D7500 in use...

[daveja]

Surprised by the fact there has been virtually no mention of the new D7500 here. Reading the specs I guess I was a bit underwhelmed myself but still thought that with the D500 sensor and processing, much deeper buffer and group AF that it would probably be a pretty big step over the D7200 in real world use. I had a D500 for 6 months so was familiar with how that performed. I ended up selling it and going back to my D750 as I still liked those files better overall especially when the light was less than perfect. I had some repairs to get done on my D750 and needed to rent a camera for my son's lax tournament. Was going to grab a D500 but on the day I was renting lensrentals had some D7500's come in and were much cheaper to rent so I grabbed one.. Sorry that was long winded but in use the d7500 was a pleasure to use all the way around. it is about the same size as the D750 with the same great to hold deep grip. It is plenty fast for me at 8 fps and with the much deeper buffer I could shoot raw or jpg without much thought. The group AF addition was welcome as well as I always use that with great success on my D750 200-500 combo and it was just as accurate with the D7500. The auto fine tune worked perfectly as well and I had a great weekend shooting with it with pretty much nothing but in focus sharp frames 95% plus of the time. Aside from only having one SD card I did not really see any drawbacks for someone wanting a DX body for shooting sports and wildlife on a bit less budget than a D500 with pretty much the same results... Great little camera IMO...

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[bobbyv]

Nice little review. Am I missing something or is there no battery grip for the D7500?

 

[Randy]

nice shot but I don't see how it fits. There are too many redundant choices for fx and dx
why not a d500 instead ?

 

[Allan]

Nice little review. Am I missing something or is there no battery grip for the D7500?

No battery grip - see faults of the D7500 .

 

[davidzvi]

nice shot but I don't see how it fits. There are too many redundant choices for fx and dx
why not a d500 instead ?

To me, the D7500 make perfect sense. IF Nikon discontinues the D3### series.

 

[daveja]

nice shot but I don't see how it fits. There are too many redundant choices for fx and dx
why not a d500 instead ?

Yeah not sure why they handicapped it a bit and kept the D7200..Because it does everything better than the D7200 except what they left out lol...
Aside from that it would have to be the price difference of $664 comparing them both new or someone who prefers the nice small and light D750 type body... Problem is the D500's have
been out awhile and you can find a used one for close to D7500 money... But performance and image quality wise I do not see a big difference between the two in use...

No battery grip - see faults of the D7500 .

Yeah that is a weird one, when I mentioned the grip I was referring to the deep built in one like the D750 not the vertical. I personally don't use them anymore, there are enough pixels most of the time to crop vertical when needed or if I really want vertical for a one off shot I just spin the camera...

 

[bobbyv]

No battery grip - see faults of the D7500 .

Yeah...for me, no grip, which I personally prefer, and ONE slot has me pondering.....

 

[daveja]

Yeah...for me, no grip, which I personally prefer, and ONE slot has me pondering.....

I used to always use a grip, especially when shooting sports but somewhere along the line I got away from that... The one slot does not bother me either as I use a fast 64GB card and I never fill it in one session... I have never been one to use the second slot as a backup but I'm sure that is not a bad thing to have... But performance wise I had very little to complain about, it was great...

 

[pcdebb]

I love mine!

 

[photogramps]

it does everything better than the D7200

I preferred the cleanness of the files from my D7200 over many from my D500, particularly in poor light or with OOF backgrounds etc ... how do the files compare with the D7500, closer to the D7200 or D500?

 

[Randy]

I preferred the cleanness of the files from my D7200 over many from my D500, particularly in poor light or with OOF backgrounds etc ... how do the files compare with the D7500, closer to the D7200 or D500?

+1 but the D7200 had issues with fast birds in flight and sports so I gamble more on SS now
funny how you don't hear a lot about the d500 and high iso

 

[photogramps]

+1 but the D7200 had issues with fast birds in flight and sports so I gamble more on SS now
funny how you don't hear a lot about the d500 and high iso

Indeed, a true hybrid with the AF of the D500 and the cleanness of the D7200 would be very welcome, albeit the D7500 seems gelded by single card slot and no battery grip.

 

[andreasb]

Looks like a fine camera, the questions I have are the same as Randy's, seems to much of an overlap with the D500 to me. Additionally it seems a step backwards in many ways. Lower MP means less for landscapers, No second slot etc.

I think Nikon should have made a different camera, The D500 does sports, nature the DX way, why not make a great light DX landscape, people, portrait camera instead, focus on different, instead of same as D500's feature set.

So I think we should have seen a 28-30mp DX camera, with great dampening of the mirror, and why not 5 axis VR in the body? Then add a great 16mm DX F2.0 for 24mm equivalent FOV and finally update the 17-55mm F2.8 to a modern VR version. That would help stave off Fuji,M4/3rds etc....

As it is now, I just don't understand why anyone that really wants a better DX camera wouldn't go for the D500. Yes there is a cost difference but still.

 

[russ49]

If you look at the Canon 80D, the specs are comparable to the D7500. The price, articulating lcd, 1 card slot, 8fps shutter. The 80d beats it in dual pixel live view, and maybe good light video but most every thing else the 7500 wins. I think Nikon wanted something to compete with the 80d.

 

[andreasb]

Yes but that is the strategy the market leader Canon should have. If you are number two you need to have something different to change the game around a bit. People don't like loosing features when they are about to upgrade, 4 mp, one card slot no grip, makes them ask themselves what else would I be loosing? Instead of thinking of the positives....

If you look at the Canon 80D, the specs are comparable to the D7500. The price, articulating lcd, 1 card slot, 8fps shutter. The 80d beats it in dual pixel live view, and maybe good light video but most every thing else the 7500 wins. I think Nikon wanted something to compete with the 80d.

