larryepage Loc: North Texas area

That is understandable. They pretty much have to guide you toward what they have to sell if they hope to continue generating revenue and profit.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

If you want to be a better photographer, there are two things you must do above all others: buy a mirrorless camera and use it.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

If you are keeping the same lenses you will not see much if any difference in weight.
IQ will be the same as all 3 are the same low resolution 20 mp.
Now getting a Z50 which is the lightest and also the lightest crop lenses from Nikon you will see a difference. But again IQ will remain the same.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The caterpillar thought it was the end of the world. But then, it was handed a mirrorless camera and became a butterfly.

davyboy Loc: Anoka Mn.

You should take a serious look at Panasonic their new g9 is coming out and will have phase detect focusing up graded sensors and of coarse their user friendly menu

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

If you are selling off the system you have, it will make you "open" to all formats.

First, you have to decide if you want to continue with a system camera or change to a bridge camera. I have had a bridge before and, other than a OM TG-6 or TG-7, I will never have another. I like the ability of changing out lenses for a specific view or function without the limitations of an "all-in-one" camera. But the "all-in-one" camera tends to be the lightest for a specific lens range. But it could be a disappointment after owning a system camera.

If you decide for a system camera and want to save weight, you need to look at the the lenses more so than the bodies. The bodies are not that much different in weight between all the formats bodies. 4/3rds tends to be the lightest but not always. But the lenses are a different story. You will need to keep "crop factor" in mind to make sure you are comparing the same angle of view between all of the different format lenses. Usually the most weight is saved by going to 4/3rds format. APS-C is usually between 4/3rds and full frame in weight savings.

Two examples are as follows:
My OM 300 f4 Pro IS lens and Sony, Nikon, and Canon 600 f4 all have a 4.1° angle of view. My lens is under 10" long, 2.7 pounds, $2900, and really does not need a tripod for travel. The Sony, Nikon, and Canon are 16" or more long, 6.5 pounds or heavier, $12,000 or more, and normally requires a sturdy tripod. Weight wise, that is quite a difference. And size wise, for travel, it is a considerable difference.

My second example is my full travel backpack. My lens range is 14 to 1200 in 35mm angle of view. It is 5 lenses of f2.8 to f4, 2 bodies, 2 teleconverters, 4 batteries and charger, 2 flashes, viewsight (EE-1), filters, and accessories. This all fits in a Mindshift Backlight 26L (20.3" x 11.4" x 7.9") at 20 pounds. And I plan to add the new OM 90 f3.5 Pro IS Macro plus 1 pound to the heap next month.

Trust me, I am not sure I will really notice the difference between 20 and 21 pounds while hiking or traveling.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Dumb post

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Go wave your pacifier at someone else.

ELNikkor

With your D500 and FF lenses you have reached the pinnacle of what APS-C DSLRs can offer. Going to mirrorless basic APS-C there will be compromises, but since you are scaling down and want less weight, the Z50 with a 16-50 VR lens can take excellent photos and only weighs around pound & a half. You will like the built-in flash for instant fill, & few other cameras have one. Also, the 50-250 VR lens for it weighs less than a pound. I'm sure you'll get great shots of landscapes, cruising, and your grandchildren with it. Adapters open up possibilities for countless of other lenses.

Spirit Vision Photography Loc: Behind a Camera.

🙄

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Nowadays good cameras are costly and sometimes, changing up an entire system is quite an investment. It's good to ask around and get others' opinions. It is not a bad idea to read reviews by known camer "gurus". Doing the homework and putting in the research is advisable. It's great to get a new camera with more features or an improved IQ. There are some problems.

On this forum, some helpful people are willing to take the time to provide advice and share their experiences. Some other folks mock the OP and provide snarkiness and sarcasm and oftentimes, unfortunately, the latter group begins infighting among themselves. Some will refer to the opinions and reviews of their favorite "guru" and their "opponent" and then knocks that guru. There are many opposing fan clubs and cults!

In some professional photography circles, the grapvine" is sometimes a good source of waht's hot and waht's not and there may be a similar culture among enthusiasts.

