Photography News Issue 33

Photography News | Issue 33 | absolutephoto.com

Camera test 38

IN ASSOCIATIONWITH

Original image

-4EV

-3EV

-2EV

-1EV

Correct

+1EV

+2EV

Performance: exposure latitude

Like many photographers I always shoot in Raw format, as it’s handy to have the extra flexibility when post-processing your images. To test out the D500’s Raw files I shot nine frames with exposures from -4EV to +4EV as well as a correctly exposed image. Shooting in manual mode the camera metered a correct exposure at ISO 250 with an of aperture f/8 and 1/160sec shutter speed. I then took shots at +/-4EV in 1EV stops and imported the photos into Lightroom. Recovering the images was just a case of adjusting the exposure. Starting at -4EV, recovering the image was absolutely fine; it was only when zoomed in that the appearance of noise was present. -3EV was similar with an improvement in noise and the noise only got better as the stops increased. By -1EV there was only a slight difference in noise between the correctly exposed image. At +1EV and +2EV the images looked verymuch identical to the correct image, while at +3EV the details in the sky started to disappear. At +4 the sky lost all of it’s detail and even dropping down the highlights adjustment in Lightroom made only a minor change to this.

+3EV

+4EV

The images were taken at exposures from -4EV to +4EV in 1EV steps. They were then imported into Lightroomwhere I corrected the exposure according to howmuch they were overexposed or underexposed. Comparing them to the correctly exposed image above we can see howwell the Raw files can be recovered at different exposures.

Features Great features for action and sports shooting Performance Very good on all aspects Handling Fast and intuitive, just slightly big and heavy Value formoney Quite pricey considering it’s not a full-frame SLR, but it does have the D5 AF’s system. Features and image quality are great. Overall For a DX-format camera it’s an extremely powerful option Pros High ISO performance, image quality, shooting rate, fast autofocus, tilting touchscreen Cons Slightly bulky, bigger in size and weight than the D750 for example, high price tag. While it does offer powerful shooting, its price tag of £1729 is only £80 more than the full-frame D750, so you have to ask yourself if you need a full-frame camera or not and what you subjects you plan to shoot. Verdict The D500 really packs a punch for a DX- format DSLR and with the same AF system as the D5 you can see why it’s got a high price tag. The 10fps shooting speed is definitely an attractive feature for those shooting wildlife, action or other high-speed subjects. Combined with the kit lens the results are extremely sharp and noise at high ISOs does extremely well, with little recovery work needed.

25/25

24/25

21/25

94/100

I shot a variety of subjects in different shooting situations to test out the D500. Above Music photography requires accurate AF and often high ISOs due to shooting in low light. This shot was taken at ISO 1250. Top right The dark conditions in Peterborough Cathedral required me to shoot with an ISO of 800, this shot was taken handheld at 1/50sec. Right The D500 and 16-80mm f/2.8-4 kit lens produced extremely sharp results and great bokeh. This shot of model Becca Rose Avill was taken at ISO 500, f/4 with a shutter speed of 1/320sec. I also used a prism to add some creative blur to the bottom left.