Nikon Z6 vs D750 vs D500 | Which Camera to Buy? The ULTIMATE BATTLE 

D500 isn't full frame...

Jared Polin d750

anything that shoots above 360p

Zing!

D850. /Thread

Good choice, my D750 is still flaming hot - the raw files incredible, no ospdaf. Bought myself another D500 yesterday, why? Toughness. Polin may test a lot of gears but I've never seen him crawling in snow and mud (good luck with the Z in fricking minus degrees - will drain batteries as inserted)

@@805atnorafertsera6 i thought z body is weather sealed like d750. im was thinking about trading in my D750 to z6 but I guess I'll wait for now

@@Adrian-tw8un tricky decision, I'm trigger happy but will wait with the milc myself. There is a lot of technology in them I want but there are still a couple of chechbox to check for my needs, like evf frequency and autofocus performance. The D500 I can abuse in the wild without worrying, will not risk that with a +2k new milc.

@@805atnorafertsera6 yeah they’ll have to baby those mirrorless cameras. The first 2 foot drop and it’s history.

Right ✅ Why your camera recently?

No ! it is good for all !...

Colin, what do you expect from Jared?

UFGator1972 something more than spec comparisons and sniff tests.

@@CFster, sorry but that is not what he does. He is just selling products for Adorama.

I was at my local camera store a few days ago they had a D750 customer return in for the second time because of a main board failure the D750 is not a good camera too many recalls!.

Stephen Gatley BWUHAHAHAHA!!! The D750 isn’t a good camera. That’s a good one.

Even if QUALITY video is something you occasionally need, it's the way to go. The 750 and 500 are a no go in that regard, save for the most simple video. And I find my Z series stills as good or better than my 500 and 750 shots in nearly every situation.

Damn right it is . 👍🏻

It is a very good imaging camera, but dual SD is still SD, which are notoriously unreliable and slow. One XQD has a far better Mean Time Between Failure time than SD which was never designed for critical applications....plus they are very expensive if one wants faster SDs. Those panning theZ cameras for 1 slot just do not seem to know the technology and are assuming all card and bus systems are the same...no they are not. You have never heard of anyone losing data with an XQD but we all have had problems with fragile, slow, non-error correcting, non-error detecting SD. Sony states that out of millions in use, they have had only one card fail. They have been used in the D5 and D850 for years and Sony top pro video cameras even longer and they only have 1 slot. Why would a pro-spending $30k on a video camera want only 1 slot? Because they have a lot more experience and knowledge of the topic than youtube gurus who seem to not know how different they work. It is like claiming the PCIe+ advanced bus system on modern computer storage is the same as dumb interfaces and media of 5.25 floppy disks. That is the tech era comparison that fits. Next year all the video-capable mirrorless or new DSLR are going to have XQD because it is the only system fast enough and reliable enough for pro use. TheZ 6 and 7 are the only current cameras on the market that can work with ProRes RAW video format because of its higher internal bus speeds and advanced technology of the PCIe+ that is proven for years in high-end computers.

So then you agree that D700's with one slot ares superior to SD's?

Once you hit 200, you simply take your finger off the trigger and you can go another 200, so its virtually unlimited.

I just sold my D500 for this reason its a fast camera but my D750 files look better and the Z6 looks better than the D750

@Urban The dynamic range of the D500 is lacking compared to the D750, and maybe the Z6 if you're not pushing it past 5 stops. It's got speed but the IQ is still not going to compete with the D750 or the Z6.

@@KungPowEnterFist Who are you replying to? If your'e dropping coin for a FX camera or a pro level DX camera, you're not the casual photographer. Those people use their phones.

That's not strictly true regarding image quality. The D500 has noticeably more noise than the FF cameras at high ISOs. I agree with everything else you said and the D500 is by far the best of the 3 cameras for sports & wildlife. That extra reach is a huge advantage.

It;s always amusing people trying to claim smaller sensors are equal or better than FF sensors. LOL you are fantasy land. The Z6 FF sensor is 2x the size of the D500. So not only does the Z6 has 20% more pixels the pixels are 60% larger and the Z6 sensor is also BSI (back illuminated) the D500 is NOT. The Z6 sensor is much superior to the D500.

