D850 & D500: Just wondering. I have an amazing D850. It was the first DSLR that I've purchased since my D70 a very long time ago. I mainly shoot animals, some very fast moving. And...

Red Sky At Night

Just wondering. I have an amazing D850. It was the first DSLR that I've purchased since my D70 a very long time ago. I mainly shoot animals, some very fast moving. And I've used a few photos in magazine ads. I am wondering, is there anything that a D500 would do for me that my D850 cannot? Would it be a waste of money or another enjoyable adventure to add this camera? And what benefits would it have for me using crop instead of full frame? I do know I would need new glass for the D500.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Any lens that will work on your D850 will work fine on your D500. The D500 will give you a higher frame rate in continuous shooting, and is a little bit slimmer overall. I think the D850 probably has the advantage on video. If you don't need the frame rate, do the arithmetic on the advantages of shooting full frame and cropping to DX (or shooting in DX mode). I use both formats and am finding that I like having a little more working room in the viewfinder, then cropping, if appropriate. For the same field of view (as framed in the viewfinder), you will be using a longer lens on the D850, with corresponding reduced depth of field for the same exposure combinations. Is that an advantage to you or a disadvantage? You will give up some wide angle capability with the D500. The D850 has some nifty focus stacking and transparency/negative duplication capabilities that I'm not aware of being available on the D500.

Red Sky At Night

larryepage wrote:

Any lens that will work on your D850 will work fin... (show quote)

Great advice. Thank you.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

What do you mean "And I used a few photos in magazine ads."?

Red Sky At Night

Kmgw9v wrote:

What do you mean "And I used a few photos in magazine ads."?

I put pictures of my dogs in a breed magazine and I’ve been able to use some of the photos I’ve taken with the D850.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

Red Sky At Night wrote:

I put pictures of my dogs in a breed magazine and I’ve been able to use some of the photos I’ve taken with the D850.

I understand. Thanks.

Jerrin1 Loc: Wolverhampton, England

Red Sky At Night wrote:

Just wondering. I have an amazing D850. It was the first DSLR that I've purchased since my D70 a very long time ago. I mainly shoot animals, some very fast moving. And I've used a few photos in magazine ads. I am wondering, is there anything that a D500 would do for me that my D850 cannot? Would it be a waste of money or another enjoyable adventure to add this camera? And what benefits would it have for me using crop instead of full frame? I do know I would need new glass for the D500.

The D500 is a stunning camera and would make a brilliant companion to your D850. The crop factor on the D500 is a great boon for wildlife photography and the focusing system is fabulous. I hardly missed a bird in flight when using it with the Nikkor 200 - 500mm f5.6, which I favoured over my Nikkor 300mm PF ED VR f4 + TC14EIII. Use the D500 for birds in flight/insects in flight and macro and the D850 for everything else.

twice_shooter

The D850 can be used in crop mode and have the same sensor “size” as D500. The D850 has a BSI sensor which is arguably better sensor. The advantage I see to the D500 is the frame rate and if you want to shoot with different lenses on two bodies. One crop and one ff at the same time.

The D850 can achieve almost the same frame rate, 9 vs. 10, as the D500 with the addition of a grip and a D5 battery. You will also need the charger. Still will be a cheaper option than a new D500.

Rawaits Loc: Canton, GA

Red Sky At Night wrote:

I put pictures of my dogs in a breed magazine and I’ve been able to use some of the photos I’ve taken with the D850.

I use my D850 to take photos of German Shepherds in varying show situations. I added the grip to have 9 fps. I love it. The advantage i can imagine of having a D500 would be its lighter and being able to use a lighter lens for the reach (200ish mm) I need, bc of the 1.5 factor.

jr168

I currently have both and have found that I don't use the D500 much since I can put the D850 in crop mode and achieve what the D500 can. I do have the battery grip and battery to give me the 9 frames per second so the frames per second are very similar. The main difference would be how the image looks through the viewfinder. In the D850 in crop mode, the image looks smaller with a box around it and in the D500 it fills the frame. The BSI sensor on the D850 does capture light more efficiently than the D500 but the noise levels are still very close in my opinion.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Jerrin1 wrote:

The D500 is a stunning camera and would make a brilliant companion to your D850. The crop factor on the D500 is a great boon for wildlife photography and the focusing system is fabulous. I hardly missed a bird in flight when using it with the Nikkor 200 - 500mm f5.6, which I favoured over my Nikkor 300mm PF ED VR f4 + TC14EIII. Use the D500 for birds in flight/insects in flight and macro and the D850 for everything else.

Good advice

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Red Sky At Night wrote:

Just wondering. I have an amazing D850. It was the first DSLR that I've purchased since my D70 a very long time ago. I mainly shoot animals, some very fast moving. And I've used a few photos in magazine ads. I am wondering, is there anything that a D500 would do for me that my D850 cannot? Would it be a waste of money or another enjoyable adventure to add this camera? And what benefits would it have for me using crop instead of full frame? I do know I would need new glass for the D500.

Waste of money? Depends. You say you like to shoot animals and some of them move fast. I use two camera's for that, the D850 and the D500. When I need more reach I use the D500. They both share the same focusing system. But, with the D500 on more distant pray, I can put more EFFECTIVE MEGIPIXELS on the target. That is, I can fill the frame with the D500 and would have to crop using the D850, depending on the distance, this can make a difference when I enlarge cause I would have to crop with the D850 to a point that I would loose more megipixels than the D500 captures.
So, a waste of money? I think they make a wonderful wildlife pair. And right now you can get a free battery grip when you buy plus a camera bag and memory card, but hurry, this black friday deal ends tomorrow, but will be back at the end of November.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1214161-REG/nikon_1559_d500_dslr_camera_body.html?sts=pi

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

Then I take it you don't advocate putting the D850 in crop mode? I have both the D500 and D850 and use them like you, but I have been out with only the D850 and needed a distant shot and have used crop mode on the D850 and personally have not noticed a drop in IQ.

billnikon wrote:

Waste of money? Depends. You say you like to shoo... (show quote)

sxrich

There are a number of youtube videos comparing the two.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Here is my list of comparison sites. Let us know what you decide.

(Reviews) https://www.youtube.com/user/TheCameraStoreTV/videos
http://www.cameradecision.com/
http://cameras.reviewed.com/
http://camerasize.com/
http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM
http://snapsort.com/compare
http://www.dpreview.com/products/compare/cameras?utm_campaign=internal-link&utm_source=mainmenu&utm_medium=text&ref=mainmenu