Bikon D500 vs D5

[floridafan]

My wife has been passionate about photography for about 10 years or so. She started with a D90, then went to a D300. When she wore that out it seemed like the best body other than a full frame was a D7200. I would like to upgrade her and am thinking I should get the D5. I found it for under 5k and it is a ton of money but doable. How many think shooting full frame is worth the move. She does like to do portraits, but also wildlife and landscape.

 

[Destin]

My wife has been passionate about photography for about 10 years or so. She started with a D90, then went to a D300. When she wore that out it seemed like the best body other than a full frame was a D7200. I would like to upgrade her and am thinking I should get the D5. I found it for under 5k and it is a ton of money but doable. How many think shooting full frame is worth the move. She does like to do portraits, but also wildlife and landscape.

Look at the D850. It’s a far better camera for portraits and landscapes than the D5. Not only is it more suited for this type of shooting, it’s also newer than the D5.

The D5 would handle these tasks fine, but it’s really meant for sports/action photography.

 

[Braineack]

The D5 would handle these tasks fine, but it’s really meant for sports/action photography.

and other professional work...

I'm sure we'd all love a D5 here, but seems incredibly overkill here, especially since the wife isn't the one out shopping for it.

Considering D90 > D300 > D7200 sounds like she'd adequately content with a D500.

 

[greybeard34 7]

Upgrading her camera is not like buying her a piece of jewelry. She may absolutely love a D5 but she might hate it too. The D500 would be the most logical upgrade to the D300/D7200 but, I think I would let her decide what her next camera should be.

 

[Designer]

How many think shooting full frame is worth the move.

"Full frame" is not the answer to everything.

Since this will be for your wife, go with her to some camera shops and ask her to handle some cameras. She might absolutely hate the size and weight of a "full frame" professional camera. If she is accustomed to a smaller camera body now, she might not want to carry around a larger, heavier camera.

 

[jaomul]

The d500 might be aa safe bet due chances are she has lenses that work well with crop sensor.

 

[floridafan]

I had not considered the D850! It looks like a logical step to Full Frame. I will take my wife to a shop that has the D500 and D850 in stock so she can handle them. Thank you!

 

[Dave442]

Good idea to have her hold both the D500 and the D850. There is a size difference that she might find noticeable, with the D500 a bit smaller and 5 ounces lighter. Both are very much like the D300 in handling, the D500 being the long awaited upgrade to that model while the D850 is the full frame version.

 

[ac12]

I second talking with her, and having her feel the cameras.

The D850 is significantly heavier than the D7200. And depending on what, where and for how long she is shooting, that weight increase can be a negative factor. Example if she is carrying her kit for miles, when shooting wildlife, I would think that weight would be a factor for her. It is for me. Everything is compromised to minimize weight and bulk.

To get the same image magnification out of a FF/FX camera, she would need a longer (and heavier) lens than a DX camera.

On the DX D7200, a 70-300 has about 8.6x magnification at 300mm.
A FX camera, would need a 400mm lens to get to the same 8x magnification. So the big Nikon 200-500.
​

Keep in mind that, holding the camera+lens for 5 minutes in the camera shop, is very different than carrying and holding the camera+lens for a few hours in the field.

One of the reasons I shoot a 70-200/4 rather than the f/2.8 lens, is because the f/4 lens is HALF the weight of the f/2.8 lens. And when shooting 2 sequential football games, at the end of the night, that weight difference makes a difference in how tired/sore I am.​

So if she wants FF/FX, also look at the lighter D750. The D750 is still an FX camera, but lighter than the D850.

Rather than the D7200, I would look at the DX D7500. Here are my 2 primary reasons:

• The D7500 can use the new AF-P lenses, where the D7200 had limited functionality with the AF-P lenses.
  For me the biggest issue is, with my D7200, I cannot turn VR off, so I cannot use the AF-P lenses on a tripod. And for me, that is NOT an acceptable restriction.
  
• The D7500 has a pivoting rear screen. This gives the ability to shoot high angle shots without a ladder, and low angle shots without laying in the dirt/mud.

To me the D500 is more of a sports/action camera.

 

[floridafan]

When we are in the field, I am her mule... LOL! The biggest Lens we now have is the 80-400. although I guess we have a Sigma 150-500 that is not used often.
Everything else is a lot smaller right now. I dream of the 600MM one day!

 

[n614cd]

When we are in the field, I am her mule... LOL! The biggest Lens we now have is the 80-400. although I guess we have a Sigma 150-500 that is not used often.
Everything else is a lot smaller right now. I dream of the 600MM one day!

Then spend the money and get yourself an f-stop backpack with a couple of ICU. The ICU is the interior compartment, I have one organized to carry everything, and one with a smaller lighter kit.
I will say that it has dramatically changed what I bring on a hike. I have gone only from the Canon body and 35mm prime to carrying both flash systems and my primary telephoto lens, and a tripod.

Tim

Sent from my SM-J737T using Tapatalk

 

[Nwcid]

I went from, still use it for underwater, a D90 to the D7100 and recently to the D850.

I only have 2 lenses still in my kit that were used with the D90/7100. I had a couple that worked ok with the D850, but it made sense to upgrade to better lenses. Depending on the overall amount you want to spend, keep lens upgrades in mind when going from DX to FF.

 

[floridafan]

Picked up the D850 today and my wife LOVES it! Especially the Full Frame! I did not understand how important that was going to be for her. Thank you for the suggestion!!!