The D500 v. D850 for those who own or have owned both?

[David H. Hartman]

The D500 v. D850 for those who own or have owned both? Not witch should I buy but will the D500 be a good backup for the D850 and vice versa? 

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The D500 and D850 are pretty mature in the market. I just bought a Nikon D850 and have the custom settings all worked out. I’m very impressed and wish I could have bought the D850 sooner but I had to wait until I could buy it with a savings of $800.00 (USD). Now if I can sell somethings I hope I can buy a camera for a backup to the D850.

Last night I was comparing D850 images with D800 images and I can’t see using my D800 again except if I loose the use of my D850.  The lack of an AA filter with the D850 is a major plus for me. Fine detail with relatively low contrast is great with the D850. The D800 with its AA filter doesn’t come close. From a couple of sources I understand that the D500 does not have an AA filter or optical low-pass filter). Is this correct?

Despite having no AA filter the D850 scarcely shows any color moiré in the gray feathers of a friend’s cockatoo. I used color moiré reduction constantly with my D800 in Nikon Capture NX-D particularly at higher ISO(s). I’m wondering about the D500, fine detail at low contrast and color moiré. Am I likely to be as pleased with the D500 in this regard and I am with the D850?

In general how do the D500 and D850 compliment each other?

Thank you for considering this.

Dave

I hope I’m not asking too many dumb questions. I tried searching using advanced search for hits here at Nikon Gear.

I'm not considering mirroless as that would require a new set of lenses, at lease a normal lens, mid-range zoom and an FTZ adapter. Also I  already own may F-mount Nikkors.

[Frank Fremerey]

The D500 v. D850 for those who own or have owned both? Not witch should I buy but will the D500 be a good backup for the D850 and vice versa? 

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The D500 and D850 are pretty mature in the market. I just bought a Nikon D850 and have the custom settings all worked out. I’m very impressed and wish I could have bought the D850 sooner but I had to wait until I could buy it with a savings of $800.00 (USD). Now if I can sell somethings I hope I can buy a camera for a backup to the D850.

Last night I was comparing D850 images with D800 images and I can’t see using my D800 again except if I loose the use of my D850.  The lack of an AA filter with the D850 is a major plus for me. Fine detail with relatively low contrast is great with the D850. The D800 with its AA filter doesn’t come close. From a couple of sources I understand that the D500 does not have an AA filter or optical low-pass filter). Is this correct?

Despite having no AA filter the D850 scarcely shows any color moiré in the gray feathers of a friend’s cockatoo. I used color moiré reduction constantly with my D800 in Nikon Capture NX-D particularly at higher ISO(s). I’m wondering about the D500, fine detail at low contrast and color moiré. Am I likely to be as pleased with the D500 in this regard and I am with the D850?

In general how do the D500 and D850 compliment each other?

Thank you for considering this.

Dave

I hope I’m not asking too many dumb questions. I tried searching using advanced search for hits here at Nikon Gear.

I'm not considering mirroless as that would require a new set of lenses, at lease a normal lens, mid-range zoom and an FTZ adapter. Also I  already own may F-mount Nikkors.

I still own both and will keep them both. Both are great cameras. The one cannot replace the other. For me the D500 was an upgrade from the D3 sports and action camera and still is. D500 phantastic bang for the buck. Generally totally underestimated superb camera. A real love affair.

The D850 is an expensive more universal tool with the best color resolving power I have ever seen esp at ISO64. A slow food and tripod tool that I also use for reportage because she is fast and responsive. Downside: Chroma Noise at high ISO.

Perfect addition as a third body was the Z6. Silent operation and superhigh ISO ... very nice as a third body and for adapting anythig and everything to it

[Fons Baerken]

I still own both and will keep them both. Both are great cameras. The one cannot replace the other. For me the D500 was an upgrade from the D3 sports and action camera and still is. D500 phantastic bang for the buck. Generally totally underestimated superb camera. A real love affair.

The D850 is an expensive more universal tool with the best color resolving power I have ever seen esp at ISO64. A slow food and tripod tool that I also use for reportage because she is fast and responsive. Downside: Chroma Noise at high ISO.

Perfect addition as a third body was the Z6. Silent operation and superhigh ISO ... very nice as a third body and for adapting anythig and everything to it

I agree here with Frank the d500 (esp with the 17-55mm/2.8 is a great option very snappy and responsive i enjoyed it a lot but sold to finance the purchase of the Z6, but is incomparable to the d500 for that matter.

[David H. Hartman]

Thank you for the replies. I'll have to see if I can sell enough to buy a D500 on closeout.

Dave

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Perfect addition as a third body was the Z6. Silent operation and superhigh ISO ... very nice as a third body and for adapting anythig and everything to it

I wish I could consider seriously a Nikon mirrorless. I always wanted a Leica M4 for candid photos of people as it was so quiet. Mirrorless would do the same and more. The tilting LCD would give more unobtrusive opportunities as pointing a camera at eye level is experienced by subject as more aggressive. I owned a Rollie 80/2.8 Xenotar and loved the way people ignored me while photographing them. It was difficult for me to focus so working was slow.

