Upgrading

[merlin1]

I am about to upgrade from my D300S to ????.

Most of my photography is of birds, fungi, native orchids and fast flying model jet aeroplanes, I like the DX format for the birds; but am wondering if I should take the step to FX. I have looked at the specs of the D500, D750, D810, the more I look the more I am confused.

What am I to do? any ideas out there.


Thanks Ross.

[J.davis]

I have a D750 and my upgrade path was d300, d7000 and d750. I shoot what you seem to do. Go to my FB page( https://www.facebook.com/profile.php...2305272732%3A6 ) and have a look at the pics in the albums
and see the results I have with that body. After the D300 you will notice the lack of noise, Highly recommended.

[merlin1]

Thanks for the comment John, had a look at your photos, I think you are right. I think the D500 is a bit expensive, so I will probably go for the D750,

Ross.

[MissionMan]

I have the D750 and from what I've seen, the D500 is a step up as far as AF goes. The advantage the D500 has is that it has focus points right up to the edge. Unless you have a specific requirement for FX, I would be sticking with the D500 for your requirements.

[swifty]

Are you finding yourself focal length limited often at the tele end? If so I'd stick with DX.
Generally speaking you gain roughly an extra stop at the higher ISO end with FF but the advantage is there only if you fill the frame or with a small crop.
For DX consider the D7200 too if you find the D500 too expensive. It is a very well rounded camera but obviously the D500 is a considerable step up.

[piczzilla]

I upgraded from D90 to D800 about 3 years ago, and have been spoilt by the huge size image D800 offers - especially since I shoot macro and like to crop, also because the high ISO performance is good so it makes a nice holiday camera for me.

So, to add to your confusion I'd recommend the predecessor D810 if it fits your budget

[Lance B]

I have both the D810 and the D500. If birds are high on your shooting priority, then I would suggest the D500, it is a fantastic bird/wildlife/sports tool - the AF is amazing, as is the fps and the overall IQ. However, if birds are just a small part of your hobby, then maybe the D500 might be an extravagance but only you can ascertain whether it is an extravagance as far as cost of the camera is concerned compared to say the D750. You could opt for the D810 as you can crop to DX and have similar overall IQ to the D500 - there is not that much between 16Mp of the cropped D810 and 20Mp of the D500 as far as overall IQ is concerned. However, the AF of the D810 will seem a little pedestrian compared to the D500 - that is not to say that the AF is lacking, just that the D500's AF is so good. The D810 served me brilliantly as a birding camera for nearly 2 years and I really didn't have any major complaints with regards to capturing bird photos, in fact it's is a superb camera and the results are outstanding. However, the D500 does make it easier to get the photo, especially fast moving BIF. To be perfectly honest, I would rather have the full 36Mp of the D810 on a bird than "just" 20Mp of the D500 as the IQ of the FF D810 still has a slight advantage, especially when low light comes into play and you need to ramp up the ISO. It is when you need to crop the D810 to DX that things are evened up considerably and then the AF speed and fps really come into play on the D500. You have to remember that everything is a trade off.

The D750, IMO, is more of an "all round camera", still has quite high Mp, excellent high ISO ability and the AF is also quite fast, apparently. I have not used this camera and am only talking on what I have heard as far as AF speed etc, and the images I have seen from that camera. However, if birds play a major part of your photography, I would say that you will be forever cropping and running out of pixels. This is why I would lean towards the D810 or the D500.