The Nikon D500 got a gold award at dpreview (91%). Their conclusion:
“The D500 is the most well-rounded DSLR we’ve ever tested, and among the very best. Every one of us who has picked it up, regardless of which brands we’ve most often shot, has been impressed by its autofocus system’s wide coverage and ability to find and follow a subject. If you need this, the large viewfinder, solid build and the ability to just keep shooting, then the D500 is peerless. It’s not cheap but it looks like pretty good value if you look at it as a huge chunk of the D5’s capabilities for a fraction of the money.
If you don’t need that cutting-edge high-speed performance, cameras such as the D7200 offer essentially the same image quality, and if you want to shoot video there are better choices, too. But as an APS-C sports and wildlife camera, the D500 is without rival, and that puts in on the top of our awards podium.”
See also this new review of the Nikon D500 with a 300mm lens combo.
A reader did some measurements of the Nikon D500 battery use of EN El15 batteries. here are his findings (thanks Paul Digney):
The attached chart shows percentage of battery left on the vertical access and a number representing shots taken on the X-axis. (22 is about 1,000 shots but these are under highly artificial conditions so the actual number isn’t all that meaningful).
There are two versions of EN EL15s. On is marked on the back with Li-ion01. That is the older version. The other is marked Li-ion20. On the chart The green and brown lines are version 2 batteries. The red and yellow lines are version 1 batteries.
The tests were done by shooting 50 shots in the D500 then measuring battery left % in both the D500 and a D810. For the version 1 battery which registered as empty in the D500 an addional 500 shots were taken in the D810 measuring every 50 shots.
As you can see the D500 treats the version 1 battery very differently than the version 2 battery. The readout for the D810 for both versions is close enough but the readout for the D500 is very different and when the D810 measures it as about half charged the D500 will no longer turn on. However, in the D810 it is not just measured as being more charged it actually is because the D810 can carry on for at least another 500 shots.
Nauticam announced new NA-D500 underwater housing for the Nikon D500 camera:
I assume many readers already know that, but I have to repeat it again because I still get questions on this topic: the Nikon SB-5000 flash will work wirelessly only with the D5 and D500 cameras. Here is the official response from Nikon support:
“Unfortunately the radio AWL system is currently compatible with D5 and D500 cameras only. It is possible that compatibility will be extended to other camera models in the future, however at the moment we cannot promise this. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If you require any further information, feel free to contact us again.”
The new Sony XQD/SD memory card reader is currently in stock.
The Nikon D500 camera is currently in stock at B&H and Adorama.
