Nikon D500 DX camera first impressions underwater.

Hi.

I have done the first tests underwater with the new Nikon D500 DX camera but mainly to get it to work inside my Sea&Sea D810 housing.

So far I can use Aperture, Shutter, AF-On, on/off and take pictures.

I had the menu button, multi selector (only up) and ok button working to but was pretty useless as you need multi selector (right) to work to make settings.

The second reson for my test was to figure out what port combo that would work best with the Nikon 10,5mm @ f4

I tested the following domes and best one starting from the top and worst one at the bottom:

Sea & Sea fisheye port

230mm Zen dome

Sea & Sea optical port with 20mm extension ring (a little vignetting).

Sea & Sea optical port

I will do real dark water shooting during the next 4 days and I will keep you posted on how the new D500 handles in those conditions.

So far what I have seen in the pool is that the DX D500 will give me a ton of better corner sharpness compared to my FX D810 witch was expected.

kind regards // Alex

Hi Alex,

Thanks for sharing this. I think the D500 is a very exciting camera!

In terms on your results, they bear out the simple dictum that the bigger the port, the better the corners. It is also important to note however that if the lens's nodal point is not correctly located within the dome (due to extensions/dome/housing design) it will affect the image quality.

Saying that, with cropped sensor camera, it's inherent depth of field is so much greater than that of your D810 that you can get away with smaller domes.

Thanks again

Adam

Are there any issues being noted with the D500's or are they 'safe' to buy already?

Are there any issues being noted with the D500's or are they 'safe' to buy already?

I am asking myself the same :-)

The biggest issue i see for now is camera availability - rumors say recent earthquake in japan may delay further shipments

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Even I am thinking the same..

Though i adressed this issue by buying one yesterday :-D

Found in stock in a local store (south of France)

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If that helps:

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1427157/5

Although these are not underwater images, the great feedbacks from several professionnal action photographers was good enough to convince me, like this one who says he shot 1000 moto-cross race photo and doesn't have a single shot out of focus :-)

Now i am waiting in pain the nauticam housing to be announced to confirm whether i am happy with design choices/ergonomics/innovations, and if so order!

I strongly hope they will offer same flash trigger as with D5 housing.

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I strongly hope they will offer same flash trigger as with D5 housing.

For D500 Nauticam offers manual Trigger and TTL Trigger, as well as for D5.

TTL Trigger for D500 is Nauticam product #26307.

I like D500 camera. I would buy it. I have many good lenses for underwater usage with it, including the best of fisheyes Nikkor-10.5mm.

Cropped cameras have some advantages for underwater shooting in comparison with full frame, which are important for me.

For D500 Nauticam offers manual Trigger and TTL Trigger, as well as for D5.

TTL Trigger for D500 is Nauticam product #26307.

 

I like D500 camera. I would buy it. I have many good lenses for underwater usage with it, including the best of fisheyes Nikkor-10.5mm.

Cropped cameras have some advantages for underwater shooting in comparison with full frame, which are important for me.

I just read about the new TTL circuitry which will be installed in Nauticam NA-D500 housing:

http://wetpixel.com/articles/uw-technics-releases-ttl-converter

Is it the part #26307 which you were referring to?

It looks brilliant to me, and i hope Nauticam will take advantage of this very slim design to lower down the housing height as much as possible, since there is no need for pop-up flash (irrelevant to D500 anyways) and no need for an extra electric-to-optical flash trigger module.

DSLR housings which aren't too tall can fit in airline carry-on photo bags, so i hope the NA-D500 housing is one of these.

Nicolas

I just read about the new TTL circuitry which will be installed in Nauticam NA-D500 housing:

http://wetpixel.com/articles/uw-technics-releases-ttl-converter

 

Is it the part #26307 which you were referring to?

Hi Nicolas,

That is another product by your link, - universal TTL board for upgrade many Nauticam housings: D600/610, D750, D7100, D7200, D800/E, D810, D4/4s

Nauticam product #26307 has similar specifications, but another shape and black color. Such shape and mount were designed by Nauticam specially for low height housings D500 and D5. It fits only to D500/D5 housings.

Hi Alex,

 

Thanks for sharing this. I think the D500 is a very exciting camera!

 

In terms on your results, they bear out the simple dictum that the bigger the port, the better the corners. It is also important to note however that if the lens's nodal point is not correctly located within the dome (due to extensions/dome/housing design) it will affect the image quality.

 

Saying that, with cropped sensor camera, it's inherent depth of field is so much greater than that of your D810 that you can get away with smaller domes.

