D5 20.8 MP FX-Format Digital SLR Camera Body (CF Version)

Some people will give this camera a stellar review because its their first real pro body, but trust me, its good for those of us that have owned pro bodies before. I've been shooting with pro bodies since 2004. I've owned 1Ds, 1Ds-II, 1Ds-III, D3, D3s, D810, others... So I'm not impressed just because its a pro body. However I did love the Nikon D3s so much that I stuck with it from 2009 to 2017 (and I still have it), so its not like I'm just a gear junkie. I can't compare it to a D4 or a D4s because I skipped those. Anyway, let me summarize. AF I'm accustomed to the amazing 51 point AF system that came with the Nikon D3s. It was revolutionary and my understanding was that it didn't really get significantly better in the D4 or D4s, which is why I waited. Now the D5 has 153, 3x more! Is it 3x better, well no... but its better and not just marginally, its REALLY GOOD. It rarely misses, but when it does miss its not far off and typically yields a usable 5x7. Whats even better is that it can do it in nearly zero light, "moonlight they say", but I get solid AF in what I'd call pitch black. I tend to shoot natural light (no flash) and this camera can AF in any situation. Its hard to quantify these things. My summary is that it yields much higher hit ratio than the already amazing D3s and it does it in nearly zero light. Noise If you're pixel peeping at 100%, I see slightly less noise than the D3s at 100%, however the D3s is 12mp. If you scale the D5 down to 12mp it looks much cleaner than the D3s. Compared to the D810, there is no comparison. D810 isn't bad considering the amount of data you're collecting but even when you scale the D810 36mp image down to 20mp or even 12mp, it doesn't look nearly as clean as the D5 or D3s. Though IMHO still very clean and not a bad choice for low light -- just not the best choice. I find D3s, D810 and D5 are all phenomenal up to about ISO 1600. D810 is usable but D3s and D5 and are still very clean through 6400. At 12800+ the D5 seems to be about a 1/2 stop ahead of the D3s in noise when pixel peeping each at 100% or maybe 1.5 stops ahead if you scale the D5 down to 12mp. Where the D5 really shines apart from the D3s is the D3s is not usable after 25600 IMO other than B&W, though the D5 if scaled down to 8mp or 10mp is usable in color at ISO 102,400 or instagram photos at 204,800. The D5 starts to get a color tint at ISO 400k which is when I must go B&W. But to be able to grab a photo in extreme low light at ISO 400k and actually have something you could put on your wall (B&W) is simply amazing, magic. Dynamic Range Let me start by saying, yes yes its true, the D810 is better at recovering blown highlights or deep dark shadows at bright ISOs like 64 - 800, but beyond 800 the D5 is equal and beyond ISO 800 the D5 begins to out perform the D810 in recovering highlights and shadows. So its a matter of taste. IMO low ISO shots are for studios and landscapes, in those situations you can set up your shot perfectly with lights or bracketing and don't need highlight or shadow recovery as much (though its convenient). I almost exclusively shoot above ISO 800 and thats where the D5 is like magic, yes there is noise but to be able to recover 2.5 - 3 stops of shadows at ISO 6400 is pretty damn impressive! Speed: D3s was already fast enough for me at 9 or 11 fps. 14 is just a whirlwind of memory card eating. It is great when capturing bracketed shots handheld (which you shouldn't do) or when capturing kids, one of the 50 photos you just snapped is bound to have a non-blinking smile in there ;) Ergo and Weather proofing: As good or better than the D3s, they're almost identical. One complaint I thought they'd have fixed by now is the custom button assignment. I still can't assign any function I want to any button I want. Its like they're teasing me. Why? I just want to assign Auto-ISO to that button for that rare moment that I need to capture something in a split second. Nope, can't do it. Silly Nikon. Touch screen is pretty cool, though I'd have bought the camera even if it didn't have it. I love to be able to pinch and zoom and slide around while zoomed to make sure no one was blinking, or double check that yes in fact the D5 did get perfect focus AGAIN... Wow... I could go on, there's plenty to love.

