Ok, with additional testing I think I have found the primary difference between the D5/D500 and earlier cameras when in a dynamic mode... actually "I" didn't find it, it was mentioned earlier by Snapsy and Steve.
The new system is much faster and has many more AF points spaced much closer together... that's accepted and should be a bonus. And IMO it is in many/most situations.
The main difference/issue is that earlier cameras track in "blocked shot mode" and the new cameras track in "distance change mode." The "focus tracking with lock on" setting has always been described as a setting for "blocked shots" based on "change in distance," but the cameras are addressing those two aspects differently.
Earlier cameras will *not* shift to a more distant focus unless focus is lost. But they will shift to a nearer focus dependent on the delay setting (which goes from off to quite long).
The D5/D500 will shift to both a nearer AND a more distant focus, also dependent on the delay setting (which goes from short to really really short). This means the D5/D500 will happily jump to the BG if it reasonably can... and the system is so good/fast that it often can.
Everything else I have found/identified/verified seems to be "the same," only faster/better... this one difference makes the D5/D500 dynamic modes worse in very demanding situations... exactly the situations where we depended on it to make up for other shortfalls.
Luckily auto and 3d modes have been greatly improved over previous models.
Mar 24, 2017 at 12:19 PM
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