOs to 51,200 as regular ISOs, expandable to ISO 1,638,400 as "HI +5."

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com 4K video.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Can shoot stills during video.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com "SnapBridge" Bluetooth scheme to get your images moved around automatically, but not available for Apple until the summer.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Wi-Fi.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Easy to program the D500 to enter IPTC data into all files as you shoot.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Three levels of warm correction for Auto White Balance. There's normal (AUTO1), AUTO2 that keeps warm indoor tungsten colors warm and wonderful, and AUTO0 that ensures a neutral color balance even under tungsten.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Silent electronic front curtain shutter (MENU > CUSTOM > d6), but only works in concert with the Mirror-up mode.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Auto ISO now lets us select "Subject" or "Subject and Background" Auto ISO (MENU > CUSTOM > e4). Subject is the same as before; Subject and Background jacks up Auto ISO further to get detail in the background for indoor flash shots.

 

Good

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Nikon's best and fastest DX DSLR ever, 10 FPS.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Superb high ISO performance and settings to ludicrous values as high as ISO 1,638,400 ("HI + 5").

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Much quieter than any of Nikon's pro cameras like the D5, D4 or D3.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Easy to save and recall one complete camera state as a file on your memory card, but —

 

Bad

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com No fast recall modes for different camera setting; the D500 still uses Nikon's awful settings banks that take too long to select and don't recall all we need, like AF settings, anyway. The D7200, D610 and D750 are much better here.

 

Missing

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No built-in flash.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No GPS.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No auto brightness control for the LCD. You can set the LCD brightness separately for Live View versus Playback and Menus, but now there are more menu clicks needed to select between these to change brightnesses as you move outdoors or indoors.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No power switch lock, and it's easy to knock on or off by accident and miss shots.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Only 20.6 MP (5,568 x 3,712 pixels native); even a D3200 has slightly higher resolution.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Still no sane replacement for Nikon's idiotic Custom Settings Banks, which has been a core incompetancy of Nikon since they introduced these in 2003. There are no U1, U2, U3 (or C1, C2, C3 or M1, M2, M3 etc.) modes so we can save and recall camera settings. There is no way to save immediate camera settings; the Custom Banks are re-written every time you set the camera with no way to lock them!

 

Nikon D500 back

Nikon D500. bigger.

 

Nikon D500

Nikon D500 and 35mm f/1.8 DX. bigger.

 

Lens Compatibility

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I'd get mine used at eBay (How to Win at eBay), new at Amazon or the kit with lens, used at Amazon.

Nikon D500 lens mount

Nikon D500 lens mount. bigger.

There is a focus motor in the D500, so it works with every AF lens made since 1986.

Even better, there's an aperture-ring feeler, so it meters with all AI and newer (1977-on) manual-focus lenses. The D500 also gives full-color Matrix metering and EXIF data with manual-focus lenses if you share the lens' data in a menu. More at Nikon Lens Compatibility.

You're always on your own with off-brand lenses like Sigma. Potential incompatibility with future cameras is one of the steep prices one pays for trying to save a few dollars yesterday on a cheap lens. Nikon shares nothing with its competitors about lens compatibility, so if you want to buy a Tamron or Sigma, you're gambling that it will work with tomorrow's camera. Good luck; it's always better to buy used Nikon than new junk-brand lenses if money matters.

 

Specifications

Top   Sample Images   Intro   Lens Compatibility

Specifications   USA Version   Performance

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I'd get mine used at eBay (How to Win at eBay), new at Amazon or the kit with lens, used at Amazon.

 

Frame Rates

CH (Continuous High): 10 FPS with full AF and AE.

CL (Continuous Low): selectable 1 to 9 FPS.

QC (Quiet Continuous): 3 FPS.

 

Sensor

15.7 x 23.5mm DX CMOS.

1.53x crop factor.

Ultrasonic cleaner.

 

Image Sizes

5,568 × 3,712 (20.6 MP) native.

 

DX (16 × 24mm)

5,568 × 3,712 (L, 20.6 MP), 4,176 × 2,784 (M, 12MP), 2,784 × 1,856 (S, 5 MP).

 

1.3x crop (12 × 18mm)

4,272 × 2,848 (L), 3,200 × 2,136 (M), 2,128 × 1,424 (S).


Stills shot during video

3,840 x 2,160 when shooting 4K.

You get full-still resolution stills, cropped to 16:9 (5,568 x 3,128 (L), 4,176 x 2,344 (M) or 2,784 x 1,560 (S)) when shooting 1080 or 720 video.

If shooting 1.3x crop you get a slightly lower resolution 16:9 stills: 4,272 x 2,400 (L), 3,200 x 1,800 (M) or 2,128 x 1,192 (S).

 

ISO

ISO 100 to 51,200, expandable from ISO 50 ("LO -1") to ISO 1,638,400 ("HI + 5").

 

Auto ISO

Settable high and low ISO limits as far as the camera goes: ISO 100 to 1,638,400 ("HI + 5")!

Slowest shutter speed settable to any fixed value in full stops, as well as to track the lens' focal length.

New "Subject and Background" mode (MENU > CUSTOM > e4) to give the D500 permission to jack up ISO to higher levels to get more detail in the backgrounds of indoor flash shots.

 

White Balance

All with individual fine-tuning:

Auto (3 types: normal, leave warm light warm, and correct warm lighting fully to white).

Incandescent.

Fluorescent (7 types).

Direct sunlight.

Flash.

Cloudy.

Shade.

Preset manual.

   6 stored presets.

