Nikon D850 or D500

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GWP

GWP

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Beating a dead horse I know.
But I can't make up my mind. I have the first version of Tamron 150-600 and a nifty 50 thats suposed to be compatible with the D850. On the other hand I do like the crop factor on the D500. But if you have to crop anyway wouldn't it be better with the 850? I am going to invest in a 200-500 or a prime later anyway. I shoot wildlife landscape and really enjoy night photography. I also occasionally do events and portraits.
 
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The D500 will do all that. It is excellent. I just did a 45 minute walk with my D500 and the 500pf yesterday and it worked perfectly for my bird shots. It can do landscape really well too.
Sure, the D850 may be better, but it is a law of diminishing returns. I doubt I could tell if your landscape shot was D500 or D850. The D500 is still really good.
Event and portraits, no problem with the D500. I think the D850 cropped puts about the same number of pixels on the target as the D500.
My opinion- don't sweat the difference. The D500 is great.
Iainb
 
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I own both the D500 and the D850. I purchased the D500 first and was happy with it. Then I purchased the D850 in March 2021.

After purchasing the D850, iI realized that if I had purchased the D850 before the D500, I likely never would have purchased the D500. The D850 is now the first camera body I reach for when I'm shooting for me.

IMHO, there is a D500, plus more, in every D850!
 
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Whiskeyman said:
I own both the D500 and the D850. I purchased the D500 first and was happy with it. Then I purchased the D850 in March 2021.

After purchasing the D850, iI realized that if I had purchased the D850 before the D500, I likely never would have purchased the D500. The D850 is now the first camera body I reach for when I'm shooting for me.

IMHO, there is a D500, plus more, in every D850!
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Do you believe that the D850 sensor gives you better options in low light situations? I don't find the D500 very good in low light.
 
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I have both the D500 and D850. After three years of shooting Wildlife and Raptors (BIF) with the D500 which I really enjoyed until I bought the D850 last year. I photograph Eagles, Ospreys, Hawks just about daily this time of year and the D850 is now my Camera of choice. Hands down the D850 is so versatile one push of the fn1 button turn the front dial and switch between FX and DX. The D850 with the $500 rebate currently is a very solid choice. My D850 is married to the 500mm PF.
 
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GWP said:
Beating a dead horse I know.
But I can't make up my mind. I have the first version of Tamron 150-600 and a nifty 50 thats suposed to be compatible with the D850. On the other hand I do like the crop factor on the D500. But if you have to crop anyway wouldn't it be better with the 850? I am going to invest in a 200-500 or a prime later anyway. I shoot wildlife landscape and really enjoy night photography. I also occasionally do events and portraits.
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I own both, owned the D500 for 3-4years the D850 for going on 2 years. Both bodies are griped. When shooting with the 600mmF4 I really prefer a FX body, with good light will reach for the D850 (poor light the D4). Reason being is with the D500 I’ve experienced situations that I’m to close to my subject due to the crop factor. When I count on the D500 is when I have some type of a barrier that will prevent my subject from getting to close (not a fan of teleconverters) and for birds. Really love both just feel that they both have their special use.
 
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I have both the D 500 and D850. I find that 10 frames per sec in the D500 is a must have feature for my bird photos. If you can live with 7 fps, then the D 850 might be the camera for you.
 
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joe43 said:
I have both the D 500 and D850. I find that 10 frames per sec in the D500 is a must have feature for my bird photos. If you can live with 7 fps, then the D 850 might be the camera for you.
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I get 9 fps out of my D850 with the MB-D18 and a D5 (EN-EL18) battery. It takes a different battery holder, the BL-5, but they are readily available. I fire my D500 and D850 side by side and you can barely hear the difference. The Nikon EN-EL18 battery and charger are rather pricey, but I have a pair of Kaster "EN-EL18" batteries and their dual charger that actually shows % charged, which the Nikon one does not, that was a third of the price and after over two years and a lot of use, they still last forever. I don't even bother putting a battery in the camera any longer.
 
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I would recommend the D850 over the D500 (in general), but I do believe you made the right choice with the D500. Why? because you like the crop factor.. which means you will be cropping almost every photo with the D850, thus negating most of the advantages that come with the full frame. So congrats and enjoy the D500. It is the best DX DSLR out there. I have it's smaller brother D7500 and I still use it when I need the reach (despite having a D850).
 
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Hello,

I used a D500 for the last 3 years for sports (rugby) and wildlife.
Very happy with it until I bought a D850. The D850 can do it all... and perfectly.
So today I sold the D500 and bought a Z6ij.
I find it to be more “complentary” to the D850.

Just my thoughts.