I am a professional photographer and I either own or have owned many other Nikon FF bodies, including the D4, D810. D750, and D700. I use these cameras as a job function; they pay my bills. So a lot of the gimmick features are wasted on me. I want bodies that do their job, do it well, and don't fail me. The D5 is not the D4. It's not the same thing with a few tweaks. Even a few days of ownership are enough to be certain of that fact. That statement includes both positives and negatives, both of which I'll try to outline here. As the weeks and months go on I will update this review with further findings. I'm going to touch on four main issues: autofocus, high ISO performance, handling/ergonomics, and overall impressions. First, the autofocus is incredible. Not good, not great; truly exceptional. I almost have to try to make it miss. The D4 does a great job of focusing in most conditions but it does struggle in a few situations. Erratic side to side movements are very tough, for example. I've yet to find a situation where the D5 struggles. Short of using superlatives I'm not sure what there is left to say on this subject. A+, 10/10, AAA. High ISO performance is one of the hallmarks of the D series. It's always excellent and the D5 is no exception. When the light gets low the D5 steps up and doesn't disappoint. I'm primarily a RAW shooter but I've been shooting RAW+JPEG since I have received the camera. The JPEG's are superb. It's very obvious that Nikon has made significant progress with their JPEG engine. The RAWs are also excellent, but not quite as amazing (comparatively) as the JPEGs. They are still MORE than acceptable and I find them to be about a stop better than the D4. However, I expect a future firmware update, paired with software updates, to make them truly amazing in the months to come. JPEGs get an A+. RAWs get an A. The ergonomics of the D5 are every bit as good as their predecessors. Everything is tight, well built, and well placed. There have been some small changes in button layout, all of which I think are improvements. The biggest improvement being the relocation of the ISO button. Instead of being located in the bottom left it's now near the shutter, making changing ISO on the fly much more convenient. It will take some relearning of muscle memory, but in the long run it will definitely be a positive. My overall impressions are highly positive. I think that Nikon's changes have been for the better and that those improvements have been significant. The high ISO quality has been improved and even a minor improvement (combined with more resolution) is impressive. The focus improvements are significant and immediately noticeable. The low ISO dynamic range seems little lower than I would have hoped for, but it's not a concern for my work and I can't imagine buyers of this camera would be concerned with it either. As I said, I will update this review in the future after I use it more, but if my long term impressions are anywhere close to what I've seen so far, I'll be highly pleased with this purchase.

After taking almost 10k images, the feature I am most impressed with is the new focusing system... Low light and moving action is where this tool is designed to consistently capture image after image crisp and in focus. Using the D3s, I've learned to use the center point focus capturing that "perfect moment" during action -- sometimes it was "spray and pray" hoping that the right moment was captured. With the D5, I find the group area AF to be most helpful. This uses a diamond shaped pattern of 5 points to track the subject; they act in concert to maintain focus as a single point and avoids mis-focusing on the background. The 3D and Auto AF also have face detection priority which is amazingly accurate. For BIF, I utilize the 25 point dynamic AF most frequently. For static subjects and controlled lighting, I think you can get better images with the D810 where you will have larger files and better dynamic range at 1/2 the price. Find the right tool that works for you! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upgraded from a D3s which has served me well over the years. Read those concerns about dynamic range and ISO invariance. While interesting and thought provoking discussion, in the end does the end product look good? Putting down a few thousand shots this week, two things immediately stand out. First, images shot in challenging lighting environments and thus high ISO is just amazing. Perhaps this is because I am coming from a D3s, but its no slouch for low light either... Shooting for competitive swimming, I'm often at ISO 9000-15000. Images have noise but easily cleaned in post processing. Second, the focusing technology is incredible! The auto-area setting in the D3s was not very good in capturing erratically moving subjects. I often used single point focus and this was hit or miss at times. With the D5, I am stunned at the number of in focus images in auto-area AF mode. 153 focusing points is awesome and it does prioritize the face! I also really like the Group-area focus mode for fast moving objects toward me. This camera is a tool built for those who shoot in challenging lighting environments and moving subjects. If your job/work/images are taken under these instances, this is the right tool for you. D5 paired with my 70-200 28 is just magical. Build is solid like all the other Nikon D series bodies. I'm not a video shooter, so its not an important feature for me. I have absolutely no regrets!

