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Nikon D5 and D500 official (1 Viewer)

Scott Merryfield

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It's pretty cool that MLB allows telephoto lenses in the ball park. I don't think the other major sports leagues are as accommodating, and you can't bring anything bigger than a point and shoot that fits in your pocket to a University of Michigan football game.
 

Sam Posten

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Yeah, pretty happy with the combo of Nikon D500 and 70-300 VR, all shots from the 'club' level. Security doesn't blink an eye bringing this combo in and it shoots under the lights at 1/640th a second at 3200 ISO like it was daylight. Can't wait to try it during a real daytime game and see how little noise there will be in those shots.


16-RavensLions-4016
by Sam Posten III, on Flickr


16-RavensLions-4021
by Sam Posten III, on Flickr


16-RavensLions-4030
by Sam Posten III, on Flickr


16-RavensLions-4054
by Sam Posten III, on Flickr

16-RavensLions-3967 by Sam Posten III, on Flickr


16-RavensLions-4111
by Sam Posten III, on Flickr


16-RavensLions-4115
by Sam Posten III, on Flickr


16-RavensLions-4147
by Sam Posten III, on Flickr


16-RavensLions-4197
by Sam Posten III, on Flickr

I really dug the Flicker reduction thing too. Lots more consistent shot to shot.
Full set:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/albums/72157672077772602

The 70-300 does great panos too =)

16-RavensLions-3947-Pano
by Sam Posten III, on Flickr
 

JohnRice

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So, Sam.

After about 2.5 years back in photography, I'm curious about the D500. I realize I'd like an articulating screen and have been waiting for a D7300, to see what they come up with. At first, I kind of disregarded the D500 since it has such an emphasis on speed, but as people have used it for a few months now, it really seems to be revealed as a true champ. I have such an investment in great lenses, so I need to stay with Nikon DX format. One thing I keep hearing is what a dream the D500 is to work with. Even though it has such an emphasis on speed, it does appear to be more than solid for landscape and the type of stuff I do. I get the feeling it might be the single best all-around powerhouse camera available. Do you agree with that? Since the price has dropped $200, I might just treat myself.
 

JohnRice

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Screw it. I took the plunge. Once I get a sense of the D500 I might have my D7100 modified for IR.
 
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Scott Merryfield

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Couldn't tell ya about landscape, mine won't ever go below 70mm x1.5 crop factor. =)

That is how I use my Canon 7D2, as well. It's only had a 70-200 f/4 IS and 100-400 II IS attached since I bought the body. I use my full frame 5D3 for landscapes. However, John, I cannot imagine that the D500 will not work well for landscapes, too. You just will not be using all the capabilities that the body offers. However, those capabilities will be there in case you ever need them. After all, there is lots of wonderful wildlife in your area just waiting for you to shoot. I am jealous, as I have to travel to find interesting wildlife.
 

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Of course, I know what this camera is. I was probably asking a silly question. I think that since it's gotten to be traditional thinking to view digital cameras as *only* for "Art" use (D810) or *only* for action (D5), they look at the D500 and say it has to be *only* for action, since it's such it's such a Lamborghini of a camera. Well, the truth is, it's basically as good an "Art" imager as the D71/200. Slightly lower resolution, but not enough to make a difference. What I finally realized is that the D7100 really is weak for action. A D7300 isn't likely to be much better. When you look at it without the traditional Sports/Art attitude, I think you can realize the D500 just really is probably the first truly universally powerful and useful DSLR.

I haven't sought out action or difficult light subjects simply because I know that's not the D7100's strength. The D500 is a jack of all trades. It has virtually no weaknesses. So, I'm in.
 

Scott Merryfield

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Sounds good, John. I'm sure it will be a great camera for you. I feel similar about my Canon 5D3. It's full frame, but has a higher end auto focus system and shoots a fairly decent 6 frames per second. It works great as a jack of all trades body, too, and I will not hesitate to use it for wildlife or sports as long as I do not need the added "reach" of the crop sensor in my 7D2.
 

