Does this sound like a good or bad idea? (Page 2): The D500 is an awesome sports camera. That being said, the D800 is also fantastic. If you get a battery grip for the D800 and use the...

elee950021 Loc: New York, NY

[quote=jr168]The D500 is an awesome sports camera. That being said, the D800 is also fantastic. If you get a battery grip for the D800 and use the EN-EL18 battery or AA batteries and shoot in DX mode, you can get 6 fps. Your images resolution will drop down to 16 MP in the DX mode.[/quot

Shooting soccer occasionally for a buddy's weekly charity pickup game here in NYC, I noticed quickly that you're never in the right spot for the action. Mainly you're too far away and must crop most shots to get the action! Here the DX mode of your D800 (and mine!) becomes handy. I shoot with the 28-300mm F3.5 Nikkor in both the FX and DX modes. In DX mode the lens is the equivalent of 42-450mm focal lengths. The smaller DX file size combined with the earlier tip equals a faster shooting rate and you're good to go! Plus you save $2000! Try a rental D500 first after using the DX mode of your camera. Ed

JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

CO wrote:

The D500 and D5 have the best autofocus system yet for a DSLR camera. I have one. It's a very impressive camera. It will take photos at 10 frames per second with an almost unlimited buffer. The XQD memory card has very fast read/write speeds. The D500 and D5 are the best cameras out there for photographing sports.

CO, I'm not a Nikon shooter, but you might get some improvement by using a class 10 or higher speed card.

btbg

Soccer is one of the easier sports to shoot. It usually has pretty good light and easy access to the sidelines.

I shot sports for 8 years with a D300 and had no problem with getting soccer shots for the local paper. The D800 is a huge step up from the D300, so I would guess that the lens you are using is more of a hindrance than what camera body you are using.

Before investing in a new camera body I would seriously try renting both a faster lens and a d500 body and see which gave you the biggest improvement.

I currently shoot with both a D5 and a D500, although the D500 is a big improvement from the D300 it's not nearly as good as the D5.

Point is that you may get some improvement from the D500, but better technique and timing coupled with better glass may make more difference for you than a new camera body.

pendennis

f4, and wider. Preferably f2.8 on longer lenses.

1Feathercrest wrote:

For the rank amature photo enthusiast, please define "fast glass".

Impressionist

Hi Linda

You should be very proud of yourself for the knowledge you gained as a photographer. You are happy with the images you created with the camera used and you have discovered it's limits. All have limits and you have earned the gain a D500 would bring in addition to your D800. Don't sacrifice what you have, add to it. Again you have earned it.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

billnikon wrote:

Any time you can fill the frame with your action the better the IQ and blow up size. So, get a D500, increase your buffer and fill the frame with the action and you will be happier. I own the D800 and a 200-500 zoom. Now this zoom will be a 300-750 with the D500, you should be able to fill your frame and get sharper photo's as a result. Enjoy the shoot. Keep the D800.

Bill, I couldn't agree more. I use a D800, but I've tried the D500 with the 28-300mm F3.5-5.6, 70-200mm F2.8 VR II with a 1.4TC, the 80-400 VR-AF-S, and the 200-500mm - and by far and away the best is the 200-500 - small, light and very sharp and at $1400, the price is right. Behind that I liked the 80-400, and lastly the 70-200 with the 1.4 - it was still pretty crisp, but the AF speed was a bit slower. I dismissed the 28-300 for this kind of work since it's performance drops significantly beyond 150mm, where the sharpness is only fair at best as is the AF performance. I have tried 3 copies of this lens, hoping that my first experience was an anomaly, and it wasn't. All three were pretty soft at 300mm, and I did compare live view contrast detect AF to viewfinder phase detect AF to rule out lens focus fine tuning as a factor.

A good fast card is key for frame rate - it does feel like you can hold the shutter button down until the batteries die and you still won't fill the buffer.

BebuLamar

1Feathercrest wrote:

For the rank amature photo enthusiast, please define "fast glass".

It's kind of a slang for "large aperture lens".

Twardlow Loc: Arkansas

Linda Roina wrote:

I have a Nikon D800. I love the camera for the pictures themselves. Plus there is a lot of room to crop. The problem with this camera is it is too slow. I shoot a lot of soccer photos. Mainly youth soccer. Would it be an advantage to switch to the D500 or not? I just don't want to make a mistake and be sorry in the end.

Can you rent a D500 in order to try it out?

I think that's the way to go if rentals are available near you.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

I am wanting a Nikon D500 and also a Tamron 24-70mm lens. I can't have both yet. Maybe I'll just get my lens first and wait next year for the possibility of the D500. I've heard no negatives on this new camera. I know someone who owns a D800e using a 70-200mm. His images are excellent, but he doesn't shoot soccer games with it.

2nefoto

You might consider a D750 for your soccer. Faster than the D800, and you still have full frame. You didn't mention what glass you own. However, given soccer in daylight, you will seldom need 2.8. Beware, if you own a 28-70 (2.8), it will not auto focus on the D750. In the end, test before buying. Good shooting!

Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

Linda Roina wrote:

I have a Nikon D800. I love the camera for the pictures themselves. Plus there is a lot of room to crop. The problem with this camera is it is too slow. I shoot a lot of soccer photos. Mainly youth soccer. Would it be an advantage to switch to the D500 or not? I just don't want to make a mistake and be sorry in the end.

I would love to recommend the Sony a6300. Eleven shots per second for a long time. The fastest focus around. Problem is I can't. No lenses long enough for sports

Maybe you could rent a D500 for an outing or two before you buy.

DI Seller Loc: Knoxville, TN

I wholeheartedly agree with JPL. Rent it and give it a test run first. It is unusual in the ways of crop frame cameras in that is a rather large body, but you're used to that with your 800. You do also have the advantage in that if you have full frame lenses for your 800 you can use them on the 500 although there will be some loss due to the difference between the full frame in the crop frame format.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Linda Roina wrote:

I have a Nikon D800. I love the camera for the pictures themselves. Plus there is a lot of room to crop. The problem with this camera is it is too slow. I shoot a lot of soccer photos. Mainly youth soccer. Would it be an advantage to switch to the D500 or not? I just don't want to make a mistake and be sorry in the end.

Yes. The frame rate is what you need for sports photography.

CaptainBobBrown

I used my D810 on a safari to Botswana this summer and found it to be a great camera for landscapes and wildlife using my f2.8 300mm prime and sometimes the Nikon TCE3 2.0 teleconverter. With its 36 mp sensor I could crop 100% to get smaller objects at close to full frame with no loss of sharpness or increase in noise. However, for small fast moving birds or BIF's a faster frame rate would help a lot so I got the D500 and have been amazed at it's resolution, autofocus speed, and shooting rate so I'll use it at Bosque del Apache in a few weeks for the geese, raptors, and sandhill cranes. However, unless you're shooting birds in flight with a longer lens the D810 should do the job at 4-6 fps and the huge sensor gives great resolution in a full frame body.

cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast

I'd keep the D800 and consider the new Sony RX that shoot 24 fpm! You win both ways.