Nikon D500 Review 2025: The Crop Sensor G.O.A.T? (Part 1)

Nikon D500 Review 2025: The Crop Sensor G.O.A.T? (Part 1)

January 2025, Carl Garrard

Wow, I am finally getting around to my Nikon D500 review. I have a lot to say, and therefore it is my preference to break this review up into two parts. There remain only two APS-C DSLR's that I'd consider for the "GOAT" title, and the D500 has always been at the top of that short list (once it was three cameras, now only two remain). This review of the D500 was written based on my years of experience with this fantastic DSLR, and, the Nikon F mount in general. It's being compared to a long list of cameras from my past and current experiences, therefore my words aren't written lightly. I thought I'd start off 2025 by writing about one of my favorite cameras of all time, also, to answer the question of whether or not this camera deserves the crown of all crop sensor DSLR's. I'll get right into my experiences with this camera with zero review "bloat".

The D500 screams professional.

Part 1: Shooting with the D500, Uncanny Blissful Performance

First and foremost, I think what amazes me most about the D500, is that it mostly doesn't feel, operate, or behave like crop sensor DSLR's that I'm used too shooting with in the past. Sure, I notice the extra 'reach' that the 1.5x sensor provides of course, and I'm well aware that it leverages the sweet spot of full frame lenses etc. etc. But that's where any familiarity ends with me.

As far as the size of the body goes, the handling, features, viewfinder size, and image quality are all concerned, it feels every bit a side by side peer to my pro level full frame bodies. In no case does it feel 'strained' in order to keep up with my full frame gear, in fact, in some respects it feels more advanced and capable than some of my pro level full frame bodies.

ISO 3,200. Raven about to land.

It's a beefy camera, not as beefy as some of my integrated grip bodies, but, just about second in size to those. To me, this is an advantage for pro level shooting, not a disadvantage. It handles better, it's roomy, well sorted, not too heavy, and balances well with medium to large lenses (when shooting all day, this is a huge benefit).

To me, this is a pivotal tipping point in favor of the D500. It's a camera that enjoys many of the same benefits of full frame pro gear and simultaneously adds some advantages too. Nikon attempted to do the same with the D300s many moons ago, but the image quality and viewfinder size/type never convinced me in the way that the D500 did instantly. 

ISO 50. I love using the D500 during monsoons (often in the rain). 

Having the round eyepiece and eyepiece shutter is a huge advantage and also sort of signals how serious Nikon were to making the ultimate DX format camera. Maybe a nod to the old D1/D2 days as well, who knows. All I know is that it has the best viewfinder experience of any crop sensor DSLR I've ever used, and fitting the DK-17M magnifier on it only improves that experience even more (.80x equivalent with it attached!). 

Then to put a cherry on top, the auto focus point array covers the entire width of the view in the finder. That's a first I've ever experienced with any DSLR, and it may be the only DSLR designed that has ever done this before.

This camera is nearly perfect handling wise. Let me tell you. Eyepiece shutter on an APS-C DSLR? Not since the D1/D2 cameras!

Nikon's 20.9mp CMOS sensor is amazing. Let me first start off by talking about one of its lessor known secrets to its amazing performance. It's energy efficiency. This sensor is highly efficient and shows itself to be so in a number of ways. One way you can tell it is so efficient is with what I'm presuming is a very low static charge. The more power a sensor draws, the higher chances of static charge build up which attracts dust. Both of my D500's show zero dust after multiple lens changes and thousands of images. 

ISO 100 f/8. I have never regretted using the D500 for landscapes, not once. 

That's simply unheard of and incredible. It saves so much time in post not having to remove dust spots. I'm not implying that the D500 is impervious to this, only that it is much less so than other cameras I own and have used, by a wide margin. Comparatively, my full frame cameras aren't like this at all, so this is a revelation of sorts. I constantly clean most of my full frame camera sensors, granted many are older tech, but I also had the same issues with other APS-C DSLR's too. 

Since I do a lot of landscape shots, dust shows very clearly in skies and its quite a pain to clone out whilst keeping the image looking natural. That's just one way of telling how efficient this sensor is. 

Another is digital noise. Not just the amount of it, but how uniform it is and how well it looks after you push raw files in post (more on that shortly). Hands down the D500 has the best APS-C sensor I've ever used when it comes to the quality and overall lack of noise compared to other APS-C cameras I own and have owned over the years. 

Part 1: Image Quality, What A Freaking Marvel!

Now I'll get into the specifics of image quality, which again by the way, is the best I've seen of any crop sensor DSLR (bar the Pentax K3III). 

Let's start with noise grain/structure. Both chroma and luminescence noise are the handled better than I've seen in any DSLR, yes any.  Quite a claim, but all one needs to do is to have a look at the noise grain in post, it is extremely tight and uniform, beautiful actually. It seems to mimic chemical (film) noise almost perfectly. Many cameras have come pretty close to that, but the D500 does it. 

