The Nikon D500’s eight-centimeter touchscreen has an extremely fine resolution of 2.36 million pixels and can also be folded up and down.

With its large plastic light metal housing, the Nikon D500 fits the hand perfectly. In addition, there is a splash water and dust protection.

The whole operation of the D500 is arranged on the Nikon professional rail, the D500 has almost the same operation as the professional model D5 and is therefore also ideally suited as a second camera. However, this operating concept also requires some discussion of the operating instructions, because sometimes the functions are not immediately apparent. For example, how a manual white balance works is not apparent from the camera itself. The ingenious function for automatic focus correction is not even described in the manual, but can be read in our photo tip (see further links). In addition, you should sometimes pay close attention to the on-screen instructions, because sometimes you need to explicitly press the key labeled “OK”, the confirmation key of the control pad is not always sufficient. For example, Nikon protects some functions, such as formatting the memory card or deleting an image, from accidental operation.

Once the operating concept has been internalized, it works quite well and only rarely is an excursion into the extremely extensive menu necessary. The many menu functions can lead to some search actions, because the menu is not clearly arranged despite the many categories, mainly because of the many submenus and vertical scrolling. The brilliant screen, on the other hand, deserves praise, as it is a bit larger with a diagonal of eight centimeters than some of its competitors’ models. Above all, however, the screen resolution of 2.36 million pixels clearly stands out from the usual one million pixels. In addition, Nikon finally dares to take a step into the future in the professional segment as well, because the screen is not only touch-sensitive, but can also be folded up and down, so that you almost always have your flexible “light well viewfinder” with you.

If the view through the real and for DSLR fans only true reflex viewfinder is in demand, then the D500 offers a bright and not at all so small viewfinder picture. Thanks to the pentaprism, the image is pleasantly bright, the magnification factor is sensor-related at 1. Compared to a 35mm DSLR, however, the magnification with a factor of 0.67 is no longer quite as luxurious. We have to criticize the small exit pupil of only 16 millimeters, which makes it impossible for spectacle wearers to see the viewfinder image. It’s stupid that Nikon only gave the viewfinder a small dioptre correction of -2 to +1 dpt. Practical, however, especially for tripod photography, is the manual shutter built into the viewfinder, which prevents backward extraneous light from entering, which could irritate the light meter. Optionally, a grid can be displayed in the viewfinder, but this is limited to the border areas above and below.

More useful is the grid in Live View, where you can even get a live histogram and an electronic spirit level. The autofocus, however, works much slower in Live View. While the viewfinder focuses within a quarter to a third of a second when used, the D500 allows 0.8 to 1.2 seconds in Live View. After all, thanks to the touch screen, you can focus on any point with a simple fingertip. When using the viewfinder, however, the joystick must be used, even if it is very easy to use. Since the autofocus module is the same as in the D5, but the D500 covers a smaller image circle, the autofocus measuring fields extend particularly far to the edge of the image. When focusing manually, the Live View proves once again to be advantageous, as the display magnifier allows you to zoom in digitally on the detail to be focused. It’s a pity that Nikon still doesn’t offer focus peaking.

The equipment with interfaces is also very extensive. On the underside, the battery bay is located at a sufficient distance from the tripod thread arranged in the optical axis. Due to the missing pop-up flash, the D500 achieves a remarkable 1,240 CIPA-standard shots with one battery charge when using the optical viewfinder. However, the D500 only swallows original rechargeable batteries, those from third-party manufacturers are digitally excluded. Even a battery that works in the D7200, for example, doesn’t necessarily do so in the D500, unless it’s an original Nikon battery. As an alternative to the battery, a dummy with a mains cable connection can be inserted in the battery compartment to provide the camera with permanent power. Also the possibility to mount a multifunction handle with a second battery should not go unmentioned.

Thanks to the 20-megapixel sensor in APS-C size, the Nikon D500 offers a little “free focal length”

The backlit display on the top of the Nikon D500 provides information about the most important recording settings.

The large memory card compartment on the handle side offers two slots that can take on different functions, such as backup, separation of raw data and JPEG images, or separation of videos and photos. The upper compartment is an XQD slot, only with such a memory card does the D500 unfold its full speed potential. However, since the SD card slot below is UHS II compatible, it also achieves considerable storage speeds.

On the left side there are many more interfaces. Besides USB 3 and Mini-HDMI these are a microphone input as well as a headphone output, the obligatory flash connection socket and Nikon’s own ten-pin beech to connect all kinds of specific accessories.

Equipment

If you don’t like motif programs, the Nikon D500 is the perfect choice. It does not even have a program selector, instead the four recording programs P, A, S and M are selected with the rear thumbwheel while the Mode button is held down. If you additionally activate the ISO automatic in the program automatic, you have at least something like a fully automatic, which actually amounts to a simple exposure automatic. The D500 unfolds its strengths in the hands of an experienced photographer who knows exactly when to adjust what. For example, a few pushes of a button or a turn of the wheel activates the series picture mode, which fires off at ten frames per second. If a fast XQD memory card is used, the maximum of 200 possible serial images can be taken with the full serial frame rate even at the highest JPEG quality. In Raw, on the other hand, the continuous shooting rate drops to a good eight frames per second after a little more than 100 frames, which is still exceptionally fast. The autofocus also reliably follows a moving subject, thanks to the 153 measuring points over a very wide field of view. In addition, the autofocus can be finely configured and the number of active focus fields can be varied.

If you want to flash with the D500, however, you have no chance with on-board resources. You need a TTL flash or a wireless controller on the camera to fire external flashes. But it’s also classic thanks to the flash sync socket. With appropriate system flashes, however, the range of functions for artificial lighting leaves nothing to be desired.

If extensive bracketing or interval shooting is required, the D500 also offers a wide range of setting options. Even an HDR mode can be found in the menu. Videographers also get a lot to see. The D500 films not only in full HD, but also in 4K. Even a 32 GB XQD memory card is enough to record less than 30 minutes of 4K video at 30 frames per second, but the D500 seamlessly creates a new video file when it reaches the 4 GB file limit, the format is MOV with H.264 compression. While exposure and sound can be adjusted by the videographer, one should, at least during the recording, keep one’s fingers away from the autofocus, because this leads to a pumping and to unpleasant noises during the recording. The integrated stereo microphone also picks up hand noises very sensitively. Fortunately, the D500 has a microphone jack, and thanks to the headphone jack you can even control the sound live. Of course, the D500 also has a live HDMI task without annoying fade-ins.

Nikon D500 Datasheet