   Spot white balance also with live view.

Kelvin (2,500 K to 10,000 K).

 

Color Spaces

sRGB and Adobe RGB.

 

File Formats

NEF (Raw): 12 or 14 bit (lossless compressed, compressed or uncompressed); large, medium, and small pixel sizes (medium and small images are recorded at a bit depth of 12 bits using lossless compression)

JPG: Fine (approx. 1:4), Normal (approx. 1:8) or Basic (approx. 1:16) compression. Usual optimal quality or fixed size options.

RAW+JPG

RGB TIFF

 

Video Frame Rates and Sizes

3,840 x 2,160 (4K): 29.97p, 25p or 23.976p.

1,920 x 1,080: 59.94p, 50p, 29.97p, 25p, 23.976p.

1,280 x 720; 59.94p, 50p.

You can select high or normal quality at all these, except only normal at 4K.

H.264/MPEG-4

.MOV

 

Audio

Stereo microphone built-in.

Linear PCM recording.

 

Autofocus

All the same as the D5:

Face-Priority AF; automatically finds faces and focus on them.

153 AF points.

Work down to LV -4, which is full moonlight on sand.

Only 99 of these are cross-type.

Only 15 sensors work with f/8 lenses.

You can't select all these manually; you only can select 55 of them. Of these selectable 55; 35 are cross-type sensors and only 9 work at f/8.

Multi-CAM 20K AF sensor module.

 

Finder

100% coverage. (only 98% in 1.3x crop.)

0.7x magnification with 35mm lens. (1.0x magnification with 50mm telephoto lens.)

16mm eyepoint.

-2 to +1 diopters.

 

Shutter

Vertical metal focal plane shutter.

30s to 1/8,000, Bulb.

 

Remote Release

10-pin or WR-R10 & WR-A10 adapter.

 

Flash

No built-in flash.

 

Flash Sync

1/250 sync speed.

ISO 519 PC (Prontor-Compur) socket.

 

Flash Control

Nikon's usual i-TTL.

 

Light Meter

TTL RGB.

180k pixels.

3D Color Matrix.

13mm, 10mm, 8mm or 6mm diameter center-weighted. (only the 8mm circle works with old manual-focus AI lenses.)

3.5mm spot at the selected focus point (only the center point with old manual-focus AI lenses).

 

Meter Range

LV -3 ~ +20.

Spot meter: LV 2 ~ 20.

 

Live View

Yip, for stills and movies with the usual options.

 

LCD Monitor

Nikon D500 flipping LCD

Nikon D500 flipping LCD. bigger.

3.2" (8cm) TFT.

Tilts up and down for shooting at odd angle, but doesn't swing around for self-portraits.

Touch sensitive.

2,359,000 dot (XGA).

170° viewing angle.

100% frame coverage.

NO AUTO BRIGHTNESS CONTROL.

 

Storage

One SD slot and one XQD slot.

SD slot takes UHS-II SDHC and SDXC cards.

It has the usual options for the two cards: dual (backup), sequential (overflow), RAW/JPG, etc.

 

Connectors

Nikon D500 conectors

Nikon D500 connectors. bigger.

USB 3.0 Micro-B.

Type C HDMI.

3.5mm stereo audio input with plug-in power.

3.5mm stereo audio output.

10-pin Nikon remote: for things like optional WR-R10 (requires WR-A10 WR Adapter) or WR-1 Wireless Remote Controller, GP-1/GP-1A GPS Unit, or GPS device compliant with NMEA0183 version 2.01 or 3.01 (requires optional MC-35 GPS Adapter Cord and cable with D-sub nine-pin connector)

 

Bluetooth

Nikon "SnapBridge" uses Bluetooth to connect to your phone or elsewhere for automatic uploads.

Bluetooth Specification Version 4.1

 

Wi-Fi

IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g.

Open system, WPA2-PSK.

 

NFC

NFC Forum Type 3 Tag.

 

Power

EN-EL 15 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery, same as D810.

Rated 1,240 shots per charge.

Optional EH-5b AC Adapter, which needs an EP-5B Power Connector.

Optional battery grip:

 

Battery Grip

Optional MB-D17 Multi-Power Battery Pack uses one EN-EL 15 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery or eight AA cells.

If you use a BL-5 Battery Chamber Cover you can use the EN-EL18a or EN-EL18 battery.

 

Size

5.8 x 4.6 x 3.2 inches.

147 x 115 x 81 millimeters.

 

Weight

29.595 oz. (839.05 g. or 1 lb., 13.595 oz.) with battery and SD card, actual measured.

Rated 30.4 oz. (860 g. or 1 lb., 14.4 oz.) with battery and XQD card.

Rated 26.9 oz. (760 g. or 1 lb., 10.9 oz.) stripped.

 

Included

Camera

BF-1B Body Cap

EN-EL15 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery

MH-25a Battery Charger

DK-17F Fluorine-Coated Finder Eyepiece

UC-E22 USB Cable

USB Cable Clip

HDMI Cable Clip

AN-DC17 Camera Strap

Also comes as a kit with 16-80mm VR lens:

Nikon D500

Nikon D500 and 16-80mm VR lens. bigger.

 

Quality

Nikon D500 bottom

Bottom, Nikon D500. bigger.

Made in Thailand.

 

Environment, operating

0 to 40°C (32 to 104°F).

85% or less RH, no condensation.

 

Announced

Tuesday, 05 January 2016, 3PM NYC time.

 

Promised for

March 2016.

