When asked to do a head to head review of the new Nikon D5 and D500, I was excited to get my hands on them and see what they could do. Having used Nikon cameras for the past 14 years, both cameras seemed very familiar from the first touch, however, I did have some questions. How could the D5 improve on the spectacular D4s? How much has the D500 improved over the aging D300S it’s meant to replace? And, finally, how does the performance compare between the D5 and Nikon D500?
First Impressions
The D5 feels almost identical to the D4. In a blind test, you would have a hard time telling the difference. The D5 has slightly sharper grip features on the front inside and thumb areas. The biggest difference is that the D4’s button layout changed slightly. The ISO moved to the top, behind the shutter button. What was once the ISO button on the D4 is now the Frame Rate on the D5. The info button on the D4 is now a Fn3, and a new info button was added between the toggle buttons. I liked the new location of ISO so much I have changed the Video button on Both D4s and D810 to ISO selection. The Mode, Bracket, Flash Mode and Meter Mode buttons have changed slightly as well, but I personally don’t use them enough to notice in my everyday shooting.
I hadn’t used a DX camera since the release of the D3, but the D500 has made DX relevant again thanks to its excellent low-light performance, fast focus speeds and durable build quality. The first time I picked up the D500 I could tell it was designed to be a pro level camera. It has a solid build, well-balanced feel, and a new look not seen with a body of this size. No pop-up flash is the first thing that I noticed. I have mine taped down on the D810 so it doesn’t accidentally pop up and get ripped off. With the build quality and button layout, the D500 seems to be an updated DX version of the D810, rather than just an upgrade to the 7200 or D300. Nikon finally entered a legit flagship into the DX line.
The size difference between the D500 and D5 is huge. The D500 feels half the weight. The D5 towers over the D500. Side by side, they seem like David and Goliath. It’s also amazing that a pro body can be so compact with the D500. Being so small I think the D500 can compete with the mirrorless systems that all seem to be getting bigger with every new generation. The articulating screen on the D500 is useful for odd angles, but to me, it’s a weak point in the build quality. it does, however, lock into the body firmly and doesn’t budge unwillingly.
Auto Focus
Comparing the Auto Focus on these two cameras is tough because they have the same system (Multi-Cam 20K). They are both amazingly fast and, in my opinion, this is the biggest upgrade in both these cameras over their respective predecessors. The speed it takes to engage the focus motors, find the subject and lock is so fast it seems instantaneous. In low light is where both these cameras shine in auto focus performance. In very dark situations, both cameras lock faster than any other cameras I’ve used, especially with the inherently slower focus prime lenses that I use (Sigma ART 35 1.4, Nikon 50 1.4 G and 85 1.8 D). Where my D4s and D810s would sometimes get the focus close, then stall for a second before locking, both the D5 and D500 seem to already know where the focus will be. (Although, I think the D5 had a slight edge and locked a little faster.) In good light, these two perform about the same with each other. I mostly use single-point for single shot focus, but when using continuous focus, I used the 25-point group. Both cameras track consistently and most frames are tack sharp. I don’t shoot a ton of sports so 3D tracking is a feature I’ve only used a couple of times. In the D500, the focus points reach all the way to the left and right edge of the frame, which I love, and think has been missing in any cameras I’ve worked with. It’s nice to push things to the edge without having to focus and recompose or rely on cropping.
Shot with Nikon D500
Shot with Nikon D5
ISO Performance
Nikon has stretched the ISO limit another level with the D5 and D500. The usable ISO range has gotten to an unbelievable level, with a native high ISO range of 102,400 for the D5 and 51,200 for the D500. Both are expandable even further. I was not able to really test the ability of the higher end of these, but there is great potential for photographers needing fast shutter speeds in very dark situations. For my work, which many times involves shooting stage lights and dark crowds, the dynamic range of the medium to high ISO is the most important, allowing me to pull the shadows and still preserve the detail without causing too much noise. For my purposes, both these camera performed extremely well.
Touch-Screen
At first, I wasn’t sure about the idea of a touch screen on a pro SLR. I was worried it would be too sensitive and erratic. I thought I’d be turning it on or switching settings with my nose while shooting. Much to my surprise, it was very usable and only is active during playback or for letter input in the menus. Also, living in a world of touch screens it seems to make sense now. It comes in handy when working with a client, and they want to zoom by pinching and scrolling to next image by swiping. The articulating screen on the D500 is useful for high and low angle shooting. For a pro body, however, I think this is a weak point in the design. Anything sticking out of the body might get ripped off somehow. One good thing is it does sit in place very firmly and sits flush with the body of the camera.
On-The-Job Performance
I was able to use these cameras for a few jobs for the week I had them – a press preview for a fabric company, a New York Times education forum, and a portrait of football player J.J Watt at a press event for his shoe release. The first day I picked these up I had the press preview event to shoot in the evening. Pretty simple event type photos – mannequins and clothing racks, candids of press looking at products, CEO speaking, and a couple of posed photos of athletes.
As I got familiar with the handling, the ISO button was the first change I had to get used to, but it only took a few minutes to realize it’s in a more efficient spot. Being able to change the ISO with one hand and not moving your eye from the viewfinder is a huge time saver. The press preview job was in a room with big windows and the space was incredibly back-lit. I shoot JPEG for most of my jobs, so I tested the in-camera active D lighting to get more dynamic range out of the JPEG files. Both of these cameras performed well at opening the shadows without creating too much noise.
Next, I had an education forum hosted by The New York Times. I mostly used the D500 as a second body to my D810 and used it for crowd shots and candids. I pushed the ISO up to 6400 before I noticed any noise in the JPEG files. When I did notice some noise, I turned the in-camera noise reduction to normal and was shocked how well it did. I have always shut this feature off and never used it. I always got bad results in earlier cameras. It would give the image a soft plastic look. Nikon seems to have figured out how to do this right in camera as well.
I used the D5 for the portraits of JJ Watt at his sneaker release press event, which was held in a very dark warehouse space set up as a makeshift gym with randomly placed spotlights. With no pre-event plan and 15 minutes to shoot 4 workout station set-ups and 3 portrait set-ups, I set the ISO to 1600, and gelled Profoto B1 heads to match the spotlights’ colors. The result? The auto focus didn’t hesitate, search or miss the focus of a shot.
Conclusion
The D500 is the upgrade DX users have been waiting years for. With the robust weather-sealed build, lightning fast Auto Focus, impressive ISO capabilities and 10 FPS, it’s also a great option for FX users looking for extra reach and a lightweight body.
The D5 has continued the tradition of being a workhorse with the best performance for speed and precision. The new Auto Focus system is the most impressive upgrade – so fast and accurate in any lighting condition. The idea of ISO 3 million is great, but I don’t think it’s even close to usable.
Head to head, I think the D500 has the advantage in size, weight, price, edge to edge focus point coverage and extra telephoto reach. The D5 has the edge with the 12 frames per second, longer battery life, bigger viewfinder, built-in vertical grip and longer overall shutter life.
