The Brits have a saying “Spoiled For Choice”. I had an old D7000 which I used for years as my walk-around camera on vacations, etc. It was for ‘Happy Snaps’ when out with the wife; who didn’t like to wait and couldn’t abide the slow deliberate method of my landscape work with the D800.
The time finally came to get rid of the 7000. I was determined to get something small, portable and yet with good Image quality. I narrowed it down to Sony, Fuji and Nikon. They were all excellent cameras. I liked the way that Fuji rendered its images, I was intrigued with the Sony A7rII high resolution, and The Nikon D 7500 seemed a good unit. Choices Galore…
The Sony, by the time I added new glass wasn’t much lighter than my D800! This was not a walkabout vacation camera and more expensive than I desired. Goodbye Sony.
The Fuji was loved by every Fuji owner I talked to. It was light, efficient and the company really listened to its users (unlike Nikon) and even updated cameras that had been out for several years. Also, there was something really attractive about the way Fuji rendered its images. The problems with Lightroom weren’t a deal killer, yet. The first crack in my love affair with Fuji came from the EVF. There was just something that seemed unnatural about it. The more I looked the more I strained and wound up using live view on the back. This would not work for fast vacation snaps especially in bright conditions. Then came the final blow from Lightroom. That is what I would have to use. We used it in school and I was married to it. The Fuji users told me I would not be happy. Sayonara Fuji.
I was really down on Nikon because of its lack of manufacturing quality control. My D800 had to go back to the factory and every high end camera they introduced came with its own set of problems. It seemed that Nikon didn’t even like its customers. They were just a necessary evil that stood in the way of greater profitability. So I did nothing. My iPhone grew into my most used camera.
Then Nikon introduced the D7500. It was no longer just a rumor. I waited but didn’t hear of any manufacturing faux pas. Then I made the mistake of actually going to the camera store. It was light. It was small. It was good. But (there is always a but before the bad news comes), it wasn’t weather sealed, it used a lot of plastic, and it only had one card slot. I’m a belt and suspenders kind of guy. When I go on vacation I want my images backed up just in case. The X-Pro 2 had two slots!! Damn Fuji, she makes it hard not to love her! Then the store tech (whom I had known for years) dropped the BOMB. The D500 was on sale.
The D500 was bigger and heavier than I wanted but it was weather proofed. It was sturdy and used a lot of metal, it had the new autofocus system, it offers an uncompressed raw file in 12 or 14 bits, a deeper buffer and higher frame rate, and the controls are set up very similarly to the D800. It also offered a tilting monitor so I will not have to lay on the ground to get those low shots. Can you sense that I am talking myself into the D500? Yep. I bought her. But I’m still not entirely happy with Nikon. Just for spite I determined not to read the Nikon manual. So, I bought Thom Hogan's manual even though it has over 900 pages that I have to wade through;)
So, as you can see - what Bjørn said “it boils down to the user experience in handling the gear”.
I haven’t forgotten Fuji entirely. I want to replace my D800. Some of the images I print really big (4 to 5 feet) for school or exhibits. Now I’m looking at the GFX 50S. I’ll probably need everyone’s help again soon.
This was a really long post just to agree with Bjørn. But I found it very cathartic.
Thanks for your forbearance.
