Another birder
Veteran Member
so for those who own a previous generation Nikon, how would you quantify the improvements in AF?
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d500: AF improvements over the D7200?
- Thread starter Another birder
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- nikon d500 nikon d7200
goactive
Senior Member
I will tell you next week.
I just shoot a lot of fast moving water skiing today with the D7200 it did ok but not great i will be shooting this agan soon with the D500 so i will be able to tell what the difference is very easy.. My D500 will be here Tuesday
Here is one from today with the D7200
I just shoot a lot of fast moving water skiing today with the D7200 it did ok but not great i will be shooting this agan soon with the D500 so i will be able to tell what the difference is very easy.. My D500 will be here Tuesday
Here is one from today with the D7200
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What about sensitivity and accuracy with low contrast and other subjects?
My D7200, I discovered yesterday, wouldn't hold focus on a black and white bird that mostly filled the single AF box. (AF-C single point and 9 point.) It kept go back and forth between the background (75yrds away from subject) and the bird every few seconds. I'd move the focus point a foot or to below the bird on the vertical branch and it would hold focus, but as soon as I moved back up to the bird, which was sitting on top of the branch, focus would alternate between the bird and background. VERY frustrating. This happened with a mostly black bird and a black and white bird. Background was trees.
Will the D500 do better or is this a defect?
Here's a focused pic. The background is contrasted very well against the bird.
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Another birder
Veteran Member
Yesterday I was doing some real world testing with the D500, otherwise known as harassing the birds around the feeder, and I noticed a bumble bee hovering above some flowers at the mailbox. AFC S was being used. It took an extra second or two, but the AF locked on to the bee, about 50 feet away with 400mm lens.
My D7200 could never do that. AF is a significant improvement over the old D7200, from 3 days of playing around with it.
Need to give people a couple of weeks to really see, but the D500 is looking like Nikon did not overstate that it has the D5's AF system.
Great. Now I'm going to have to buy the D500. lol
It's strange that I had no AF issues with this bird a few weeks ago that has lower contrast with the background. It sat on the fence post with AF locked right on with no hunting back and forth/AF-C with the background. Can't figure that one out.
It's strange that I had no AF issues with this bird a few weeks ago that has lower contrast with the background. It sat on the fence post with AF locked right on with no hunting back and forth/AF-C with the background. Can't figure that one out.
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Flashlight
Veteran Member
Maybe the actual focus point is not 100% lined up with the AF point mark shown in the view finder.What about sensitivity and accuracy with low contrast and other subjects?
My D7200, I discovered yesterday, wouldn't hold focus on a black and white bird that mostly filled the single AF box. (AF-C single point and 9 point.) It kept go back and forth between the background (75yrds away from subject) and the bird every few seconds. I'd move the focus point a foot or to below the bird on the vertical branch and it would hold focus, but as soon as I moved back up to the bird, which was sitting on top of the branch, focus would alternate between the bird and background. VERY frustrating. This happened with a mostly black bird and a black and white bird. Background was trees.
Will the D500 do better or is this a defect?
Here's a focused pic. The background is contrasted very well against the bird.
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Philip
I already checked that. I moved the box completely around the bird. It would only lock onto the tree below the bird which might suggest the actual focus is above the box, but that finding is inconsistent with my recent post above in which lock was easily achieved. It's very odd.Maybe the actual focus point is not 100% lined up with the AF point mark shown in the view finder.What about sensitivity and accuracy with low contrast and other subjects?
My D7200, I discovered yesterday, wouldn't hold focus on a black and white bird that mostly filled the single AF box. (AF-C single point and 9 point.) It kept go back and forth between the background (75yrds away from subject) and the bird every few seconds. I'd move the focus point a foot or to below the bird on the vertical branch and it would hold focus, but as soon as I moved back up to the bird, which was sitting on top of the branch, focus would alternate between the bird and background. VERY frustrating. This happened with a mostly black bird and a black and white bird. Background was trees.
Will the D500 do better or is this a defect?
Here's a focused pic. The background is contrasted very well against the bird.
--
Philip
breivogel
Senior Member
I would not use AFC in such a case (stationary object). I use AFS and repeat the focus acquisition until the object I want is in focus. Sometimes you have to encourage this by tweaking focus manually to get it to lock. As to whether the D500 would be better will require a lot of testing under controlled conditions. Having more points closely spaced will be an advantage for certain situations.
Bill Dewey
Veteran Member
Warpdrv
Well-known member
The D500 fever isn't THAT bad. lolMy D7200 now refuses to lock on to any subject in any light under any circumstances. This started happening as soon as the first D500 got into a user's hand.
Bill Dewey
Veteran Member
My monitor and keyboard would require a bit of cleaning :-O:-D;-)My D7200 now refuses to lock on to any subject in any light under any circumstances. This started happening as soon as the first D500 got into a user's hand.
Man, that hurts ... you really should be ashamed.
Ha ! I've really got to stop this. Most people probably won't realize I'm joking and I'm setting myself up for an attack.The D500 fever isn't THAT bad. lolMy D7200 now refuses to lock on to any subject in any light under any circumstances. This started happening as soon as the first D500 got into a user's hand.
Bill Dewey
Veteran Member
Bill Dewey
Veteran Member
Mutually exclusive I think .... ;-) Then again, I am also only very serious around here.Ha ! I've really got to stop this. Most people probably won't realize I'm joking and I'm setting myself up for an attack.The D500 fever isn't THAT bad. lolMy D7200 now refuses to lock on to any subject in any light under any circumstances. This started happening as soon as the first D500 got into a user's hand.
:-D
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