 

Shipping since

Shipping since late April 2016, and still hard to find as of July 2016. You need to order yours and be patient.

 

Price, USA

 

20 February 2024

$1,600 New at B&H, gray market.

About $900 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

About $829 used at Amazon or about $1,600 used with lens at Amazon.

 

NEW: Nikon D500 Available Used at B&H.

 

 

21 April 2023

About $900 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

About $2,069 new at Amazon or $2,000 for the kit with lens, used.

 

December 2019

$1,497 for the body-only.

$2,097 with 16-80mm VR lens.

About $950 used at eBay, if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

May 2017

$1,797 for the body-only.

$2,397 with 16-80mm VR lens.

 

April 2017

$1,997 for the body-only.

$2,567 with 16-80mm VR lens.

 

November 2016

$1,797 for the body-only.

$2,367 with 16-80mm VR lens.

 

July 2016

$1,997 for the body-only.

$2,567 with 16-80mm VR lens.

 

May 2016

$1,997 for the body-only.

$3,067 with 16-80mm VR lens.

These were so hard to get in the begining that they sold for more used at eBay than you could order them new.

 

January 2016

$1,999 for the body-only.

$3,070 with 16-80mm VR lens.

 

Nikon D500 Box

Nikon D500. bigger.

 

Getting a Legal USA Version (for USA only)

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Specifications   USA Version   Performance

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I'd get mine used at eBay (How to Win at eBay), new at Amazon or the kit with lens, used at Amazon.

In the USA, be sure your box has "US" above the UPC bar code:

Nikon D500 Box End

Nikon D500 box end. bigger.

If the letters are different, you got ripped off with a gray market version from another country. This is why I never buy anyplace other than from my personally approved sources. You just can't take the chance of buying elsewhere, especially at any retail store, because non-USA versions have no warranty in the USA, and you won't even be able to get firmware or service for it — even if you're willing to pay out-of-pocket for it when you need it!

I got my D500 as body-only from Adorama, who also has the kit with 16-80mm VR. I'd also get it from B&H, who also has the kit with 16-80mm, or from Amazon (also as kit with lens) or from Crutchfield (also with lens), or get it used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

Always be sure to check your box while you can still return it, or just don't buy from unapproved sources, so you'll be able to have your camera serviced and get free updated firmware as needed.

Even easier, a legal USA version has a warranty card from Nikon USA. The serial number on the card must match the serial number of your camera, or you have no warranty. The serial number on the box should also match the serial number on your camera.

Nikon D500 USA Warranty

Nikon D500 USA Warranty Card. bigger.

US versions include two printed manuals, one in English (shown on right) and uno en español (a la izquierda).

Get yours from the same places I do and you won't have a problem, but if you take the risk of getting yours elsewhere, be sure to check everything while you still can return it.

 

Performance

Top   Sample Images   Intro   Lens Compatibility

Specifications   USA Version   Performance

Compared   Usage   Recommendations   More

 

Overall   Autofocus    Viewfinder   Ergonomics

Image Quality   Auto WB   Exposure   HDR

Flash Exposure   High ISOs   Distortion

Shutter Noise   Top LCD   Rear LCD   Playback  

Power & Battery   Mechanics   Clock   Data

 

I'd get mine used at eBay (How to Win at eBay), new at Amazon or the kit with lens, used at Amazon.

 

Overall

The Nikon D500 is fast and sure, and adds a few new features to the Nikons we all know and love.

Low light and high ISO performance are spectacular, and the AF system is superb as well.

Image quality is outstanding.

At 10 frames per second this is Nikon's best DX camera ever for sports and action. The D5 is 2 FPS faster, but for sports, the DX sensor makes your lens 50% longer, so unless you do this for a living full time, this is Nikon's new best sports camera.

My biggest sticking points are ergonomic: with no U,1 U2 or U3 preset memory settings I prefer the D7200 or D750 because I need these modes to swap all my settings quickly as my shooting conditions change from people to places and things.

 

Autofocus

Autofocus is outstanding. It's fast and sure in any light, and facial recognition works great in the regular viewfinder shooting mode.

The default Auto AF Area Select mode usually finds faces all by itself, or whatever else is our intended subject, and just focuses on it. This is superb; we rarely need to select AF areas manually.

Regardless of claiming 153 points, there are only as many selectable points as in any other camera.

The sea of AF points covers the full width of the frame, but only about half the frame vertically. This is typical.

By default it will identify your subject just about anywhere in the frame, grab it and focus on it. In AF-C (continuous) mode, it will track that subject all around the frame at its default settings. Bravo!

What isn't as good is that it takes too many clicks to swap between the default Auto AF Area select mode mentioned above which I usually use, and the single AF-point mode I use when the Auto Select mode doesn't find my subject. You have to hold the AF mode button on the front of the camera, stop what you're doing and look at the bottom of the screen or look for AF point displays, and spin a dial among a zillion other modes until you get the display you want. Older Nikons have a dedicated lever to select among these by feel. You can remove some of the modes you don't use to make it faster to select the ones you do; see Usage.

Another way to get between Auto Area AF and a single AF point quickly is to reprogram the function of the Preview (or F1) buttons to immediate selection of the single AF-point mode.

 

Viewfinder

Nikon D500 Viewfinder

Actual view through Nikon D500 viewfinder. Chula Vista Nature Preserve, June 2016. bigger.

No news here; the finder is excellent as we expect. It looks a lot better in person than in my photograph through it here; it's sharp and bright and everything is always completely legible in any light.

The AF zones are indicated with black LCD boxes that will move all over as they track, or multiple boxes will indicate if a few are in focus at the same time.

