Nikon just announced the new D7500 as the successor to the very popular D7200. In a lot of ways, the spec sheet on the D7500 reads like it’s the D500 Jr.
The Nikon D7500 comes equipped with the same 20.9-megapixel image sensor, EXPEED 5 processor and wide ISO range as the Nikon D500. It also shoots 4K video, albeit with the same 1.5x crop as the D500. With the D7500, you also get simultaneous 4K output to the SD card and uncompressed via HDMI.
It has a mic and headphone jack for audio capture and monitoring. The D7500 steps up the game of its predecessor with power aperture for smooth and step-less depth-of-field transitions – something not possible on the D7200.
The D7500 gets a bump up to 8fps for its still image frame rate but for some reason does not support the UHS-II SD card standard. It’s also stuck with a single SD card slot, which is down from two slots on the D7200.
It has the same 51-point AF system with 15 cross-type sensors found in the D7200. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that since the D7200’s AF system was rock-solid. The D7500 also features a 3.2″ 922K-dot resolution touchscreen LCD.
The D7500 also gets the upgrade to Nikon’s Snapbridge, which we saw introduced in the D3400. Nikon SnapBridge uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to create an “always on” connection with a compatible smart device to facilitate quick and easy sharing of images. This is a crucial area that camera manufacturers need to nail in order to keep users shooting with higher-end cameras instead of the their phone.
All-in-all, the D7500 looks like another big hit in the D7xxx line from Nikon. I have a feeling that the D7500 is going to give the Canon 80D an inferiority complex. I’m looking forward to reviewing it later this year.
The Nikon D7500 retails for $1249.95 for the body only and is available in kit form with the AF-S 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens for $1749.95. The camera ships “Summer 2017.”