If yu are looking for the clean shadow noise of your D3 at ISO 200 to 1600, this is not your camera. I also do not like the color engine for skin tones. April 25, 2016 Having used this for a month I am updating....Good camera that, at lower than 3200 ISO, needs a little more post processing, but not much. I find that at those ISOs, you need to add +17% noise reduction luminance to hide the grain (noise). Spectacular fast focus. Great at iISO 6400 to 25000. You can get orders that you would not have otherwise.

I LOVE THIS CAMERA! I've had and still use many Nikons including an 800 and a D4. The D4 did what it was supposed to, but had a number of shortcomings. The D5 is simply better everywhere. Superb noise and image quality. Great sensitivity. Super fast shutter and frame rate for action. Lots of customization to make it work the way you want. Buttons in the right places with the right customization capability. Great movie capability as well as stills. Incredible control on images as well as mechanics. Better autofocus on moving subjects than I have had before. Intuitive display. Touchscreen is nice. Feels great in your hand. I just wish it had a built in GPS - but it works fine with several external GPS units, they just add unwanted bulk. And 24MP would have been nice. The 800 is great but more than I need many times. 20MP is right at the edge for great wildlife with sometimes shaky framing. But I think Nikon did the right trade offs on capture rate and image size for this generation. An hour playing with the menus, tweaking the customization and practice shooting and the D5 felt like home. The menus and options follow the standard Nikon formats, with additional possibilities around things like time-lapse, movie settings, controls and notably shutterless photography - using the electronics of the sensor for very quiet and fast operation. I have been using this camera in far more settings than I ever used the D4. It is great for many purposes. Sports. Wildlife. Portraits. News. While I recommend against handheld panos for stitching, the leveling display in the viewfinder has given me great results for landscapes and scenics. It is quickly becoming the first camera I reach for.

This camera is a major step backwards for Nikon in sensor technology. The one thing Nikon had on Canon was dynamic range. It’s why a lot of us pros stick with Nikon. I can tell you that in real-world use, the low dynamic range at low ISO’s (even ISO 640) is a total game-changer and is NOT an acceptable camera for working pros in 2016. It would not be fair for me to deliver photos to my clients from this camera in this day and age. After shooting one event for a client that was shot in the evening, outdoors, at ISO 100 to 640, and seeing how I am unable to bring any detail out of shadows without adding a ton of noise, I realized the camera was as useless to me as a rock. The next two assignments, photographing Mario Andretti and my state’s governor, I chose to shoot with my D4s, while the D5 stayed at home on my kitchen counter. What a shame. I did shoot part of an Indy race with it, but after testing more images in Lightroom and seeing the unacceptable noise in shadows at low ISO’s I had to send the camera back. I will continue to shoot with my D4s, D3, and D700, all of which I tested against the D5 and have much better dynamic range. I should mention that a lot of the discussion regarding the low dynamic range of this camera centers around increasing exposure on images that are 3 to 5 stops underexposed. This is not what I’m talking about. I am working with files that are properly exposed or slightly underexposed and trying to bring out shadow detail. And by the way, this camera is not just for photojournalists. Pros will use this camera to shoot sports, wildlife, commercial work, editorial work, portraits, events, weddings, lifestyle, etc. Why would anyone think these photographers would not want to have the dynamic range abilities like what’s available in the D4s? I hope more photographers bring this issue to light and Nikon makes an adjustment with the D5s or we have a serious problem on our hands if this is how Nikon intends to move forward with their sensors. The D5 is a major disappointment!!!

for low light this has always been given high marks but i find the Z6 to be just as good at much lower price point

The camera of my dreams. Excellent photo quality at low light. Compatible with tamron lenses. It's worth the price. Super fast shutter. Just whish it would transfer files to my phone wireless like my D500