Foreword
This book will be the 17th in a series of Mastering the Nikon® DSLR books authored by Nikonian Darrell Young (known to us as DigitalDarrell) over the last eight years. It has been more than 11 years since he became the Founding Member of the Nikonians Writers Guild, and his growth as an author is evidenced by his steady stream of quality books, online blogs, and articles.
Each time Nikon unveils a new model, Darrell does a detailed study of the engineering behind the camera, making him a virtual encyclopedic source of valuable information. His next step is to transfer that information to you, the reader, in an easy-to-follow manner, making him a friendly tutor instead of a professor talking down to a student. His progression in writing has been just as amazing as Nikon’s progression in introducing a host of new and extremely complex features in each new camera.
This joint venture between Nikonians and Rocky Nook has developed a strong following in the camera instruction genre and Darrell’s fastidious attention to detail has been the key ingredient in that trend.
One would think that a steady stream of new cameras, just like new cars, would be a simple matter of adding new features to current inventory. Darrell knows better. Quite often the “newest thing” involves a total engineering reboot—starting from scratch. When that happens, it takes a keen sleuth to dig up the reasoning behind the fresh start, then explain it in everyday language to his readers. The Nikon D500 adds communication features never before seen in an enthusiast Nikon camera. With its associated SnapBridge system, it gives photographers the ability to use smart devices (smartphones and tablets) to remotely control the camera and to quickly receive reduced-size images for sharing on social media sites or full-size images for printing and commercial work.
Not since the Nikon D300/D300s has there been a such a powerful DX camera. The Nikon D500 has been desired for several years by many Nikonians, and it has finally arrived. This new powerhouse camera gave Darrell plenty of room to exercise his hard-earned, experience-based deductive skills. Once he had the camera in hand, he quickly ran it through the paces, documenting each feature set, experimenting in the field. He soon came to a conclusion:
“The Nikon D500 is basically a miniature D5. The operating system within the D500 has most of the functions and features found in the pro-level Nikon D5. The D500 has the perfect balance of still image size and quality, camera body affordability and robust build, along with 4K UHD video second to none. Your new D500 is a powerful HD-SLR camera that you can use for years to come. For enthusiast and pro use, the camera delivers.” – Darrell Young
The long hours spent with this camera were enhanced by equally long hours devoted to its predecessors. With all the factual elements before him, Darrell has once again produced an easy-to-follow guide that not only compliments, but in most cases exceeds the depth of information to be found in the Owner’s Manual. As you read the pages to follow, you will be the beneficiary of his diligence and painstaking attention to detail.
We are proud to include his impressive credentials and body of work in our evergrowing and never-ending resources for our community, such as the forums, The Nikonian eZine, Nikonians Academy Workshops, Nikonians News Blog, Nikonians podcasts, our Wiki, and eBooks. Our community continues to grow as we now surpass 500,000 members on record.
Nikonians, now in its 16th year, has earned a reputation as a friendly, reliable, informative, and passionate Nikon® user’s community thanks in great measure to members like our own DigitalDarrell, who have taken the time to share the results of their experiences with Nikon imaging equipment.
Enjoy this book, the Nikonians community, and your Nikons.
J. Ramón Palacios (jrp) and Bo Stahlbrandt (bgs)
Nikonians Founders