Nikon D7500 20.9MP DSLR Camera with AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR Lens, Black

Before I start, these are simply my own impressions. I was once a professional photographer way back in the days of film and photographed over 600 weddings, as well as sports teams and schools. Nowadays I am just an amateur who sells prints once in awhile. I am also a recently retired economics teacher and in my quest to upgrade from my excellent, but outdated D7000, I applied the principles of wants vs needs, trade-offs, opportunity costs, and cost benefits. Realizing the no camera will give one exactly what they want, I narrowed the requirements down. My two main criteria were higher ISO performance and more accurate focus. I do a lot of bird in flight, and both are essential. It came down to the D7200, the D7500, and the D500. The D7200 already being two years out, I ruled it out. The D500 fit my needs, and a few wants, but the price tag was a bit steep. The D7500 seemed the best fit, and after trying it for a couple of days I believe I made the right choice. ISO- While the D7000 had an upper limit of ISO 1600 before degrading, I now feel quite comfortable at 3200 which helps with the 180 f/2.8 for birds. I will test at higher when I do some Milky Way shots next week. Focus- Spot on, fast and accurate. I can track a bird quite easily. Exposure- Amazing. The color rendition and exposure are so good I don’t have to do any tweaking. Even shooting a bird against a bright blue sky the metering handle it. Eight frames per second is fast. The shutter is quite sensitive and I will easily shoot a sequence when only one is needed, but they delete. The shutter is much quite quieter than the D7000 and makes a sweet sound like my old Contax. The negatives that people are sounding off on don’t bother me. One card slot is okay, I never utilized the second slot before, and I am not doing anything that a card failure would cause a catastrophic loss. No battery grip is okay too. I have one for the older camera, but never used it. I am so old that reaching over with my finger feels natural. Not being able to meter with old lenses is okay too, I don’t have any. The bottom line is that this camera meets my needs, and then some, giving me a good return on investment. Update 7/17- After spending a couple of weeks with the camera I am even more pleased. I found the group autofocus and af-c to work the best for tracking birds. I have gone up to ISO 6400 with satisfactory results, in fact I have yet to use the flash. Update 7/21- I have been using the camera at the beach for surfer photos and it performs impeccably. Battery life is a bit short, but that may be affected by the use of a screw drive lens. The sunrise photo was shot with the 10.5 fisheye.

Show more

Just a short review, more of a user experience. I bought the D7500 for a month long trip to Europe. I was replacing a D7100 that had some nagging problems that often left me less than satisfied (It had been dropped - and repaired - early in its life, but was never as good as I expected). Anyway, I filled 4-5 64 Gig memory cards on the trip, and I have to say that this camera is far better than my old one. The low light abilities are awesome, and on the few instances where I needed to take a picture hand held in low light with some depth of field, ISO 16000 was a very viable option. Not noise free, but better than ISO 6400 on the older camera. Other features that made the user experience better: I could easily transfer pictures to my phone - very important to my wife and convenient for sharing or posting to Facebook when traveling without a computer. The connection to the phone also meant that I could share the phones GPS with the camera and therefore get location tags on every photo. This worked very well, though it is possible that it negatively affects the phones battery - but my phone is old and it is hard to really tell. (I think the automatic download was more detrimental to the phone battery, and it took a little searching to figure out how to turn off automatic downloads for every photo). As for the camera battery, it was also good, though again, the automatic download seemed to affect it a lot, as did a lot of activity on the display. The tilting screen was useful to have, but not as useful as a fully articulating screen (like the D5300). The touch screen was awesome, and made it VERY easy to check critical focus and work with the menu - even with gloves on. I was in a cold weather environment, so I had gloves on much of the time. These gloves had something on each finger that would let it work with an iPhone, and therefore it worked just as well with he camera. I liked the feature where you could use the live preview and touch the screen where you wanted it to be in focus, and it would refocus and take the shot. I understand why people complain about the missing second SD slot, but as long as I carried a second card around, it was fine. I never made automatic backups anyway, and I can live without putting RAW on one card and JPG on the other. It would have been nice, but the other features are more important to me. The depth of field preview seems to be gone, and that is disappointing, but it is usually easy enough to take a shot and check depth of field and then take another. The exposure settings were a little more confusing to me, and I could not reliably determine if the camera tended to over or underexpose. I think I ended up using plus or minus 1/3 of a stop a lot of the time, and sometimes a lot more than that. Overall, I am very happy with the purchase. I might change my mind after reviewing the thousands of photos I took on the trip, but based on what I have seen, it is a definite upgrade!!

