mrpentaxk5ii

I downloaded you two photos of the cardinal that seem not to be cropped, from the file data it states the first photo taken with the D500 was taken at 300 mm, or 450 mm in full frame. the second photo taken with a D-800 you used according from the file info a 600 mm lens. Now i don't know if it was a zoom or fixed focal length lens bot most zooms are slightly softer at the long end, second alot depends on how the file was processed. I started photographing birds with a 55-300mm lens and found it to be too short and soft at 300 mm on a Pentax K5 II, I went to a Sigma 120-400 mm F 4.5-5.6 and it made a world of difference. Your problem with the D500 might be your choice of lens and not the camera.

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Your right, cropping makes a big difference.

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

If your going birding the D500 IMHO is the better choice.
1. with the NIkon 200-500 you can put more EFFECTIVE MEGAPIXELS on the bird than you can with the D810. And you get more reach on all of your lenses.
2. with the Nikon D500 you can shoot a 10 fps. the D810 is slow by comparison
3. the D500 has the EXPEED 5 Image Processor, the most advance processor on the market, the processor is just as important as sensor size, the D810 I believe has the EXPEED 4 Image Processor
4. the D500 has the same second focusing system that the D5 and D850 have, the D810 is slower. This alone is a deal breaker if your serious about birds in flight.
5. the buffer on the D500 is also better than that on the D810
6. with the D500 you can use XQD cards if you wish, this is a fast card and will prove valuable for shooting while filling the buffer

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Go large or go home, is my approach. Thus, full-frame would be my choice.
--Bob

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Here are some comparisons -

https://cameradecision.com/compare/Nikon-D500-vs-Nikon-D810
https://www.imaging-resource.com/cameras/nikon/d810/vs/nikon/d500/
https://www.apotelyt.com/compare-camera/nikon-d500-vs-nikon-d810
http://snapsort.com/compare/Nikon-D500-vs-Nikon-D810/detailed
https://versus.com/en/nikon-d500-vs-nikon-d810

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

I use the D500 for nature photography and went from the D810 to the Z7 for the rest of my photography

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

What do you shoot? And what will you be shooting with?

You say this is a second body. In my opinion cameras have different uses based on their different specs. For example, one camera will be good at high ISO, making id good for low light work, while another may have lots of megapixels, making it good for work where you need detail. If you are looking for a second body it might be good to pick one that complements what you now plan to use for your other body so that you can choose one or the other to fit the need.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

What do you shoot? And what will you be shooting with?

You say this is a second body. In my opinion cameras have different uses based on their different specs. For example, one camera will be good at high ISO, making it good for low light work, while another may have lots of megapixels, making it good for work where you need detail. If you are looking for a second body it might be good to pick one that complements what you now plan to use for your other body so that you can choose one or the other to fit the need.

JennT Loc: South Central PA

I use both for different reasons--- the 500 works well for hand held work, but the 810 has features the 500 lacks--- some days I use them both!

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

"You say the D500 has good build quality but it is a DX? What is so horrible about having a DX? "

I also want to know what is wrong using a DX camera.

In-lightened Loc: Kansas City

If its birds, you want either D500 or D850. When my D500 went into the salt marsh, I replaced it with D850. Full frame, same AF system, the ability to crop over to the other side of no where (cropping is way of life with bird photography). You also have a great camera for everything else. But you will need to pony up the extra for the grip and battery for 9 fps. Always some give and take.

hammond

I'd get the D500 since you already have a D810.

I see my gear kit as a toolkit: with different tools allowing me to craft different images.
Unless you're a pro who relies on having a backup with identical specs, why not get a tool that allows you to specifically create different images than your current kit already allows?

Then you can use the D810 for landscapes and stills, and the D500 for birds and sports.

... looks like the D500 is also a bit cheaper.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

As I stated in the PM I just sent you, the D500 had a 28-300 - a much beloved lens here on UHH, and the D800 had a Sigma Sport 150-600. The difference in effective focal length was made up for by getting a little bit closer with the D500. You can see that the uncropped images are very similar. The 28-300 is less sharp at 300 than it is at 28mm, but mostly in the edges and corners. The Sigma is actually quite sharp at 600 - the pictures tell the story. I did briefly put the Sigma on the D500 just for grins and giggles, and used it at about 300-400mm - and things did not really improve that much. With cropping the DX image still fell apart quicker than the FX.

I find it interesting that all of the advocates of the 28-300 aren't coming out of the woodwork to claim how great the lens is. I am not, and will never ever be a fan of that lens, not even on a crop body. Here is the proof. Nor am I a fan of using a cropped body for bird photography, which unless all you do is fill your image frames with huge birds in flight with 4-8 ft wingspans - usually entails tiny birds and heavy cropping. Try filling a frame with a hummingbird in the wild. The limiting factor for me is the smaller sensor, which is fine for modest cropping, but less than ideal if you do more cropping.

One might make the argument about reach, but along with reach comes significant less stability. Try handholding a 600mm lens on a crop sensor - with an effective field of view of a 900mm lens. That would really result in lots of missed or deleted files - or bringing a sturdy tripod. All of my bird pictures since 2016 are done hand-held using the Sigma Sport. I only use my tripod these days for long exposure landscapes (waterfalls, mostly), night shots and interior photography which usually involves composites, focus stacks, HDR, pano stitching etc, and very close macro work.

(Download)


(Download)

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

photoman43

The D500 is designed for action shooting with a higher fps and a buffer designed for multiple images per second. And its AF system is ahead of the D810s. Both are excellent cameras designed for different needs. That is why I use both of them. If you can only afford one, you have to determine which camera's features are the most important.