leftyD500 Loc: Ocala, Florida

I have done considerable research of these two camera. Half of the time, I am led to believe that the D500 is a superior camera, image wise, to the D7500, plus it has more bells and whistles. But, then I read that the two cameras have the same sensor, and basically the same "guts," so it leaves me wondering, is the D500 that much better than the D7500. So, I am asking any Hogger who has actual knowledge of the two cameras. is the D500 just a hyped up version of the D7500, or is it a better camera than the D7500? For my interests, I am not into video, not into GPS or Bluetooth connection, just into shooting sports, wildlife, and landscape. I am mainly interested in image quality, being able to shoot in low light conditions, but still not get a lot of noise ( I realize the lens choice plays a role in noise in photos!). I would appreciate any HELPFUL, POSITIVE comments, please. Thank you.

Strange

D500 all the way!

BebuLamar

You are the one that has to pay for the cost of the camera and you are the one that get to use it so you are the one that should make the decision. If you feel the D7500 has more bells and whistles and the D500 is hyped then go for the D7500.
In my own opinion the D500 is clearly the better camera. There is nothing on the D7500 that is better than the D500. All the extra bells and whistles actually make it a lesser camera than the D500.

tomad Loc: North Carolina

The D500 is one the most widely used cameras by knowledgeable photographers shooting sports and wildlife. Either can probably do comparable landscapes.

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

The D500 is my go to wildlife / birding camera at 10fps compared to the D7500 at 7fps. Even though they are the same sensor, the D500 has a little better low light performance and the D7500 has a slight bit more tonal range. SNR is identical out to ISO 51200. The D500 has 2 card slots, including a faster XQD slot. The D7500 has one SD slot. The only problem I have with either of these two is Nikon went from the 24mp D7200 to 20.9mp for both the D500 and D7500, probably for better low light performance.

Quixdraw Loc: x

It all depends on the features you use and the things you shoot. I bought a used D7200 instead of a new D7500 after detailed comparison of features. By all reports, including from a close friend, D500 is a superb wildlife camera. As it stands, comparing even with the D500, the D7200 wins for me.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

I have the D500 and the D850. Both have the same autofocus system. I use the 850 most of the time because I love full frame, especially that 46mp sensor. But the 500 feels so much better in my hands and love the sound of the shutter compared to the clanging of the 850's shutter. Plus that 10 fps!

CO

I have two D500's and a D7500. You're right that they have a same sensor. The D500 has a superior autofocus system. The D5, D500, and D850 are the first Nikons to have a processor dedicated solely to the autofocus. It's noticeably better than my other Nikons. The D500 also has a tougher, magnesium body, dual card slots (one is XQD), can shoot at 10fps and has an almost unlimited buffer. One huge difference is the viewfinder. The D500 has 1.0x magnification. The D7500 is 0.7x. The view through the viewfinder of the D500 is almost as large as view through the viewfinder of my full frame D750.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

The D7500 is sort of a "scaled down" D500...

The D500 is more of a "pro-oriented" model with more advanced AF, more robust construction, and can take slightly more shots per second. It also has dual memory card slots, which the D7500 lacks. Also the D500 has a higher resolution rear LCD screen.

You mention shooting sports, wildlife and landscapes. While both cameras would be great for sports & wildlife, the frame rate and AF system of the D500 would probably make it the top choice. Also, it can be fitted with a battery grip to allow longer shooting sessions and provide secondary set of controls that facilitate shooting in portrait orientation. Nikon doesn't offer a grip for the D7500. (I think there's a third party grip available, but those are kinda funky for cameras not designed to be fitted with a grip... limits secondary controls to only the shutter release and even that requires an external wired connection).

Neither would be a top choice for landscape photography. A larger sensor, higher resolution camera is usually preferable for that. However, a compromise without going to the size and cost of full frame might be the discontinued D7200, which has higher resolution (24MP vs 21MP) than either D7500 or D500. D7200 also has slightly wider dynamic range and a little more color depth. The D7200 doesn't have as fast continuous shooting rate as the D500 or D7500. Still, the 6 frames per sec. the D7200 offers ain't bad (D7500, 8 fps. D500, 10 fps.) The D7200 has dual memory card slots and there is an optional Nikon battery grip available for use with it. It doesn't have an articulated rear LCD that's higher resolution than the D7500's, although it's lower rez than the D500's.

By the way, one way to make a DX camera "act like" an FX camera is to take multiple shots with the DX and then compile them into a single, larger image. That's often pretty easily done when shooting landscapes.

Aside from those differences, D7200 and D7500 are quite similar. The newer model got a few AF system tweaks, but looks largely the same.

The D7500 and D500 also have Nikon's Flicker Reduction feature, which is very helpful when shooting sports inside gyms and arenas, where the lighting is often a type that can really mess with exposure when using cameras without this feature. I use cameras with this feature and can tell you it's a real game changer shooting indoor sports venues or in other situations with fluorescent, sodium vapor and similar types of lighting! Of course, this doesn't matter much for wildlife and landscape photography. D7200 doesn't have this feature.

D7200 has been discontinued and it's now rare to see one new for sale. But they can still be found used and refurbished.

D500 currently costs about $1500 new (or around $1200 refurb'd)
D7500 costs $1000 new (or around $700 refurb'd)
D7200 is selling for $700 refurb'd (I couldn't find new).

EDIT: All three cameras have 100% coverage optical viewfinders. The D500's has 1.0X magnification, as stated in a previous post. But the D7500 and D7200 aren't all that different... they both have 0.94X magnification. Some sports shooters who work with both eyes open really appreciate a 1.0X viewfinder, but 0.94X isn't very far behind. Something interesting I noticed in the specs... the D7200 has fairly typical 19.5mm eye relief. D7500 reportedly has a little bit shorter: 18.5mm. And the D500's is even shorter: 16mm. I'd want to double check this... that's very short. Most modern viewfinders have an eye point around 20mm.

Bill_de Loc: US

I may have missed it, but I didn't see anyone mention that Nikon does not make a vertical grip for the D7500. From what I have read, the after market variety only provide a shutter release.

The D500 vertical grip from Nikon give you the shutter release, plus the front and rear control dials and a joystick. To get the added speed from the D500 that was mentioned above, you need the grip and an EN EL 18 battery. The D500 could be a big plus for sports and wildlife.

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TerryVS

Wow, thought I was the only one that loved the handling and the sound compared to the 850!

I've never shot a 7500 but I shoot news overnight and use a D500. Typically I have a 750 with the 300 pf, 850 with a 70-200 and a D500 with a 15-30 mm (fx) hanging off me. The D500 handles anything I've encountered. Handles low light well, fast fps, and really feels good in the hand. It's a rugged camera.

FiddleMaker Loc: Merrimac, MA

Based on all the member comments, I would go for the D500.

tcthome Loc: NJ

sports & wildlife, D500.

sergiohm

The D500 because it’s better for sports and wildlife, the buffer is fantastic and the AF as well. But for landscapes you’d need a full-frame camera (professionally I mean, if it’s hobby the D500 will do fine), the D500 produces very noisy images at higher ISO’s. You can recover somewhat in post but the images tend to look darker after cleaning up the noise.
Take care.

Bill_de Loc: US

Does the noise return if you lighten the images after clean up?

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