Among the present race among Sample Image camera manufacturers, Nikon has put forward their latest APS-C DSLR camera the Nikon D500. The Nikon D500 is a featurepacked camera aimed at those who want a camera that can match rivals in terms of image quality and performance. The camera has a 20.9 MP sensor with additional capabilities including 4K video recording and wireless connectivity features. This month we put the Nikon D500 through the test. Let us fi nd out what is new and better in this camera and see if its performance backs up its claims.
Despite the fact that the D500 is a DX model, it shares a lot in common with the latest D5 - Nikon’s professional, full-frame, (and much more expensive) DSLR which includes the same processor, focussing system, and interestingly, same number of pixels.
Look, body and feel
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The Nikon D500 is a pretty chunky and solidly built camera, which gives it a feeling of high quality construction. The camera is also fully weather-sealed, which is great news for landscape and outdoor photographers. There’s a large number of direct access buttons, and dials, which is exactly what we’d expect from a camera which is aimed at enthusiast or advanced amateurs. Like the Nikon D5, the screen is also touch sensitive, which can be used for some elements of operation. On the top left of the Nikon D500 you’ll find a rotating dial which can be moved to change the drive mode, including single shooting, quiet mode, continuous and mirror up. You’ll need to push down a small button just in front of the dial in order to change it, which prevents you accidentally moving it when you don’t want to.
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| Sample #2 |
Simply press down whichever button you need to use, and then use the scrolling dial to make changes. You’ll notice confirmation of the changes being made in the LCD panel on the top of the camera. It’s a very quick and easy way of making changes, and you can generally swiftly set up the settings you need for the shot.
Like many high-end cameras, the only shooting modes you can use are P (Program) A (Aperture Priority) S (Shutter Priority) M (Manual) - in other words there’s no automatic mode.
Moving to the back of the Nikon D500 and there’s a large selection of different buttons here too. To change the AF point, the textured joystick is a new addition which is easy to reach with your thumb while the camera is held up to your eye. The screen is not only touch sensitive, but it also tilts upwards and downwards. While this isn’t quite as useful as a fully articulating screen, it’s handy for shooting from either very high or very low angles and so it’s great to see it here on an enthusiast level camera.
The D500 has dual memory card slots, supporting both SD cards and XQD cards. If you are willing invest in an XQD card you can get faster writing speeds, so it may be worth it if you intend to shoot fast moving subjects, such as sports and wildlife. The Nikon D500 has Wi-Fi, bluetooth and NFC connectivity which means you can send your images across to a smartphone, using Nikon’s Snapbridge app. This is currently only available for Android devices, but an iOS app is also being developed for release later this year.
Performance
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Much of the D500’s performance is built around the ability of the new EXPEED 5 image processor which can process at speeds of 10 frames per second. It’s 153-point AF module offers near fullwidth coverage and is linked to a 180,000 pixel RGB metering sensor to further improve its AF tracking capabilities. Only 55 of the camera’s AF points can be directly selected. Add to this the ability to shoot up to 200 Raw frames before slowing down (if you use an XQD card), and it becomes obvious that the D500 is intended as a high-speed pro/semi-pro camera. Another sign that this is a true high-end camera is the inclusion of a larger viewfinder. It has 100% coverage and it also offers 1.0x magnification, which is the largest optical viewfinder we can remember seeing in an APS-C camera. The D500 can also shoot 4K video and includes both an input for using an external microphone and a headphone socket for audio monitoring.
The camera also offers a flat picture profile to provide more post-processing flexibility, on-screen highlight warnings and aperture control that allows you to select and change the aperture when in movie mode. There’s no focus peaking option, though, to confirm or adjust focus as you record. The D500 is equipped with a new 20.9 Megapixel croppedframe APSC ‘DX-format’ CMOS sensor.
The D500 lets you record images with two formats: the full DX coverage, or a cropped 1.3x mode which reduces the effective resolution from 20.9 Megapixels to around 12 Megapixels. JPEG files can be recorded with Fine, Normal or Basic compression and with the additional choice of ‘Optimal quality’ now indicated by a star icon in the menu. RAW files can be recorded with 12 bit or 14 bit tonal range. There’s also an RGB TIFF option. Battery life is rated at a very impressive 1240 shots, which is great for an enthusiast level camera - it’s unlikely you’ll need to invest in a second battery unless you’re shooting a lot every single day, or for some reason you can’t charge the battery in between shoots. However a built-in pop-up flash is missing from the body of the camera which would call for the need of an external speedlight incase one wants to use a flash.
ISO Test
The ISO test was done in Aperture priority mode at f/8. We took sample shots for every stop of increment of the ISO. The results were pretty amazing. The Nikon D500 produces images that are sharp straight from the camera, with low levels of noise and good details from the base ISO setting, all the way up to ISO6400 and ISO12800. You may even find images taken at ISO25600 usable when resized or depending on what you are shooting. At ISO51200 noise is stronger, but colour saturation remains good. At ISO102400 noise again, although colour saturation for some of the brighter colours is reasonable. Above this noise becomes particularly ugly. The D500 has better noise performance when compared to other cameras from the same league.
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Conclusion
If you are an amateur or an enthusiast photographer looking for something which offers a lot of features, then the D500 is the ultimate camera for you. Professionals, who are usually swayed towards full-frame, could also find use for the D500, especially sports and wildlife photographers who could make use of the crop sensor to get additional focal length. The D500 is built to be a rugged workhorse camera that can withstand a lot of abuse in the field. As a result, it has a superb build and solid weather sealing with ergonomics that would not take much time to get used to. Intelligent button placements along with customisable functions. A superb performer in low-light situations and loaded with features like 4K video recording, WiFi and NFC, make it a really sweet deal. While it’s true that the Nikon D500 isn’t the cheapest APS-C DSLR you can buy, it offers an incredibly diverse array of features which should suit many different types of photographers. Image quality is also very good, with the ability to record videos in 4K also making it appealing to videographers, or photographers who like to record video alongside stills.
Nikon D500 Key Features
- 20.9 megapixel DX APS-C CMOS Sensor
- 3.2inch Tilting Touch-screen, 2,359K dots
- 1.0x Magnification, 100% coverage optical viewfinder (OVF)
- 10fps continuous shooting (200 shots RAW)
- 200,000 shutter cycle rating
- 153 AF points, 99 cross-type, -4EV
- Group AF, Tracking AF
- UHD 4K Video (3840x2160), upto 29 minutes, 59 seconds
- ISO100 to ISO51200, expands to ISO50 to ISO1,640,000
- Nikon SnapBridge Bluetooth Always On (Low Power)
- Wi-Fi / NFC built-in
- Supports XQD and SD memory cards
- Built-in interval timer and 4K/UHD quality time-lapse function
- USB3.0 Connectivity
Nice review... thanks...
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