Right now, my walk around lens is my Nikon 200-500mm! Just got it recently and getting accustomed to it. Using it mostly as a hand held, so building up some arm muscles.

I just sold mine back to Adorama to get a Nikor 200-500mm lens. The 70-300mm took great images, but I was using it with a DX camera and the autofocus feature was too slow for my purposes. Also, I wanted extra reach for wildlife and birding.

Yes, most definitely - but may take me awhile! Thank you so much!

This is gorgeous, Kalina! Excuse me for asking, but would you give me permission to paint this?

Thanks for all the helpful and thoughtful replies. I broke down and bought the camera this year. Got the D500 from Adorama on special! Have been playing with it today photographing backyard birds. Love it, was just the performance I was hoping for when paired with my Nikor 200-500mm lens. Lots to learn still, but I feel I have quality equipment to grow into!

My gosh, you guys on this forum are terrific! Thank you for all the valuable information and consideration of my question. I think I’m leaning towards the D500, as my shorter range lenses are DX; but I guess I’ve got a year or so to consider if maybe an FX camera might better suit my needs. I value image quality, but I really want that reach. From the comments here, the D500 seems like it best fits my goal.

Yes, billnikon, the Nikon 200-500 f5.6 lens on special from Adorama is the one I just purchased. Even on my D40x camera, I’m already loving it. Now I just need to build up my arm muscles for when I want to use it as a hand held!

Thanks all for your input! Lots of good information and looks like a few good choices here. I got into photography by way of using reference photos for painting. I love painting birds, and decided to take my own reference photos rather than rely on others. As a6k mentions, yes birding and bird photography can be different; as a painter, I guess I lean more towards bird photography, wanting crisp, detailed images. Based on the comments here, though, I will definitely do more research on the D500 and the D7100/7200/7500.

I’m a beginning bird photographer using an old Nikon D40x camera. I just treated myself to a new AF-S NIKKOR VR 200-500mm 1:5.6E ED lens, though, thanks to a Black Friday special! This lens, needless to say, now out classes my camera; so my next investment will be a better camera body. Can anyone suggest a good Nikon full body model for bird and wildlife photography? Probably won’t upgrade until next year’s super sale, but want to know what to be on the lookout for!