D500

Yeah, I got that to but weird as it's not a "brand new" firmware it's from early July - I thought they had already sent notifications out (otherwise how did I know to update back in July) ??

Mine was already running 1.13 prior to the wedding shoot so I doubt there was any improvements to power management in that firmware as my problems were still on going even after the update (no change between before and after).

Considering I've largely switched to Mirrorless (Fuji X-T2 and a huge Olympus M4/3 arsenal surrounding an EM1 MK II), I still love using the "dinosaur" DSLR that is the D500. There's just something special about it that after using the lightweight and small mirrorless cameras that is very satisfying. I don't need to worry about high ISO (for all practical purposes), the AF is instant in any situation, it's built like a brick out house, and has a wonderful bright clear viewfinder. Yes it's heavier and bigger, and perhaps not something I'd use for travelling or holidays (that's where mirrorless scores), but for all other types of scenarios, it's a fantastic camera. If I could just get the battery issues sorted, it (for me) would be the perfect APS-C camera and one I'd never sell.
 
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wezza13 said:
Coincidentally, I've just checked my emails before work, and I've got one from Nikon overnight, about updating to 1.13.

Hopefully it'll fix the battery issues, though I'm sure they would've put it in the release notes if it did.
Click to expand...

I got the email overnight too but 1.13 was available ages ago and I had already done the update once.
By putting anything about the battery issue in the release notes they would be admitting there was a problem and they wouldn't want to do that if not absolutely necessary.
 
damianmkv said:
I did 2 and a bit batteries on Saturday alone in 600 shots :( my concern about Nikon may be illfounded - sodding around with adjusting lens focus, various recalls etc.

And then what lens(es) to get ? A 70-200 of some variety and I'd need something closer. And money IS an issue..I don't have unlimited funds
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The whole messing about with lenses gets a bit blown out of proportion imo, not helped by being members on forums etc ;) I used to be obsessed with MA'ing my lenses with my first D750, every one needed adjustment. Turns out my first D750 was a lemon and the only lens that needs MA with my second D750 is my Sigma 84mm f1.4. If you test lenses you can convince yourself that they may need this MA or that MA, but in the real world they work perfectly fine.

That being said, even with my first D750 it wasn't really and issue. Lens than 5 mins to check and MA a lens and then forget about it. It's not as though you have to check it every time you go out to shoot ;) I wouldn't have any concerns buying the D500.
 
Actually I would go further and say the AF on the D500 is so good, that all my lenses seem if anything sharper on the D500 than they ever did on my D750 or D810 (70-200 VR, 300F4, 50mm F1.4 & Tamron 150-600). ALL of these have Zero AF fine tune.

My "kit" lens 16-80 F2.8-4 VR that I got with the camera has to be one of the sharpest lenses I've ever owned and the focus is always 100% tack on.
 
Here's one from the wedding shoot at the weekend with the D500 and 16-80 (with permission from the couple)

 
Had a go of a D500 for the first time tonight. I have just moved from Canon and have the main camera I wanted a D810. I am now after a replacement for my 7D2 and 300mm f2.8. The 300mm was swapped for the Nikon 200mm F2 and I had hoped I could get the length back with a TC. Little did I know how well that would work out. The D500 performed excellently, frame after fame of pin sharp photos wildly better than the Canon produced and in 3 different focus modes. The 200mm with 1.4 and with the 1.5 crop gives me a 420mm F2.8 so pretty much spot on for football. The biggest surprise was the lens when paired with the 2x. It was still sharp and the focus was more than decent. Probably too long for me at the football but a great option for the odd wildlife shot.

The D500 performed very well when I set the iso to 3200. That is about as dark as I shoot even in wet and dim Scotland for my son's games. Incredibly good results and more than usable for me for Camera Club print comps.

I wish I had changed to Nikon years ago. The focusing system is just so easy. It seems to know what you want in focus.

My only criticism was that the D500 didn't feel as well made as the D810 and it is a bit on the small side with the 200mm F2 and TC. A battery grip would be a must for me to balance the rig up.
 
