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?
Replacing the D4s at the top of the Nikon lineup, the Nikon D5 is an FX-format DSLR that sets several new benchmarks in speed, sensitivity, image quality, and even in movie recording. The eye-popping top native ISO sensitivity of ISO 102,400 and expandable Hi-5 setting, ISO 3,280,000 (yes, 3.28 million!) is claimed to capture details and colors beyond the limits of the human eye.
Key Features
Nikon has revamped its AF system, utilizing a Multi-CAM 20K autofocus sensor module. With 153 focus points (99 cross-type), Nikon has packed the entire image area with focus sensitivity goodness that can practically see in the dark. They’ve goosed the system with a dedicated AF engine that works with the 180K-pixel RGB sensor, and claim very reliable AF performance in a variety of shooting scenarios.
High-Speed shooting tops out at 12fps with both AF and AE tracking on. A new mirror drive mechanism keeps the viewfinder image stable during continuous shooting even at high speed. If you’re using a 2933x QXD 2.0 memory card, you can capture up to 200 12-bit lossless compressed RAW images in a single continuous shooting burst.
We’ll say it again: The new FX CMOS sensor, combined with the new EXPEED 5 image processing engine, will deliver the highest non-boosted top ISO in Nikon history. Until now, you could only reach ISO 102,400 if you boosted the sensitivity, but in this case, it’s native. Nikon says the broad dynamic range is greater than ever and if you do want to go beyond human vision, you can boost to H5 for the aforementioned, mind-boggling, astrophotography-friendly ISO 3,280,000.
Connects 2x as fast as the D4s with both wired networks via the built-in Ethernet connector, or wireless networks via the optional Nikon Wireless Transmitter WT-8. .
The D5 will come in two flavors, based on which memory card format you prefer: QXD or Compact Flash. Either way, the camera will have two card slots.
Shoot at up to 4K resolution in 30, 25 or 24p. You can shoot at boosted ISO 3.28 million in video mode.
The D5 has a super-high-resolution touchscreen LCD monitor that specs out at 3.2 inches, with 2.359k dot resolution.
