Getting a D500 for my first professional job, advice needed

I'm launching as a pro and timing everything has been a little difficult. It's hard to justify laying down a couple grand on new gear without knowing if there will be any paying clients, so I did a soft launch with a website and posting pictures on Facebook I took for prom for my neighbor with rented gear.

Lo and behold, now I've booked a job for the end of the month, and so now I have to hurry up and get everything set up (although I've been planning things for several months already).

After I rented the D810 I ruled it out because although it takes gorgeous pictures, it's just too slow for my needs. I will be doing whatever comes my way so I need a good all-purpose camera to cover different conditions. I am not comfortable using the d810 for erratic subjects like small children and dogs. I was settled on the d750, but now I'm sold on the new d500's superior tracking, end-to-end focus points, sharpness, focusing ability in low light and iso performance. Plus it's weather and dust-sealed and has a professional build and finish, unlike the d750.

I know well enough that even though the D500 is an awesome camera, I have to consider the crop factor. But I think I can compensate by buying lenses with the crop in mind.

I am budgeting up to 10k for new gear, so that is the camera, 2 new lenses, and the rest for miscellaneous/accessor​ies to add to what I already have.

I need 2 fast zoom lenses to cover wide angles to moderate telephoto, since I have to scratch the lenses I planned on getting with a full frame camera. For the wide, I'm considering the Nikon 16-80 f2.8-4 VR II.

Thoughts on that lens choice and any suggestions for the other?

Other contenders are the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 and the Sigma 50-100 1.8.

Depending on how wide you want to go with your shorter zoom the 24-70 VR might be a good option for you too. I don't know anything about the 16-80 so can't comment on it

That Sigma pairing does constrain you to only 18 on the wide end and only 100 on the long end. However if you think you can make that work I reckon you'd have a fantastic couple.

The 17-55 and 70-200 VR2 would be a great pairing too if you wanted to start wider than 24-70 and wanted to stay with Nikon.

smythie wrote in post #18034414
Depending on how wide you want to go with your shorter zoom the 24-70 VR might be a good option for you too. I don't know anything about the 16-80 so can't comment on it

That Sigma pairing does constrain you to only 18 on the wide end and only 100 on the long end. However if you think you can make that work I reckon you'd have a fantastic couple.

The 17-55 and 70-200 VR2 would be a great pairing too if you wanted to start wider than 24-70 and wanted to stay with Nikon.

On a crop body the focal length is multiplied by 1.5 so the 100 is really 150. With 18 on the wide end it's not terribly wide but I maybe just wide enough for events. I'm not anticipating doing any commissioned landscapes so I think I'll be ok. Since I don't yet know what the demand will be starting out I don't want to go full out and invest a lot of money on gear.

I'm pretty much set on getting this combination: the d500, the 1.8 18-35mm Sigma Art and the 1.8 50-100mm Art. The total of those is around 4k, which if I spend 1k on accessories or whatever else I think I'll need that brings me to a 5k loan, which is a more affordable monthly payment.

Just to pedantic, the FL does not change. What changes is the field of view. A 100mm lens on crop will give the same field of view that a 150mm lens does on a FF camera.

I have shot tons of gigs with my D7000. So, you certainly don't need a D500 for your first gig...unless it pays well. Look....are you trying to make some money and to be profitable in your photography...or just blowing out your saving just to play with new camera toys????

FYI, I shoot tons of cycling races with my D7000. What are you shooting that you would need a D500???

TooManyShots wrote in post #18035179
I have shot tons of gigs with my D7000. So, you certainly don't need a D500 for your first gig...unless it pays well. Look....are you trying to make some money and to be profitable in your photography...or just blowing out your saving just to play with new camera toys????

FYI, I shoot tons of cycling races with my D7000. What are you shooting that you would need a D500???

I'm trying to make a name for myself in one of the most competitive photography markets on earth - NYC. Talent, client management and marketing will get me most of the way there, but the D500 will give me a competitive edge. It is a more forgiving camera than the D7000 so that I can be more at ease during the event and delivering top knotch work.


BTW I haven’t officially launched yet and my website hasn't been up for a week, and I've already booked 50% the purchase of the d500. I am getting requests out to January. I don't see the point in getting the D7000.

atsilverstein wrote in post #18035280
I'm trying to make a name for myself in one of the most competitive photography markets on earth - NYC. Talent, client management and marketing will get me most of the way there, but the D500 will give me a competitive edge. It is a more forgiving camera than the D7000 so that I can be more at ease during the event and delivering top knotch work.

BTW I haven’t officially launched yet and my website hasn't been up for a week, and I've already booked 50% the purchase of the d500. I am getting requests out to January. I don't see the point in getting the D7000.

My dear...you don't need to spend $5k on top notch camera gear to shoot your FIRST paid gig. If you feel that your gear would get you places...sure, go ahead. Get the best. Gee...NYC. I am in NYC too.

TooManyShots wrote in post #18035350
My dear...you don't need to spend $5k on top notch camera gear to shoot your FIRST paid gig. If you feel that your gear would get you places...sure, go ahead. Get the best. Gee...NYC. I am in NYC too.

I don't see why not.. just because I'm starting out doesn't mean I HAVE to limit myself as some kind of rite of passage. Just because you're fine with the d7000 doesn't mean I should be too. This isn't for hobby and before I've even bought the camera I'm already guatanteed to earn 50% of its cost. Not sure why I have to defend myself from getting 4k of top level gear - that includes a great camera and 2 fine lenses! Financially speaking, 5k is nothing for a start up. It's not as if I'm sinking 20k into something questionable..