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The D500 has arrived, so I'll post some (very) initial impressions. The first thing is, it's just a much better size for me than the D7100. I'm 6' 6" and the D7100 was always too small for my hands. My pinky finger hangs off the bottom of the body, and leaves me to grip it with only two fingers, which really was bad with heavy artillery like the 150-500. It's always been uncomfortable. Another small but significant thing is the back-focus button is a bit further from the viewfinder. Since I wear glasses, it's much better on the D500. Because of this, on the D7100 I also assigned the bottom front button for AF, which I would hit with my dangling pinky finger. Not an ideal situation and much better on the D500. I think I can leave the front button for something better now.

Finally, holy SMOKES this thing is fast. On continuous high, it's almost impossible to take only one picture. It takes so much effort it would probably cause camera shake. It looks like I can exchange my D7100 battery for a new one with Nikon. They use the same battery, but it turns out the D500 is rather picky about batteries.

So, the bigger body is significantly more comfortable for me to use. That's going to be an real improvement.
 

JohnRice

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Yeah, I'll get to that. I haven't had any subjects worth posting in the 10 days I've had the camera, and I've been experimenting with video. It's also a pretty decent camera for video. I might have something next weekend.
 

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I took the D500 to the folks' house today, in case one of their cats decided to pose for me. I wanted to try out some higher ISO, available light shots, test the auto WB and verify there are no focus problems with my Sigma 50-150 f/2.8. This is handheld at ISO 800, 150mm, 1/80s f/2.8 with OS. Obviously everything is dead on perfect.

The auto WB is infinitely better on the D500 than the D7100. I almost always shoot RAW, so it's not a big deal, but it saves on tweeking the RAW conversion. In fact, auto WB on the D7100 is so unreliable that I never use it. It does significantly better with fluorescents. It also has "flicker" reduction. I don't know exactly what it does, but it definitely can sense when you are shooting under flickering lights, like fluorescent.

Like I've said before, it is such an effortless camera to use.

I might have some nighttime/city light shots from downtown Denver next weekend. Depends on the progress of the evening.

_DSC1439.jpg
 

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Video links are new to me, so here it goes. Here's my initial attempt at a video. It really should have a couple more clips in it, but I'm pretty happy with it for my first try. I don't usually make my FB posts public, but I'll leave this one that way for a couple days so some people here can see the video.

 
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Scott Merryfield

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Looks like the new camera is working well for you, John. My Canon bodies always seem to struggle with auto white balance indoors, with or without a flash. I shoot RAW, too, so it's not a big deal, but just one more thing that needs adjusting in post processing. The newer 7D2, though, does have the anti-flicker feature, which does seem to help. I have not used that body for normal indoor photos with flash, though -- it's only use indoors has been at the zoo in the new penguin house and reptile house. I use my older full frame 5D3 for general indoor stuff. I shot a 100th birthday party for my neighbor's mother a couple of weeks ago, and all the shots needed white balance adjustment.

Facebook must compress your video, as it looks pretty low resolution when I make it full screen.
 

JohnRice

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Yeah, the Auto WB on this seems to be really good. Maybe this is standard, but it also lets you warm or cool it up to a fairly large degree. That will be nice for video, but sometimes I shoot things for others, and save JPGs on a SD card to give to them. I tend to like WB a little warm for a lot of subjects, so this will let me do Auto with a degree of warmth I can select.

I didn't save the video at full HD. I forget what I did. Plus, FB does seems to re-compress it severely. I'll need to find a better online video site if I want to do some real stuff. this is still just getting my feet wet. That literally is my first attempt.
 

JohnRice

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A quick photo before the Colorado Symphony Orchestra concert this afternoon at Boettcher Concert Hall in Denver. It was an afternoon of Beethoven.

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Scott Merryfield

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Nice, John. The image looks sharp across the entire frame (which has more to do with the lens), and no noise. You should be pleased with that kind of result from the new body.
 

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