36254681022_a2af66e3d0_c.jpg

GSC_9700 by Gilbo B - Flickr2BBcode LITE

Hathersage Moor from this weekend. Love my D500 and Nikon 16-80mm.
 
My D810 is away for a service - so the D500 has been my go to landscape camera.

Up early and into the Peaks at the weekend - the sunrise was a bit pants, but the light 30 minutes later was worth capturing.

This is a 7 shot pano (also posted in the landscapes section)

Hope by Dave Semmens, on Flickr

Dave.
 
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I take it you guys know that the D500 can't do landscapes only sports or wildlife shooting :)

Seriously, anyone else not really missed their full frame cameras for landscapes ? I used to have both a D810 and a D750, and whilst superb and pretty much state of the art, the lenses were really big and heavy and my backpack was always really heavy. Using either my D500 (with the superb Nikon 16-80) or my X-T2 with the excellent Fuji lenses, I really can't tell much of a difference. I know the DR of a D810 is almost unsurpassed, but I don't think any of my other cameras have been lacking to any extent on that front (even my OMD EM II has great DR). Coupled with the fact that landscapes are **usually** shot at F5.6 or smaller then the subject isolation from the more limited DOF of FF doesn't seem to be much of an advantage ? About the only thing I can see my D810 did better than my D500 was resolution (36mp vs 21mp),but if I'm honest, I don't think I ever made 100% of all that resolution on the D810 ?

What are other's thoughts.
 
D500 is good but given the choice for landscape I would take the D810 every time, greater resolution and cleaner output. :)
 
When I was taking the above image I did think "I wish I had my D810 with me"

To be fair - I was limited by the lenses as I don't own a ultrawide DX lens. I had a minimum of 26mm which did hinder my shot choices / led to more panos.

Very happy with the D500 though - I sometimes go away with only my little Oly Pen F and it takes superb landscapes. In London for a long weekend this week and only taking the Oly :)

Dave.
 
Sootchucker said:
I take it you guys know that the D500 can't do landscapes only sports or wildlife shooting :)

Seriously, anyone else not really missed their full frame cameras for landscapes ? I used to have both a D810 and a D750, and whilst superb and pretty much state of the art, the lenses were really big and heavy and my backpack was always really heavy. Using either my D500 (with the superb Nikon 16-80) or my X-T2 with the excellent Fuji lenses, I really can't tell much of a difference. I know the DR of a D810 is almost unsurpassed, but I don't think any of my other cameras have been lacking to any extent on that front (even my OMD EM II has great DR). Coupled with the fact that landscapes are **usually** shot at F5.6 or smaller then the subject isolation from the more limited DOF of FF doesn't seem to be much of an advantage ? About the only thing I can see my D810 did better than my D500 was resolution (36mp vs 21mp),but if I'm honest, I don't think I ever made 100% of all that resolution on the D810 ?

What are other's thoughts.
Click to expand...

A lot of truth there. We know that full-fame is 'better' in terms of ultimate image quality, but if we never use that performance or can't can't see the difference in the images that we actually take/print/view, what's the point? It's like a 200mph Ferrari that won't get you from London to Edinburgh any quicker, probably in a lot less comfort and at much greater cost. Smaller formats are plenty 'good enough' for most people, most of the time.

That's the objective view, but on the other hand, I for one would love to make that drive in a Ferrari! If we're honest about it, there are lots of subjective and emotional reasons why we buy and use all the stuff we have, that are nothing to do with simply taking great photographs.
 
Sootchucker said:
but if I'm honest, I don't think I ever made 100% of all that resolution on the D810 ?

What are other's thoughts.
Click to expand...
I probably never get the max out of the D810 in the field, but usually I can get a bit more from it than with other cameras (and if I can't, I use a different camera). Slow situations where low ISO/longer SS's are suitable pretty well equalize the field when it comes to sensor size/performance... I have no issues using my Nikon1 for landscapes at base ISO.
 
I was on holiday in Italy last week, and travelling back from Ischia to the mainland I was taking pics of the land as we passed when suddenly the birds were following ferry, and they were getting very close, which was good, because I had the Nikon 16-80mm on. I am very happy with how sharp the lens was at f4, :eek: and added to the D500's AF it was a great combination. :)

18897-1502922888-85601839c7d934440fd02a7d4ea88897.jpg
 
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Sootchucker said:
Yes, they came back to me fairy quickly in fact. Here's what they had to say.