These black boxes light dimly in red at night. The red lighting isn't very bright, you can't see the level at night, for instance.

The flash bolt is orange, thankfully.

"FLICKER" appears in black on the lower right of the image if the D500 detects and is tracking flicker through which to shoot.

 

Ergonomics

It's mostly the same as the D810, with very similar operation and controls. Sadly the buttons are all on the wrong side, demanding both hands to shoot, set and playback.

As I carry it, Live View often turns itself on by accident.

Disheartening is that there's no mode dial with custom-programmable camera presets as we can do on less expensive cameras like the D7200.

This makes it take way too long to reset the camera for different scenarios, like people or places or things or sports as I use U1 and U2 settings on my other Nikons (or C1, C2 and C3 settings on my Canons). Nikon is still using the same foolish "settings banks" that require two sets of banks (Shooting Banks and Custom Settings Banks) that take way too long to select in the heat of shooting, they cannot be locked, and even then these two banks together fail to save and recall everything; AF modes don't save or recall, for instance. The D7200, D610 and D750 are far better here; this matters if you need to reset your camera for shooting different things very quickly. I do.

It takes a moment to wake in menus or playback. This is 2016; there's no excuse for having to wait for the camera to turn back on when I press MENU or PLAY.

You often have to hit OK after setting things, like MENU > Shooting > Image Area, otherwise the D500 ignores you. It's like Simon Says; if you don't hit OK after changing a setting, it is forgotten.

It has so many different display modes and display mode shortcut buttons (i, INFO, MENU, Fn2) that they no longer do much; you wind up having to hit all of them until you find whatever you needed.

 

Image Quality

My D500 images look great. This is what Nikon DSLRs are all about: you can't get better-looking images from any digital camera at any price.

The colors, tones, highlights, shadows and everything are superb. My Canons are as good, while everything else pales in comparison to the JPGs I get directly from my D500. (If you shoot NEF, then the look of your images will be just as much a factor of whatever software you use.)

Ditto for focus: they're always sharp because they're always in focus. Unlike many of the cameras I review where I mention occasional inconstant AF (like in the Sony RX10 Mk III at 600mm), my D500 images are always in focus.

 

Auto White Balance

AWB is superb; I've never seen better in a DSLR. AWB is critical to great pictures; without perfect auto white balance, the resulting color shift severely degrades images. This is often the difference between a WOW! shot that sells, and an also-ran.

The D500 is superb in setting its white balance perfectly in any light, and especially in artificial light. Daylight, shade, incandescent, florescent or LED, it all looks flawless as shot on the D500.

 

Exposure

Exposure can vary, which is not good. I tend to shoot at 0 compensation indoors and -0.7 stops outdoors, but it will vary. I sometimes can need -1.0 stops compensation if there are large dark areas in the image; it's weird that Matrix metering isn't setting the highlights properly by default.

As I explain at Flash below, flash exposure is more variable than I'd like.

 

HDR

The HDR (high dynamic range) mode works great, even hand-held. It defaults to an automatic mode that just works. Here are two pairs of samples, the first shot normally, and the second as it came from the D500. Click any of them to enlarge:

D500 HDR

Regular shot. Click to enlarge. Roll your mouse over this image to compare, or see the HDR image below if you have no mouse:

D500 HDR

Shot as HDR. Even hand-held, HDR does a great job of naturally filling-in detail in the dark areas lost in the regular shot above, and keeps detail in the sky which was washed-out to white in the regular photo. bigger.

 

Nikon D500 HDR

Regular shot. Click to enlarge. Roll your mouse over this image to compare, or see the HDR image below if you have no mouse:

D500 HDR

Shot as HDR. Even hand-held, HDR added much more detail out the window, and pleasantly warmed-up the interior. No, I have no idea why it changed the white balance in HDR; these were shot in Auto White Balance. bigger.

 

Flash Exposure

There's no built-in flash. My favorite external flash is my SB-400, which is small, light, fast and powerful. I'd get one used again today over anything else new.

The worst technical thing about the D500 is that the flash exposure isn't as consistent as I'd like. It's bad because it's not as repeatable as it should be, making it impossible to ensure perfect flash exposure for every shot as I get with my Fuji X100T. Nikon invented the world's first 3D Matrix through-the-lens flash system which set the world standard in this in 1992, but the D500 isn't as good.

It's not unusual for two shots in a rapid sequence to have different flash exposure, and just as often the second shot has more flash exposure than the first; it's not my flash being depleted.

I often have to dial-in negative compensation for both the overall exposure as well as the flash, and it's not consistent so there's more luck involved than I would like. I have yet to learn how to get consistently good flash exposures with my D500.

The new "Subject and Background" Auto ISO option (MENU > CUSTOM > e4) lets us get brighter backgrounds with flash indoors by selecting higher Auto ISOs if it needs to.

 

High ISO Performance

Even ludicrously high ISOs look superb. The D500 has great color and tone at any ISO up to and including 51,200!

Nikon is using clever fractal and vector conversions to let the camera shoot at foolishly high ISOs, and still deliver recognizable and usable images. Yes, it gets softer and any subject texture is replaced with slight random grain, but even at ISO 51,200 I get perfectly usable images when I need it.

ISOs and resolution ratings haven't been relevant since about 2007, so don't get hung up on any of that. All that matters is how hot and fast is the AF system and how quickly we can set the camera. With no instant save and recall ability, resetting the camera from one type of shot or from gig to gig becomes much more of a pain than it is on a D750 or D7200.