Sammy Tolomeo, camera companies need to sell their products so the latest will always be the best.

There are Real World Reviews for each one of these with the photos from each one. These videos are *intended* to be a video form of the side-by-side comparison lists you can look through on websites like Camera Decision.

Azenturi, I think you may be missing my point. If you want to waste 20+ min of your life watching Jared read out specs be my guess. This video is a BS money grab video, nothing else. He gets paid per views, per comment, etc. he also talks a lot of $hit, so he should know to be at the top of his game or people will call him out.

@@thinkingape7655 I think I'm spot on with your point. You're complaining about a video not having something not intended to be in it, but we'll ignore that part for now. The "money grab" has been done for years here and yeah, I get why people don't like them. Some people do. I just treat them as a talking head thing because I already have an A7III. Calling someone out for mistakes is fine. Beating them down for them isn't. And calling out mistakes that aren't being made is asking for trouble.

@@RealRaynedance, awe look at you, coming to a grown man's rescue. Give me a break. But I do like how you're the one who implies Jared made a mistake. All I did was make a recommendation. You seem more butt hurt about it; which is very odd. bye, bye silly goose

Just bought one...i wanted a full frame but didnt have the money for a z6...i wanted to go with the sony a7riii but again, i dont have 3k to spend on a body and 1 lens....rather bought this and i will try to find a 24-70 2.8 vr...and im sorted pretty much...i know its not the latest tech but what can i do. Still was using a d7000 these days...i think it is a good upgrade. If will be able to sell my photos, then im gonna maybe upgrade for newer gear.

im looking into buying one. i know its stupid not looking closely into mirrorless because the technical aspects are really great, but i love classic stuff and i even thought about getting into analog photography

Vídeo estúpido, como são todos os vídeos que este gajo põe aqui.

@@joaquimsousa3319 não chega a ser tão estúpido como o teu comentário

@@pedromiguel2772 Estúpido és tu.

Did you even watched the video, lol. He explained why he compares exactly these 3 cameras :D

That is the sane choice for almost any usage scenario.

Agree! Also Jared, how is it that a D750 was a great camera years ago, but today it is not? Isn't it the same camera? I shoot with a D4S, D3S and a D500. All three are wonderful cameras and they always have been. The 20x30in prints my D3S made in 2010 are still 20x30in prints in 2019 and my D3S takes the same amazing pictures. Don't listen to people like this!

This is an ALL AROUND comparison of what these 3 bodies offer, which encompasses stills and video. And regarding video, the D500 with it's crop/crop treatment of 4K and lack of autofocus really isn't even in the discussion. I like the 500- it's a fine camera for wildlife stills, and I still own one. It's the finest crop sensor camera that Nikon has ever made. Let's leave it at that.

I own a D500 focus on surf photography but have done works for restaurants and fashion designers as well

On a serious note how would the d500 compared to my Nikon d5300? I want to upgrade but there are too many options

For a reason. I changed to it and it takes fantastic images....

Image quality in the APS-C cameras are definitely much noisier and hence lower quality than FF cameras. Having said that, if you're always shooting in controlled lighting and/or low ISOs in natural lighting, then noise doesn't even come into it. If you are often forced to shoot at ISO 6400+ then an X-T3 isn't even in the race.

cooloox Youre seriously underestimating DX and the D500 lol. Most people couldnt find a difference between crop sensor and ff

Anthony Hostetler I also have the d500 and love it. Its doing a good job and i wouldnt uprgrade to ff eith that pricetag tbh ff and dx are pretty heavy camera do i undestanf the advantahe if mirrorlesd

@@cooloox If you are shooting till iso 1600 I bet you could never tell the difference :) With a little post processing I would even say iso3200.

The are superb

hopefully they make the pro version with bigger grip/ body.

I agree, the Z6 does look very small body wise. Great camera though but would be better with two cards, didn’t understand that move by Nikon.

D500 never disappointed me... Still a beast... A very little amount of people do care about sensor...

, as I had the same question in mind, you can put an eye right down there: www.fullexposure.photography/nikon-no-dual-card-slot/ . Cheers.

