Nikon D7500 Digital DSLR Camera Body – Black

Delivers pro-level performance without the pro price

Very reliable and durable, ideal for travel and outdoor shoots

Great color reproduction, but not the best in low light

Good for hobbyists, but not quite pro-level

Professional-level results with a user-friendly interface

For the price this is a good camera, although a bit dated still does the job

Feels outdated compared to newer models

I started photography as a hobby about 10 years ago, and have bought a couple of Nikon cameras previously. I’ve had a D3200 and a D7000, both good cameras in their own right, but I wanted something with a bit more up it’s sleeve.
The built in WiFi and Bluetooth are massive bonuses, the speed is fantastic in comparison, the quality is a great upgrade with a good sensor.
The option to be able to send images as a 2Mb jpeg or RAW via the app is great for sharing or editing for a more crisp image.
I’ll spend a little time getting to know it’s limits, but was worth upgrading.
If your starting out, this may be worth investing in as it’s got plenty of options to help you through as you start and will allow you to develop your skills until you can use the more technical side.
The touchscreen is good quality, and this may be an age thing, but with buttons that can control the screen right next to it, I don’t see the need, but we are in the age of the smart phone.
The only down side is the loss of the second card slot compared to D7000 and I believe up to the D7200, which if you is always handy to protect images (in case a card fails), if your planning on being more professional. But if it is only for capacity, then the size of cards and their storage speeds now, don’t make it an issue.

Build quality is solid, but could be more weather-resistant

On first impressions it is a huge step up from my D90 which occupied a similar position in Nikon’s range at the time of purchase. Aside from the obvious increase in pixels, the biggest differences are in focusing and sensitivity.
Focusing is incredibly fast and accurate in all light conditions with the new focus modes all appearing to work very well. I generally use single point focusing but have experimented with the other modes and will definitely be making more use of them in the future. 3D focus tracking is especially interesting as it can track a moving object across the frame which would be great for wildlife or sports photography.
The massively extended ISO range also gives access to a greater range of shutter speeds, I have moved my ISO limit (the max ISO I will normally use with an acceptable level of noise) up from 1600 on the D90 to 25600 on the D7500. Those 4 stops would cost me an awful lot in wide aperture lenses so are a real gift in low light. Beyond 25600 the grain becomes significant but you can still get usable images at 51200.
The camera feels perfectly balanced and the button layout is slightly tweaked from the D90 to put the most used ones closer to hand. The new control dial allows control of shooting mode (including two user defined modes) and selection of single, continuous or timer functions. The continuous modes are very fast (up to 8 FPS) which I have not experienced on a camera in this class before and opens up some new opportunities.
There is an articulated touchscreen which is nice and bright and allows for low level shooting with live-view but this is not something I expect to use often – it has full HD video capability for those that will use it and I expect the screen comes into its own there.
Overall, I can’t wait to get more use out of this. Amazon was by far the cheapest place (for UK stock) to purchase and although it was out of stock when ordered the communication was good.

Durable design that still feels premium

Battery is decent, but needs charging after extended shoots

I love it, but then almost any DSLR camera is an advance on my ancient D100. There is not much I would change on the D7500 camera given the way I use it (other than some of the defaults, but you always check those, right?! :D) My biggest criticisms are lack of phase focusing in live view and lack of focus peaking as an alternative. Its contrast focusing is slow and not always accurate so, when shooting video of moving objects, manual focus is essential. For that, you’ll need an on-camera field monitor, which is a shame because those add significantly to weight, are cumbersome and add yet-another-battery to bother with.

I bought it knowing this beforehand but don’t regret it because I’m too invested in Nikon glass and prefer the viewfinder when shooting stills, which I do more than video anyway, but it’s an important point to bear in mind if you intend to shoot much video or prefer live view. I just took delivery of a Lilliput A7s field monitor which makes up for the D7500’s lack of focus peaking well and seems very good value for money. (In practice, you’ll probably find that the sharpness of the A7s is more useful than focus peaking, but peaking is still worth using, too.)

I haven’t tried SnapBridge or its 4k mode. That further crops the image (less still of the lens area used → lower sensitivity and worse distortion) and, frankly, I doubt most zoom lenses are sharp enough to warrant 4k. If you’re serious enough to shoot 4k properly, you probably wouldn’t pick this camera given the reduced sensitivity the crop represents, so 4k is really just a toy.

You won’t get the most out of this camera unless you shoot raw NEFs; it’s amazing what detail you can pull out of apparently burnt highlights or muddy blacks with the right software, so be prepared to post-process. For those upgrading from rather older cameras, be aware that the camera does a lot of noise reduction and some sharpening which you will have to replicate yourself — but that’s probably true of all modern cameras. Don’t expect the NEFs to look like the camera’s JPEGs without fiddling. I’ve settled on Adobe Lightroom for post-processing and managing my photos.

I don’t care that it doesn’t have two media slots like the D500. At least it has a flash which, as rubbish as all built-in flashes are, is better than the D500 which has no flash at all. You do not want not to have a built-in flash, because inevitably there will be that time when you forgot to bring your external flash, your batteries are flat or you just want to use the camera’s flash to trigger other flashes. There are lots of reasons to want a built-in flash.

On balance, more expensive cameras aren’t worth the additional features they offer for most people. If you already have Nikon glass, you won’t be disappointed with this body.