D7500 in 2023?

You're welcome.

Thanks. I'm certain with practice, patience, and perseverance you will get to where you want to be.

What do you think the Z7 and 24-70/4 will do that you can't do now? I just now read Thom Hogan's review of your 10-20mm lens, and what stood out to me was where Thom wrote, "I was reminded of my late mentor, Galen Rowell, as I used this lens. I'm pretty sure that a D3500 and a 10-20mm AF-P lens would appeal to his 'go anywhere' adventuring style. The two form a highly competent image quality capability in a very small/light package."

My experience with my D800 and Sony A850 before that has been that getting good corners is harder on the larger format. I have and use a tripod, and I consider that to be the most important piece of gear for good landscape (and macro) photography; but I often get excellent results handheld with my D500 and Tokina AT-X Pro 14-20mm f/2, and that's something I have almost never been able to do with FX/"FF" cameras and lenses.

Dynamic range just isn't much of an issue these days. I remember dealing with that issue with my D300 some, but even then it was manageable. Even now it comes up infrequently with my D800, but I get around that by taking two shots about two stops apart, one for the highlights and one for the shadows, and then blending them (often I just take one ETTR shot and do two conversions of it and then blend those for an excellent result). The resolution I get from my D500 is perhaps 95% of what I get from my D800, and adding more megapixels has diminishing returns; OTOH, compared to my D500 I would quantify what my D800 can do in terms of fps, acquisition and tracking of its AF system to be about 75% -- so when push comes to shove I'll take my D500 over my D800 -- YMMV.

I doubt the D500 is "hugely" better than the D7500. If you can get a D500 for less, even if it has a little more use, I wouldn't hesitate to do that. My experience with my D500 and D800, and before those the Sony A850, Nikon D300 and D200, and D70 has been they all feel pretty good with the lenses I've used on them (the D70 doesn't have a way to lock-up the mirror, so I considered that and its 6 MP of potential resolution a dealbreaker for serious landscape work; and the A850 placement of the AF-On button didn't feel comfortable to me, so that made it less enjoyable to use for me). I would say the size and weight of these camera bodies becomes more of an issue if you are carrying more than one of them around, but I will use a shoulder strap to carry my D500 and Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8 VR and carry my D800 with a two pound T/S (tilt-shift) lens attached to my tripod slung over the other shoulder and with a backpack carrying three more T/S lenses in it, and even at 61 y/o I am fine if I don't have to race to get somewhere (sometimes I do end up racing when I want to be somewhere specific before the light goes away).

Tony,
Thanks a lot for a very clear and detailed answer! Now I have much better understanding. Initially I ruled D500 out, but now I will be looking for a good used one, and if not successful, D7500 will work for me too. I am not in a hurry, as I still have my beloved D5500 and for travel it is preferable anyway.

You’re most welcome. I haven’t owned the D5500, but I did demo one and I was impressed with it. It would be an excellent travel camera. I have the same thoughts about the Z50 too, I can’t imagine that it would be comfortable use with large lens.

I do use my D500 as a walk around camera. I have a Sigma 17-70mm that is sharp and lightweight, but would like to to be wider, say 24mm equivalent. I should use this camera more, it’s very responsive and it always feels like it’s ready to go. Im looking for a wide angle Tokina for more landscape photography.

Archie,
So I understand that D500 can be used for other types of photography other than action/wildlife. BTW, i watched couple of videos where the internet gurus also highly praise D500. For example the "I shoot raw" guy had a golfer photoshoot session and was pretty happy with the results. He several times mentioned though that the lenses should be also professional grade to get good results. Well, my lenses are "budget friendly" so probably i will never get out of a good camera everything it could provide. Anyway, i have now a direction, thanks for you answer!

You have a pretty good set of F-mount lenses. A D7500 would be a good upgrade in body. The AF system is probably the best of the D7xxx cameras. It has a sensor that belongs to the same family of sensors as the current Z-mount DX cameras. A very good sensor. I borrowed one and did two hours of bird photography with it paired with my Sigma 100-400. Very good combo!

Ultimately, I wound up getting a D500, which can be much harder to find than a D7500. And is more costly used than a D7500 is new. I wanted a camera that would be as good at birds-in-flight photography as any camera available. I came very close to getting a D7500 when D500 bodies seemed to be impossible to find. I found a used D500 copy in good condition via a retailer that does online sales and decided to buy it while I could. I am happy with my purchase. But I have little doubt that I would have also been happy with the D7500. BTW - the D500 is not all that much bigger and heavier than the D7500.

Some have suggested that you should go mirrorless. If you didn’t already have all of that F-mount glass I would probably agree with them. But you have a collection of pretty good lenses. Adding a more-advanced DSLR to your gear collection still makes sense IMO.

Good luck with making a decision.

Thank you for sharing your experience!