@@SuperFucdat I think they where after Sony, on all subjects, size as well and they could not electronically fit it

@MLWATKK I'd argue that if you shoot sports and action, the D500 is vastly superior to the Z6 and might well be the best camera in the world for the job if you're shooting in good light.

@MLWATKK With good glass it gets the job done in suboptimal light. I put that caveat into my statement because it contains the words "best camera", not just "good camera". In dimmer conditions the D500 still does well, but not as well as a D5/1DX II/a9.

@MLWATKK I'm shooting a lot of f/2.8 glass on my D500 as well. But I gotta say, for fast action in low light I do sometimes find a little too much grain for my liking in the images.

@MLWATKK As I said, it's good at what it does. That's why I'm using it. All I'm saying is that for low light action, there are better alternatives. Just not anywhere near the same price point.

I hit the buffer at every bike race I shoot

What do you normally shoot? Just curious why continuous is the most important thing to you. I find continuous useful too, even for street photography, at times. Joggers, cyclists, skateboarders, etc. When photographing couples it's important to have good tracking for when they walk towards the camera.

@@cooloox hey coolox, i dont own i d500. I own a nikon d5600. Continuous shooting is important for me bcoz i just love bird photography, capturing that perfect moment is really awesome. I get fantastic results even with the kit lens AF-P 70-300. And for that reason i choose d500 with 10fps. Its just amazing

@@cooloox Z6 even has dynamic area af, but still since it is the introduction phase of mirrorless cameras, i think it is not suffiecient to match the dynamic area af of d500. Its super super cool than of z6. Mirroless cameras will still take few years to be at par with dslr in terms of photography (continuous shooting with tracking)

The D500 is good for those purposes(sports and wild life) the Z6 does everything else better ,who will buy a D500 over the Z6 ?....soprt photographers i guess.

I've had a d750 for over 4 years now and never had a single problem with it ... now have a d850 but still use my 750 as a back up.

Weezy G. I’ve had two D750s. Never had any issues.

Nikon fixes the recall and you have a brand new camera. Get over it.

recall, but there were no real issues. I never sent it in, got day one or the first week.

I know its been a year but how do you handhold a supertelephoto? I tried hand holding a 150-600 contemporary on my d3500 and I was shaking the whole time

@@jeepjoseph9036 I started with a Black Rapid camera strap sets the camera on my right hip. I realized after while how cumbersome that was, and prevented me from using any other lenses on hikes, so I ended up getting a camera backpack.

@@Wynner3 how do you hold it while shooting?

@@jeepjoseph9036 Right hand on grip, with left (on 200-500mm) under push/pull ring, and thumb on focus ring.

I do! 14 years and counting! Some dials are getting lazy tho...

The D500 was never selling that well ,the D750 was always outselling it,the D500 is awesome but i prefer the D750,and now i prefer Z6 over D750.

D500 op

joh24 you think the 1.4 is better than the 1.8 50 mm? I’ve not seen one conclusive video on this question. D750 is my body w/ 24-70 2.8, 70-200 vr11 2.8, 85 1.8, and 50 1.8

@@Jrome719 i got a great deal on the 50mm 1.4 that's why i bought it instead of the 1.8. I've never used the 1.8, but i'm truly happy with the 1.4. For me it all goes down to the budget.

Thanks, and “ditto.” That being said, will you upgrade to the D850? I just wish the D810 had the D850 focus system. I really don’t need 45 mega pixels as an enthusiast.

@@Jrome719 I hope so! I don't need 45mega either but there's so much more on that body, hope i can get the budget in a near future to buy it. But i'll keep my D750 for sure

Jrome719 depends what you want, d750 have better low iso preformance then any d8XX, so for wedings and events is better 👍

Not correct. You can, but the down side is that you can only focus manually

@@kaijan2808 yes of course 👍 no aperture control also, but ML can live with that

Yep, another area where I would have given the check mark to the D750 and D500. The new mount may well be a future-proofing concept but it wouldn't offer any benefit to me and would restrict me with regard to my D lenses.

