Upgrading From Nikon D500

[john1970]

I don't know what your budget is. A Nikon Z8 with the 180-600 mm zoom could be a very good combo for bird photography. Like others have said if you have the budget I would transition to mirrorless. I shot DSLRS from 2021 to 2021 and I would never go back to a DSLR.

 

[Beau Cotter]

I guess the question is what's lacking in your current setup?

Are you having to crop a lot when shooting your D500 with your 200-500mm lens? If so, one advantage of the 500mm f/4 is its ability to take a 1.4x TC and still deliver great images at only f/5.6 so still retaining great AF performance on the D500. If you're not having trouble getting sufficient image size with your current setup then the 500mm f/4 can help you shoot in lower and softer light and can help you blur backgrounds a bit more which are both great.

If you aren't filling the frame as much as you'd like then I'd look for a 600mm f/4 or expect to use a 500mm f/4 with a 1.4x TC a lot.

I'm thinking about the biggest things and I believe they are something like this

1 AF speed

2 Low light performance (also could be solved with better VR probably)

3 background rendering & bokeh

4 Photo resolution (not necessarily sharpness, just kinda running out of pixels when cropping...)

5 sharpness wide open (not a huge deal but something to consider)

And yeah, I do find myself cropping quite often actually.

Also, just to clear something up for me, is thinking of primarily handholding that 500 f4 ridiculous? Or do you think I could get used to it?

 

[DRwyoming]

Also, just to clear something up for me, is thinking of primarily handholding that 500 f4 ridiculous? Or do you think I could get used to it?

I've hand held my 600mm f/4, even the older and heavier G version in a pinch but only for a handful of seconds or minute here and there. For all day usage I wouldn't recommend it. Sure the 500mm f/4 G is a bit lighter but not much.

I think it's possible when needed and there are often opportunities to brace against a tree or fence rail or rock, backpack, etc. But personally I wouldn't purchase a big f/4 lens with the intention of 100% hand holding and I'm not exactly frail. I'd at least carry a monopod with a lens that size.

 

[beano]

I'm thinking about the biggest things and I believe they are something like this

1 AF speed

2 Low light performance (also could be solved with better VR probably)

3 background rendering & bokeh

4 Photo resolution (not necessarily sharpness, just kinda running out of pixels when cropping...)

5 sharpness wide open (not a huge deal but something to consider)

And yeah, I do find myself cropping quite often actually.

Also, just to clear something up for me, is thinking of primarily handholding that 500 f4 ridiculous? Or do you think I could get used to it?

Hi Beau,
Below shot was shot in the late afternoon- 200-500 @500mm /f5.6. SOOC jpeg, cropped, shot on the d850.

As someone has mentioned above, you can get pretty decent bokeh by getting closer to your subject, zooming in as much as you can and having them further from the background. I do own the d500/d850 and z8/z9 bodies, and must say, I still very much enjoy the DSLR’s occasionally.

Of course cropping that much do drop a bit of sharpness, but the 200-500 still has decent micro-contrast, imho. Even sharpness is sacrificed, still plenty of detail. Of course, being a budget lens, LoCa is visible in the bokeh areas.

The d500/200-500 is a wonderful and affordable birding body, if I could recommend anything, and if you’re solely into bird still photography, rather invest in glass. The 500of and 500 f4 are both great lenses and very affordable on the 2nd hand market, you can effectively use them on the new z-bodies when you move over to mirrorless.

I am still hoping for a something 30MP DX D500 replacement, let’s see what Nikon drops next. Above all imho of course, excellent advice ^^ by others.