 

[Randy]

way too many dslr choices from both companies choices that overlap or are dumbed up versions of a better camera

 

[Bravin Neff]

The D7500 is the true successor to the D90. Seriously, it is. It is a high-enthusiast/amateur body, with single SD card, not-top-of-the-line-anything, but all the standard Nikon controls and operation methodology that is the hallmark of the D70/D80/D90 series.

The D7000 was the *actual* successor to the D90, but because Nikon wasn't clear what they were doing with the D300's future, they let the D7000 series become the successor to *both* the D90 and the D300 in a very compromised way. The D7000 series got dual SD cards, same nominal autofocus system as the D300, but they kept the build and feel of the D90 series, which was definitely not as pro as the D100/D200/D300. With the introduction of the D500, the D300 got its "true" successor, and Nikon let the D7500 go back to being the D90 series lineage: single SD card, lower build quality, etc. This is why so many think the D7500 is a step back from the D7200, when in reality the D7000/D7100/D7200 were in straddle-two-different-markets mode.

Frankly I'm glad the D7500 is back in the D90 slot. Let the D500 be the DX king. Not everyone wants to spend US $2K on a DX body.

 

[gunfighter48]

I just upgraded from 9 year old D90 to the D7500. I had a battery grip on my D90 but I never ever took enough pictures to wear down one battery let alone two batteries. I had one card slot and I never had enough shots to fill one SD card. Who likes and buys the D7500, people like me. Many decades ago I was a weekend pro doing weddings, model photography, and some portraits. I had a Canon AE1 and AE1P cameras and they did the job magnificently. I used to shoot about 350 shots per wedding. That wouldn't even begin to fill up the modern SD cards. I never needed a second card for backup, never had the need. You can always buy a portable drive to back up your cards to.

When the D90 hit the market I went digital and by then was out of the weekend pro environment. I photograph for my own satisfaction now. I think the D7500 is terrific. Do I miss the battery grip, not on you life. The only reason I got the battery grip was to get a better grip on the camera with the 300mm lens that I had. I got very tired of the excess weight. The D7500 with the deeper grip gives me the secure grip that I didn't have with the D90. I bought an extra battery when I bought the D7500, problem solved. Takes maybe 2 minutes to get one out of my camera bag and swap batteries. The D7500 is light years ahead of the D90.

I read all the gripes that are being posted and it sounds like spoiled children. Just because the camera doesn't have the exact features you want doesn't make it a bad camera or a stupid purchase or decision on Nikon's part. You don't know what will happen down the road with the other DX camera's that are available at this time. We may see some of them drop out of production.

The thing that sold me on the D7500 was the things that it took from the D500 and the articulating screen on the back. My knees don't work real well any more so that screen will make life a lot easier for me at times. I also do amateur astronomy and will be trying the camera for some astro photography. The screen will come in very handy for that. And who says a manufacture has to support all the lenses that they have ever made? They can't make the cameras they want if they have to support old lenses. If you want to be able to use older lenses then keep a body that will support them. Technology will advance and as it does older products will drop by the wayside. That's the way industry works in this modern age. I for one think the D7500 will sell just fine for Nikon. It will take some time for people like me to get one and like it. The word will get around that it's not a bad camera after all!!

 

[atlanta_man]

I like the 7500 being here, its pushed the prices of the 7100 down and mine gets here tomorrow.

 

[daveja]

I just upgraded from 9 year old D90 to the D7500. I had a battery grip on my D90 but I never ever took enough pictures to wear down one battery let alone two batteries. I had one card slot and I never had enough shots to fill one SD card. Who likes and buys the D7500, people like me. Many decades ago I was a weekend pro doing weddings, model photography, and some portraits. I had a Canon AE1 and AE1P cameras and they did the job magnificently. I used to shoot about 350 shots per wedding. That wouldn't even begin to fill up the modern SD cards. I never needed a second card for backup, never had the need. You can always buy a portable drive to back up your cards to.

When the D90 hit the market I went digital and by then was out of the weekend pro environment. I photograph for my own satisfaction now. I think the D7500 is terrific. Do I miss the battery grip, not on you life. The only reason I got the battery grip was to get a better grip on the camera with the 300mm lens that I had. I got very tired of the excess weight. The D7500 with the deeper grip gives me the secure grip that I didn't have with the D90. I bought an extra battery when I bought the D7500, problem solved. Takes maybe 2 minutes to get one out of my camera bag and swap batteries. The D7500 is light years ahead of the D90.

I read all the gripes that are being posted and it sounds like spoiled children. Just because the camera doesn't have the exact features you want doesn't make it a bad camera or a stupid purchase or decision on Nikon's part. You don't know what will happen down the road with the other DX camera's that are available at this time. We may see some of them drop out of production.

The thing that sold me on the D7500 was the things that it took from the D500 and the articulating screen on the back. My knees don't work real well any more so that screen will make life a lot easier for me at times. I also do amateur astronomy and will be trying the camera for some astro photography. The screen will come in very handy for that. And who says a manufacture has to support all the lenses that they have ever made? They can't make the cameras they want if they have to support old lenses. If you want to be able to use older lenses then keep a body that will support them. Technology will advance and as it does older products will drop by the wayside. That's the way industry works in this modern age. I for one think the D7500 will sell just fine for Nikon. It will take some time for people like me to get one and like it. The word will get around that it's not a bad camera after all!!

I was impressed by it, I can say that... There we no real deal breakers for me either and call me crazy I thought the output was a tad better than the D500 I had although I can't really say why that would be... It's fast and light and feels good in hand so nothing to make excuses about... Nice camera for sure...