Which to Buy Now? D500 or D750

trev864

Senior Member
Not a choice between the two as I intend to buy both cameras within the next six months or so.

I am aware that the D750 has been on the market for a while now and may be replaced with a new model.

Do I go for the D500 now and wait and see what happens with the D750?

Your thoughts please?
 

Osantacruz

Senior Member
Depends what you shoot. D500 is great overall but if you don't need the high frame rate, a D750 is cheaper.

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trev864

Senior Member
I shoot wildlife and airshows, hence the D500 but I have also done a few weddings and want the D750 for that, portraits and landscapes.

I am lucky enough to be in a position that will allow me to have both (one now and the other in six months time), but I have to make a decision on which one to get now, with the possibility of an updated D750 on the horizon.........
 

Osantacruz

Senior Member
Yeah I'd wait on the d750 for now. The d500 can easily do weddings (unless you only shoot natural light in dark caves...even so, d750 files won't look great in those conditions either) the D810 replacement would be best to wait for, at least to hear final specs. Hopefully it'll have a bigger focus area than the d750.

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trev864

Senior Member
Thanks Osantacruz

Do you have experience of the D500?

Is it as good as they say in low light? And how close does it get to full frame?
 

Osantacruz

Senior Member
Yeah I have both those cameras. I only really use the d500 these days since it handles everything I need it to without issues and without a buffer when using an XQD card. Not too much experience with low light since I use flash/strobe to avoid having to max out the ISO but when I shoot my 70-300 and have to use higher ISO when raising shutter speed, it looks fine to me.

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trev864

Senior Member
Thanks Osantacruz, that makes interesting reading

I was pondering getting the D500 first and seeing what its all round capabilities were
 

Osantacruz

Senior Member
Thanks Osantacruz

Do you have experience of the D500?

Is it as good as they say in low light? And how close does it get to full frame?
Also in answer to your other question, if I shoot both my d750 and d500 on the same day and import into Lightroom, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference in image quality between the two. The full frame only benefit me when using ultra wide angle lenses like the Tamron 15-30

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trev864

Senior Member
Maybe I won't need to go full frame?

I like the shallower depth of field I have seen when full frame is used for portraits. Is this more down to fast lenses being used rather than the format though?

I have never been able to achieve the same effect with my D7100, but I understand that may be me!
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
Maybe I won't need to go full frame?

I like the shallower depth of field I have seen when full frame is used for portraits. Is this more down to fast lenses being used rather than the format though?

I have never been able to achieve the same effect with my D7100, but I understand that may be me!

If you're talking about that smooth out of focus background goodness, then it's down to a few things.
The aperture of the lens. The larger the aperture, the shallower the DOF
The distance between the subject and the background. The farther the subject is to the background , The isolation will be much nicer.

Also get closer, or use a longer telephoto lens. An 85mm 1.4 is nice but I would rather shoot with a longer lens like a 200mm to get a nice OOF background.
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
If you're talking about that smooth out of focus background goodness, then it's down to a few things.
The aperture of the lens. The larger the aperture, the shallower the DOF
The distance between the subject and the background. The farther the subject is to the background , The isolation will be much nicer.

Also get closer, or use a longer telephoto lens. An 85mm 1.4 is nice but I would rather shoot with a longer lens like a 200mm to get a nice OOF background.

Edit. I own both of these camera's and both are very capable of taking the shots that you are after.
 

RocketCowboy

Senior Member
I debated over the D750 and even took one out for a rental, but ended up with the D810. I also have the D500.

For me, if I had to chose just one, for the shooting I do, I would go with the D750/D810 first. I'm usually shooting shorter lenses (24-70 or 16-35), indoors, and in low light.

Waiting for the next version of the D750 or D810 changes things, but only if I was set on having both a pro DX and a pro FX body.

If I was doing more sports or wildlife, longer lenses (200mm+), then I would squarely be in the D500 first category.


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trev864

Senior Member
Interesting Blacktop. May I ask why?

Is the D500 in your opinion as good as the D750 for general photography as well as action, sports etc?
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
Interesting Blacktop. May I ask why?

Is the D500 in your opinion as good as the D750 for general photography as well as action, sports etc?

Because of mainly what I shoot. BIF, action shots like white water rafting. I also shoot landscapes and the D500 is just as capable of doing that as the D750.

The only thing the D750 might have an advantage in, is indoor low light shots, but not by much. Basically for me the D500 does anything just as well as the D750, but not the other way around.
 

Nathan Lanni

Senior Member
In case you're not already familiar with the DXO Mark web site, here's some test data from DXO Mark on the two cameras. Not sure which lenses you got, but the D500 might give you a bit of a telephoto advantage due to the D500 crop factor.

I do landscape photography and bought my d610 due to the sensor's color depth, great dynamic range (Evs), plus the full frame dimension of its sensor, which at the time was pretty good. The d750 has the edge now, and of course the D810 (which I'm pining away for). Likely will see a price drop for D810 the near future.

One thing with the pro line of cameras like the D500, is the exterior shooting control. The enthusiast grade, or prosumer, cameras (D7xx, D6xx, D7xxx, etc) have a different shooting control knob that is a bit more user friendly for non-pros. The pro types: D500, D8XX, D5, etc., have a knob requiring more on the fly in depth knowledge of the camera operation. It's not a big deal just something to be aware of.

FWIW

D500.jpgD750.jpg
 
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Bikerbrent

Senior Member
And just to make things a little more interesting, here are the DXOMARK numbers for the D7200

DXOMark Sensor Scores
Overall Score

87

Portrait (Color Depth)

24.5 bits

Landscape (Dynamic Range)

14.6 Evs

Sports (Low-Light ISO)

1333 ISO

 

singlerosa_RIP

Senior Member
What do you have now? My thought is that it comes down to your lenses. Some of my wider lenses work best on full frame. And sometimes my longer lenses are better on a cropped sensor for reach. So, what do you need now that can't wait 6 months? Wide or long?
 
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Kevin H

Senior Member
What do you have now? My thought is that it comes down to your lenses. Some of my wider lenses work best on full frame. And sometimes my longer lenses are better on a cropped sensor for reach. So, what do you need now that can't wait 6 months? Wide or long?

Wife says both :D
 
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