Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

This is the first of several posts on my experience with my D7500 after a week in Cancun, Mexico.

During that time, I took 631 pictures (jpeg+RAW) and 12 minutes of video and the battery shows 3 out of 4 bars. The battery life of this puppy is impressive, to say the least.

I decided to bring my Nikkor DX AF-S 18-300mm f/3.5-5.3 lens, my Nikkor DX AF-P 10-20mm f/4.5-5.3 and my Nikkor DX AF-S 35mm f/1.8. I elected to leave my SB-700 speedlight at home. I brought along a spare battery and some lenspens and microfiber cloth. I do not have UV filters on my lenses, just the lens hoods.

That D7500 is a heavy camera, especially with the 18-300 lens, but my BlackRapid strap was just the ticket to help this old geezer handle the weight.

At first I was using A mode and P mode, but then I decided to concentrate more on composition and focus and let the camera handle the exposure. I took pictures at night, during the day, cloudy, sunny, windy, etc. and the D7500 did just great. I used the continuous mode several times for specific scenes and it was excellent.

I also took lots of pictures with my Samsung Note 8, as there were places were big cameras had to be declared and a tax paid to use them; smartphones were ok. The Note 8 was definitely up to the task, but right now, no smartphone can fully replace a DSLR.

Here is a picture from the Note 8.

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Why post the Note 8 photo after taking the time to talk about the D7500? Just wondering.

Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

Because I was writing my second post and I got interrupted and lost the text. My plan is to post several pictures from the D7500; telling a little story.

Here is the view from the balcony of our hotel room at night. This is using the AF-P 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6 DX.

Looking across.


Looking down, notice the beach on the left.

Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

My D7500 is setup for BBF and it works very well that way. I have a 128 GB Lexar Professional 633X card in the D7500 and it provides for oodles of storage. I copy the pictures to my laptop every day by simply transferring the card to a Anker SD reader on the laptop; it's much faster than the built-in SD reader built-in to the laptop.

The next day, I switched back to the 18-300 DX zoom. I usually have the 18-140 DX as my regular lens; it's much lighter and I usually do not need the 300's magnification, but going to a place like Cancun, with the activities we had planned just screamed to have the 18-300 on the camera.

The next morning, I woke up and saw a strange sight over the ocean. I thought the plane was going to hit the parachute.

Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

But luckily, it didn't.

Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

That's when I remembered the continuous mode, but by that time, it was too late for this scene.

One of the features I really like about the D7500 is that I can easily switch between single, slow continuous and fast continuous and others by simply twisting a dial on top. I like that I don't have to dig into menus to accomplish that and that I can verify the setting at a glace, not even having to touch anything. I spent quite a bit of time with fast continuous (8FPS) and slow continuous that I have set at 4FPS. That last one is configurable. I can also set a limit on how many shots I can take in continuous mode in one press; I have it set at 100. I detected a slowdown past about 45 frames or so. As I explained, I shoot in jpeg fine + RAW. I suspect that if I only shot in jpeg, there would be no slowdown until I hit the limit, currently set at 100. Something to check out.

More to come.

Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

There was a ferry trip to Isla Mujeres during the vacation and I worked the D7500 quite a bit during that excursion. I find that taking pictures on a rocking boat is challenging when it comes to keeping the horizon level.

I like this one that shows a lot of sparkle in the waters and is a contrast between the simple posts in the water on which birds perch and the modern constructions in the background.

Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

Getting to the terminal at Isla Mujeres, we were greeted by this colorful sight and I tried to compress everything using the telephoto at maximum.

Yes, I managed to keep everything level even as we were bobbing up and down while approaching the dock.

jstpsgthruyrwrld

Sorry, to the OP for the intrusion. I have a question, to everyone. I'm absolutely too new to be a novice, but I've heard of using neutral density lenses. Would a neutral density lens be useful on the photo looking down at the beach on the left? There is a lot of contrast. Maybe a neutral filter would allow more detail in the dark areas? Am I completely off on what a neutral density lens does?

Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

No need to apologize, all comments are welcome.

With respect to ND filters, the way I view them is more as a way to extend aperture control. The ND filter cuts down on the incoming light so that you have to increase the size of the aperture (go to a smaller F-number) to make up for it. As you know, when the aperture is wide open, this cuts down on the depth of field, and that may be something that you wish to use in a bright sunlight scene where a wide aperture would cause the picture to be overexposed. Using an appropriate ND filter allows you to open the aperture, cut down on the depth of field for creative purposes and still have a properly exposed photograph without going nuts on the shutter speed.

The ND filter will not bring out more detail in dark areas. In the case of the picture you mention, the ND filter would just cause the shutter to be open even longer. The exposure was 1/40 sec @ f/4.5; I had to hold very still for it.

jstpsgthruyrwrld

Thanks for your kind reply. Further, if you would be so kind ----- The picture above shows more detail; green grass and side of the hotel show up better. I think I understand that exposure had to darken that, in order to show the beach. Soooo, is there a cheat (like a filter or something) that would allow you to get the beach plus the grass and buildings like they were in the first photo? Thanks, again.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

It's interesting that you should find the D7500 heavy. I have grandsons 8 and 3 and the oldest plays soccer, baseball, and basketball and the youngest has started soccer. My daughter has wanted a dslr for better prints. Yesterday I bought her the 7500 and a Tamron 100-400. I gave her a shorter zoom (35-80) as well. She had no problem with the weight of the D7500 and the Tamron. I must admit the lens is much lighter than a Nikon lens would be (less expensive as well). After my D800, I also found the D7500 and the Tamron combination to be nice and light. Granted, I'm a bit younger than you are. I post this so that not all will feel that the D7500 is necessarily a heavy camera. It is also smaller than the D500, although with many of its outstanding properties.

Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

Remembering that I am coming from a D5200, yes, the D7500 is definitely heavier and chunkier. When I have the 18-300 DX lens on it, (which weighs a half pound more than the D7500 by itself,) it's a brick. On the other hand the grip of the D7500 is phenomenal. It fits my hand, well, like a glove. Carrying the camera and lens for hours on end running around Cancun, Isla Majores and Tullum, I was pleased with the BlackRapid strap, but it still got heavy. The 18-300 DX lens extends quite a bit at 300mm yet it still balances well since most of its weight is closer to the body.

I really liked the fact I can flip up the monitor to take pictures really low and it allowed me to take this shot on the infinity pool at the hotel without getting in the water with the camera. I need to work on my steadiness while doing such shots.

Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

Speaking of monitors, I really like the touchscreen feature of the D7500. It makes navigating the menu and the pictures a lot easier and more intuitive rather then pressing that button all the time. I keep the monitor clear using a microfiber cloth.

Later in the week, I tried my hand at videos using the D7500. I had not even played with that feature since getting the camera but it was easy to setup. Again, I like having a simple button to flip and there is one on the back at the bottom that controls whether you're doing video or photo; just flip it up for video and down for photo. In the middle of the knob, there is the LV control button. Of course all video uses Live View to focus and compose. So, I flipped the switch and pressed the button and was able to see the image in bright daylight with my polarized sunglasses on my nose. I soon figured out that have the lens at 300mm was going to present some problems with bouncing so I reduced the zoom to about 125mm and pressed the shutter release to start the recording. The first attempt showed that I had forgotten to focus, but in my defense I could not see the monitor clearly. I mashed the focusing button and restarted the recording and was rewarded with some neat videos of my youngest surfing with her board. I can see that for better results a tripod or at least a monopod, would be a great help.

The D7500 had several formats for video recording and goes all the was to 4K @ 30FPS. Since the only 4K device we have at the house is my 50inch computer monitor, I keep the video recording at 2K @ 60FPS. I need to do more testing with the video capabilities, but dammit Jim, I'm a photographer, not a videographer.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

I certainly can understand perspective. Put a Nikon 70-200 on a D800 and you will appreciate how "light" the D7500 is!!