Nikon D500 v. Nikon Z 6II as backup or alternate to Nikon D850

[David H. Hartman]

Of course buying a dk-17m will be the sticky point, as they seem to be discontinued.

I own a DK-17M and have two on order that are listed as backordered. I doubt that these back orders will ever be filled. I checked eBay and found a few at highly inflated prices. Eventually the price of the DK-17M will probably fall to something reasonable. Until then I'll wait.

Dave

[David H. Hartman]

D500 is an ergonomic dream, likely as good or better than your D850 in that respect and they would very much match each other in the layout. If you can live with or take advantage of a fast DX sensor body paired with you D850 (think though the wide side if used as backup), I personally would not care about the D500 being released quite a few years ago. It is still the best DX/APS DSLR body out there that has yet to be matched by anything, and at much better prices than when it was released. Sensors have pretty much plateaued since its release. With a Z6 (non-II) you could experience occasional banding, and there is still the issues of dealing with two lines of lenses or adapters.  I could be wrong, but somehow i sense you want a D500... 

The control layout of the D500 is a definite plus bing so much the same as the D850.

I prefer the FX format for the ablity to blur background more easily and to a greater degree than DX. For example a 105/2.5 lens with a subject at 2 meters offers nicely blurred backgrounds for candid portraits. A 70/2.8 used to give the same perspective and framing blurs background but not enough to make then less distracting but there are situations where blurring the background may not be desirable. In such case the DX format would be preferred.

"Reach" without teleconverters is an advantage for DX. Sure one can shoot a D850 in DX mode but then the OVF is masked to a small area which is not particularly functional.


A couple of years ago I was pushing a friend in a wheelchair in a horticulture outing. I had a D800 with an AF-S 105/2.8G IF-ED VR around my neck. This was an example of too much equipment for the situation. I intended to take plant sample photographs for her. I took almost none. At the time I was thinking a D500 with a 105/2.8 AIS would have been much easier on my neck. I had a smart phone but I don't like using it to take photographs as it's too clumsy for such use.

I note that a lot of photographers like the D500 for birds in flight and also read that amateur sports photographers use a D500 with 70-200/2.8 zoom to photograph school sports. The D500 seems to be the best choice at this time.

Dave

[Roland Vink]

Funny, I don't know if AI lenses work on my D850 in Shutter Priority or Auto?

They won't, unless they have a CPU added, and even then you should only use Shutter Priority or Auto with AI-S lenses. If you try with AI CPU lenses you are likely to get exposure errors as the can't be stopped down predictably except by using the aperture ring, in which case you are back to Aperture Priority or Manual

[David H. Hartman]

They won't, unless they have a CPU added, and even then you should only use Shutter Priority or Auto with AI-S lenses. If you try with AI CPU lenses you are likely to get exposure errors as the can't be stopped down predictably except by using the aperture ring, in which case you are back to Aperture Priority or Manual

I checked an AI or AIS lens.  When my D850 is set to S or P the large letter, S or P, blinks and the camera is functioning in Aperture Preferred mode. I remember the aperture actuation of the AI v. AIS lens.

Yes, it's all coming back to me. I knew this once. 

Dave

[Erik Lund]

They won't, unless they have a CPU added, and even then you should only use Shutter Priority or Auto with AI-S lenses. If you try with AI CPU lenses you are likely to get exposure errors as the can't be stopped down predictably except by using the aperture ring, in which case you are back to Aperture Priority or Manual

Exactly.
Also metering becomes much more reliable with a CPU chipped lens, especially for full frame fisheye and wide angle lenses.

[David H. Hartman]

Maybe I'm chasing a silver bullet? Maybe I need to give up on any kind of hand held or action photography with AI and AIS lenses? Maybe my eyes aren't up to the task anymore?

I was experimenting with my D850, a Kirck macro flash braket FB-9 and an SB-800 for close up hand held. Using a 105/4.0 AI Nikkor I had focus failure after focus failure. In the past where I could not use a tripod I could get a few good shots out of a dozen or so with my D800. Now zero! Next I tried my AF-S 105/2.8G IF-ED VR. With a single focus sensor over the prime target and holding down the AF-ON button with my D850 set to AF-C I (well the D850 and 105/2.8G) nailed the focus time after time. With the flash capped with a diffusor the light looks quite natural and the flash freezes motion. This technique works with ambient light also if the shutter speed can be kept high enough to freeze the subject and camera motion.

Hand holding at high magnification with manual focus has always been a crap shoot but by winning occasionally this gambler kept coming back. With the 105/4.0 AI at 1:2 I was getting nothing. With the AF-S 105/2.8G IF-ED and 1:1 or near I was getting many focused shots.

Dave

[ch96066]

Dear David,

Too much choice is the bane of all of us

Owning currently D850-D810-D500, I would first let go the 850 and just maybe the 500 (if a gun was put to my head).
So I would propose you to consider (if you have not already made your mind up) the D810 as the back up, unless you need the reach, speed and buffer for wildlife and/or sports in which case the 500 cannot be beat.

As to how to best utilize your ai ai-s arsenal I strongly propose going mirrorless, but on a different route. Olympus EM1-II with either simple or speedbooster type adapter. Imagine the best IBIS making your lenses instantly stabilized with excellent EVF assists and for close up macro one of the highest pixel densities available, especially if coupled with the amazing high res mode (works also with any Nikon I believe).
That is how I use my 55 3.5 and 2.8 macros as well as the 50 1.2 ai-s and all my Zeiss glass.

Let us know what you ended up with.

[David H. Hartman]

I guess I'm still sitting on the fence.

My other two DSLR(s) are a D300s (lost) and a D800. I should have bought a D800E as I use color color moiré reduction constantly with the D800. Does the D810 have issues with color moiré?

Dave

[ch96066]

The theory is that since it doesn't have AA filter it should exhibit similar moire issues as the 800E.
In practice I do not have the knowledge to spot them if they happen so I cannot help you.

[Jan Anne]

I guess I'm still sitting on the fence.

My other two DSLR(s) are a D300s (lost) and a D800. I should have bought a D800E as I use color color moiré reduction constantly with the D800. Does the D810 have issues with color moiré?

Dave

The D800 has an anti aliasing (AA) filter to counter moiré where the D800E did not, as a nature photographer I never regretting buying the D800E as I did not encounter a moiré issue once.

[David H. Hartman]

The D800 has an anti aliasing (AA) filter to counter moiré where the D800E did not, as a nature photographer I never regretting buying the D800E as I did not encounter a moiré issue once.

I never found the AA filter in the D800 to be the silver bullet to kill color moiré.

Dave

[David H. Hartman]

After all the questions about the D500, Z6 II as well as AF-S Nikkors I'm still sitting on a the money I got selling a pickup truck. I'm currently thinking a Z7 II is the camera I should buy to augment my D850 but the proceeds from the pickup won't cover it.

Thank you to everyone for the advice.

Dave

[Ilkka Nissilä]

I've had some significant cases of moire and other kinds of aliasing with the D810 but the higher resolution of the D850 makes this less common. On the D810 would see it with f/1.4 lenses wide open. With the D850 I have seen it only with the 500 PF which is a very high resolution lens. As the sensor resolution increases, aliasing becomes less frequent and less noticeable. If you want high resolution images and are concerned about aliasing, then 45 MP is definitely preferred over 36 MP. Higher would be still better.

[David H. Hartman]

Thank you!