“The D500 packs in a lot of features for photography enthusiasts”
Last week, we gave you a sneak peek at the impressive camera prowess of Nikon’s high-end DSLR, the D500. This time, we’ll be going deep dive into the options and features offered by the camera.
To recap, the Nikon D500 is aimed at professional photographers and is priced in high-end with its body costing around Rs 1.4lakh. It offers a resolution of 20.9-megapixel and is backed by the Nikon’s EXPEED 5 image processor. It has an impressive 153 focus points to ensure that your shots remain sharp.
Let’s start with the design of the Nikon D500. The camera is built extremely well, and doesn’t have any tacky materials. It feels solid, although due to the use of aluminium and magnesium alloy, it’s bulkier than most DSLRs as it tips the scales at 860g.
The Nikon D500 has a 3.2-inch touchscreen which recognises inputs accurately and quickly. However, it can only be tilted, and can’t be flipped unlike many DSLRs these days. Alongside the screen, you’ll find a variety of controls. Towards the left, there’s an option to preview images or delete them. You can access the Menu button for finding all the settings, and hit the Help key to understand about different modes. Following them are keys for zooming in and zooming out. Then, there’s the OK button and the Fn2 key.
At the right side, you have the dial, and a button to let you automatically focus on the subject. Towards the middle, you have a navigation pad, letting you navigate between settings and other things easily. Below them, you have info buttons and the ability to switch between stills or videos (unlike many DSLR, the D500 can shoot full HD as well as 4K), along with an option to turn on the live view. The viewfinder works quite well too, and gives you an accurate representation of the frame. The good thing is that you can have an option to enable the backlighting on these keys, allowing you to use the camera easily even in dim environments.
If you check the top of the Nikon D500, then we have to say that you might feel slightly overwhelmed. There are just so many options, especially if you’re using the DSLR for the first time, or coming from a budget DSLR. On the left, there’s a dial that lets you control the mode, between S, CL, CH (can click images at 10fps – up to 200 images allowed ) among others. These are the options to click one image at a time, or capturing them in the burst mode. From here, you can also change the White Balance or the focus points. In the middle, there’s the hot shoe for adding a flash module, and towards the right, you get the familiar controls to turn on the camera surrounding the shutter button, change the exposure levels, start recording, and tweak ISO levels. The ability to change ISO is on the front, just below the shutter button. Did we tell you that the camera not only offers your usual levels between ISO 100 to 51200, but you can also go below to 50 or above (up to 164000 by choosing Hi 5).
The front of the D500 offers the Fn1, and the usual things like placing the compatible lens. You can also switch between the autofocus or manual focus.
Talking about the ports placement, then the Nikon D500 won’t leave you wanting for anything. There’s the USB 3.0 port, 3.5mm audio jack and headphone socket, and a mini-HDMI port. The right edge has a slot for memory card – but not one, but two. While the first slot accepts the usual SD cards, the second one supports XQD cards. You might be wondering why two cards, but believe us, the brand is taking care of the needs of professional users. The XQD cards can capture images multiple times faster. In fact, the camera offers a number of choices as to how one can use the combination of two cards – you can capture RAW images in the XQD card, and JPEG in the others, or you can keep the same images in the two (as a backup) or you can simply use the SD card once the main one is full.
The Nikon D500 also offers a variety of connectivity options with the brand’s SnapBridge technology. This allows you to transfer images to a smartphone via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or NFC, and it works as advertised. However, keep in mind that you only get a 2MP photo in your frame, and if you want the original one, then you have to pay extra.
Overall, the Nikon D500 is among the most loaded DSLRs you can own. For its price, you’re getting an impressive list of specifications and image quality.