 

Thanks again

 

Adam

Hi,

the Nikon D500 handled great during my dives last weekend and the only function I was missing was the ISO button. Regarding AF it was better than D810 but not as much as I was expecting after reading online.

A big mistake on my first dive was that I forgot to change the ISO and the whole dive was shot at ISO 100 i pitch black water and pushing the D500 3-4 steps in green waters does not make the file look good. But like I said it was a huge misstake by me. I am a fairly new rebreather diver so my focus was more on my JJ machine...

The following 6 dives I remembered to preset the ISO to what I wanted 640-3200 range. Some dives I even tried to shoot wide open with absolutely decent results regarding corner sharpness compared to what you can get with the same port and a Nikon D810. That made me happy and I think this camera will do great for my usage.

It's yet to early to tell if the D500 can replace my D810 for low light shooting but it looks promising especially regarding corner detail.

I hope to get my Sea&Sea housing soon so I can do more accurate testing side by side against the Nikon D810.

I posted one image here:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1772763296276808&set=a.1652036835016122.1073741830.100006294649177&type=3&theater

kind regards // Alex

Hi Alex,
are all the underwater shots with the D500? Or sme with the D810?
Could you maybe add a list with the Iso used?
Very nice Pics!!!
Regards,
Wolfgang

Hi Alex,

are all the underwater shots with the D500? Or sme with the D810?

Could you maybe add a list with the Iso used?

Very nice Pics!!!

Regards,

Wolfgang

Thank you Wolfgang!

yes all shots where taken with the D500 that I posted from my recent trip. The iso on the prop is 1600 & and the other two images iso 3200.

kind regards // Alex

Just got my D500 in from Amazon (they were the first to fulfill my backorder...). However, it does not have a warranty card. Has Nikon done away with warranty cards or am I just missing the card?

I'm considering sending it back...

Just got my D500 in from Amazon (they were the first to fulfill my backorder...). However, it does not have a warranty card. Has Nikon done away with warranty cards or am I just missing the card?

 

I'm considering sending it back...

Look at the last page of the paper manual.

I have bought mine from a reputable dealer and it's there (not a separate paper).

I have posted two more images from the D500 on FB now. Both images ISO 1600.

https://www.facebook.com/alexdawsonswe/posts/1780587555494382?pnref=story

kind regards // Alex

Hi Alex,
looks fine.....
Time for me to get that cam ;-))

By the way, looks like you have a nice diving area there!

Regards,
Wolfgang

Gentlemen, can we post high res pictures on here rather than linking to Facebook please.

The images on there are low res and compressed and to be honest prove absolutely nothing about the camera's performance!

Many thanks

Adam

Hi Adam, sorry but i nerver publish fullres images on the web on unique wrecks. Unfortunately and luckily I have only dived that kind of sites since I got the camera. If I get the chance of diving an public site I can publish a fullres but I don't think that will happen before you get the hold of a housing...

When it comes to pixel peeping quality of the D500 I am not sure wether it's better or not than the D810 but I know I like it.

Kind regards // Alex

Gentlemen, can we post high res pictures on here rather than linking to Facebook please.

 

The images on there are low res and compressed and to be honest prove absolutely nothing about the camera's performance!

 

Many thanks

 

Adam

hi Adam, if i take any decent photos this weekend i'll be happy to share here.

Any suggestion on how to upload photos on this thread for relevant quality assessment? I see the file size is limited to 1000 KB. If there's any lightroom setting you may recommend please do.

Hi folks,

I am pretty sure that the D500s 20.9MP will not directly compare with the D810'S 36.3MP. In a straightforward pixel peeping contest, the D810 will win

I'm also sure that Nikon has done some amazing technical wizardry with the noise algorithms, but it would be expected that the D810 will output a cleaner image than the D500 at high ISO. Physics is against smaller sensors!

As underwater shooters, we are always shooting through water (!) so pure IQ is arguable less important. In many ways things like dynamic range, AF performance and the additional reach of the DX sensor for macro shooting are probably as important in getting great underwater images.

Unfortunately, once images get resized and compressed to go onto Facebook and the social media sites, they serve little purpose in demonstrating IQ or ISO performance. It is simply not possible to see whether the camera is doing good job or not. They may still be very beautiful of course...

For IQ comparison purposes a large watermark through the middle of the image is no problem

The simplest way to export images at 1000px is to use the Limit File Size to option in File Settings in Lightrooms Export dialog. For the best way to post them have a look here: http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=56401

All the best

Adam