JL
 
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Viathelens said:
Do you believe that the D850 sensor gives you better options in low light situations? I don't find the D500 very good in low light.
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I won't comment on the differences in low-light performances of the two since I don't have enough experience with either of them in low-light to do so. Sorry!
 
Viathelens said:
Do you believe that the D850 sensor gives you better options in low light situations? I don't find the D500 very good in low light.
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I am curious, What are you comparing the D500 to? I find it to be quite good in low light and the D850 to be better that the D500.

I also think that a D500 and Tamron 150-600mm is a really nice combo but I prefer the D850 with 500 PF almost always. Still learning though...
 
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Hut said:
I am curious, What are you comparing the D500 to? I find it to be quite good in low light and the D850 to be better that the D500.

I also think that a D500 and Tamron 150-600mm is a really nice combo but I prefer the D850 with 500 PF almost always. Still learning though...
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Not comparing to any other equipment, just to the fact that early morning light can be problematic as can getting shots in shaded areas. I've read posts in various places where others have said this and posts where others say it's great. Probably depends upon the desired result. I want to shoot as fast as possible at f/5.6 (my long lenses are f/5.6 wide open and I do have the 500PF) with the most accurate exposure and it does seem that a full frame sensor allows for a faster shot. I've got the D850 coming next week but I'm sort of waffling now....and don't get me wrong, I love my D500 and I've taken thousands of shot with it and will probably take thousands more but I want that extra bit of speed. I don't shoot for the crop but instead I'm more of a fill the frame person although I do use LrC and the Scale tool (Transform panel) to enlarge some images and will most likely take the wildlife shots in DX mode. Too many choices these days....
 
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Viathelens said:
Not comparing to any other equipment, just to the fact that early morning light can be problematic as can getting shots in shaded areas. I've read posts in various places where others have said this and posts where others say it's great. Probably depends upon the desired result. I want to shoot as fast as possible at f/5.6 (my long lenses are f/5.6 wide open and I do have the 500PF) with the most accurate exposure and it does seem that a full frame sensor allows for a faster shot. I've got the D850 coming next week but I'm sort of waffling now....and don't get me wrong, I love my D500 and I've taken thousands of shot with it and will probably take thousands more but I want that extra bit of speed. I don't shoot for the crop but instead I'm more of a fill the frame person although I do use LrC and the Scale tool (Transform panel) to enlarge some images and will most likely take the wildlife shots in DX mode. Too many choices these days....
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I think that you will love both bodies and will find that they will have times that one will excel over the other. I have both and prefer the D850, but there are times that I will reach for the D500 first. You can always count on both, they simply work.
 
Viathelens said:
Not comparing to any other equipment, just to the fact that early morning light can be problematic as can getting shots in shaded areas. I've read posts in various places where others have said this and posts where others say it's great. Probably depends upon the desired result. I want to shoot as fast as possible at f/5.6 (my long lenses are f/5.6 wide open and I do have the 500PF) with the most accurate exposure and it does seem that a full frame sensor allows for a faster shot. I've got the D850 coming next week but I'm sort of waffling now....and don't get me wrong, I love my D500 and I've taken thousands of shot with it and will probably take thousands more but I want that extra bit of speed. I don't shoot for the crop but instead I'm more of a fill the frame person although I do use LrC and the Scale tool (Transform panel) to enlarge some images and will most likely take the wildlife shots in DX mode. Too many choices these days....
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I don’t see any advantage to DX mode. 🤷‍♂
I think you will love that D850
 
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If you want to eliminate changing lenses for wildlife and landscape, would it be reasonable to have the D500 for wildlife and the D850 for landscape/general use? Or, some other model for one or the other? I have the D7200 and D850 and the D7200 is now virtually unused, except for the occasional shots that I do not have time (or do not want) to change lenses. I have been considering replacing the 7200 with the 500, but the more I read the more I wonder if it is a wise decision.
 
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GWP said:
Beating a dead horse I know.
But I can't make up my mind. I have the first version of Tamron 150-600 and a nifty 50 thats suposed to be compatible with the D850. On the other hand I do like the crop factor on the D500. But if you have to crop anyway wouldn't it be better with the 850? I am going to invest in a 200-500 or a prime later anyway. I shoot wildlife landscape and really enjoy night photography. I also occasionally do events and portraits.
Click to expand...

The D850 has to be the most versatile DSLR ever. but for sport and wildlife the D500 is better value.
The only advantage of cropping the D850 is that you can see the area around the crop as the target moves into it.
Both have the fantastic D5 autofocus. I dont do much birding these days but I tend to go for the D500 over my D850 but I dont know why...
 
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