BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

Bill
The link is:
www.edmundoptics.com/eo-imaging. Scroll down to "Learning Resources" then view - "Understanding Focal Length and Field of View". Magnification is equation 5

Focal length - which provides angle of view and sensor size are the elements of magnification.
I bought several things from Edmonds and now I'm on its mailing list for its catalog which has about 50 pages of technical content. What is in the catalog is in the Learning Resources.

Given all of the discussions about Reach and Cropping I found this formula and what it goes with it fascinating. Yes, cropping does present a larger view of the subject in the image but that is not magnification, commonly called "reach"; that is enlargement.

Let me know what you think.

Bob

In-lightened Loc: Kansas City

I have had both cameras. My backup to the D850 is another D850. But I miss the fps the D500 can provide. This was a tough decision as I mostly shoot landscape and wildlife, birds most frequently. So cropping is almost always in my future. To my way of thinking, I figured if I had any chance at a full frame shot, it could print large. If not, I could crop (in post) my way to a decent image with the megapixels the D850 offers. As to the advantages, I often will put my prime on one body on tripod and a zoom on the other around my neck in case subject comes in close. It's happened often enough.

davesit Loc: Media, PA

One thing that no one has brought up yet is weight. If you have a long lens such as one of the Nikon big prime lenses or a Sigma/Tamron 150-600, it's hard to shoot hand-held for any period of time, especially if you have to hike to get to your location. A lot of pros use the D850/D500 combo with the sole ability to hand-hold a long lens with the D500, since it weight less than the D850 body (and yes, and the D500 has faster frame rates etc...). A friend of mine who came back from an Africa photography trip recently told me that at one river location, while his fellow travelers scrambled to set up their tripods and gimbals, he just ran into the water and started shooting a herd of elephants with his D500/150-600mm combo.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

Much depends on what you are being paid to shoot RahulKhosla... Assuming you are a commercial photographer...

The D500 is a workhorse of commercial sports shooters albeit the D5 is the tool of choice for professional photographers (Professional Photographer = Their primary revenue stream is from photography) (commercial photographer supplements their revenue stream with photography).

It is apparent from the responses in this thread that few are actually actually in either the above camps... The trauma of having to meet deadlines with stellar deliverables will quickly rule out a "kluge" fix for want of an APC sensor... The eight hundred pound gorilla in the room is the brutal fact that you loose the advantage of a clearly defined image area in an FX crop mode... I actually have field tested this on a D810 which lacks the Pro-Build DX masking of Nikon's high end bodies albeit can be simulated with an undocumented "hack". In the Custom Settings Menu choose (a6 Focus Point Illumination) and switch it to "OFF" Magic! the DX crop is now clearly outlined with a grayed out mask (Nikon provides this without this "hack" in their Pro Bodies...

The other "Elephant" in the room is Frame Rate which the D500 provides 3 "extra" frames per second over the D850... If you think that is a non-issue ask a sports shooter if they would like to "trade" down to a meager seven fps... Nope, you're significantly under valuing the compelling reason that the D500 remains the "Tool of Choice" for those who have to finish up deliverables at the end of the match/game or whatever... Thus I don't believe that there are many commercial sports shooters in this thread...

But wait you say! Why with the spiffy Nikon MB-D18 I can get 9 fps... Nope, wrong again... Not unless you are ready to pony up nearly $1K for the entire Nikon MB-D18 Multi Power Battery Pack for D850 with an EN-EL18a/b battery which requires an adapter plus it's own charger...

Such a deal Nikon has to offer..
https://www.adorama.com/inkmbd18a.html

So you are now in the hole for nearly the price of a NEW D500!

RahulKhosla, I've been there, done that and this is it is a rather poor solution in search of a problem...
btw, why do you ask? Who are your clients and what are their expectations? Without this information it is virtually impossible to provide meaningful guidance...

Hope this helps RahulKhosla, or is at least food for thought...
I wish you well on your journey...

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

Yes, the D500 shoots at 10 fps. The D850, with special battery, shots at a much slower 9 fps.

In-lightened Loc: Kansas City

Agree...once you pony up the extras to make the 9 fps happen. However...the buffer on the D850 fills quickly leaving you locked out while it writes to the card...less of a problem with the higher end XQD, but still an issue relative to the D500. This only matters to the sports and wildlife enthusiasts...

davesit Loc: Media, PA

Well said.

IDguy Loc: Idaho

The D7000 has an earlier 16MP sensor and processor. The D810 in DX image area mode gives a few more MP but more importantly a later generation sensor and processing system.

Bill_de Loc: US

With that long lens on, 5.3 ounces would not really be noticed. I doubt that is the reason folks chose the D500. Those who were setting up tripods would probably do it with either camera.

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Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

Good info here. Thanks.

Fotomacher Loc: Toronto

THIS is a great question. I was using a D300s and a D700 with different lenses mounted for quite a few years. It gave me the ability to shoot wide and tele without changing lenses in the field. A bit bulky perhaps, but I was OK with it to gain the advantages. My last trip with this gear was an excursion to Iceland in 2015. Those in my group who were taking photos were using their phones or PandS's My images are amazing but I was getting bit bogged down by the weight. in January 2016 I sold both bodies and picked up a D810. MUCH more convenient, notwithstanding the lens swapping. Now I generally pick 3 or 4 lenses to shoot with depending on where I'm going. (My arsenal is 11). I keep swapping to a minimum knowing that I can composite or use pano in post. I'll sometimes shoot in DX mode but prefer to composite and crop to maintain high resolution.

In-lightened Loc: Kansas City

I agree, great question and I liked your answer. And I considered going down to one body. Last year my D500 went down on a shoot in France. I fell in the marsh when my wellies sunk into the muck.. Grateful I had my D810 for backup. Then that fall, I fell on a fall shoot and killed the D810 when my toe caught on a rock ledge. I had replaced my D500 with A D850 and was grateful I had a backup. Moral of story for glutzs like me, have a backup....and insurance.

Bill P

Holy moly! He means to shoot in FX mode, that is to say using the whole sensor, and if you need to get closer, then crop the ff image to whatever size you require. With that camera, the FF image cropped and the full D500 frame is likely about the same number of pixels.

With this you get more flexibility, and are not hobbled to one of two frames.

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

Interesting post. I own the D850 and at 9 fps using the XQD card I can easily get up to 51 consecutive 14-bit lossless compressed raw files in a single burst. That's enough for 5 seconds of shooting, something I rarely do.
I usually shoot in Jepg and can shoot all day without filling the buffer on the D850.
I also own and shoot extensively the D500, similar results.
I have been shooting both for wildlife and neither one has run out of buffer room yet.

DaveyDitzer Loc: Western PA

I have read through this post and similar ones. Most consider both the D850 and the D500 to be great cameras. I ask myself, why would Nikon make both models? If you have great DX glass, that might be one. If you need the higher resolution of the D850 and have the glass to do it well, then that fills the bill. For the life of me, I can't figure out why I would want both bodies in my arsenal..... other than GAS from which I suffer just as much as the next hogger. I readily admit that it might just be my lack of experience or photographic breadth. PS. I have both crop and FF bodies, although not these two examples and I'm still wondering why except that I have some nice non AF-S FF glass that works with my FF body.