Classic example. Starting with an IS0 400 setting, and exposure value backed off -5ev. In post I pushed the exposure value +5 equating to an ISO speed equivalent of 12,800. Very low light, shot at f/8 1/80th of a second. Practically a black cat in a coal mine situation. Look at the grain structure and lack of overall noise. Amazing. Original Jpeg below to demonstrate just how underexposed this shot was.

Original. Only the Nikon logo is barely seen.

Typically there are huge bleeding blotches of color noise in the highest ISO's, but the D500 keeps that in check extremely well. Since the noise grain looks so incredibly good, the D500 encourages you to push it to higher ISO values than other cameras. That is huge because it increases the useable ISO range further than many other cameras. This is a benefit if you are an amateur or a pro who makes prints or publications for a living.

In post, it encourages you still to push/pull the raw files to greater extremes than ever before, because there is less penalty in doing so. This gives you more creative freedom than many other cameras. It also helps save time because many shots can be made on a single exposure and don't require time and energy sucking stacking techniques.

Raw image quality matters greatly to me, so keep this in mind as I praise the D500 here. If raw doesn't matter to you, then you may not share my level of enthusiasm. But even Jpegs benefit from the D500's sensor, and I'm sure that does matter to you.

ISO 100 f/10, 550mm. Advantage D500 for shooting the moon (the extra reach and detail!)

Resolution (5568 x 3712) is aplenty, equating to 21 megapixels. This is plenty of detail for every kind of work, and, with no AA filter on the sensor you're getting really fine details without having to accentuate any noise by doing radius sharpening (that's a big deal folks). Overall the detail this sensor produces is very similar to DX sensors with 24-26mp that include an AA filter. 

Compared to my much more expensive pro Canon 1DX Mark II there's an advantage too. 

For the trade off of about 1 stop in overall sensor performance, I get 1.5x closer, which puts more megapixels on the subject (better detail). However, the trade off isn't as simple as losing a stop of ISO performance. 

When you consider the f-stop setting, the D500 has the same depth of field at f/5.6 as the 1DX Mark II at f/8. So if you need to keep your shutter speed higher, then you'll need to bump up the ISO a full stop. That makes the image quality ratio even now, and yet, you still get 1.5x times closer with the D500. Advantage D500 in that scenario.

ISO 280, 600mm equiv, f/6.3. Click on the image for full size to see that Sigma 100-400 C perform (detail and rendering are fantastic!) What a magic pair. 

But if that isn't enough resolution for you, then I guess 21mp is a draw back. With my D800/810 cameras, I can down rez 36mp files to 21mp, which has the effect of improving image quality at higher ISO's, plus, I can still do a 1.5x crop, or choose a crop in post later. The larger sensor is also an advantage to closer moving subjects, giving you more room for keeping your subjects within the confines of the frame (or, if it's too big for the frame itself).

It's really all about what you feel is a priority to you. If you want massive resolution for large prints, of course with the right lens you have an advantage.

There is one additional benefit related to post raw work: one less step is needed in finishing up a final image because there is no more "sharpening" needed. I never liked artificial "sharpening" anyhow, it's actually destructive to your image because it introduces artificial contrast to edges and often is abused terribly by photographers. This instantly distinguishes them as "amateurs" when I see their photographs. It's a terrible look when sharpening is over used, and I see it all the time.

Love the D500 for close ups. ISO 3,200! I can always raise my ISO to get a fast shutter speed for moving objects close up, without ever fearing about image quality loss. It's a life saver for preserving a sharp image.

Further, since the sensor is leveraging the sweet spot of full frame lenses, that 21 megapixels is much more useful comparatively. There is less spatial distortion (barrel/pincushion etc.) to deal with,  much less (almost zero) vignetting, sharper corners/edges, etc. This benefit of course doesn't apply to crop sensor lenses generally, but even some of those cover a much wider area than the sensor itself, i.e. behave pretty well.

Actually, it's rather incredible how efficient this sensor is at gathering light. I thought hard about doting on about this sensor as much as I am in this review, but my eyes and prints don't lie. This camera pushes the boundaries of APS-C to the very edge of what is capable image quality wise. This just adds to the practical, useable versatility of this camera. The D500 feels free of restrictions I'm used too with many other DSLR's no matter what size sensor. 

Image quality in general is really a major selling point of this camera, even when comparing to full frame. The discussions out there about the pro's con's of format size can get complicated pretty quick, but I prefer to keep things more simple. 

Overall, I'm amazed at how good the D500 sensor is. Pixel for pixel image quality is actually slightly better than the D850 when it's used in crop mode, both in detail and raw file quality (malleability especially, grain structure, noise control, and useable dynamic range). This really surprised me, like gob smacked surprised, because the D500 is slightly more pixel dense (smaller pixels) than the D850 is.