The D500 simply gets fuzzier, but clean, up to ISO 51,200. At ISO 102,400, High +1, it ignores picture control settings, which is why the colors suddenly get dull (I keep my D500 set to Vivid and +3 saturation).

As we get to ISO 1,638,400 (High +5), the image is completely gone.

In other words, so long as you stay away from the ridiculous High + settings, everything looks swell. If you need ISO 51,200, use ISO 51,200.

 

High ISO Image Sample Files

Complete Images

What we lose at high ISOs if you look at the original images and crops below are details and textures. As ISO climbs, we lose grain in the wood, the sparkles in the grain on the right, and everything gets softer. Fireplace bricks inside the grille disappear first on the left then the right, and the dust on grill vanishes.

As I see it below, every ISO up to and including ISO 51,200 looks great. Only at ISO 102,400 and above do the images start to suffer.

Click any for the camera-original © files as above to explore on your computer; mobile devices rarely show the full resolution files properly.

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

 

Crops

These are 600 x 400 pixel crops. They will vary in size to fit your browser window; if they are about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at 37 x 56" (1 x 1.5 meters) at this same magnification.

Click any for the same camera-original © files as above to explore on your computer; mobile devices rarely show the full resolution files properly.

In these crops, I see a fine scratch in the wood to the bottom left of the clock disappear by ISO 100. Fine wood grain also softens by ISO 100. Detail in highlights of the black wood on the clock softens at ISO 100, and everything gets softer and softer at each higher ISO. At the really high ISOs, there isn't much left anymore. This is what happens with all cameras.

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

Nikon D500 High ISO Performance

 

Distortion Correction

Auto Distortion correction works great. I can shoot the 10-24mm lens at every crazy setting, and every shot is dead-straight:

Tom Fazio, June 2016

Fine Gy Dreier home, Palm Desert Area. Nikon D500, Auto Distortion Correction ON, Nikon 10-24mm at 10mm, f/3.5 at 1.8 at Auto ISO 160. bigger.

The 10-24mm has a lot of barrel distortion that would have been visible, but with Distortion Correction turned ON, they come straight out of the D500 with everything ruler-straight.

 

Shutter Noise

It's not that quiet. It's about as loud as a D3300.

A D810 is much quieter than the D500, even with with the D810 in its normal mode and the D500 in its quiet mode.

In either of the Quiet modes (Q or QC set on the top left advance mode dial), the D500 is a little quieter than the usual modes, but it's slower to respond — not why you paid big bucks for a D500.

I like the quiet modes and use them unless I need to shoot at 10 FPS.

 

Top LCD

The top LCD is the usual. It has a green LED backlight if you activate it.

With the power ON, it shows everything even if the D500 goes to sleep.

With the D500 turned OFF, the top LCD still shows how many shots you've made, and which slots have a card.

 

Rear LCD

The rear LCD is better than the LCDs on cameras like the D600, D800 and D810 that were too green. The D500's LCD seems super accurate.

Sadly it has no auto brightness control as Canon does, so one always has to reset its brightness as one moves inside or outside. Now that Nikon added separate brightness settings for Live View or Playback and Menus, there sadly are more clicks required to change the brightness than ever before.

When set to maximum brightness, the LCD clips the highlights, making things look overexposed that probably aren't. The D500 LCD is therefore poor for use outdoors, sort of a bummer for a camera optimized for sports.

The rear LCD has a 4:3 aspect ratio, which means that the top and bottom of the screen has black bars when showing images, which have an aspect ratio of 3:2. The screen does fill with the image when zoomed.

Other than outdoors, the LCD is sharp, bright, colorful and accurate.

 

Playback

Playback is even easier than on other Nikons with the addition of the touch screen.

If you set the center button to Zoom, (MENU > f2 Multi selector center button > playback mode > zoom), the D500 zooms-in to the active AF area you used, bravo!

The touch screen works swell for zooming and scrolling, but you can't grab the navigation image and use it like Photoshop's navigator to scroll around the image as I would like.

 

Power & Battery

Battery life is excellent, especially if you've been slumming it with a mirrorless camera lately.

I get about 1,400 shots per charge on my new battery, which should work even better as I start using it. Lithium batteries gain capacity during the first few charge and discharge cycles.

Of course you'll get twice as many photos if you're motoring away shooting sports and not using the LCD, and half as many if you're twiddling with settings and playback after each shot.

The charger is still poor, with nut one slowly blinking light to try to tell us everything that's going on, and a foolish cord and swiveling connector where there should simply be a folding plug.

 

Mechanics

It has metal top, bottom, front and back covers. Everything else is plastic.

The battery door is plastic, with weather gaskets.

The buttons, levers and knobs are all plastic.

 

Clock Accuracy

My D500 is slow 235 milliseconds per day, or 7.2 seconds per month. This is reasonable performance.

Every sample of D500 will be different; this is an analog adjustment to the quartz oscillator.

 

Data

Nikon's much-heralded SnapBridge program is not out until at least Summer 2016, for Apple.

The cards are properly formatted as "NIKON D500."

Folders start off as "100ND500."

You can set the first three characters of the file name. I use "500" so I know they were shot on my D500.

Another core incompetancy of Nikon, often as you change your settings banks the D500 will just happen to be set to different folders, so you'll have images getting thrown in different folders as you change banks.

 

Compared

Top   Sample Images   Intro   Lens Compatibility

Specifications   USA Version   Performance

Compared   Usage   Recommendations   More

 

I'd get mine used at eBay (How to Win at eBay), new at Amazon or the kit with lens, used at Amazon.