Show more

I told myself I would use my D300 until the day it stopped working. Well, needless to say, when the D7500 was announced, it sounded like exactly what I was looking for in my next camera...even though my D300 is still running strong with 85k+ shutters. While the D500 is the logical upgrade (if you buy into the whole "pro" vs "consumer" marketing spin), its price makes the upgrade unattractive. The D7500 takes so much of what is great about the D500 and offers it in a more affordable body. At first, I questioned my upgrade, but after a week of shooting with the D7500, I couldnt be happier. Below are the pros & cons that I see based on my experience thus far, and attached is a vertical crop from a horizontal image I shot the other day. Pros: - a much appreciated upgrade in technology (sensor, ISO capabilities, auto focus, metering, video, etc.) - lighter and a more portable than my D300 - 8fps - ISO capabilities and noise handling are phenomenal - much more pleasing colors - quiet shooting mode is nice, and overall the shutter is much quieter - Snapseed and the ability to sync to my phone is awesome. While I dont plan to backup everything to my phone continuously, it is a feature that is going to be handy when needed. Also, when I tested the continuous backup, it worked flawlessly. - the tilt out screen is surprisingly useful considering I didnt expect to use it at all - Live view is much more useful Cons: - still cant get used to the top dial button that has two different levels to it. I can easily adjust the top dial (Auto, P, A, S, etc.) but the lower level dial (S, CL, CH, etc.) is much more difficult for me to change than how Im used to adjusting those settings on the D300. - while I appreciate the lighter camera, there is something I miss about feeling such a rock solid camera body in my hand, such as the D300. When you pickup the D300, you know its a serious machine and that itll last for years to come. However, when I pick up the D7500, its plastic body just leaves me wanting to know if itll hold its own and last 9 years like my D300 did. - its slightly shorter than my D300, and as such the right hand grip just doesnt quite feel the same. It feels a little more cramped than the D300 which fit my hand perfectly. - the battery seems to have slightly less life to it than that of my D300, but it is still reasonable. - when shooting video and focusing with live view, the camera seems to struggle with auto focusing at times, especially if youre using the touch screen to specify the focal point. Neutral: - many people are slamming the D7500 for only having a single memory card slot, but to me it doesnt matter. Im also no professional, but in the 10+ years of shooting digital SLRs with single slot memory, I cant say Ive ever had a card fail on me. To me, the card technology seems to have come so far that if you invest in a good, quality card, this shouldnt matter to you. - 4K video. Maybe Ill find this useful down the road, but I dont see myself doing a ton of this. - "Effects" such as miniature mode, toy camera, etc. These are fun, and are enjoyable in point in shoots. However, even in my point and shoots, I cant say they get much usage

Show more

I absolutely love this camera. I upgraded from a Nikon D5xxx and did not need the full blown capabilities of the D500. The D7500 was the perfect upgrade. I use a 128GB stick in it and I have set it up to my taste and Im taking pictures. I love the speed of the 7500 in continuous mode and the fact I can take a LOT of pictures of fast moving scenes without filling the buffer in a few seconds. The touchscreen is great, works really well and is very intuitive. I love that it also pulls out and you can use it for low shots or high (above the crowd) shots. The D500 sensor with its integrated AE is superb and provides all the power of the more expensive model in a sensibly priced model. I have no need for a second SD slot, and the camera fist my hands so well, a battery grip would just make it heavier and bulkier.

Show more

I only got this camera yesterday, but I am already SO impressed by it! I was concerned about the mega pixels only being 20.9, but I cant even notice the difference.The rapid fire is absolutely brilliant! The fastest is 8 frames per second and seems to be even better when set on "sport". UPDATE: Ive had this camera for a little over two weeks now. I still cant find anything I dislike about it. I previously had a D5300 and the 7500 completely blows it out of the water, obviously lol. I still highly recommend this camera to anyone who is interested in buying it. All of the photos that I included with this review are originals right off of the SD card and not touched up via Lightroom or Photoshop.

