Having both a Nikon d850 and a d500 - why? (Page 3): I have both the D500 and D850. I may use both at the same time, with different lenses attached. The D500 takes about 80% of my...

photoman43

DaveyDitzer wrote:

I have both Nikons - D850 and D500 but find I use the D500 very little and I'd like comments from Hoggers who have and use both, about the advantages of one over the other. I also have a Df which can use the older D (screw drive) lenses and a Zfc which offers lightweight and a crop sensor.

I have both the D500 and D850. I may use both at the same time, with different lenses attached. The D500 takes about 80% of my nature/wildlife/birds photos as it has more effective reach due to the crop sensor in it and it has faster frames per sec than the D850. My longest focal length lens is usually on the D500. A shorter lens on the D850.

I also have the Z9. I still use the D500 because of it more effective reach.

All of my lenses are FX.

coolhanduke Loc: Redondo Beach, CA

And dropping them, as I have.

pendennis

To be honest, if I had both, I'd sell the D500 and go all-D850. It's probably the best of the pro-am cameras, along with the D810, which I have as a back-up camera. Nothing wrong with the D500, and I loved mine while I owned it.

You can "image down" with the D850, giving you a lot of flexibility. If you need a second FX body, find a low-mileage D810. Its 36MP sensor is phenomenal. There are also a lot of nice D750's, which could be considered a good second body.

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

DougS wrote:

Like some others answering, I carry 2 cameras, one with a wide angle zoom, the other a longer zoom. Many times I have missed a shot due to time lost while changing the lens! Plus it greatly(!) reduces the chance of dust getting on the sensor.

A FF and a crop are a good pair with lenses both can use...

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

pendennis wrote:

To be honest, if I had both, I'd sell the D500 and go all-D850. It's probably the best of the pro-am cameras, along with the D810, which I have as a back-up camera. Nothing wrong with the D500, and I loved mine while I owned it.

You can "image down" with the D850, giving you a lot of flexibility. If you need a second FX body, find a low-mileage D810. Its 36MP sensor is phenomenal. There are also a lot of nice D750's, which could be considered a good second body.

I've done that...taken the D850 out for the day and then gotten in a situation where I needed to make the photographs that I could have made with my D500. Technologically, it works great. But it is in no way the same. For reasons that I have yet to be able to completely quantify, the D850 is just nowhere near as agile and maneuverable as the D500, even when equipped with the same lens.

Having said that, it's my observation that the D500 has, from the beginning, been a misunderstood "conundrum camera." This is largely the result of Nikon's unfortunate choice to market it as a "sports and wildlife" camera, despite the fact that the predecessors in its line (D200, D300, D300s) were never marketed that way. As a result, many of those who believed the marketing story never used their D500 for anything else, and many, like me, either put off buying one or maybe even never did. And as can be read on this forum just about every day for the six years that I've been a member, those that have never seen or tried one have the story baked in their brains and are quick to repeat it as soon as an opportunity to speak arises.

In fact, while the D500 does have some operational capabilities that are beneficial for sports and wildlife, it will do about 98% of what the D850 will do. To me, that's one of the benefits and one of the big reasons I bought my first one. I got tired of shooting my D300s, getting in a situation where I wanted to use a function that I'd come to like on the D850, then realizing, "Oh, this camera can't do that." That doesn't happen with the D500, with the exception of a couple of new functions that don't matter in those situations.

Besides...if I were out shooting with some of the mirrorless folks here who apparently have clinically oversensitive hearing, the D500 shutter is noticeably tighter and quieter than that of the D850. Taking the D500 out would be a way to avoid or at least minimize offense to them.

photoman43

pendennis wrote:

To be honest, if I had both, I'd sell the D500 and go all-D850. It's probably the best of the pro-am cameras, along with the D810, which I have as a back-up camera. Nothing wrong with the D500, and I loved mine while I owned it.

You can "image down" with the D850, giving you a lot of flexibility. If you need a second FX body, find a low-mileage D810. Its 36MP sensor is phenomenal. There are also a lot of nice D750's, which could be considered a good second body.

The D810 is a good recommendation as a second camera to a D850. Its buttons and functionality is very close to the D850. It is a great camera.

coolhanduke Loc: Redondo Beach, CA

Ditto on the second D850. Sell the D500 and buy the same body you have if you got the money. But retain 2 bodies.

davyboy Loc: Anoka Mn.

larryepage wrote:

I also have both of these cameras. The D850 came first as a second camera when I was very heavily into night sky photography. But a lot of the time, 46MP is just complete overkill for the "daytime" shooting that I do. So I bought a D500 for use in more casual situations. Sort of like when I had Olympus film cameras for "most of the time," but added a couple of Mamiya 120/220 cameras & lenses for more serious shooting.