I'm not knocking the d7000, I just haven't invested in any pro gear yet so I have more options to consider than someone who has already invested in an older pro camera or an amateur who has to consider they won't make any money from it.

Again, I don't get why I'm getting knocked for my decision but it doesn’t change my mind. I'm looking forward to continuing booking clients and I'm excited to see the results from this great combination!

Lol, no one is going to rain on my parade.. the Sigma 1.8 Art lenses are beautiful lenses indeed, paired onto the d500 will prove to be a winning combination.

Mind you, that's ONE main camera and TWO lenses to cover a wedding (plus miscellaneous like flashes etc). The equivalent FX cost is around double.

You guys have absolutely no idea what this means to me. But that's ok! Can't wait to put up some results.. in a different section of POTN lol.

For wedding / event work I'd take a d610/d750/d810 WAY before a d500. Weddings are slow compared to what the d500 is capable of doing. The d750 is MADE for events. The auto-focus is wonderful, modern and fast. I find shooting full-frame is what separated my work from others when I was starting out. Not trying to bash the d500, it's the world best APS-C camera. But image quality wise, full-frame is still king for events IMO. Save yourself a little cash, get the 750!

I'm not so sure a D750 would save the OP much if anything. Sure the body is cheaper by a small amount but you'd easily spend that amount extra on lenses to get equivalent IQ and slower speed.

I looked at your gallery on here to get an idea what types of photographs you like to shoot. Most of those types of photos in the gallery would benefit from the use of a full frame camera. I am a Canon shooter, not a Nikon shooter, but basically the new d500 is "like" the Canon 7d2 and the d750 is "like" the Canon 5d3. The 7d2 is a sports and wildlife camera where the 5d3 is an well rounded event camera, and that summary pretty much fits those two Nikons as well. From looking at your gallery, your images are more like general event images than sporting event or wildlife images. If you plan to continue to shoot the same subject matter, in my opinion the D750 is the camera better suited for your immediate needs.

Now having said that, it sounds like your long range plan should be to use both a great "Sports/Action" type camera AND an event camera. In the long term, you would probably want to have a D750 or whatever replaces it for a primary camera and a D500 as the sporting events/backup camera. If you follow this path, the important question to ask is then, which camera is the best to get first? To know which one to get first, think like a business person, not as a photographer. What is the best ROI (return on investment) not what is the best camera to get.

If the bulk of your photography is portraits, senior portraits, posed child portraits, head shots, weddings, and non sporting type events, the D750 should have a better ROI in the short term. If you want to specialize in non posed child photography, pets, and sporting events, then the D500 would have an edge on ROI. In my opinion, you will eventually need both camera (or a D5) and your decision is which to get now.

Nogo wrote in post #18035464
I looked at your gallery on here to get an idea what types of photographs you like to shoot. Most of those types of photos in the gallery would benefit from the use of a full frame camera. I am a Canon shooter, not a Nikon shooter, but basically the new d500 is "like" the Canon 7d2 and the d750 is "like" the Canon 5d3. The 7d2 is a sports and wildlife camera where the 5d3 is an well rounded event camera, and that summary pretty much fits those two Nikons as well. From looking at your gallery, your images are more like general event images than sporting event or wildlife images. If you plan to continue to shoot the same subject matter, in my opinion the D750 is the camera better suited for your immediate needs.

Now having said that, it sounds like your long range plan should be to use both a great "Sports/Action" type camera AND an event camera. In the long term, you would probably want to have a D750 or whatever replaces it for a primary camera and a D500 as the sporting events/backup camera. If you follow this path, the important question to ask is then, which camera is the best to get first? To know which one to get first, think like a business person, not as a photographer. What is the best ROI (return on investment) not what is the best camera to get.

If the bulk of your photography is portraits, senior portraits, posed child portraits, head shots, weddings, and non sporting type events, the D750 should have a better ROI in the short term. If you want to specialize in non posed child photography, pets, and sporting events, then the D500 would have an edge on ROI. In my opinion, you will eventually need both camera (or a D5) and your decision is which to get now.

Thanks, yes I am going for a DX camera and a FX combo to cover a variety of photography. I know the limitations of using FX lenses on a DX body. The Sigma 1.8 Art lenses are specifically designed to fill a void that was vacant in the DX world. Nikon DX cameras have a 1.5 crop factor but that also applies to the apertures as well. This is why people generally consider DX cameras not as well suited to events: more noise in low light situations because of the smaller sensor, and more depth of field because the aperture of an FX lens has a 1.5 crop and multiplication on the aperture. So a 100mm 2.8 is like 150mm but also a 4.2 aperture, hence higher noise because the effective aperture is 1.5x smaller and lets in less light, therefore requiring a higher ISO and rendering a flatter DOF. The Sigma 1.8 lenses are effectively like an FX 2.7, so right there with the 2.8 lenses. No the D500 isn't going to be on the same level as the D5 or the equivalent Canon, but it'll be close, and for a lot less money.

Most wedding photography seems to be inside a lot so lower light performance is a must. If you plan on shooting with an external flash (the D500 has no built-in flash) then the D500 will get nice shots but if not then go with what most people who own both cameras say that the D750 gets cleaner high ISO captures with higher dynamic range which will allow stop gains in post processing. Also, if you change from inside to outside or from flash to no flash then the U1 and U2 settings on the D750 can remember all of the important info you need for the different conditions...the D500 has no U1 and U2 settings. All you need to do is setup U1 for daylight shots and U2 for inside and with one turn of the top dial you instantly have your daylight or inside settings set.You could rent the D750 or D500 to make your decision. Let us know what you decide. Good luck.