Show more

3 week update: Have used this camera daily. It is simple to learn, simple to use, a real joy for wildlife. After 3 week the menus and controls are becoming more 2nd nature. Because of all the features I expected that it would take longer to start feeling familiar. Occasionally I have to go back to a reference to find what I am looking for, but really, this camera is an amazingly intuitive piece of technology even for a beginner. Your camera takes good pictures goes the joke. It is no joke with the D7500. I have used the Coolpx P900 for ~two years. I have never used a DSLR. The D7500 is my first. The pix with this review were taken on the first two days I owned it. These pix were shot on shutter preferred and manual. I had no idea a DSLR camera could be so amazing and forgiving. If I can do this, imagine what you can do if you have knowledge and experience. I carefully researched DSLRs before making this purchase. You will find that if you do this camera is highly rated. Let those reviews will guide your decision. I got this camera because I wanted a camera I could grow into, a camera that would work for wildlife and action, and a camera that was considered an excellent buy in professional reviews. I also chose Nikon because I was familiar with the layout and language because of my P900. For me it was a spectacular choice. I highly recommend it.

Show more

Ive only had this camera for less than a day and have taken about a dozen keepers. The build quality is outstanding compared to the D3400. The D7500 I believe, will fill the role as an enthusiast camera. Not quite up to its big brother the D500, but at least in the ways that really matter to me it is spot on. BTW, I gave 4 stars for battery life but that is based on what Ive read. I havent had enough experience with the camera to have my own opinion. Also keep in mind that picture quality is a function of the photographer and the lens even more than the camera IMHO. The first big difference to me over the D3400 is the focusing system. I havent had a chance to use it track birds but the 51 focus points and the 3D and group modes seem to work well in simple tests. Well see how they perform for me in real world scenarios like tracking a bird. Regardless the focusing system is much better than the D3400. Another important feature for me is the ability to shoot at 8 frames / second and up to 50 RAW photos before the buffer fills up. I love the touchscreen display and the fact that it articulates up and down. I do wish it moved further down for taking overhead shots, but it will work fine. Being able to use the touch screen for menus and photo review is a real plus. "My Menu" is a great time saver. You can add your most often accessed menu items to My Menu so you can get to them quickly without scrolling through gobs of menus. Auto-bracketing is an important feature for me too. I often shoot real estate (my wife and I are real estate agents and though we hire pro photographers, I often shoot additional shots). Bracketing allows me to create HDR photos that dont have windows that are all blown out, etc. There are a ton more options on the D7500 over the D3400 or other entry-level DSLRs so if you are moving up or if this is your first DSLR, do yourself a favor and get a companion book. I bought "Nikon D7500 Experience - The Photography Guide to Operation and Image Creation with the Nikon D7500" by Douglas Klostermann. Very, very helpful. The shots are from the National Cemetery in Sarasota Florida.

Show more

I love this camera. Many years ago, I started off with a Nikon D40X, then upgraded to a D5100, and I now have upgraded to the D7500, and I wish I would have upgraded much sooner! If you are on the fence about upgrading...do it! Do it now! I love the focus and speed of this camera. I thoroughly researched the different options before making this purchase. I discovered I wasnt ready to upgrade to a full frame...I have too many crop sensor lenses, and I cannot afford to upgrade to a full frame camera AND buy new glass too. I then considered the D500, but it was too expensive, and it didnt have any additional features that I needed. Im very pleased with the D7500. The 51 focus points, 15 being cross sensors, really allow me to capture exceptional portraits, and the tracking capabilities allows me to snap shots of my 7 and 10 year old while they are playing baseball, football, and hockey. Also, the speed is fantastic! I seldom find myself stopping to wait for the camera to catch up. I love that the aperture and the shutter speed have dedicated dials...this makes it easy to adjust them quickly. I also find changing the white balance, metering, and ISO to be much easier...no more going to the main menu to adjust settings! The only thing I am slightly disappointed in is this cameras low light capabilities. Many reviews I read talked about this cameras exceptionable low light capabilities and how there is little grain even with a high ISO, but I find many of my photos are grainy in low light situations. Overall, I love this camera!

Show more

I have been using the D7500 for about six months. So far it has been a huge upgrade over my D5500. The low light capabilities is much improved. The focusing system is very good. I have used it with my two Sigma lens (18-35 F1.8, 50-100 F1.8) with no complaints. The extra dials and buttons are a huge help when changing settings. I have read several people complaining about the lack of a second card slot as well not having the ability to install a battery grip. Those issues do not impact me. I have been 100% happy with this purchase.

Show more

Major step up from my d5500. Excellent image quality. Ergonomics are well thought out. New deep grips are much better in my opinion. Overall it’s missing a few things compared to d7200 but I think the new tech is worth it. Focus is very fast and the auto fine tune is excellent for screw drive af and af-d lenses. Battery life is incredible compared to any mirrorless I’ve used. If you have Nikon dx glass you can’t go wrong with this body.

Show more