Yes, I saw that before I got the camera. In fact the original post before I received the camera was based on that chart. I was concerned about not all focus points being available with a maximum aperture f/6.3 lens. In single point focus area mode using the center focus point it should have locked on almost immediately. Years ago I started off with a D40X, have owned a couple D80's, at present own two D7000's and one D7200 and have had no focusing problems with any of those cameras. I know most here believe the problem is me and not the camera but achieving focus using single point focus mode and single point focus area mode holding that single point steady onto the subject the focus should have locked on instead of continuously hunting. There are no settings in the menu or anything I'm doing that's preventing that. It's really quite simple. On high contrast subjects it will lock on immediately. If the problem was me it would also not lock onto any subject. I'm calling Adorama today to see about getting this camera replaced with a different D500.

When I shoot BIF with my D500 and Tamron 150-600 G2 I use a gimbal on a monopod. The monopod takes the weight as I have shoulder injuries and the gimbal gives me balanced freedom of movement. For BIF I use a red dot sight mounted on the hot shoe and have the camera set to back button focus with the focus system set to group focus, that is, the four centremost points. In fact I have my regular BBF button always set to single point focus and the secondary joystick button always set to BBF group focus so I am ready for almost every situation.

I recently discovered that in the winter, if my camera is in the warm car and I take it out quickly when I see a birding opportunity, I leave the lens hood off. If the front element is warm and the air is cold, heat distortion can take place in the air pocket in the lens hood.

This system works well and I would recommend it.

I own both the d 500 and the d810 . To be honest I print large prints and Shoot mainly the Nikon D810 .The D500 is my latest purchase and I probably will sell It .I hate noise even with owning Topaz Denoise AI it is a pain to deal with . The D500 I love the frame rate but it is terrible compared to the D 810 with noise . Most Birders shoot AF-C ,Auto ISO , In manual Mode base ISO 64 and let it go to 3200 . This way you have control over shutter speed and aperture changes going from a bird at rest to him actually launching . If you chose to shoot in shutter priority with Auto ISO no matter the other settings the camera will try to force a F7.1 aperture I like to have control over Aperture and Shutter speed and let the camera deal with the ISO . I really do not worry about the auto focus point except I try to use the center 45 cross sensors to lock on to the bird and keep the aperture high to cover my butt with depth of field if not on the I . I do use Group Auto focus 9 points I have The 200-500mm f5.6 VR Nikkor.