In this thread, the OP is seeking advice on a smaller and lighter-weight camera and needs to know if such a mirrorless camera will yield as good an image quality as a current and heavier DSLR. He has received several good answers. Perhaps a smaller, lighter, and more up-to-date camera will address his needs, and perhaps not.

My advice to the OP: Take the time to go to a good camera store- a real dealer and experience a demonstration. Bring your lenses, and/or try some new ones. The fact is not everyone has the same level of dexterity and strength, and even a lighter and smaller body may still be awkward or unwieldy with a big lens. Also, consider grips and brackets. Find out if you like the accessibility to the controls- are they too small or not as accessible as your present bodies? See if you like the electronic image in the viewfinder. Other folks can tell you waht THEY like but only you can determine waht YOU like, need, or want. And, most importantly, check out the PICTURES. A good dealer should have a decent large monitor set up so you can take a few shots and scrutinize the quality!

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I am normally among the first to recommend a crop sensor camera over full frame, to reduce size and weight. However, in your case I have to do just the opposite.

For your purposes a full frame camera would be a better choice. Better for landscape and portrait photography. These types of photography also aren't all that demanding of autofocus, so cameras with less than the "latest and greatest" AF system will serve you just as well.

There are two current Nikon you should consider, each is about 1/4 lb. lighter than D500, and both happen to be on sale right now (in the US, don't know about elsewhere)...

- Nikon Z7 Mark II ($2600, body only) 46MP full frame.
- Nikon Z6 Mark II ($1700, body only) 25MP full frame.

It's not an important feature for most landscape and portrait photography, but the Z7II matches your D500's 10 frames/sec. shooting rate. The Z6II does even better with up to 14 fps.

Both offer more resolution than your D500's 21MP. And as full frame cameras they will likely allow even higher usable ISO.

Yes, you could get get even lower weight with one of the DX mirrorless... Z30/Z50 or Zfc. However, in many respects you will be taking a step down in the model line. All the current Nikon Z DX models are more similar to the D3000/D5000 series, than to your top-of-the-line DX D500. Where you have 2 memory card slots now, you'd have only one in the DX mirrorless (the Z7II and Z6II both have dual slots).

Both the FX mirrorless also have 1/8000 shutter speed, matching your D500. The DX mirrorless max out at 1/4000.

Both the FX mirrorless have anti-flicker feature like your D500, which is a handy feature when shooting under fluorescent and similar types of lighting. Nikon's DX format mirrorless don't have this feature.

The FX mirrorless also bring new features your D500 lacks, such as in-camera image stabilization. The DX format Z series cameras don't have that.

While Nikon's line-up is in better shape than Canon's APS-C lens selection, so far Nikon has only produced five DX-specific lenses. In contrast, there are 31 Nikon Z FX lenses. Of course, the DX cameras also can use FX lenses (likewise the FX cameras can use the DX lenses, but images will be heavily cropped). There are also a number of third party lenses for both DX and FX Z.

You also should carefully compare lens size and weight. There may be some savings to be had there, too. You also might consider using a few prime lenses instead of zooms, too. They can be considerably smaller and lighter (not to mention, less expensive). I shoot Canon gear, but have a mirrorless with four prime lenses (ultra wide, moderate wide, short tele, longer tele). The entire kit is lighter than one of my DSLRs with one standard zoom lenses. Heck, in fact the entire mirrorless kit including small camera bag, macro extension tubes, an adapter (to use DSLR lenses on it), extra batteries, memory cars, etc. is way lighter than many of the individual lenses for my DSLRs.

You also need to

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Another stupid irrelevant comment on the subject as always crybaby.

dtp5130

I was in a similar position last year, advancing years and heavy full frame camera gear, which in reality was sapping my energy and enjoyment of photo excursions......
I bit the bullet, changed manufacturer (from Nikon) and bought a Fujifilm X-T5 mirrorless camera with a couple of zoom lenses and one prime.
My enthusiasm has been returned and the quality of my pictures has definitely improved......believe me this is a great, all round camera at a very sensible price point.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Better better and best is part of the Mpix race times... now with AI the race should be over and the thinking of photographers revised to fit our Brave New AI World. A 1" sensor quality SuperZoom camera is in your pocket ready for shooting. With Video Burst photography and a choice of frame[s] which can be AI modified... You have the best of all possible worlds. Think Today.