@@GoneToHelenBach also this has increased lens price now, and for the future as new standard is possible to see higher starting price 🤔

@@nerdMike Edit: I double checked. The d series lenses have full aperture control from in the camera. So you only have to manual focus the AF versions of the D or G lenses. The adapter is missing the aperture ring-feeler for AI/s lenses, but like a cheap dslr it will still actuate the aperture accurately, although you will need to stop-down meter. Old post: no aperture control? You experienced this or read it somewhere? Because d-series lenses (both the AF and the AF-S ones) all have a chip. Even if the chip for some reason didn't work (I don't know, hence I am asking your source on that part), they D lenses still have an aperture ring - do you lose the metering preview or aperture functionality completely in that case?

Wow that’s impressive! Do you recommend it till now 2023?

Holy cow, you are right, it does support AF-D lenses. Jared has always seemed to have something against using or at least acknowledging the AF-D lenses. And no, they did not remove thr WIFI.

@@pafaccount4454 tbf, Jared doesn't really know what he is talking about in general, which is partly why I unsubbed quite a while ago. If you fancy another interesting fact, AF-D doesn't technically exist, although it's a very common misnomer (I think ken rockhead is to blame). I own a D type lens that has an AF-S motor (and there's more, 17-35/2.8, the old 300/4, some of the other super teles), and three G type lenses which have the old AF screw type (and I think there is more). There's even a few (or at least one, not 100% if there's more) screw AF lenses that predate the D designation. Pointless, useless knowledge dump out. Have a great weekend :)

@@scriptosaurusrex I think Jared is smart and I respected when he blasted gear whores, but he seems really bad about being one himself. Being 4 years old does not mean anything. I just bought a D700, and its 12 years old. The clickbait is what made me unsub.

@@pafaccount4454 d700 is great! I am on the verge of selling mine, but can't quite make myself. Too many memories with that tank of a camera! Enjoy yours :)

Yeah, he got that a bit wrong. Not far off if you have it writing simultaneously to both cards (something that Z6 owners could only dream of). In 14bit lossless compressed, writing to the XQD card only, I get about 190 frames until slow-down, so the D500 beats the Z6 on that one, unless you're Jared Biased Polin...LOL

Glad someone said it. I can hold down that Shutter feeding a fast XQD card all day and she asks for more. God forbid you switch to 5fps to match the Z6 in Continuous Low and never fill the buffer. Oh, and apparently DX = Always a negative with this review lol.

Yes ... that and the need for an adapter for F mount lenses makes the Z6 a non-starter for me.

There is a big difference. Almost all the features of my D850 and earlier cameras is hardware constrained. No new features or changes in performance are coming. Think of the Z cameras as software driven and configured like a Tesla EV. They can add or alter features every week, and do. Same with the Z cameras. Nikon overbuilds the hardware with a much faster processor, far far faster data buses than needed. Nikon announced their first feature add, 3 of them that would have been impossible with a more hardware oriented device. It is getting: Eye AF which a lot of people wanted for some reason. They are getting ProRes-RAW output from the HDMI port that mates with the Atomos Ninja 5 that turns the camera into a high-end video production camera and will cause millions of video shooters to buy it And it get full compatibilty with CFExpress with its 8gigabite per the second read-write over 8 pipes and hand the 1 Terabyte capacity super fast and reliable CFExpress. Those would normally require designing a conventional camera. Since Nikon planned to to be future proof, owners will keep them longer and just keep upgrading free firmware updates like Tesla does. Want add killer 3D tracking? It only needs the firmware to tell the camera to do it. This is the most future proof camera on the market and by far more than Nikon from before. Sony and Canon are surely going nuts trying to figure out how to counter the advances of the announced firmware update. Since they both built their cameras the old way, hardware-constrained, they have no excess processing power to add things like fast card slots. They made the architecture of the a7 series just enough in power to fit the model being released, to add ProRes, they will have to invest in much more modern data protocols in the next version....and XQD card slot.

