JohnK007
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 Re: D500 vs D850 for bird photography | |
arbitrage wrote:
In general I agree with the post, however, I find you are making the differences sound a lot more than they really are. I've stripped a couple sentences out instead of quoting the entire thing.
In general, I agree with your post as well ... so let's analyze our differences ... if, in the end, there really are any 
arbitrage wrote:
Better AF: I thought in the beginning the D500 might have better AF...but after many months now I can't tell a difference
I find the D500 is noticeably snappier to AF ... but the D850, while a tad slower, is actually more accurate. (Either that, or the resolution is so much greater it appears sharper ... at least on static subjects.)
arbitrage wrote:
Better AF coverage: with the same subject, same distance to subject and same lens, the AF points cover the exact same area of the subject on both cameras. Since we are talking about "reach" limited shooting and the D500 being better than D850
We disagree. As to the reasons why, a picture's worth a thousand words
Copy and paste Stany Buyle's post (http://www.nikonuser.info/fotoforum/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=3512&sid=e5d1a6d35d95f259186b30624f132df9#p8723) ... it's worth the read.
You can simply **see better** via the crop-viewing through the D500, which is worth a lot in many/most wildlife situations. Landscapes? Not so much. Large animals? Not so much.
But small birds? Yes, the D500 viewing experience is better, closer, and more accurate.
arbitrage wrote:
Better buffer: Yes
Or, imo, yes again
arbitrage wrote:
Better FPS: Yes by 1FPS with battery/grip on the D850...1FPS is not much...still D500 is much cheaper to get there
No, the D500 is better by 3 FPS, and still better after you spend nearly $4,000 adding a grip to the D850. When you add the better buffer, and you add the better visability (refer to images referenced by link above), the D500 is simply a better Auto-Focusing camera for wildlife, in every way, shape, and form.
arbitrage wrote:
Better IQ and "will take better images": Yes there is a measurable better (at the pixel level) SNR and DR of the D500 but it is so slight that I can't see how anyone would really notice it in an image. And yes the D500 has 20.9MP vs 20.3MP of the DX frame D850....I don't think that is noticeable either, do you?
Geoff, you gotta remember that the graph above *only* shows the D850 cropped down to a full-frame capture of the D500 ... where the D500 is still superior, from base-to-high-ISO.
But what about when you're *cropping* the D500 images? 
I don't know about you, but I almost never take wildlife images with the D500 where I am not still cropping "something" ... therefore, if taken with a D850, the crop would be even more severe, and my image even further degraded, than had I just used the D500.
This is why I posted above about "what lens do you have" and "what are you shooting?"
In other words, how likely is it that you'll be cropping?
If your lens choice + subject material = full-frame capture, the D850 is the best way to go.
If your lens choice + subject material means you can only fill the frame WITH A DX ... and that you will likely still be cropping ... then the D500 is definitely the way to go.
So, in the end, I think we agree more than we disagree
Cheers,
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