Nikon D4s or D500 for birds and sports? Currently I have Nikon D800 and Nikon D4S. For birds and sports, I have used D4S because of burst speed. Now I am considering to buy Nikon D500...

Richard HZ Loc: Indiana, US

Currently I have Nikon D800 and Nikon D4S. For birds and sports, I have used D4S because of burst speed. Now I am considering to buy Nikon D500 for such purpose to have longer reach. At same time, I am also thinking to use Nikon TC14 I have. So my question is that which one is better between Nikon D4S plus TC 14 or Nikon D500 for birds and sports? Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks!

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

Which lens?

Bill_de Loc: US

I have a D4s and use it with an 800mm on a tripod. I purchased a D500 and a 200 - 500 as a hand holdable for walking around. No regrets.

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CO

I recently bought a D500 and am very impressed with it. You would have more pixel density with the D500 - 20.9 megapixels on a DX sensor vs 16 megapixels on a full frame sensor. That extra "reach" would be good for your bird shots.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

I use the D500 with the 200-500 as my walk around nature combo

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

The only Nikon I own is the D7200. I've been doing extensive research on which DSLR is currently the best for sports and wildlife, primarily birds. The top two are Canon 1DX II and Nikon D500. Factor in cost and pixel density and the D500 is the winner.

jsimp3 Loc: Tennessee

I have the D810 which I use for landscapes, and the D4s, which I was my go to body for birding and other forms of wildlife. I have had my D500 for about a month now with very favorable results. The one frame per second on the FR is barely noticeable between the two... along with the image quality. Another deal breaker for me was the D500 buffer. One of my favorite birds to shoot is the Blue Heron diving for fish. I took the D500 to my favorite location and the speed, image quality was equal to images take with my D4s. I haven't been able to capture any sporting events as of yet so I can't comment in this area, but I am expecting the same performance. The big difference of course in the price. You can get similar captures with D500 with a savings of a few thousand bucks.

I would suggest purchasing from B&H which will allow you 30 days to compare before returning for a full re-fund.

jsimp3 Loc: Tennessee

I forgot to mention that I was shooting with the Sigma 150-600 sport, and the Nikon 80-400. Mounting the lenses on the D500 gave me the extra reach without using the TC's.

Richard HZ Loc: Indiana, US

Thanks, Bill!

Bill_de wrote:

I have a D4s and use it with an 800mm on a tripod. I purchased a D500 and a 200 - 500 as a hand holdable for walking around. No regrets.

--

Richard HZ Loc: Indiana, US

Thanks for the input!

CO wrote:

I recently bought a D500 and am very impressed with it. You would have more pixel density with the D500 - 20.9 megapixels on a DX sensor vs 16 megapixels on a full frame sensor. That extra "reach" would be good for your bird shots.

Richard HZ Loc: Indiana, US

Thanks for the info!

mborn wrote:

I use the D500 with the 200-500 as my walk around nature combo

Richard HZ Loc: Indiana, US

Thanks!

rmorrison1116 wrote:

The only Nikon I own is the D7200. I've been doing extensive research on which DSLR is currently the best for sports and wildlife, primarily birds. The top two are Canon 1DX II and Nikon D500. Factor in cost and pixel density and the D500 is the winner.

Richard HZ Loc: Indiana, US

Thank you very much for the input!

jsimp3 wrote:

I forgot to mention that I was shooting with the Sigma 150-600 sport, and the Nikon 80-400. Mounting the lenses on the D500 gave me the extra reach without using the TC's.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Richard HZ wrote:

Currently I have Nikon D800 and Nikon D4S. For birds and sports, I have used D4S because of burst speed. Now I am considering to buy Nikon D500 for such purpose to have longer reach. At same time, I am also thinking to use Nikon TC14 I have. So my question is that which one is better between Nikon D4S plus TC 14 or Nikon D500 for birds and sports? Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks!

Everyone that has replied seems to forget that you asked about the TC 1.4 and the two different camera bodies. The truth is the TC will work the same on each body, but the lens is the important factor. TC's typically work best with prime supertelephoto lenses, especially fast lenses. So if you have a prime 500mm or 600mm lens, the TC will work fine. If you have a zoom lens, TC's don't work as well simply because they aren't usually fast lenses with the exception of the 70-200 or 80-200 f/2.8. But you probably wouldn't be using those lenses for birding.

But if you have a 500mm lens and the D500 with a 1.4TC, your effective focal length would be 1050mm

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

I won't touch the "extra reach" issue, except to say that it doesn't exist. I am familiar with all bodies mentioned and owned/own them all except for the D500. To me the interesting things about the D500 are its inherited properties from the D5, which I also own. I used a D4s for several years, for everything but mostly sports, am intimately familiar with it, and consider it a superior camera, one that I really hated to trade in for the D5. In my opinion, I would stick with the D4s for any action (sports, birds, small children), but that's just my personal opinion. My D5 replaced the D4s and the D810 replaced my D3. The D810 will be my go to camera for portraits, landscape and some event work. My D5 will be used for any action type shots and when a higher ISO might be needed. Works for me! Best of luck with this decision!