The d500 also shoots 14bit uncompressed at 10fps as well

@Darcey, Agreed. The D500 has the same AF as the flagship D5. And this Fro guy claims that the entry-level mirrorless z6 wins over D500 on focus points? C'mon. There are certain moving shots that the D500 captures in spite of user error because the AF acquisition is just that freaking good! I would respect this review more if Mr. Fro would talk about the camera bodies in context. For example, the z6 has really good video so if you are into that kind of stuff . . . the D500 is probably the best (pro body) crop body for fast moving wildlife/sports so if you are a wildlife/sports photographer then . . . and so on. These *blind* comparisons he tends to do add little value. However, I hope he makes more of them so the "millennials" can buy more "mirrorless" bodies and shinny new objects which will continue to drive down the cost of 4+ year old camera bodies. I just got a D7200 in great condition for $300 (plus shipping) the other day because the guy wanted to upgrade to mirrorless. He even added a 50mm lens so he could sell the camera quickly. Ha! I'll either keep the wonderful (pro-sumer) camera or sell it for a small profit.

@@XlogicXX where did you buy your D7200? I want to buy a used D500, what are the best places to look for it?

@@BELTR. eBay, craigslist, FB

His check points on the Z6 are always biased when it’s close. He’s the biggest f*cking camera fanboy waffled on RU-vid. He’s the type to meet a girl at a club, take her home and bone her, and in the morning say he’ll call her and won’t as well as acknowledge her existence😂🤣🤣

Yeah that’s true I am still waiting for the Z6/Z7 Battery Grip.

Been using a D600 since it launched, still going strong. Though be sure to keep an eye on the condition of your sensor, the D600 is prone to oily dust spots...

@@Samsonimages Those which had the lube spray were sent in for a new style shutter assembly so it would be rare to see one that was still in the original condition.. The D600 creates great images, with decent lenses it performs very well

@@stanspb763 Guess mines rare as I think I never got the memo to send mine in! Oops. But regardless, brilliant camera for the price.

thats an awesome deal

Daniel Garza sure!! You’re not going to regret it. I own a D750 and it has been the best choice since I came from a D5300.

I used the d750 for 4 years. For photography the image actually still hold strong, the z6 image looks the same to me.

Just because is 500. Yes but remember that DSLR are going away eventually.

@Ivan. Nobody is saying we are going to stick to DSLRs. Unfortunately mirrorless cameras are right now just like Teslas, a whole new revolution and it doesn’t infer they’re bad. Some of us just have the pleasure of snapping pictures here and there without having the most recent model. That may be somebody’s desire, but not everybody’s.

cool, I don't agree.

@@froknowsphoto, I agree with him... the vote now stands at 2-1.

Jared continues to shoot in uncompressed RAW as he doesn't believe that lossless compressed is actually lossless, so that's probably why he hits the buffer at 21 shots. 99% of people won't have that issue and I disagree with the assertion that the z6 is a better af system than the d500 also. That's when I stopped watching. He's the only one to find that in his testing

The z6 is a great camera better than the other two but that is depending the field. All around z6, fast shooting situation d500 and cheap camera but good all around d750. It is what it is.

Make that 3-1

Manual focusing is way easier with the Z6.

Alexander Hartmann that’s fine if you’re shooting video. But with today’s auto focus systems there is really no need to manual focus anything for stills, really.

Carl Cooper so you’re saying go Sony? 🤷‍♂️

@@GRJCLyon A picture taker might not see the advantage but a photographer has a lot of interest in picking the focusing plane precisely and not depend on a camera guessing where the focal plane should be. MF on a DSLR is a pain and very inaccurate but on the Z6/7 it's a dream,, even better and more accurate than the old micro-prism on better film cameras. There is no back or front focusing issues on mirrorless like DSLR struggle with for razor sharp. Try a Z6 or 7 sometime and you will see the difference. My Z6 has become my go-to camera and D850 and D800 sit most of the time in the bag. It brings fun back to photography. Using it in MF mode is orders of magnitude better than DSLR. In a well-conducted high ISO test between the D5 and Z6, the mirrorless camera give more detailed, sharper quieter images well past ISO 51k and still had more contrast and detail at 102k than the D5 and after that, the D5 lost less but still had degraded image quality...in other words, it was not great but degraded less at stratospheric ISO numbers.

@@stanspb763 been shooting with d 750 and d 500 since the day these were released....ive had No problems with em anytime in manual focussing or low light focussing.. everytime both beasts whipped up razor sharp photos in near dark conditions . (Iso 8000 in d750 is a dream ...!}...i respectfully disagree. No matter whatever tech jargon or other shit you throw at it, not gonna make any difference worth a rats ass. Well ...... The focus peaking is a desirable feature. I agree..not must. Can do without..