I have a bunch of mirrorless cameras (and have owned a bunch previously) and also a D7200. The mirrorless have certain advantages. In particular, much of my photography in the last 10 months has been of my dog; I bought a Sony a6400 for its animal eye AF and have to say it is pretty impressive.
But often I find myself picking up the D7200 and am always pleased with the results. It just works. The ergonomics, particularly all the external controls, are really nice to use. While bulky, the camera just kind of gets out of the way, whereas the bells and whistles of the mirrorless sometimes get in the way. While the AF is not as sophisticated as on my a6400 or a7rii, it is more than good enough for most action situations, including wildlife. The AE and AWB often seem more reliable than the Sonys' and a little less digital (though the files are not quite as nice as on my Fujifilm bodies). No doubt all the things I like about the D7200 are that bit better on the D7500.
Given your situation, photographic interests and existing lenses I think the D7500 is a sound choice.

The D500 and D7500 share the same sensor so, purely from an image quality standpoint, the two cameras are identical.

The features that make the D500 noticeably better than the D7500 for fast action (sports, birds, wildlife, etc.), are its autofocus system, burst rate, buffer, user interface and build quality. For example, you could add a vertical grip to a D500. That's not an option with the D7500. A D7500 would be a clear upgrade to your trusty D5500. It's a solid camera. The D500 would be the ultimate APS-C DSLR upgrade for the bird photography you do.

If you did travel, landscape and portraiture photography with no bird, wildlife or other fast action mixed in, I might encourage you to add a used D810 to your kit. The larger full-frame sensor, improved dynamic range, and increased resolution would make a real difference, especially for landscapes, cityscapes, and portraiture.

However, the interest in birds and wildlife is a significant element. Good autofocus, a fast burst rate and deep buffer are important. These are features that Nikon's current collection of Z-mount mirrorless bodies - with the notable exception of the Z9 - have not quite mastered. Don't get me wrong; there are photographers who do good bird photography with the Z50. However, that has more to do with their skill than the camera's design, The Z50 is not designed or outfitted as a fast action body. Nor are the Z5, Z6 or Z7. The second gen Z6II and Z7II are improved from their predecessors but are also well outside your stated budget.

As well as the Z9 has been received, there's been a good deal of anticipation for downmarket bodies built around Z9 DNA. However, it's been 18 months and Nikon has yet to release anything. The rumor mill is focused on a Z8 as the next Nikon mirrorless body to be introduced. If true and if it's spec'd as expected, the Z8 will be a $3,500+ product. Personally, I'm hopeful Nikon will introduce a mirrorless version of the D500. A Z900 would probably be priced in the $2,000 to $2,500 range.

So, at this time, I think your plan of upgrading to a D7500 is a good one. If you can find a good condition used D500, that would be even better and it could be used for all your photographic interests.

Good luck!

@Gever

I agree with everything that Tony has said. I will add that there is not much difference in capability between the D7500 and D500. I have both. I don't find either one to be too heavy and they are both capable of any type of photography you want to use it for. They use the same sensor. I bought the D7500 to use as a backup to the D500 when I was only shooting DX.

One thing not mentioned is that they both have micro adjustment for your lenses to correct for front/back focus. I only have Nikkor lenses but I know Sigma and Tamron have docks for doing updates and adjustments on their lenses. I think you would be happy with either camera, the D7500 is lighter and fits my hand better but the D500 has those Pro level features that are nice to have.

I had a D5600 first....nice camera and pretty much like your D5500, but when I got more into shooting birds and wildlife, I realized that it did not have enough features or control settings. I couldn't afford the D500, so I got a D7500 and I love it. I have some of the lenses you mentioned including the 150-600, and the 7500 is great with that lens for wildlife photography. Later I got the D500 and I do like it a lot, but honestly, the D7500 has an AF system that is very nearly as good as the D500, and I learned to do wildlife and birds in flight with the D7500. It's a bit smaller and lighter than the D500 and actually it seems fairly light by comparison. I had a lot of lenses so I made the decision to not get into mirrorless cameras because I wanted to be able to keep using all my various lenses acquired over the years. I don't believe you would ever be dissatisfied with the D7500, it's a really wonderful camera and has plenty of fps for shooting birds. I rarely go beyond 4 or 5 fps because I got tired of dealing with so many photos that were essentially the same.

Now that I've used both the D7500 and D500 for birds/wildlife, I do think the D500 is more satisfying to use, but keep in mind it doesn't have a built in flash whereas the D7500 does have that feature. I don't use it a lot, but it comes in useful here and there, and I dislike having to deal with an extra flash unit.

Just a short update: my local dealer found a new D500 body. I played with it today in the shop and had to remove it from my list. The grip is too big for my smaller hands and shorter fingers. I could use it, but it just feels uncomfortable.
So my next step is to try D7500 or to go for Z6/Z7. The Z6/Z7 appear now more affordable as prices are going to go down because of the anticipated Z8 announcement.