 

Do you get randomly underexposed or off-color frames when you shoot sports at high shutter speeds indoors, or outdoors at night? That's because your exposure caught the artificial lighting at an instant where it wasn't at full brightness — something the D500 and Canon 7D Mk II can now shoot around automatically.

 

Nikon D500 vs. Nikon D7000 series

 

Nikon D500 versus D750

When looking at the D750 versus the D500 that sell for the same price, the choice is easy.

Get the D750 for nature, portraits, interiors and landscapes. Get the D500 only if sports or birds are your thing; the D500 runs very fast, while the D750 has a much bigger sensor, better ergonomics and a built-in flash.

 

Nikon D500 versus D610

If comparing the D610 to the D500, the D610 is the same as a D750 above, except that the D610 has poor low-light autofocus. If it's too dark to read easily, the D610 often just gives up and needs an AF illuminator, while all the other cameras focus easily without one.

Get the D610 for nature, portraits, interiors and landscapes. Get the D500 only if sports or birds are your thing; the D500 runs very fast, while the D610 has a much bigger sensor and better ergonomics and a built-in flash.

So long as you're not trying to shoot in the dark, the D610 for much less money gives potentially better pictures for everything except sports and birds.

See also The Best Camera.

 

Nikon D500 versus Canon 7D Mk II

Canon 7D Mk II is a completely different camera.

I prefer the 7D Mk II for its superior ergonomics and Canon's customer support. Given the choice, I'd pick the 7D Mk II any day. They have the same-size sensors and frame rates.

If you're already in bed with the Nikon system ignore me, but if starting with a clean slate or not that much investment in Nikon, I'd get the 7D Mk II, and it costs less, too.

You'll have to read both reviews and Nikon vs. Canon to get the bigger picture.

 

Versus Top Nikon and Canon Cameras

 
Anni
2011-2016
2014-
2014-
2016-
2016-
2014-2015
2012-2014
FPS
12
10
5
10
12
11
10
Resolution
18 MP
20 MP
36 MP
20 MP
20 MP
16 MP
16 MP
Format
Full
DX
Full
DX
Full
Full
Full
ISO Max**
51,200
16,000
12,800
51,200
102,400
25,600
12,800
Selectable AF Points
61
65
51
55**
55***
51
51
LCD

3.2"

1,040k

3"

1,040k

3.2"

1,229k

3.2"

2,359k

3.2"

2,359k

3.2"

921k

3.2"

921k

Auto brightness
no
YES
no
no
no
YES
YES
Built-in Flash
no
YES
YES
no
no
no
no
Shoot-through Flicker?
no
YES
no
YES
with new firmware
no
no
Rear voice memo mic & rec. button
YES
no
no
no
YES
YES
YES
Battery
Weight****

53.8oz.

1,526g

31.8oz.

901g

34.0oz.

965g

30.4oz.

860g

49.9oz.

1,415g.

47.2oz.

1,337g

47.2oz.

1,337g

Price, 1/2016

$3,000 used

Price, 5/2016
n/a

$2,500 used

** In standard modes. This is a meaningless specification; cameras that let you set them higher simply look worse than cameras that can't go as high! This is merely a poster spec to try to bilk innocent people out of more money for more expensive cameras.

*** I said selectable AF points. Most cameras use many more invisible AF points to help out the ones you can see.

**** With battery and card(s).

 

Versus Current Nikon Cameras

 
Anni
2016-
2014-
2014-
2013-
2016-
2015-
FPS
12
5
6.5
6
10
6
Resolution
20 MP
36 MP
24MP
24 MP
20 MP
24MP
Format
Full
Full
Full
Full
DX
DX
ISO Max**
102,400
12,800
12,800
25,600
51,200
25,600
Selectable AF Points
55***
51
51
39
55**
51
LCD

3.2"

2,359k

3.2"

1,229k

3.2"

1,229k

3.2"

921k

3.2"

2,359k

3.2"

1,229k

Auto brightness
no
no
no
no
no
no
Built-in Flash
no
YES
YES
YES
no
YES
Shoot-through Flicker?
no
no
no
no
YES
no
Rear voice memo mic & rec. button
YES
no
no
no
no
no
Battery
Weight****

49.9oz.

1,415g.

34.0oz.

965g

29.5oz.

836g

30.0oz.

851g

30.4oz.

860g

27.0oz.

765g

Price, 1/2016
Price, 5/2016
Price, 7/2016

** In standard modes. This is a meaningless specification; cameras that let you set them higher simply look worse than cameras that can't go as high! This is merely a poster spec to try to bilk innocent people out of more money for more expensive cameras.

*** I said selectable AF points. Most cameras use many more invisible AF points to help out the ones you can see.

**** With battery and card(s).

 

Versus Recent Nikon Pro Cameras

 
Anni
2016-
2016-
2014-2015
2012-2014
FPS
10
12
11
10
Resolution
20 MP
20 MP
16 MP
16 MP
Format
DX
Full
Full
Full
ISO Max**
51,200
102,400
25,600
12,800
Selectable AF Points
55**
55***
51
51
LCD

3.2"

2,359k

3.2"

2,359k

3.2"

921k

3.2"

921k

Auto brightness
no
no
YES
YES
Built-in Flash
no
no
no
no
Shoot-through Flicker?
YES
no
no
no
Rear voice memo mic & rec. button
no
YES
YES
YES
Battery
Weight****

30.4oz.

860g

49.9oz.

1,415g.

47.2oz.