How good are the pictures n focus speed with d750 lens+ftz adapter

Daniel Pais not sure why the fixation on a full frame But the D750 is an affordable option on the full frame side and you can use the rest of the money on glass. The glass is what makes the big difference than the body Though if you’d consider crop sensor I’d say check out fujifilm x-T3 It has I think 30fps which is great for sports and has all the pro features since it’s from their pro line and the Fuji lenses are quite good from what I read. Plus the jpegs they produce straight out of the camera is quite good aswell for a quick shoot and has all the good features like eye auto focus etc which would be missing from the D750

Not better than the D850. You lose there. No flaws. Definitely going to go down as an iconic Nikon just like the D700, D500, and D4s.

OVF you mean

@@Jayy_Arra oops lol yes... too much mirrorless talk lately.

no you are not

because youtube takes some time to add the others

the video was just made public, YT takes time to make 1080p availabe

earlybird

I was starting to think there was something wrong with my computer...

please watch the real world reviews.

@@froknowsphoto Thanks for the reply. I have seen all three of the real world reviews when you first posted them, though I will take another look, because no doubt I have forgotten some of the stuff you covered. I am curious to see how much one is better over the other in a certain situation. ie, you're in a low light situation and you can't grab focus with one of the cameras, but you can with another, in the same exact lighting. Sometimes seeing something like that gives you the "ah-ha" moment when you might not quite understand what 'focusing down to -4ev' means or why you might even care. Regardless man, you always put out great content. Maybe this type of comparison could be something to consider in the future. Thanks!

P.S. that’s coming from somebody who has since switched to shooting Canon as I became more video centric and purchased my C200 for client work

It’s still relevant because it’s an insanely good camera. The D750’s were what the Mirrorless are now. The recalls mean nothing for those that want to mention it. I bought new cars with recalls so what’s the difference? Anyway, the camera was incredible and still is incredible for all types of photography. If the images came out of it were fine when it was out then they’re still fine today. The cameras don’t stop working because they’re 4 years old. Cameras now are good camcorders which is why it seems weird that it’s still around. If Mirrorless never happened the D750’s would still be one of the top dogs. It’s only added features on new bodies that give them their depreciation. However you could get the same image with both. 👍🏻

GRJCLyon so true. It is a fantastic camera

@@SamLucas26 Yeah man! I almost want to buy a herd of them. LOL!!!!

GRJCLyon lol, I sold two for $1000 a piece when i switched to canon.

I didn't like the focus of the D500. I always felt it lacked super sharpness of other cameras. That is using pro lenses.

Jared Polin I think you are right , but it is just a tank. If you feel that the z6 can hang with it I will have to hear you out. I have literally canceled my order on the z6 because I am so undecided about it. To me it seems like it should be the best camera in Nikons lineup - 12 FPS , 25 MPs full frame. Light gathering better than the legendary d750. That af-c performance though... so iffy

