Nikon D500 DX-Format Digital SLR

Photographing Birds With The Nikon D500

DPReview took the D500 to a wildlife reserve in Montana, to meet with National Geographic photographer Ronan Donovan. Over two days, DPReview Editor Barney Britton joined Ronan to photograph the various bird and animal species that make the reserve their home. Watch the video to see how the D500 performed on this field test.

D500 DSLR photo of an island cove in low light

Small, Yet Powerful

Your favorite travel companion

The sleek and beautiful D500 goes anywhere you go, bringing along stunning resolution and performance. Packing a lot of power into a smaller camera body thanks to its DX sensor means you can take advantage of the smaller and lighter DX lenses in the NIKKOR line—and when you’re travelling, every ounce counts. The best part is, there’s no need to sacrifice image quality to gain portability. The D500 strikes the perfect balance with its 20.9 megapixel CMOS sensor, and is ready to capture the exquisite details, colors, and textures this world has to offer. With the D500 at your side—whether you’re hiking through the lush landscapes of New Zealand or on safari in Africa—it will be ready to go, effortless and unobtrusive.

VIEW SAMPLE PHOTOS(VIEW IN A LIGHTBOX)

D500 DSLR photo of a monkey and its baby in the jungle

The NIKKOR Legacy

Unleash the full potential of the D500

Like every Nikon DSLR, the D500 is best paired with legendary NIKKOR lenses which provide unequalled clarity and versatility. The NIKKOR legacy is unmatched—there’s a reason over 95 million have been sold to date. Each lens offers a different view from which to capture your memories. Shooting landscapes or portraiture? The fast AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR could prove to be your best friend. Or, extend your range with the lightweight AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED VR II, ideal for shooting sports, parades or distant architecture. No matter your choice, pairing the Nikon D500 with renowned NIKKOR lenses is a recipe for success.

VIEW SAMPLE PHOTOGRAPHY(VIEW IN A LIGHTBOX)

D500 photo of a mountain biker riding on a road with a mountain in the background

A Peek Under the Hood

Bursting with new technology

The new D500 is a technical marvel, the fruit of Nikon’s tireless strides towards producing the world’s greatest cameras. To preserve life’s most fleeting moments, you need a camera with incredible speed. The EXPEED 5 processor in the D500 opens up a world of possibilities, processing images fast enough to allow up to 10 frames per second so you don’t miss a moment of the action. The new Multi-CAM 20K autofocus system provides 153 AF points including 99 cross type points, which together enable you to create images that match your vision. It is also the first Nikon DX camera to utilize the new XQD memory card technology, which provides faster read/write and transfer speeds to fully take advantage of the D500’s speed. Not quite ready to upgrade to XQD? That’s no problem, as the D500’s dual memory card slots can accept SD media as well. Although compact in size, the D500 certainly packs a punch.

D500 photo of four people on a fire escape with a city night scene in the background

Not Afraid of the Dark

There’s so much more to see

Not much light to go around? The D500 makes the most out of every bit of available light, giving you the flexibility to produce high quality images in dark environments. With a native ISO range of 100 – 51,200, expandable to Lo 1 and Hi 5 (50 – 1,640,000 equivalent), the versatile D500 is not intimidated by difficult low-light conditions, down to -4 EV. Rich details emerge from the shadows to produce unrivaled quality found only with Nikon cameras and lenses.

D500 photo of a motorcross rider in air with the D500 inset and the same photo on the camera's LCD

Laughs in the Face of Danger

As tough as you need it to be

They say that good things come in small packages, and the D500 is no exception. A powerful but smaller sibling of the D5, the D500 features the same durable, rugged build and ergonomics you’ve come to associate with Nikon DSLRs. Built with rugged magnesium alloy and carbon fiber materials, and featuring dust and water-drop resistance you’ll have peace of mind even when shooting in extreme environments. The D500 also leverages a 3.2-inch 2,359k-dot tilting RGB LCD touchscreen, making it easy to get the shot even from high or low angles.

