tonyjag Loc: Bolton, Ma.

Thanks again for all of your great inputs in this thread:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-584117-2.html#10000853
I studied all of them and read all of the reviews I could find.

The D500 is certainly a great camera, but the D7500 is better matched to my needs. It reminds me of the D90, which preceded my D5300. Size and weight are important when traveling. The D500 doesn't fit in my 10L sling bag and, with no pop-up flash, means also carrying my SB-700 speed light. Also, XQD is a whole new capability which would need a different card reader, etc.

With cell phone cameras constantly improving and easy for routine use, I tend to get rusty after long periods of time not using any DSLR. So the scene modes, left out of the D500, are important as a step beyond point and shoot to capture opportunities before they disappear. I don't need a vertical grip and am OK with carrying a couple of spare batteries. The biggest dilemma was only one slot, but like many of you, I have never lost any pictures, just one empty 32G SD card. One slot seems to be adequate for the Z6 and Z7. I am going to try using Snap Bridge for continuous back-up, even though it takes longer for full resolution. I am hoping it will work like Eye-Fi. The penguins won't care if I miss a few shots!

I went to several local camera shops and explored the web quite a bit. New, the standard price has come down from $1250 to $1150. "Import" (gray market?) models, like from Abe's is ~$850. Used bodies, like from MBP with very low shutter counts, are $850-$950. I bought a Nikon-Refurbished one from Hunts for $799. It looks like new and has zero shutter count.

The MH25a En-EL15A charger that came with it is huge and dumb, with just an LED indicator. So I bought a Nitecore UNK-1, which can charge either (or both) EN-EL15 or 14 batteries, serving both the new D7500 and old D5300. It has a nice backlit LED screen with numeric readouts for voltage, temp., current, and charge stored in the battery. After charging the new EN-EL15A with the MH25a, the UNK-1 was able to squeeze another 6 mAh into it.

The D7500 has a feature from the D500 called "AF-fine-tuning", which lets you match the camera's AF to up to 20 different types of lenses. But the manual says something like "not recommended in most situations and may interfere with normal focus" Has anyone tried it?

SX2002 Loc: Adelaide, South Australia

You don't need an extra card reader for an XQD card Tony, just use the supplied cable that came with your D500 and plug into your USB port and download...so easy and simple compared to using a card reader...

Pistnbroke Loc: UK

I have owned all Nikons from D50 thro to D850 and you must do the AF fine tune or you will not get a sharp image . My 28-300 is at +15 ,the 200-500 at +10 and the 24-85 at +2. If you shoot JPEG you must go to picture controls and up the sharpness to +9 but the clarity is a killer .Keep it at "0".
If using interior flash then go auto iso 200-6400 and when you turn on the flash the iso will go to 800. A flash photo has two sources of light ..the flash and the ambient . This will help balance the two and it will not look harsh. Use the highest FP setting you have FP = flash programme.

CO

I have a Nikon D7000, D500, and D750. They all have AF fine tuning. The D500 has an auto AF fine tuning feature. You can do AF fine tuning in the field without any kind of target. I use the DataColor SpyderLensCal with my other cameras. Nikon is right though. It's best not to have large AF fine tuning values entered. I will match up certain lenses to certain bodies so that the fine tuning values are low - maybe in the range of -3 to +3. If I have to use large values, I will try to exchange the lens or even the camera.

I once had a D7000 with a severe back focusing issue, I had to fine tune to the maximum values of 20 and that still was not enough. I returned that one and ordered another one from a different company. The AF on that one was calibrated much better.

Here are some shots of when I was checking my D750 with Tamron 45mm f/1.8 lens. I have a value of +3 in AF fine tuning.

(Download)


(Download)

tonyjag Loc: Bolton, Ma.

Thanks for the helpful responses so far! I guess i need to try this with all of my lenses while I can still return the D7500 body if it is way off. I have 30 days.

I found this You Tube video by Steve Perry.
https://backcountrygallery.com/get-nikons-auto-af-fine-tune-system/
There is even a couple of different targets you can download free. Any thoughts on whether this procedure is the best way to do it?

