Introduction
The Nikon D500 is the most-anticipated camera the company has offered in a very long time. Its predecessor, the D300s, was unveiled more than seven years ago—an eternity in digital camera technology. As Nikon continued to introduce a parade of new entry-level and enthusiast DX models alongside enhanced full-frame cameras, no new pro-level APS-C camera appeared on the horizon. Advanced photographers who wanted to continue to use their DX equipment had no upgrade path, and some wondered if Nikon was abandoning the APS-C sensor format for professional photography.
The announcement of the D500 in January 2016 allayed those fears. Thanks to the extended gap between models, the differences between the previous D300s model and the D500 were nothing short of spectacular. The jump from 12 to 20.7 megapixels was welcome, and increasing the number of metering pixels from 1005 to 180,000 allowed much more advanced exposure controls—including face detection. Sports photographers were especially impressed by the D500’s 10 frames-persecond continuous shooting capabilities (instead of 7 fps), and lightning-fast autofocus that distributed 153 focus points (99 of them cross-type) over virtually the entire frame. Nikon saw to the needs of videographers, too, upgrading the 720p video offered by D300s to 2160p (4K) and 1080p formats, along with headphone output and clean HDMI out to video recorders and monitors. That’s quite a package of improvements!
Once you’ve digested exactly how much of an upgrade the D500 is, the question comes up, how do I use this thing? All those cool features can be mind-numbing to learn, if all you have as a guide is the manual furnished with the camera. Help is on the way. I sincerely believe that this book is your best bet for learning how to use your new camera, and for learning how to use it well.
If you’re a Nikon D500 owner who’s looking to learn more about how to use this great camera, you’ve probably already explored your options. There are DVDs and online YouTube tutorials—but who can learn how to use a camera by sitting in front of a television or computer screen? Do you want to watch a movie or click on HTML links, or do you want to go out and take photos with your camera? Videos are fun, but not the best answer.
There’s always the manual furnished with the D500. It’s thick and filled with information, but there’s really very little about why you should use particular settings or features. Its organization makes it difficult to find what you need. Multiple cross-references send you searching back and forth between two or three sections of the book to find what you want to know. The basic manual is also hobbled by black-and-white line drawings and tiny monochrome pictures that aren’t very good examples of what you can do.
I’ve tried to make David Busch’s Nikon D500 Guide to Digital SLR Photography different from your other D500 learn-up options. The roadmap sections use larger, color pictures to show you where all the buttons and dials are, and the explanations of what they do are longer and more comprehensive. I’ve tried to avoid overly general advice, including the two-page checklists on how to take a “sports picture” or a “portrait picture” or a “travel picture.” You won’t find half the content of this book taken up by generic chapters that tell you how to shoot Landscapes, Portraits, or Product photographs. Instead, you’ll find tips and techniques for using all the features of your Nikon D500 to take any kind of picture you want. If you want to know where you should stand to take a picture of a quarterback dropping back to unleash a pass, there are plenty of books that will tell you that. This one concentrates on teaching you how to select the best autofocus mode, shutter speed, f/stop, or external flash capability to take, say, a great sports picture under any conditions.
This book is not a lame rewriting of the manual that came with the camera. Some folks spend five minutes with a book like this one, spot some information that also appears in the original manual, and decide “Rehash!” without really understanding the differences. Yes, you’ll find information here that is also in the owner’s manual, such as the parameters you can enter when changing your D500’s operation in the various menus. Basic descriptions—before I dig in and start providing in-depth tips and information—may also be vaguely similar. There are only so many ways you can say, for example, “Hold the shutter release down halfway to lock in exposure.” But not everything in the manual is included in this book. If you need advice on when and how to use the most important functions, you’ll find the information here.
Family Resemblance
If you’ve owned previous models in the Nikon digital camera line, and copies of my books for those cameras, you’re bound to notice a certain family resemblance. Nikon has been very crafty in introducing upgraded cameras that share the best features of the models they replace, while adding new capabilities and options. You benefit in two ways. If you used a previous Nikon camera, say, a D300s, D7200, or a full-frame model like the D610, you’ll find that the parts that haven’t changed have a certain familiarity for you, making it easy to make the transition to the newest model. There are lots of features and menu choices of the D500 that are exactly the same as those in the most recent Nikon cameras. This family resemblance will help level the learning curve for you.
Similarly, when writing books for each new model, I try to retain the easy-to-understand explanations that worked for previous books dedicated to earlier camera models, and concentrate on expanded descriptions of things readers have told me they want to know more about, a solid helping of fresh sample photos, and lots of details about the latest and greatest new features. Rest assured, this book was written expressly for you, and tailored especially for the D500.
Who Am I?