Dear Andrew,

Thank you for your email.

I am really sorry to learn of the problem you are experiencing.

From your description it seems that the camera may have indeed developed a problem with power management, or a short circuit. This would explain why the battery seem to drain with the camera turned off.

Can you please test if the problem can be replicated after:

1. The camera firmware has been updated to version 1.13 (please note the update has to be done twice)
2. Memory cards, the lens and all other accessories have been removed.

Looking forward to your reply,

Kind Regards,

Nikon Customer Support

So, I've done as they asked, charged a battery to 100% removed everything (cards, grip, lens), and left the camera for 24 hours. Normally I'd get around 15-20% battery discharge per day with the camera turned off. I checked it before after just over 24 hours and the battery is still at 100%, which is a first. So I've now added the lens back and will see how that goes. If everything's OK then I'll add the SD card then the XQD card.

My gut is that it's the Lexar XQD card (a 64gb 2933x 440mb/s) unit which although is on the list of compatible cards by Nikon for the camera, I have noticed that when inserted, things like camera switch on and image review are not instant like they are with just the SD card, but introduces about a 1-1.5 second delay ?

We'll see.
Click to expand...

Any update on the situation with your battery drain Andrew?
 
gramps said:
Any update on the situation with your battery drain Andrew?
Click to expand...
Speaking of battery drain, I haven't read the whole thread so I don't know whether this has been posted before. But just in case, all D500 users should be aware of this:

* In 2013, Nikon modified the electric discharge characteristics of the EN-EL15 battery without changing its capacity.
* When pre-modification batteries are used with the D500, the battery life is reduced.
* All D500s cameras are supplied with the modified battery.
* If you have a D500 and also own pre-modification EN-EL15 batteries – e.g. supplied with a different camera or purchased separately - Nikon will replace the batteries free of charge.

Full details: https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/eu/BV_article?articleNo=000006525&lang=en_GB&setRedirect=true

Obviously this only applies to genuine Nikon batteries, and I expect it's probably not available to people who bought grey/black market cameras.
 
StewartR said:
Speaking of battery drain, I haven't read the whole thread so I don't know whether this has been posted before. But just in case, all D500 users should be aware of this:

* In 2013, Nikon modified the electric discharge characteristics of the EN-EL15 battery without changing its capacity.
* When pre-modification batteries are used with the D500, the battery life is reduced.
* All D500s cameras are supplied with the modified battery.
* If you have a D500 and also own pre-modification EN-EL15 batteries – e.g. supplied with a different camera or purchased separately - Nikon will replace the batteries free of charge.

Full details: https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/eu/BV_article?articleNo=000006525&lang=en_GB&setRedirect=true

Obviously this only applies to genuine Nikon batteries, and I expect it's probably not available to people who bought grey/black market cameras.
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Thanks Stewart, all of my batteries are the new EN-EL 15's some of which were replacements from Nikon for my previous ones ... this camera/battery combination has been the poorest battery life of any camera I have owned.
Nikon will replace any older batteries on demonstration of a D500 purchase from anywhere.
 
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gramps said:
Any update on the situation with your battery drain Andrew?
Click to expand...

Nikon asked me to do a bit more testing Gramps, but it certain seems that it's mainly when there's a XQD card in the slot that I get the worst battery performance.

In recent testing - latest firmware (applied twice), touchscreen OFF, Airplane Mode ON, Raw + Jpg Fine, ISO Auto, AF-S, single point, drive mode - single, Matrix metering. Lens Nikon 16-80 F2.8-4 VR

With Just my Lexar 1000x 64GB Pro SDXC Card - I got 760 shots off the battery (until the battery warning came on) - still no where near what my D810 or D750 would do, but better.

With just my Lexar XQD 64GB 2933x 2.0 Card fitted, that dropped to 501 shots.

With both cards in, I got 403 shots !

Will report these back to Nikon today and see what they say.
 