SEE THE TILTING TOUCHSCREEN IN ACTION(VIEW IN A LIGHTBOX)

Your images. The world. Connected.

Don’t wait to show off your best shots

Now, sharing your amazing photos is easier than ever—the D500’s SnapBridge functionality enables multiple built-in connectivity options. Liberated from the constraints of connecting wires, you can transfer your images to a compatible smart device from anywhere in the world using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology to eliminate the barrier between your camera and smart device. As an added benefit, the D500’s built-in Near Field Communication (NFC) capability makes it a breeze to connect the camera to your compatible smart device. For those looking for an even faster transfer solution, the D500 is also compatible with the optional WT-7A, enabling transmission of files to an FTP server or computer at speeds of up to 866.7 Mbps.

Cinematic 4K UHD Performance

For the first time in a Nikon DX DSLR, you can harness the power of 4K UHD video recording. Capture every moment in cinematic, ultra high definition detail at up to 30 frames per second, and take advantage of a format that is quickly becoming the gold standard for video recording the world over. Other features include a built-in interval timer and 4K UHD quality time-lapse function, which allows you to easily create 4K UHD time-lapse movies in-camera that are sure to impress.

VIEW SAMPLE 4K UHD VIDEO(VIEW IN A LIGHTBOX)

D500 photo of a mountain biker in low light standing next to his bike, inset with the SB-5000 Speedlight

Lighting the shadows

Built into the D500 is compatibility with Nikon’s new radio controlled Advanced Wireless Lighting system. Using radio control technology, when combined with the optional WR-A10/R10 transceiver (requires firmware version 3.0 or later), the D500 can control and wirelessly fire the SB-5000 Speedlights from another room, around corners or outdoors in bright sunlight. Access controls are easily accessed from the D500’s menu and will let you shine light on even more shooting opportunities.

^± WI-FI COMPATIBILITY

This camera’s built-in Wi-Fi^® capability can only be used with a compatible iPhone^®, iPad^®, and/or iPod touch^® or smart devices running on the Android^™ operating system. The Nikon SnapBridge application must be installed on the device before it can be used with this camera.

Using the SnapBridge App
System Requirements
Android 5.0 or later, 6.0.1 or later, 7.0 or later, 8.0 or later
iOS 8.4 or later, iOS 9.1 or later (latest version of iOS 8 or iOS 9 recommended) plus iOS 10.1, iOS 10 (latest versions recommended), iOS 9.3, iOS 10.3, iOS 11, iOS 11.4
A device with Bluetooth 4.0 or later (i.e., a device that supports Bluetooth Smart Ready/Low Energy) is required.

Updating to Version 2
Images downloaded to the smart device with version 1.x will no longer be displayed in the Gallery after you upgrade to version 2, but can be viewed in the “Photos” app provided with the smart device.

SnapBridge 2.5 does not require that camera firmware be updated.
Compatible cameras:
D500, D7500, D5600, D3500, D3400, D850
Z 7, Z 6
COOLPIX A900, A300, B700, B500, P1000, W100, W300
KeyMission 80

Compatible devices are those capable of acquiring location information and those that support BLE (iPhone® 5 and later, iPad® 4th Generation and later, iPod touch® 5th Generation and later, iPhone X).

For compatibility and to download the application, please visit:

Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.

Android and Google Play are trademarks of Google Inc.

Wi-Fi^® and the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo are registered trademarks of the Wi-Fi Alliance.

All Nikon trademarks are trademarks of Nikon Corporation.

NFC Compatibility:
This camera’s built in NFC function can only be used with smart devices running on the Android™ operating system version 4.0 or later. The Nikon SnapBridge application must be installed on the device before it can be used with this camera.
The N Mark is a trademark or registered trademark of NFC Forum, Inc. in the United States and in other countries.

The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Nikon Corporation and its Affiliates is under license.

LCD, Video and Photo Gallery images are for illustrative purposes only.

How To Buy

Lens Kit	AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR, Body Only

Nikon D500 DX-Format Digital SLR Camera