After spending many years as the world’s most successful unknown author, I’ve become slightly less obscure in the past few years, thanks to a horde of camera guidebooks and other photographically oriented tomes. You may have seen my photography articles in Popular Photography magazine. I’ve also written about 2,000 articles for magazines like Rangefinder, Professional Photographer, and dozens of other photographic publications. But, first, and foremost, I’m a photojournalist and made my living in the field until I began devoting most of my time to writing books. Although I love writing, I’m happiest when I’m out taking pictures, which is why I spend four to six weeks in the Florida Keys each winter as a base of operations for photographing the wildlife, wild natural settings, and wild people in the Sunshine State. In recent years, I’ve spent a lot of time overseas, too, photographing people and monuments. You’ll find photos of some of these visual treasures within the pages of this book.
Like all my digital photography books, this one was written by a Nikon devotee with an incurable photography bug who has used Nikon cameras professionally for longer than I care to admit. Over the years, I’ve worked as a sports photographer for an Ohio newspaper and for an upstate New York college. I’ve operated my own commercial studio and photo lab, cranking out product shots on demand and then printing a few hundred glossy 8 × 10s on a tight deadline for a press kit. I’ve served as a photo-posing instructor for a modeling agency. People have actually paid me to shoot their weddings and immortalize them with portraits. I even prepared press kits and articles on photography as a PR consultant for a large Rochester, NY company, which older readers may recall as an industry giant. My trials and travails with imaging and computer technology have made their way into print in book form an alarming number of times, including a few dozen on scanners and photography.
Like you, I love photography for its own merits, and I view technology as just another tool to help me get the images I see in my mind’s eye. But, also like you, I had to master this technology before I could apply it to my work. This book is the result of what I’ve learned, and I hope it will help you master your Nikon D500 digital SLR, too.
Guide to the Guide
Whether you subscribe to the “my camera is just a tool” theory, or belong to the “an exquisite camera adds new capabilities to my shooting arsenal” camp, picking up a new Nikon D500 is a special experience. Those who simply wield tools will find this camera as comforting as an old friend, a solid piece of fine machinery ready and able to do their bidding as part of any creative process that calls for high resolution and reliability.
Other photographers see the low-light capabilities of its 20.7-megapixel sensor, advanced moviemaking capabilities, and sophisticated tools like built-in high dynamic range (HDR) capabilities, and gain a sense of empowerment. Here is a camera with fewer limitations and more capabilities for exercising renewed creative vision. In either case, using less mawkish terms, the D500 is one of the coolest cameras Nikon has ever offered. Whether you’re upgrading from another brand, from another Nikon model, or (O brave one!) your D500 is your first advanced digital camera, welcome to the club.
But, now that you’ve unwrapped and recharged the beast, mounted a lens, and fueled it with a memory card, what do you do with it? That’s where this book should come in handy. Like many of you, I am a Nikon user of long standing. And, like other members of our club, I had to learn at least some aspects of my newest camera for the very first time at some point. Experienced pro, or Nikon newbie, you bought this book because you wanted to get the most from a very powerful tool, and I’m here to help.
The Nikon D500 is a professional camera in most of the traditional senses: built like a tank, reliable for hundreds of thousands of exposures, capable of lightning-fast autofocusing and superb image quality, whether you’re shooting in a studio or exposed to the elements. But whether your images are of professional quality, both technically and inspirationally, depends on what’s between your ears, and how you apply it. The goal of this book is to provide you with the information you need to put your brain cells together with your Nikon’s electro-mechanical components to work productively.
There’s a lot to learn, but you don’t have to master every detail all at once. Some of the other camera guides I’ve seen winnow this information down to about one-third as many pages. Indeed, I find it odd that those guidebooks use the same basic template for the advanced D500 cameras as for a resolutely amateur-level model like the Nikon D3400. A camera like the D500 has a lot more depth than that, and deserves the in-depth coverage you’ll find here.
Some readers who visit my blog have told me that the Nikon D500 is such an advanced camera that few people really need the kind of basics that so many camera guides concentrate on. “Leave out all the basic photography information!” On the other hand, I’ve had many pleas from those who are trying to master digital photography as they learn to use their D500, and they’ve asked me to help them climb the steep learning curve.
Rather than write a book for just one of those two audiences, I’ve tried to meet the needs of both. You veterans will find plenty of information on getting the most from the D500’s features, and may even learn something from an old hand’s photo secrets. I’ll bet there was a time when you needed a helping hand with some confusing photographic topic.
In closing, I’d like to ask a special favor: let me know what you think of this book. If you have any recommendations about how I can make it better, visit my website at www.nikonguides.com, click on the E-Mail Me tab, and send your comments, suggestions on topics that should be explained in more detail, or, especially, any typos. (The latter will be compiled on the Errata page you’ll also find on my website.) I really value your ideas, and appreciate it when you take the time to tell me what you think! Some of the content of the book you hold in your hands came from suggestions I received from readers like yourself. If you found this book especially useful, tell others about it. Visit http://www.amazon.com/dp/1681981467 and leave a positive review. Your feedback is what spurs me to make each one of these books better than the last. Thanks!