D5 Advice

[AlanB313]

Great to hear about your experience. Especially as a dslr user who is $ challenged to acquire a z8/z9. Thanks.

 

[Jbear]

For me the cost/benefit in this choice is remarkably clear.

 

[fcotterill]

Got to shoot with it today and it was a really impressive experience. The images look great at all ISO's, which surprised me a little considering all the chatter I had read regarding low ISO performance. I shot it with a 300 2.8 VR and 500PF alongside a D500 and D850...both gripped. No fine-tune necessary with either lens, so that's nice.
AF was as advertised, and there definitely was a difference among the bodies. This became most noticeable with tc's where both lenses remained snappy with 14's, and the 300 2.8 stayed that way with the 17 and 20 (maybe not snappy withthe 2x but not slow at all). It's ability to grab dark subjects against dark busy backgrounds was really nice, and tree swallows were significantly less challenging to track.
Beyond that it was just fun to use...it just feels great. It would have cost me 4x the $ to get a Z9. I'm very happy with my decision, as it covers all of my bases. Can't wait to get this thing on the road!
One thing I do wish is that I could program the f3 (back bottom left) for My Menu like I have done with the F2 on the other two bodies. If I missed something regarding that please feel free to inform me.
Appreciate everyone's insight!

V good to hear. I also remember the rapid realization the first day I took my Used D5 on a walkabout, when its snappier AF stood out from my trusty D850. I found this difference applied in many situations, notably when photographing animal subjects in thickets, besides birds flying toward the camera.
Stand to be corrected, but the underlying difference from the D850, and its kith and kin, is the D5 was Nikon's first DSLR to get a dedicated AF processor, which apparently leverages the exposure meter and focus sensor integration.

 

[fcotterill]

One thing I do wish is that I could program the f3 (back bottom left) for My Menu like I have done with the F2 on the other two bodies. If I missed something regarding that please feel free to inform me.
{snipped}

This is correct; unfortunately, the Nikon Nanny forbids this setting, and setting almost every other function to Fn3 [D5 User Manual table refers, pg 348]. (They eventually rectified this restriction slightly for Fn3 setup on the D6.)

{EDIT} However, Thom H's D5 guide shows a setup is possible if you select 'Access top item in MY MENU' - see appended table snips

pg 728 in D5 ebook Guide

 

[Jbear]

Appreciate that! I've been reading a lot, but...a lot more tho go.