Has anyone had experiences, good or bad, with a Nikon Refurb body or extended warranty? Since the warranty is only 90 days, I also sprang for a 3 year extended MackCam Diamond warranty that Hunts offers. It includes two sensor cleanings.

Pistnbroke Loc: UK

It wont be the body but the lens if its way off . Personally I did not do the averaging it was ok at the first go .But if it says +10 then try +8 and +12 just to be sure .

tonyjag Loc: Bolton, Ma.

[quote=Pistnbroke]..... If you shoot JPEG you must go to picture controls and up the sharpness to +9 but the clarity is a killer .Keep it at "0".....
Thanks. Could you please clarify the sentences above...they seem to contradict each other. Thanks.

CO

It's variations in both lenses and camera bodies. The AF sensors are at the bottom of the camera and must be extremely precisely aligned. It was known that a very small number of Nikon D7000 camera were not calibrated well. I got one of those. With all of my lenses, I had to take the AF fine tuning to the maximum and that still wasn't enough. I returned that one and purchased another one from a different company. That one was well calibrated. The same lenses needed only a very small amount of AF fine tuning.

tonyjag Loc: Bolton, Ma.

[quote=tonyjag]

Hi,
I figured it out from the manual. Clarity is another setting that you recommend be set to zero. I usually do all that in Aperture, not in the camera. Sorry for the dumb question.

Pistnbroke Loc: UK

If you are a RAW shooter don't bother though it will make the rear LCD sharper. I have found that once you establish the correct fine tune on one camera it will be the same on the others, Re check every few months as the lenses run in like a car and it can move a little. FFA is critical for bird photography.

tomcat

I got tired of wasting time with the AF fine tune and I still think it was a sales gimmick. If I have a problem with OOF images, I will first check the camera body with a different lens. Then I put the suspect lens on another body. Whichever is causing the focus problem gets a trip back to either Nikon or Sigma. I've sent both camera bodies in for repair and the general cleaning for a couple of hundred $$$. It's worth it because I don't have to mess with that constant tuning and checking and rechecking and retuning. If it's the lens that's OOF, then you have to adjust for each camera body, distances, etc. So that's the reason it's not worth the aggravation to me. Life is too short to put up with compromising situations, so I let the pros do the adjustments.

Tommy II Loc: Northern Illinois

I have purchased a couple Nikon factory Refurb cameras from Cameta, who offers a full one year warranty on the factory Refurb cameras it sells, although I’ve never needed it because both cameras functioned and looked brand new. Both had extremely low shutter counts. Cameta is an extremely reliable Nikon Authorized Dealer, who ranks up there with B&H and Adriana, in my mind.

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

Nikon does not recommend fine tuning for anyone but professionals. WHY you ask? Good question, I personally have owned and used over 30 Nikon AF lenses and NONE of them have required fine tuning. I shoot at 1-3 stops down from wide open, use GROUP AUTO FOCUS, continuous auto focusing, center weighted metering, and double the 1/focal length shutter speed rule. NO PROBLEMS, and I print to 30X40 without issues.
Fine tuning can get you one distance, one lens. Do not fall into the trap of folks who tell you otherwise.

tomcat

Ditto, Bill. I earlier posted my experiences with the AF fine tuning "feature" and concluded it is nothing but a gimmick. After wasting hours playing with the adjustments and going back and forth between settings, I realized that you can indeed adjust the focusing, but you are in reality re-adjusting the camera to match a badly performing lens. So as I mentioned, I send the faulty equipment back to Nikon or Sigma. I have sent 2 lenses back to Sigma--one that was 1 month old and the other was 5 years old--and Sigma readjusted the AF on both lenses at no charge. Nikon charged a couple hundred dollars for a lot of other stuff on the bodies, but both came back perfect. So it's worth the money not to have to put up with equipment that is not performing up to specs. Thanks Bill for confirming what I stated. You're another Nikon expert saying the same thing.

RRS Loc: Not sure

So Bill, if you Fine Tune and then shoot 1-3 stops down, use GROUP AUTO FOCUS etc. etc. would you still be able to print to 30-40 without issues or would that Fine Tuning have messed everything up and now only get you one distance?