@@tedemery82 Are you sure you need any new camera? It is not a rule you must upgrade, few people take images that challenge the capability of a D5600. For stills and single point, you would get a much higher keeper rate with the Z cameras, the AF, if you select the appropriate focal plane target, it will focus more accurately than any DSLR, that is just the nature of mirrorless. See the difference between live view and OVF, the latter might be close but never as spot on as the LV on any of the DSLR. The Z6-7 is like being in LV all the time except with either the rear screen or the excellent EVF. Even in very low light or particularly in low light, the EVF worked great. If you are mostly shooting small birds in flight, or unpredictable sports paths of action the D500,850 and 5 have a better 3D tracking, But any other sports or wildlife where the photographer knows the sport or animal behavior well, they are not dependent on spray and pray and The D850, Z6/7, and D5 are best. My D850 sits in the bag a lot now that I am using the Z6. The D850 is for commercial studio shots that really need 45mpx. Most of those shot are manual focus of course. For my subjects; ballet, theater, portraiture, fashion, dance clubs, jazz clubs, studio work and products. the connectivity is great for wireless backup in events at 1gigabit per second over a 660-foot range using the WT-7 works perfectly. It nails focus if I place the focus point on the target, always perfectly focused, ease of MF, and low light, the Z6 is first out of my bag. Most of the few sports I shoot, just as hobby, such as track and field, cutting horses, auto racing, competitive ballroom dance, all where knowing what is coming next means getting the shot more than super AF. The easiest sports are predictable for those who know the sport well and hard for those who don't. Drama and ballet are a snap if you know the play or choreography and if you don't you are not likely to even get permission to shoot. For ballet, in the top ballet theater, Mariinsky Theater in St Petersburg, even for dress rehearsals I needed to demonstrate my knowledge of the ballets and that the camera is low enough noise. I have permission to shoot with the D7000 because the shutter is very quiet but never could shoot my D850 or D800. With the Z 6 I will go over to get a new permit since the mechanical shutter is really quiet and I have the choice of silent mode. Find out what your real needs are, forget lists of features, most make no impact on your work. All cameras are good now, even Canon has decent sensors now. Do you shoot outdoors in changeable weather? If so, D500, D850, D5 and Z cameras are your only Nikon choices. By the way, many lenses are not sealed well but the S lenses are very well sealed, as well as the cameras are which it a nice bonus. Do you really need a fast burst? If it gets much faster it out to be shot in a video. From what I have observed, few subjects need long bursts and learning more of the behavior of the subject is more useful. Nothing replaces fieldcraft animal photography, allowing getting close, and being in the best location for the behavior you anticipate. Depending on magicAF tracking and long bursts reveals a lot more about the skills or lack of, the photographer than the target. Many of the classic sports photos are shot manual, such as most of the iconic bat meet ball shots in major league baseball and single shot. that is for the same reason a batter can make contact even though he is so close and reflex needs to be tempered with fine anticipation. Shooting from FB side, 90 feet away and a small batters box prefocusing is the easy part. Since the camera is prefocused its response time is faster, often a lot faster so mf works by being more responsive and it is your anticipation and timing against the pitcher, much easier task than the batter's since you are following a movement parallel to the focus plane and do not have to deal with the closing distance the batter does. Auto racing, track and field are all handled with slow burst or a single frame, and fast burst will usually result in more oof frames. with any camera. Burst on the Z6/7 is a little more challenging, the first frame is always spot on, better focused than DSLRs but the next might not be. With a D500 most will be acceptable by none as good as the first with the Z cameras. If you need burst or want burst, no one NEEDS burst if they know the target, rent the D500 and don't even look at the Z6, because you ARE going to want a Z if you use it for a few days. Another question, do you even need stills, most action is better covered with video and the Z6 is a superb Video camera that this spring or summer will get the firmware to be the only general purpose camera to be able to shoot ProRes RAW which is essentially for video what NEF raw format is to stills giving far more adjustment range. While everyone else is shooting baked in JPGs you would have much more flexible details 12 bit video.

@@froknowsphoto I am confused as it doesn’t seem to be consistent with your real world review where “tack sharp” and “super sharp” are used as descriptors multiple times. In your comparison to the Ben Folds pictures D500 vs. D5 you stated: “The fact that they’re pretty darn similar is a testament to how good this Nikon D500 is.” Why do you now totally discredit the camera?

If you buy a Z6, Nikon includes a 64gigabyte XQD. That is probably the only one you will need. No reader is needed since the USB 3 C cable included in the kit is very fast in downloading. I have never taken my card out of the Z6, transfers wirelessly at 1gigabit/second up to 660 feet away is possible with the WT-7b or use the supplied cable. In the next 1-2 years, any camera which is to be competitive with the Z cameras will have to have much faster cards and data buses. Technically the SD cards are 3-4 generations behind in error correction, speed, and reliability. NO camera with SD should be considered suitable for important projects. This spring or summer when the CFExpress cards are released and the Nikon firmware is posted, it will be the only line of cameras that can use those super fast cards. The Terabyte cards will be able to record ProRes RAW video on the Z6 and 7 alone. All the others need a complete redesign to accommodate the more modern architecture.

thanks for letting me know you have problems with me, makes me feel awesome.