1,337g

47.2oz.

1,337g

Price, 1/2016

$3,000 used

Price, 5/2016
n/a

$2,500used

** In standard modes. This is a meaningless specification; cameras that let you set them higher simply look worse than cameras that can't go as high! This is merely a poster spec to try to bilk innocent people out of more money for more expensive cameras.

*** I said selectable AF points. Most cameras use many more invisible AF points to help out the ones you can see.

**** With battery and card(s).

 

Versus Older Nikon Pro Cameras

 
Anni
2016-
2009-2012
2007-2010
2005-2007
FPS
10
9
9
8
Resolution
20 MP
12 MP
12 MP
4 MP
Format
DX
Full
Full
DX
ISO Max**
51,200
12,800
6,400
1,600
Selectable AF Points
55**
51
51
11
LCD

3.2"

2,359k

3"

921k

3"

921k

2.5"

232k

Auto brightness
no
no
no
no
Built-in Flash
no
no
no
no
Shoot-through Flicker?
YES
no
no
no
Rear voice memo mic & rec. button
no
YES
YES
YES
Battery
Weight****

30.4oz.

860g

52.6oz

1,492g

50.0oz.

1,417g

44.3oz.

1,256g

Price, 1/2016
$200 used
Price, 5/2016
$175 used

** In standard modes. This is a meaningless specification; cameras that let you set them higher simply look worse than cameras that can't go as high! This is merely a poster spec to try to bilk innocent people out of more money for more expensive cameras.

*** I said selectable AF points. Most cameras use many more invisible AF points to help out the ones you can see.

**** With battery and card(s).

 

D500 Users Guide

Top   Sample Images   Intro   Lens Compatibility

Specifications   USA Version   Performance

Compared   Usage   Recommendations   More

 

I'd get mine used at eBay (How to Win at eBay), new at Amazon or the kit with lens, used at Amazon.

 

Making Settings

Be sure to press OK after making many settings, otherwise the D500 may choose to ignore the changes.

The rear LCD doesn't mirror settings that show on the top LCD as you change them. To have the rear LCD show this, press INFO.

 

Touch Screen

Don't forget you have a touch screen.

You can use the D500 just like every other Nikon DSLR without a touch screen, or also use the screen if you like.

The arrows at the bottom on playback select different frames. You also can swipe left and right to select other frames.

 

Rockwell's D500 Settings

Here's a link to my BIN file with all my personal settings.

Feel free to download this into your computer to load into your D500, but know that it will make your D500 the same as mine, and mine is programmed to add my personal copyright information into the EXIF of every image.

If you want to use this, be sure to reset your camera's copyright information to your own.

If you get lost, here is the clean setup file for a new D500.

These file links do nothing on your computer. To use them, download the linked files to your computer, then copy it to the top (root) directly of a card. The files are tiny, only about 60 kB each. Put that card in your D500, go to MENU > SETUP > Save/Load settings > Load settings to load any of these settings files into your D500.

 

Settings Banks

A core incompetancy of Nikon are its "Settings Banks" system used in many of its cameras, including the D500. Instead of a simple U1 U2 etc. setting that just recalls all your saved settings at once as on the D750, Nikon uses two sets of banks (the "Photo shooting menu bank" and the "Custom settings bank") to save camera setups. Sadly both of these two banks together only save 2/3 of what you need, and don't save important items like AF settings.

Worse, these settings banks don't lock; anytime you change anything, you also change what's stored in the bank. You can't rally save anything, making these nearly useless.

It also takes too many menu clicks to recall these two different banks. I do it by pressing the i button, selecting the Photo shooting menu bank, selecting which one, pressing OK, selecting the Custom settings banks, selecting which one, then pressing OK, and hoping my shot isn't already gone.

I don't, but you can assign the Fn1 button to cycle through the Photo shooting menu by pressing MENU > CUSTOM SETTING MENU > f1 Custom control assignment > (pick Fn1 + dial) > choose SHOOT Photos shooting menu bank > OK.

 

Autofocus

There are way too many AF modes, so I disable the junk modes in a Custom setting (MENU > CUSTOM SETTING MENU > a9 Limit AF-area mode selection > (uncheck everything except 3D-tracking and Auto-area AF).

I don't do this, but you can program a custom button to control the AF area mode (MENU > CUSTOM SETTING MENU > f1 Custom control assignment > (pick a button) > (choose either AF-area mode or AF-area mode + AF-ON).

 

Thumb Nubbin

Pressing this also can lock exposure.

 

File Types


Image quality (MENU > Camera > Image quality) settings of JPEG Normal ★ or JPEG Basic ★ are higher quality versions of JPEG Normal or JPEG Basic. Nikon used to hide these in another menu as "Quality priority," with "Size Priority" as the default.

The ★ versions use more file data as needed to maintain the same quality as the image becomes sharper or more complex. I use JPEG Basic ★ for everything.

 

Shooting without a memory card

Don't let yourself do this; be sure to set MENU > SETUP > Slot empty release lock to LOCK.

At defaults, the D5 will shoot all day with no card, making you look like an idiot if it was a wedding and you shot it with an empty camera.

 

Exposure

It's not unusual to get overexposure if the subject has a lot of black areas.

No worries, just press the +/- button and dial-in whatever negative exposure compensation you need to make it look right. If it takes a stop or two, then that's the correct value to be use. Don't be shy.

 

Flash

Flash Mode and Compensation Control Button

Nikon moved this into the row of buttons running along the left side of the D500.