It's also slightly better than both the D800 and D810 in the same ways too (although the D810 comes very close), especially when we get over ISO 6,400, or, use the "ISO-less" technique of underexposing 5 stops at a low ISO and pushing the files in post after. 

Someone tell him he forgot to use his napkin.

Of course the trade off to those full frame cameras is less resolution for wider angle shots (which is what they are stellar at). But if getting close is the need, the D500 is clearly the better choice simply because it doesn't suffer the typical pitfalls of APS-C image quality all of us have become accustomed too in the past. 

To me, this fact alone makes the D500 revolutionary, and hopefully one day it becomes legendary, because I think it deserves that accolade. This is a word you will see me use very rarely on this blog. 

Part 1: Lens Availability, A Huge Benefit

With a crop sensor on the F mount, not only do you have full compatibility to every F mount lens going back to 1959, but you also have full compatibility with the entire DX lens library which also includes DX lenses from a long list of 3rd party vendors. The D500 has more fully compatible lenses available to you than any other crop sensor camera or full frame camera, mirrorless or DSLR. Of course full frame lenses won't reap the benefit of the widest angles, so if that means the full frame options aren't fully compatible to you, then so be it.

Almost all of Nikon's older DX sensor DSLR's lack compatibility with the most modern lenses in the F mount lineup. Nikon's D7500 has an AF motor in the body but no AI coupling ring so it's not as compatible with older lenses as the D500 is. Only the D7100/D7200 DSLR's come close to the D500 in DX territory as far as lens compatibility is concerned, but the D500 runs circles around both of those camera's in nearly every single way. Yet for accuracy sake, they need to be mentioned.

Having so many lenses available to one camera body, and at awesome prices, is a major selling point to the D500 as well. I can't think of another camera in any mount that has so much lens choice/compatibility available to it. Since Nikon doesn't put an AF motor/drive in their Z mount adapters, you can wipe the mirrorless cameras off the table too. The point here is full compatibility.

The only minor weakness in the lens lineup I see for the D500 is with wide to ultra wide's. Clearly there are many more viable options available for full frame (one of the format's biggest advantages imho), yet with 3rd party lenses available, there are a few very decent choices. For zooms, I like Nikon's 10-24mm ED G lens, and Tamron's 10-24mm Di II VC HLD both of which seem to be the overall leading choices. 

There are other options too, both in prime and zoom configurations but your options are less here than full frame bodies. Otherwise I think there's a huge advantage to the D500 for lens options over full frame, as you literally have hundreds of lens choice options. More than any other camera or mount that I'm aware of (without an adapter).

Part 1: Preliminary Conclusion

Nikon's D500 is a rare beast, a unicorn among digital cameras. Nikon somehow managed to combine many of the best traits of handling, viewfinder size, and image quality performance into a crop sensor body. Historically speaking, this is almost unheard of. 

Nikon finally answered the wishlist call of crop sensor shooters with the D500, something that D300(S) shooters were waiting years for. But Nikon didn't stop there, they did this while simultaneously impressing full frame shooters alike. I know many pro's who use the D500 side by side with their full frame equipment and often will use it as a primary tool for action.

It's that fricken good. But don't take my words blindly, try one. Actually using the D500 will likely be proof of that to you. What I will guaranty you is that you will notice it's standards immediately. But it should be noted that I've probably shot well over 15,000 images with my D500's, for every kind of photography too. It's so good, it almost makes the job of a photographer too easy (if there is such a thing).

ISO 8,000. Remy.

I'm still one of the last holdouts to mirrorless cameras. Cameras like the D500 still out handle (key word) and out perform most mirrorless cameras for the work I do. It's about the entire experience and final results to me, it's not about winning a spec or small size award. I use my cameras in many circumstances and for hours at a time. Rough weather, indoors, outdoors, you name it.

I have owned and used so many mirrorless cameras, even Nikon ones. And mirrorless (while valuable) still haven't been able to replicate the handling, power management, consistency (in action shooting), or instantaneousness (power on/off, optical viewfinder etc.) of my DSLR's. I haven't even got into the disadvantages of the monetary investment or lack of lens choices with mirrorless. 

I just think mirrorless need more time to develop, they may eventually get there. Keep in mind that DSLR's had a huge head start on them, literally years. By the time the last few were developed, many of the designs were honed to a fine edge.

Nikon's D500 is known as more of a sports camera than a general purpose, do-it-all design. But as you can see above, I use it for everything simply because it leaves nothing to desire. It's a pro instrument that is extremely reliable, and it has plenty or resolution and detail for huge prints (or decent cropping). 

That said, Part II of the review will focus more on those other important advantages by going in-depth on autofocusing/frame rates, handling, features, and general performance. The areas were the D500 is more popularly known for. 

Of course I will also give my answer to the title question as well, :).

Stay focused.

-Carl

One day I'll have the 100th anniversary edition. One day!