Nikon D4S vs Nikon D500

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D4S compared with D500

	NikonD4S	NikonD500
Overview
Released
Released	March 2014	April 2016
Image and sensor
Camera type
Camera type	DSLR	DSLR
Sensor format
Sensor format	Full frame	APS-C
Sensor type
Sensor type	CMOS	CMOS
Sensor dimensions
Sensor dimensions	36 × 23.9 mm	23.5 × 15.7 mm
Effective resolution
Effective resolution	16.2 MP	20.9 MP
Largest image
Largest image	4928 × 3280	5568 × 3712
RAW recording
RAW recording	Yes	Yes
Standard ISO range
Standard ISO range	100–25600	100–51200
Sensor detail
Sensor detail	Japan states 16.23 million effective and 16.61 million total pixels, rounded to 16.2 million effective globally; sensor-cleaning system. FX, 1.2×, DX and 5:4 areas; maximum cropped sizes 4096 × 2720, 3200 × 2128 and 4096 × 3280 respectively	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
Image formats	12-bit or 14-bit NEF RAW with lossless compression, compression or no compression; TIFF RGB, JPEG and RAW plus JPEG. RAW S uses one-quarter of full-size pixels, with 12-bit uncompressed files; some in-camera RAW editing functions unavailable for RAW S	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
ISO detail	Expanded equivalents ISO 50–409600; Auto ISO	Expanded equivalents ISO 50–1640000; Auto ISO
Image processor
Image processor	EXPEED 4; Advanced Scene Recognition System	EXPEED 5; dedicated autofocus processor; Advanced Scene Recognition System
Lens and shooting
Lens mount
Lens mount	Nikon F mount	Nikon F mount
Stabilisation
Stabilisation	Optical lens stabilisation	Optical lens stabilisation
Maximum continuous burst
Maximum continuous burst	11 fps	10 fps
Lens detail
Lens detail	Compatible G/E/D AF NIKKOR lenses, subject to PC lens restrictions; body autofocus motor for compatible screw-drive lenses. Non-CPU AI lenses support aperture-priority/manual; non-AI, IX and F3AF lenses unsupported; DX lenses use the DX image area	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
Autofocus	Advanced Multi-CAM 3500FX; 51 points including 15 cross-type; 11 points support f/8, with only the centre point cross-type at f/8. Detection to -2 EV; single-point, dynamic 9/21/51, 3D tracking, five-point Group-area and auto-area; AF fine-tuning; separate landscape/portrait sub-selectors	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
Shutter	1/8000 to 30 seconds, Bulb and Time; flash sync 1/250 second	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
Burst detail	Approximately 11 fps with full AF/AE tracking under Nikon's AF-C, S/M, 1/250-second-or-faster test conditions; low-speed continuous approximately 1–10 fps	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
Stabilisation detail	Optical VR depends on the lens; no sensor-shift stabilisation	Optical VR depends on the lens; no sensor-shift stabilisation. Electronic movie VR available at Full HD, with an additional crop
Flash
Flash	No built-in flash; hot shoe and threaded PC sync terminal; optical Nikon CLS with compatible external Speedlights	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
Exposure controls	P/S/A/M; 91000-pixel RGB metering with 3D Colour Matrix Metering III, centre-weighted and spot modes; ±5 EV compensation; Active D-Lighting	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
Highest video resolution	1920 × 1080 at 60 fps	3840 × 2160 at 30 fps
Video detail
Video detail	H.264 MOV at Full HD 60p/50p/30p/25p/24p, 720p 60p/50p or 640 × 424 at 30p/25p; actual NTSC rates 59.94/29.97/23.976. FX, DX and native 1920 × 1080 crop modes, the latter limited to 30p/25p/24p; maximum clip 29 minutes 59 seconds, with 20/10-minute limits depending on mode and quality. Contrast-detection AF-S/AF-F, Auto ISO in manual exposure, index marking, time-lapse exposure smoothing and simultaneous memory-card/HDMI recording	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
Audio	Built-in mono microphone; 3.5 mm stereo microphone input and headphone output; adjustable sensitivity; linear PCM; photograph voice memos	Built-in stereo microphone, 3.5 mm external microphone input and headphone output; adjustable microphone sensitivity; linear PCM
Screen and viewfinder
Viewfinder
Viewfinder	Optical	Optical
Screen size
Screen size	3.2″	3.2″
Screen dots
Screen dots	921,000	2,359,000
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	–	Yes
Tilting screen
Tilting screen	–	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	Fixed TFT with 170° viewing angle, approximately 100% coverage, automatic brightness and custom colour adjustment. Global announcement gives approximately 921000 dots, while Japan rounds approximately 920000; dots count subpixels	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
Viewfinder detail	Pentaprism; approximately 100% FX, 97% 1.2×/DX, and 100% vertical/97% horizontal for 5:4; 0.7× magnification with 50mm f/1.4 at infinity; 18 mm eyepoint; grid overlay; revised mirror mechanism reduces blackout	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
Wi-Fi	–	Yes
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	–	Yes
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	3020 photographs	1240 photographs
Body weight
Body weight	1180 g	760 g (better)
Release detail
Release detail	Nikon Japan records sale on 6 March 2014. Nikon's global announcement explicitly describes D4S as the next-generation flagship successor to D4	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
Recording media	One XQD slot and one CompactFlash Type I UDMA slot; overflow, backup, separate RAW/JPEG and card copying. Type II CompactFlash and Microdrive unsupported	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
Ports	Hi-Speed USB, mini-HDMI Type C, 3.5 mm microphone/headphone sockets, RJ-45 Ethernet with 10/100/1000BASE-T support, ten-pin accessory terminal, PC sync and WT-5 expansion connector	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
Wireless connections	No integrated Wi-Fi or GPS; optional WT-5/WT-4 provides wireless network transfer and browser-based remote operation. Optional GP-1/GP-1A or MC-35 connects GPS equipment; WR-R10 requires WR-A10 adapter	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
Battery life detail	EN-EL18a rechargeable battery; approximately 3020 CIPA photographs	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
Charging	External MH-26a charger; optional EH-6b adapter with EP-6 power connector	External MH-25a charger; optional EH-5b adapter with EP-5B power connector
Dimensions
Dimensions	Approximately 160 × 156.5 × 90.5 mm	Approximately 147 × 115 × 81 mm
Weight detail
Weight detail	Approximately 1180 g body only; 1350 g with battery and XQD card, excluding body cap and accessory-shoe cover	Approximately 760 g body only; 860 g with battery and XQD card, excluding body cap
Materials
Materials	–	Magnesium-alloy top/rear and carbon-fibre-reinforced front monocoque; dust and moisture sealing; not a waterproof rating
In the box
In the box	EN-EL18a battery, MH-26a charger, UC-E15 USB cable, AN-DC11 strap, BF-1B body cap, BS-2 shoe cover, DK-17 eyepiece, BL-6 battery cover, USB/HDMI clips, UF-2 stereo cable cover and ViewNX 2 CD-ROM	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