Nikon D500 Discontinued

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Both are bad news, but no surprise on either. Raw material prices are rising with inflation, so Canon needs to raise prices to continue to make a profit. The D500 is my favorite camera of all time, but with the current pace of technological advancements, it's very long in the tooth.
 
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The D500 is arguably the best value wildlife camera still available at the moment. Nikon still lists it on their official web site and in their store for the moment. I do have a Z9 on order but I will keep the D500. I sold the D750, but the D500 is a great camera to use and the images it produces are excellent.
Not everyone can afford a Z9 so getting rid of the D500 as an entry level camera for photographers starting to take an interest in wildlife and bird photography makes no sense to me. Once they move some of the Z9 focus and other innovations to less expensive cameras it would make sense to remove the D500 from the product list. For the moment it still has an important place.
I am hoping it is just a temporary pause in production.
 
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It would not be worth it to try to sell my D500 so when/if I make the move to mirrorless I'll be keeping the D500 (unless it's demise would be the reason to move to mirrorless). My D500 has spent countless hours in the field. I bought it almost exactly 2 years ago. Since then it has been my companion on average of 3-4 days per week out in the field. Approximately 100,000 photos, dings, finish wearing off some of the corners, the texture on the soft covering is partially worn in some areas. Yes, this camera has been and continues to be a workhorse. It even survived a tumble with me down a muddy embankment. My knee and elbow did not hold up anywhere nearly as well as the camera. I doubt if I could get enough money from it to make it worthwhile to sell it. It has not been pampered or kept on a shelf. To me, all the bumps, wear points, scratches and signs of use are part of its beauty.
 
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My original D500 was in a tripod accident about a year ago. The insurance replaced it OK so my current D500 has relatively few activations compared to my original one. It is much too good to sell. Of all the cameras I have owned it is the one camera I want to keep, partly as a reminder of the DSLR era, partly as a back up body, partly for the extra reach without teleconverters, and partially for sentimental reasons.
 
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John Navitsky said:
this thread is killing me as i'm about to let my d500 and 70-200 2.8e go as part of my z-mount reshuffling
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You know I almost pulled trigger on off loading the D500 when I took delivery of the Z9. However, that camera is going to be the Camera that sits on a table in my livingroom that looks out over our property, or gets tossed in a Camera bag with the Sigma 100-400 to ride in the back seat of my truck for those “awe ha moments where’s my Camera”. Just saying…
 
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I have a Z6ii as well as a D500 The breaking period for the Z6ii took longer than usual. I have at last begun to really enjoy the Z6ii despite its limitations. It more than makes up for them with wonderful usability (once you bond with it) and image quality. I took to the D500 right away.
I do find it takes a few months to reach the stage where getting the best out of the options in a new camera is more or less automatic. Adapting to mirrorless has been both enjoyable and a challenge.
Part of the reason for wanting to keep the D500 is to remain connected to the style and ‘genre‘ of the DSLR era. I can still pick up the D500, know exactly how it works and enjoy all the benefits of that style. I am not ready to let it go.
I think of the Nikon system almost like a language system. The DSLR era represents an accent which comes with a series of grammatical rules and assumptions. The Z series is a different accent with slightly different set of assumptions.
 
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I had a D500 that was a "lemon" - malfunctioning, and despite 2 visits to Nikon Canada and several to my local camera store it couldn't be fixed, so as it was under extended warranty from the store, they replaced it. While it was going back and forth to Nikon, I decided I needed a back up camera that I loved as much (but when it worked properly!). So I bought another new D500, as I can't afford a Z9, and from what I have read Z-anything else is not as good for BIF and no better for everything else, and I didn't want to change systems (I have Nikon lenses). And my "muscle memory" works the D500 very well. It feels just right, and I like the way everything works the way I'm used to. So I now have 2 D500s, and I'm very happy with both. At this time I see no reason to upgrade or change.
 
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I'm keeping mine as well. I've said this before - if Nikon want to repeat the D3/D300 and D5/D500 dance, and release a "Z900", I'd probably be all in. Until then, my D500 is one helluva machine. Like many of my long-range rifles, it's better than I'll ever be.
 
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Richard Stern said:
I had a D500 that was a "lemon" - malfunctioning, and despite 2 visits to Nikon Canada and several to my local camera store it couldn't be fixed, so as it was under extended warranty from the store, they replaced it. While it was going back and forth to Nikon, I decided I needed a back up camera that I loved as much (but when it worked properly!). So I bought another new D500, as I can't afford a Z9, and from what I have read Z-anything else is not as good for BIF and no better for everything else, and I didn't want to change systems (I have Nikon lenses). And my "muscle memory" works the D500 very well. It feels just right, and I like the way everything works the way I'm used to. So I now have 2 D500s, and I'm very happy with both. At this time I see no reason to upgrade or change.
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I also have 2 D500’s with a 16-80, 70-200 2.8, newest 80-400 and 500PF. Strongly considered getting a D850, but for what I shoot, love the combinations I have. In AZ now and go to Coon Bluff for wild mustangs weekly. Have 80-40 on one body and 16-80 on the other, along with my RRS monopod or Gitzo tripod - depending how far I am walking. Cotton Carrier vest and/or SKB case. Couldn’t be happier!
 
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A local camera store lists the D500 as a camera that is now available only as a special order product, and that one might need to wait for quite some time to actually get it. It might be that Nikon will produce this camera only in batches in the future, once a certain number of orders are placed for it. I believe that is what Nikon did for the F6, and does for certain exotic lenses.
 
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