A Z6 II would be great with maybe a mid-range zoom and an FTZ adapter. I'll probably never be able to afford one.

Dave

[MFloyd]

You could do Rollei-like pictures with a D850.

[David H. Hartman]

You could do Rollei-like pictures with a D850.

Any idea what the shutter lag times might be?

[MFloyd]

Any idea what the shutter lag times might be?

No idea. I’m using the back screen mostly for landscape or macro situations where lag time plays a no role. From time to time, I also use the back screen for shooting live situations from an angle difficult or impossible to shoot from the OVF finder (eg racing pilot in the (crammed) car cockpit).

But yes, it would be interesting to know.

I found this on the net:

https://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/nikon-d850/nikon-d850A6.HTM

[Ilkka Nissilä]

No idea. I’m using the back screen mostly for landscape or macro situations where lag time plays a no role. From time to time, I also use the back screen for shooting live situations from an angle difficult or impossible to shoot from the OVF finder (eg racing pilot in the (crammed) car cockpit).

But yes, it would be interesting to know.

I found this on the net:

https://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/nikon-d850/nikon-d850A6.HTM

In principle, with EFCS, shutter lag can be shorter in LV than it is with (DSLR optical) viewfinder photography or with mechanical front curtain shutter. This is typically the case with mirrorless cameras.

I wonder if imaging resource considered EFCS use in LV as it could potentially lead to significantly shorter shutter lag (in the prefocused case). (I don't know if this is the case with the D850.)

[MILLIREHM]

I have got both the D500 and the D850 and they form a good couple but I would not consider them as a backup (depending on what you shoot). If you use the D850 for full-format wide- angle with FX lenses, then the D500 is not a good backup. It's good to combine them for supertele-photography. The D500 crops the format, and the D850 can be switched to DX with approximately the same pixel density and back to FX easily. That makes you see what's around the frame which is sometimes useful - and if you need the crop anyway the camera is clearing the buffer earlier (compared to write full format images that could be cropped later). Most of the times I find it more useful to have the DX frame fill the D500s viewfinder and the AF-fields cover a larger part of the frame. The AF system is the same, the D850 needs the battery pack plus EN-EL18x to reach 9fps. The D500 reaches its 10fps without battery pack and just with the small EN-El15xbatteries. Together with the 80-400 AF-S or the 200-500 Nikkor (or the 500 PF if I owned it) it forms a rather lightweight combo suitable for hiking and travel. Since I have got the D500 I have enhanced my options and can do supertele shots (even more "range" given by crop factor) and have full AF and fps speed on board even in thes situations. The D500 has got no AA filter (as the D850 and D800E) - so far i did not observe relevant Moiré effects but that might differ when shooting habits are different

[David H. Hartman]

At this point I need to figure out how to sell my D850 D800 and a few other items and then watch the price on the D500. It would be nice if it would drop a bit more as the D850 D800 did briefly.

It's true a DX camera can't truly backup an FX camera but if the FX is lost, stolen or in for repairs a DX camera is there as a photographic tool.

Dave

[Ilkka Nissilä]

At this point I need to figure out how to sell my D850 and a few other items and then watch the price on the D500. It would be nice if it would drop a bit more as the D850 did briefly.

Is there a typo here somewhere? I thought you liked the D850.

It's true a DX camera can't truly backup an FX camera but if the FX is lost, stolen or in for repairs a DX camera is there as a photographic tool.

Right the DX camera won't give the same field of view, but if the FX camera is in repair, it's of course possible to take photos with DX, the difficulties may come from wide angles depending on which lenses you have, and the range of zooms in terms of angle of view is different.  But a lot of people do use D850 and D500.

The D780 is another possibility; it has on-sensor phase-detect AF so you can get a better live view shooting experience with it, and it has probably a bit better high ISO image quality than the D850 and maintains the same field of view as the D850.

[Frank Fremerey]

I do not see why you would like to sell the D850???

If I only had one I would keep the D850 although I like the D500 better. The D850 is the more versatile tool. Great it is to have both together. Practical example: my standard reportage set is both cameras plus 4 lenses: 20, 35, 58, 85. Each of the lenses has two meanings for me, because I frame and not shoot for crops. Plus thev lenses backup the set. D500&58mm has the same "portrait meaning" as D850&85mm for me and while the D850&20mm is a true super wide angle, the D500&85mm is a longer outdoor portrait combo like a 135 style lens.

This set is very good for my style of shooting.

[MFloyd]

I left the DX format with the D90, and will not return back to it. In my field, I know well à Fuji ambassador; good photographer, but his images are saved by his talent, and, from time to time, you could clearly notice the limitations of this semi format.

https://www.macleanphotographic.com/

[David H. Hartman]

I do not see why you would like to sell the D850???

Sorry, that was a major typo! What I meant to say was I'll need to sell my D800 and other things to raise money for a D500.

Dave

[golunvolo]

Just in case you haven't seen this: https://nikongear.net/revival/index.php?topic=9714.0