DaveyDitzer Loc: Western PA

I have both Nikons - D850 and D500 but find I use the D500 very little and I'd like comments from Hoggers who have and use both, about the advantages of one over the other. I also have a Df which can use the older D (screw drive) lenses and a Zfc which offers lightweight and a crop sensor.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The best answer is "because." I don't ask myself questions like that, like, "Why do I have 134 ukuleles?" Since there is no logical answer, I don't think about it. As with the rest of life, you just have to learn to accept the way things are.

whfowle Loc: Tampa first, now Albuquerque

I use the D500 because it gives me greater reach for auto racing and has basically the same functionality with the D5 and D850. The D850 is used when I don't need the reach of the D500. To me they are a set that works well together.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

For me it would be the 10 FPS advantage of the 500 .....

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

To me it would be the superior full-frame performance at both low and high(er) ISOs.

Ava'sPapa Loc: Cheshire, Ct.

You don't really have 134 ukulele's. Do you?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

These are most of them.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOMNgQgJOt2NWYfFzxH-W6pgU-SVLAPSda49x6e3NHaxyK8CiJRs4n4HykZIamrxA?key=TEdYQzAybXhtMVV0SG1YR2UxLWFCaWQ3dkdYaER3

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Pentax has both the K-1 {which is a “field camera” with a flippy LCD} and a K-3 {an “action camera” with good buffer performance}. If both fit into your budget …..

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

Have been using both for a few years now. When shooting nature / wildlife, especially birds, when I can fill the frame with the subject I use the D850, when I can't it's the D500. The D500 has a 7% larger pixel density than the D850 in DX mode and the D850 viewfinder still shows FX mode, but with lines when in DX mode, so you have to be careful about framing.

I have had a Z9 for a little over a year now and find myself using the DX mode as the EVF shows DX framing in DX mode and you can do a lot with 19.5mp.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

I have both. Last year, I found myself wondering why I had the D850, it had been sitting in a drawer for a few months. I gave it away to a friend whose camera died. Four months later, I purchased a D850 again.

Each has a different use. Especially if one does macrophotography. I do not use it for cropping, just to have as much detail as possible, something the D500 cannot do. On the other end of the spectrum, the D500 is great for stitched panoramas, better than the D850. Stitching or even stacking is best done with the D500 as the files created by the D850 overwhelm most software, especially when one shoots raw.

So why two? Depends on what you need to do AND your preference.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I also have both of these cameras. The D850 came first as a second camera when I was very heavily into night sky photography. But a lot of the time, 46MP is just complete overkill for the "daytime" shooting that I do. So I bought a D500 for use in more casual situations. Sort of like when I had Olympus film cameras for "most of the time," but added a couple of Mamiya 120/220 cameras & lenses for more serious shooting.

While the D850 has (and I have used) a DX format option, along with several other format choices, it is, without debate, a bulky camera. In particular, it is significantly thicker (front to back) than any other camera I own. That pushed me to look at the D500 for those times when 21 MP is more appropriate. To me, the D500 is ergonomically much more pleasant camera to shoot. I have said before that it is the best shooting camera I have owned, as well as the best ergonomically.

There are a couple of other considerations. The first is that the control layout and operating systems of these two cameras are identical. Shooting one is the same as shooting the other. Mine are set up with identical menu customizations and identical Picture Control configurations. The second is that sensor density is nearly identical between the two cameras. A lens that performs well on one of them will perform well on the other. Their low light performance is very close to the same, and their "rendering" performance is almost identical. It is somewhere between difficult and impossible to visually identify which camera produced which exposures.

Just as a note...since I have almost exclusively purchased FX lenses through the years, both cameras tend to get used with the same lenses. There are a couple of exceptions. I do have and use a 17-55mm f/2.8 DX Nikkor on the D500, and until it died recently, I very occasionally used a 18-200mm DX Nikkor zoom. And to answer the question that will inevitably arise, if I need wide angle, I take the D850.

I just took a quick look at shutter counts. It appears that about 2/3 of my exposures over the past four years are made with the D500 and the remaining third with the D850. So it has in no way been relegated to the shelf or closet. In fact, I like these cameras so well that I now have two of each. Default configuration is that one of each of them has a 24-120mm f/4 Nikkor zoom and the other has the "normal" f/2.8 zoom...17-55mm and 24-70mm ready to go.

So no, I do not think it is silly to have both of these cameras. My suggestion is to get your D00 out and use it more.

coolhanduke Loc: Redondo Beach, CA

If nothing else, I would keep it as a backup or to have a mix of lenses available and at the ready.

I had 2 D850's. I sold one D850 and bought a Z9. Unfortunately, some of the access to features are different and I get mixed up trying to use them.

I originally planned to buy another Z9 to have both "like" cameras but I don't think that's going to happen. I hate that you can not lock the focal point on the Z9. I struggle to figure out why they eliminated this feature on the Z9.

Ava'sPapa Loc: Cheshire, Ct.

Wow, that's an incredible collection Jerry. I imagine you are a very good ukulele player. I had over 350 die cast 1:18 scale model cars before we moved into our condo, but you've got me beat. Very nice!

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Did your D500 get more use before you got the Zfc ?

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I assume its just a colorful way of saying "a huuuuge schidtload of ukes ... which somehow, concerning Jerry, I dont find especially qshocking !

I happen to actually have over 50 basses, which eats up at least as much space as "134 ukuleles".