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Nikon D500 · Nikon USA front photograph with a lens; lens is not part of body specifications

Nikon D500
Photo 1 of 24

Nikon D500 · Nikon USA front photograph with a lens; lens is not part of body specifications

Nikon · Nikon DSLR

D500

Released April 2016

A 20.9-megapixel DX DSLR for action photography, with 10 fps shooting, 153-point autofocus and 4K video.

Model history · 2 models, 2009–2016
  1. 2009D300SCompare
  2. 2016D500
Type
DSLR
Sensor
APS-C
Megapixels
20.9
Lens
Nikon F mount
Video
3840 × 2160 at 30 fps
Body weight
760 g

What reviewers say

Both praise image quality, action autofocus, deep bursts and comfortable controls, while finding the highest expanded sensitivities impractical. Photography Blog welcomes its versatility and tilting touchscreen despite the price. Cameralabs finds it particularly compelling for wildlife and sports, but criticises movie autofocus, the tight 4K crop and limited phone controls, while valuing automatic SnapBridge transfers.

From photographyblog.com and cameralabs.com

Specifications

Report a wrong or missing spec

Image and sensor

Camera type
DSLR
Sensor format
APS-C
Sensor type
CMOS
Sensor dimensions
23.5 × 15.7 mm
Effective resolution
20.9 MP
Largest image
5568 × 3712
RAW recording
Yes
Standard ISO range
100–51200
Sensor detail
21.51 million total pixels; Japan gives 20.88 million effective pixels, rounded to 20.9 million in Nikon USA. DX and 1.3× image areas; maximum cropped image 4272 × 2848; sensor-cleaning system
Image formats
12-bit or 14-bit NEF RAW with lossless compression, compression or no compression; TIFF RGB, JPEG and RAW plus JPEG. Medium/small RAW are 12-bit losslessly compressed
ISO detail
Expanded equivalents ISO 50–1640000; Auto ISO
Image processor
EXPEED 5; dedicated autofocus processor; Advanced Scene Recognition System

Lens and shooting

Lens mount
Nikon F mount
Stabilisation
Optical lens stabilisation
Maximum continuous burst
10 fps
Lens detail
Compatible G/E/D AF NIKKOR lenses support full functions, subject to PC lens restrictions; body AF motor for compatible screw-drive lenses. Non-CPU AI lenses support aperture-priority/manual; non-AI, IX and F3AF lenses unsupported
Autofocus
Multi-CAM 20K; 153 points including 99 cross-type, with 55 manually selectable including 35 cross-type; 15 points support f/8, nine selectable. Centre detection to -4 EV; single-point, dynamic 25/72/153, 3D tracking, group and auto-area; automatic AF fine-tuning
Shutter
1/8000 to 30 seconds, Bulb and Time; flash sync 1/250 second; electronic front curtain in mirror-up mode; shutter tested to 200000 cycles
Burst detail
Up to 10 fps with full AF/AE; up to 200 losslessly compressed 14-bit RAW images or 79 uncompressed 14-bit RAW images under Nikon's specified ISO 100 conditions with Lexar Professional 2933× XQD 2.0. Card, settings and scene affect burst depth; quiet continuous approximately 3 fps
Stabilisation detail
Optical VR depends on the lens; no sensor-shift stabilisation. Electronic movie VR available at Full HD, with an additional crop
Flash
No built-in flash; hot shoe and PC sync terminal. Compatible Speedlights provide Nikon CLS; radio control of SB-5000 requires optional WR-R10/WR-A10
Exposure controls
P/S/A/M; 180000-pixel RGB metering with 3D Colour Matrix Metering III, centre-weighted, spot and highlight-weighted modes; ±5 EV compensation; Active D-Lighting

Video

Highest video resolution
3840 × 2160 at 30 fps
Video detail
H.264 MOV at 4K UHD 30p/25p/24p, Full HD up to 60p and 720p up to 60p; actual NTSC rates 29.97/23.976/59.94. Maximum clip 29 minutes 59 seconds; Flat Picture Control, power aperture, time-lapse and HDMI output. 4K uses a further approximately 1.5× crop within DX (Cameralabs). Live view and movies use contrast-detection AF-S/AF-F
Audio
Built-in stereo microphone, 3.5 mm external microphone input and headphone output; adjustable microphone sensitivity; linear PCM