That would make sense as my battery life has been very good and I've never used the XQD slot. Next time I change my battery I'll keep track how many shots I get before it goes flat.
 
Sootchucker said:
Nikon asked me to do a bit more testing Gramps, but it certain seems that it's mainly when there's a XQD card in the slot that I get the worst battery performance.

In recent testing - latest firmware (applied twice), touchscreen OFF, Airplane Mode ON, Raw + Jpg Fine, ISO Auto, AF-S, single point, drive mode - single, Matrix metering. Lens Nikon 16-80 F2.8-4 VR

With Just my Lexar 1000x 64GB Pro SDXC Card - I got 760 shots off the battery (until the battery warning came on) - still no where near what my D810 or D750 would do, but better.

With just my Lexar XQD 64GB 2933x 2.0 Card fitted, that dropped to 501 shots.

With both cards in, I got 403 shots !

Will report these back to Nikon today and see what they say.
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Thanks, my battery was at 100% Thursday, dropped to 98% overnight ... so far taken 4 shots and down to 92%.

6 shots 89%
 
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Well mine has gone back to Nikon today so we will see how it gets resolved.
 
Received mine yesterday and tested very quickly with 200mm f2 and 1.4x. I was knackered and not really on it and most of the pictures at the normal distances I would shoot for football were back focused. Went out again tonight to my sons football and shot a few without the 1.4x and things were much better. I'll put the first outing down to user error and see how it goes from now. The iso is a step forward from the 7d2 and the images seem to have a wee bit more pop. Any advice on AF fine tune would be welcomed. Are other users using it.
 
The new "automatic" AFT facility on the 500 is not very good. You are better using traditional methods.
You need to aft both bare lens and lens with TC as they are usually different settings.
 
Chris_911 said:
My D500 failed at the weekend taking image number 298280.
Looks like part of the shutter mechanism has broken.
Can't really grumble - almost 50% over Nikon's test number.
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I think if most peoples shutters get to that number they won't be able to say they have not got their money's worth. ;)

If mine lasts that long I have about 260k to go. Should see me out at the rate I'm going. ;) :LOL:
 
wow Chris thats a lot of shots, how do you find time to sleep :).
lol I don't think I've ever shot more than 1500 with any camera I've owned, i need to get out more.
what will you do get a new shutter fitted?
 
Chris_911 said:
My D500 failed at the weekend taking image number 298280.
Looks like part of the shutter mechanism has broken.
Can't really grumble - almost 50% over Nikon's test number.
Click to expand...

Blimey...
 
Chris_911 said:
My D500 failed at the weekend taking image number 298280.
Looks like part of the shutter mechanism has broken.
Can't really grumble - almost 50% over Nikon's test number.
Click to expand...

Amazing!!! Assuming you were an early adopter of the D500 that's still an average of over 600 shots per day, every day.
Just checked mine and am averaging just over 20 per day. :)
 
Machine gunning...um, no.
I shoot a lot of events involving fast moving action - the camera is always on continuous high. But I shoot in short bursts - 3 or 4 frames at a time to catch what I want.
One long busy day at an event can be 6000 images......
 
Peter123 said:
The new "automatic" AFT facility on the 500 is not very good. You are better using traditional methods.
You need to aft both bare lens and lens with TC as they are usually different settings.
Click to expand...

I wasn't happy with my results with it,i was trying it on a Sigma 100-400 perhaps its happier with Nikon lenses, after several set ups i ended up with this as a 10 shot sample,

+3
0
0
-1
0
-7
-6
+1
0
0

I gave up an used guess work based on looking at images and settled on -7

Not bad at 400mm for a mid price lens on a D500.

DSC_3609.jpg
 
I've shot a couple of sporting events so far with the D500. My lads football where it performed really well and Ice Hockey last night where it did pretty well too. The exposures at iso3200/4000 were pretty grainy as I was a tad underexposed to get a shutter speed but I got a few good ones when I used my faster lenses. Overall very happy with the camera and it shot over 1000 shots last night on a single battery. I have also used it for a couple of landscape shots and it is pretty capable there too but my lack of wide lenses limited me. A
 

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A few from the football
 

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