 

Flash Exposure

I get inconsistent exposure with flash. No matter how I set exposure compensation, often one shot after the other will be quite different, making it difficult to get good results.

 

Auto ISO Minimum and Flash Shutter Speeds

In standard flash sync mode (only a flash bolt seen on the top LCD as you spin the rear dial while holding the Bolt button on the left rear), the D500 shoots at the highest of your selected Minimum Auto ISO Speed (MENU > Cameras > ISO Settings > Minimum shutter speed) or Flash shutter speed (MENU > Custom Settings > e2).

Setting 1/4 for the slowest flash shutter speed (MENU > Custom Settings > e2) won't matter if you set 1/125 as the minimum Auto ISO shutter speed (MENU > Cameras > ISO Settings > Minimum shutter speed). Set both of these, and it shoots at 1/125, not 1/4.

However, if you select SLOW Sync mode (see SLOW and a flash bolt on the top LCD as you spin the rear dial while holding the Bolt button on the left rear), it will forget about the slowest speed set for Auto ISO and allow itself to shoot at the slowest speed set for flash.

 

Wireless Flash Control

Nikon now calls their remote wireless flash control system "Advanced Wireless Lighting," or AWL, which now works wirelessly either optically or by radio.

Nikon called their optical-only system the "Creative Lighting System (CLS). The D5 is also compatible with CLS and CLS flashes and their optical wireless control systems.

The D500 has no ability to control or trigger any wireless flashes by itself. To control wireless flash, you have to use an appropriate flash on top of the D500 to work as an optical commander, or buy a WR-R10 to use as an outboard master wireless controller and a WR-A10 adapter to connect the WR-R10 to the D500's 10-pin remote terminal.

To make a multi-flash system, you have to put a flash or WR-R10 and WR-A10 adapter on the D500 to work as the master transmitter, and then use other remote flashes that work either as optical or radio slaves.

To see the flash system's information, press the D500's INFO button twice.

See also Nikon D500 Compatible Flashes.

 

Optical Wireless Control

For most of us, our existing flashes we used with last year's Nikons will work the same way as optical masters and slaves as they always have.

We have to use a flash on-camera with commander ability to work as the master, no news here.

 

Radio Wireless Control

We have to buy a WR-R10 and WR-A10 adapter to attach the WR-R10 to the D5.

Once we have the WR-R10 in place, we can trigger remote SB-5000s by radio. We don't need any flash on camera if we use the WR-R10 and WR-A10 adapter at the D5, but as of August 2016 the SB-5000 is the only Nikon flash that responds to radio control.

 

Flash Suggestions

For on-camera flash, I use my old SB-400 since it's small and light. A midsize flash like the SB-600 or SB-700 is way more than enough if you want to look more intimidating or need a lot of flash power all day long.

For multiple flash, I don't waste my time with Nikon's complicated, expensive and underpowered wireless nonsense mentioned above, which is even more difficult to configure than reading about it. I use a wired Novatron strobe system in my studio and trigger it from the camera with any manual flash. In the field I use a flash on-camera.

The only people who work with Nikon's wireless system are people trying to shoot weddings with assistants to carry the other flashes around, and that's not me. People who set up a multi-strobe shot in a fixed location use more powerful stand-mounted pro strobes, not these little shoe mount flashes.

 

Recommendations

Top   Sample Images   Intro   Lens Compatibility

Specifications   USA Version   Performance

Compared   Usage   Recommendations   More

I'd get mine used at eBay (How to Win at eBay), new at Amazon or the kit with lens, used at Amazon.

If you're shooting sports, news and action and are already invested in Nikon lenses, this is the best body ever.

This D500 is also Nikon's best for birds. The cropped-sensor is a long-lens advantage over the D5, unless you have birds posing for you five feet away.

If you're shooting landscapes and portraits, you don't need the frames-per-second, so any of Nikon's other cameras work just as well — and have even more resolution, usually for less money. I wouldn't use the D500 for weddings; I don't get flash exposure as consistent as I prefer; use a full-frame camera like the D750 instead for the same price.

I would get this D500 only for sports or birds, and only if I was already inseparably bought into the Nikon system. The D7200 is better for everything else due to it's better ergonomics that allow it to be set and adjusted to different shooting conditions faster with its programmable mode dial, as well as taking two normal SD cards.

The D500 is the lowest-resolution DX camera made today by Nikon, but not by much. You're not going to see any difference between 24MP and 20 MP.

Nikon overpriced the kit with 16-80mm VR lens at introduction in January 2016, but as of summer 2016 they fixed that and the kit with 16-80mm is a good buy. If you want the excellent 16-80mm lens, by all means get the kit.

I'd also consider getting the body-only and my favorite DX lens, the 35mm f/1.8, instead — or any DX lens of your choice like the 18-200 VR or 18-300 VR. For sports, the 70-300mm VR is a full frame lens that focuses much faster than any of the DX lenses.

I'd get mine used at eBay (How to Win at eBay), new at Amazon or the kit with lens, used at Amazon.

This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Nikon does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, store demo or used camera. I use the stores I do because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new camera before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I use myself for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.

Thanks for helping me help you!

Ken Rockwell.

 

More Information

Top   Sample Images   Intro   Lens Compatibility

Specifications   USA Version   Performance

Compared   Usage   Recommendations   More

 

Nikon's D500 press release.

 

© Ken Rockwell. All rights reserved. Tous droits réservés. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

 

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20 Feb 2024 price and sources, 21 April 2023 prices, 16 Dec 2019, Apr, May 2017; Nov 2016, 05 January 2016