While the D850 has (and I have used) a DX format option, along with several other format choices, it is, without debate, a bulky camera. In particular, it is significantly thicker (front to back) than any other camera I own. That pushed me to look at the D500 for those times when 21 MP is more appropriate. To me, the D500 is ergonomically much more pleasant camera to shoot. I have said before that it is the best shooting camera I have owned, as well as the best ergonomically.

There are a couple of other considerations. The first is that the control layout and operating systems of these two cameras are identical. Shooting one is the same as shooting the other. Mine are set up with identical menu customizations and identical Picture Control configurations. The second is that sensor density is nearly identical between the two cameras. A lens that performs well on one of them will perform well on the other. Their low light performance is very close to the same, and their "rendering" performance is almost identical. It is somewhere between difficult and impossible to visually identify which camera produced which exposures.

Just as a note...since I have almost exclusively purchased FX lenses through the years, both cameras tend to get used with the same lenses. There are a couple of exceptions. I do have and use a 17-55mm f/2.8 DX Nikkor on the D500, and until it died recently, I very occasionally used a 18-200mm DX Nikkor zoom. And to answer the question that will inevitably arise, if I need wide angle, I take the D850.

I just took a quick look at shutter counts. It appears that about 2/3 of my exposures over the past four years are made with the D500 and the remaining third with the D850. So it has in no way been relegated to the shelf or closet. In fact, I like these cameras so well that I now have two of each. Default configuration is that one of each of them has a 24-120mm f/4 Nikkor zoom and the other has the "normal" f/2.8 zoom...17-55mm and 24-70mm ready to go.

So no, I do not think it is silly to have both of these cameras. My suggestion is to get your D00 out and use it more.

I also have both of these cameras. The D850 came ... (show quote)

Isn’t the D500 the top rated wild life cameta

Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

Strodav wrote:

Have been using both for a few years now. When sh... (show quote)

I have done some limited A-B testing of images in both modes. I find the DX Crop mode shots on my Z9 seem to lack the "look" I have come appreciate from my Z9.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

davyboy wrote:

Isn’t the D500 the top rated wild life cameta

Didn't say it wasn't. But it's outstanding at just about everything else, too. Most have never tried it.

Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

DaveyDitzer wrote:

I have both Nikons - D850 and D500 but find I use the D500 very little and I'd like comments from Hoggers who have and use both, about the advantages of one over the other. I also have a Df which can use the older D (screw drive) lenses and a Zfc which offers lightweight and a crop sensor.

I rarely use my D500 since acquiring my Z9. I find the image quality from both my D850 and Z9 to be comparable. My D500 does suffer some when images-BIFs for instance- do not mostly fill the viewfinder. Using my 500pF for comparisons in the field. Thinking of selling my D500 as it is not used...

My wish would be for a Z9-type camera with the size, weight, and feel of the D500, a camera that I believe might just be the best BIF body currently available!

MG Audet

Overall the D850 is a better camera. To get the reach you're talking about, just put it in DX mode. The cameras are somewhat redundant. I sold my D500. Now have the D850 and the Z9. Having so much fun with the Z9 that I haven't used the D850 since, but will take on a trip to the Amazon -- for two bodies.

Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

MG Audet wrote:

Overall the D850 is a better camera. To get the reach you're talking about, just put it in DX mode. The cameras are somewhat redundant. I sold my D500. Now have the D850 and the Z9. Having so much fun with the Z9 that I haven't used the D850 since, but will take on a trip to the Amazon -- for two bodies.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

I have 4 bodies. Depends on what I’m doing. Best of luck.

User ID

Flickwet wrote:

Ok one comment two questions: I use(d) a brace of D700’s one with 24-120 one with 18-35, and my D300s goes with the 80-400.
I just two days ago got the D850…wow! Now I’ll need the D500 to maintain the same familial layout and battery packs. But I still love my D700’s and D300S. Now lastly, been thinking about that Zfc, how do you like it? I love the form factor but have MFT e-m5’s for travel, unless I can maybe make the ZFc work

The EM5 (mine is the mkii) seems the unbeatable choice for great portability, especially as the lenses are so small.

I cant speak of the Zfc, never having even seen one. I do have APSC Sonys, but still prefer the EM5ii if two or more lenses are involved. I really favor APSC for a one-lens outfit with a mid-zoom or compact prime.

Im stubbornly unwilling to tote as much baggage as youve described. I did that for decades, for PAY, so doing it without pay is too much like going to work :-)

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Owning all three formats my real usage gravitates to the extremes, so my APSC gets somewhat neglected. But Im sure that were I to choose only one format then I would avoid the weight of FF and the compromises of m4/3, and build a fully APSC kit for all purposes (possibly Fuji cuz they are clearly THE dedicated APSC brand).

Sooo, back On Topic ... limited to ONLY the D850 and D500, in an "either-or or both" decision, Ill go with just the D500 or whatever Z model is its replacement.