Screen and viewfinder

Viewfinder
Optical
Screen size
3.2″
Screen dots
2,359,000
Touchscreen
Yes
Tilting screen
Yes
Display detail
Reinforced tilting TFT with 170° viewing angle; limited touch functions for live-view AF/shutter and playback; dots count subpixels. Original Nikon US announcement gives 2359000 dots; Japan rounds approximately2360000
Viewfinder detail
Pentaprism; approximately 100% DX or 98% 1.3× coverage; 1.0× magnification with 50mm at infinity; 16 mm eyepoint; viewfinder shutter and grid overlays

Connections and design

Wi-Fi
Yes
Bluetooth
Yes
Battery life (maker's claim)
1240 photographs
Body weight
760 g
Release detail
Nikon's surviving Japanese product page records sale on 28 April 2016. The original US January announcement proposed March; that planned date was superseded. The same announcement explicitly calls D500 the successor to D300S
Recording media
One XQD slot and one SD/SDHC/SDXC slot with UHS-II support; overflow, backup, separate RAW/JPEG and card copying. CFexpress Type B support added to the XQD slot with firmware C 1.30
Ports
USB 3.0 Micro-B, mini-HDMI Type C, 3.5 mm microphone and headphone sockets, ten-pin accessory terminal and PC sync. Optional GP-1/GP-1A or MC-35 connects GPS equipment
Wireless connections
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 4.1 and NFC; SnapBridge smartphone transfer and location sharing. Direct SnapBridge Wi-Fi connections added with C 1.20; optional WT-7 supplies wired/wireless network transfer
Battery life detail
EN-EL15 at launch; EN-EL15a/b subsequently supported. Approximately 1240 CIPA photographs with AF-S DX NIKKOR 16–80mm f/2.8–4E ED VR and no live view; separate Nikon continuous test approximately 2740 with AF-S NIKKOR 70–200mm f/2.8G ED VR II and VR off. Optional MB-D17 grip supports one EN-EL15-series battery, EN-EL18-series with BL-5 cover, or eight AA batteries
Charging
External MH-25a charger; optional EH-5b adapter with EP-5B power connector
Dimensions
Approximately 147 × 115 × 81 mm
Weight detail
Approximately 760 g body only; 860 g with battery and XQD card, excluding body cap
Materials
Magnesium-alloy top/rear and carbon-fibre-reinforced front monocoque; dust and moisture sealing; not a waterproof rating
In the box
Original EN-EL15 battery, MH-25a charger, DK-17F eyepiece, UC-E22 USB cable, USB/HDMI cable clips, AN-DC17 strap and BF-1B body cap; later Japanese supply also lists EN-EL15b

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Full-resolution 10 fps shooting with autofocus and exposure tracking
  • Tilting touchscreen and 100% DX optical viewfinder
  • Separate XQD and UHS-II SD slots with backup recording

Cons

  • 4K recording crops the view more tightly than Full HD
  • No built-in flash or sensor-shift stabilisation
  • Live-view and movie autofocus use contrast detection

Closest rivals

Model
TypeSensorMegapixelsLensVideoBody weightReleased
NikonD3400
DSLRAPS-C24.2Nikon F mount1920 × 1080 at 60 fps395 gSept 2016
NikonD5600
DSLRAPS-C24.2Nikon F mount1920 × 1080 at 60 fps415 gNov 2016
CanonEOS 2000D
DSLRAPS-C24.1Canon EF / EF-S1920 × 1080 at 29.97 fps427 gMar 2018

Previous model: D300S.

Sources

  1. nij.nikon.com/products/lineup/slr/d500/spec.html
  2. nij.nikon.com/products/lineup/slr/d500
  3. nikonusa.com/p/d500/1559/overview
  4. nikonusa.com/press-room/d500-pro-pedigree
  5. download.nikonimglib.com/archive3/t8gX100WMvt104ktVlB00M9cpu08/D500UM_SG%28En%2…
  6. downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/download/fw/544.html
  7. cameralabs.com/nikon-d500-review/2

Photo: Nikon USA front photograph with a lens; lens is not part of body specifications

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