D500 and SD Cards

Looking at the specs for the D500 it says "XQD, SD, and UHS-II compliant SDHC and SDXC memory cards"  I assume it then has two different cards slots? Would it not be possible to just use two normal SD cards like I do in my D7200?

Tim Zurowski wrote: Would it not be possible to just use two normal SD cards like I do in my D7200?

No.

When I bought my 64G XQD card, it costed pretty much the same as a 64G SD card.

So does one card have to be an XQD card? Or could you use one SD card and one SDHC or SDXC card?

One card HAS to be an XQD card.  But you can use it with just the SD card in the SD slot (ie. no XQD card but then only one card, like the D7500).  The XQD card has very different dimensions so a SD card in the XQD slot won't work.

I have one XQD card and one SDHC II card in the slots all the time. You can shoot with either of them and leave the other slot empty, But you cannot have two of the same type of card in the camera at the same time because there are no two slots for the same type of card available.

SD and XQD are completely incompatible slots with one another. Both can only receive their native types of cards.

I used the SD side only most of the time. When I think I really need fast, long continuous firing, I'll run XQD only. I rarely run both at once in mine. That's true for my D810's also. I haven't used the CF side in over 2 years.

Okay, I get it now . . . . two totally different and incompatible card slots. I have never had the need for more than my Extreme Pro Sandisk SD cards, and really like having two cards in my bodies. So if I do get a D500 I guess I will have to get an XQD card if I want two cards in that body. Sandisk do not appear to make an XQD card at this time. I can only find Sony and Lexar XQD cards. Is one brand more reliable than the other?

Is it possible to assign the D500 to write to both cards (XQD and SD) at the same time?

XQD is a Sony/Lexar thing - Sandisk put its marbles in the CFast standard which Canon uses. Either will be fine but I would not get any other brand of XQD than Sony or Lexar. The answer to your second question is yes! You will need an XQD card reader if you are going to use those.

Tim Zurowski wrote: I can only find Sony and Lexar XQD cards. Is one brand more reliable than the other?

Is it possible to assign the D500 to write to both cards (XQD and SD) at the same time?

Yes those are the only two that make it.  I bought one of each and have had no problems with either, but that is only an n of 1.  Both use the same card reader and you will need one of those as well, so you might look for a deal of a card with a reader.

Yes it is possible to write to both cards (ie. one is a backup for the other).  Someone more expert than me might know if this will slow the writing down and/or change the parameters of shooting since I believe the write to XQD is faster (though maybe the new SD cards can keep up?

ricardo00 wrote:

Tim Zurowski wrote: I can only find Sony and Lexar XQD cards. Is one brand more reliable than the other?

Is it possible to assign the D500 to write to both cards (XQD and SD) at the same time?

Yes those are the only two that make it.  I bought one of each and have had no problems with either, but that is only an n of 1.  Both use the same card reader and you will need one of those as well, so you might look for a deal of a card with a reader.

Yes it is possible to write to both cards (ie. one is a backup for the other).  Someone more expert than me might know if this will slow the writing down and/or change the parameters of shooting since I believe the write to XQD is faster (though maybe the new SD cards can keep up?

It won;'t slow anything down until you hit the SD buffer limit which is a ridiculous amount of shots - it will slow down clearing the buffer as it won't be clear until the slower SD card has been written to.  Frankly, on my D500 with SD cards (I don't own any XQD cards} I have never even remotely come close to the buffer limit even shooting hummingbirds in flight at 10FPS.

So EJ, you just use the D500 with one SD card? I suppose if I get larger SD cards (I currently just use two 32 GB cards) I could avoid the XQD card slot altogether. But than I would not have the option to backup the files on the second card, which I like to do on important photo trips.

A 32GB card holds a lot of photos - it's only a 20mp camera But yes, a 64 or 128 card is cheap in SD form compared to XQD.

Wouldn't it have been nice though if they offered the camera with the option of two SD card slots (i.e. like the D7200) or one XQD and one SD slot. I know, I'm a dreamer .  I guess this is another reason why I really love my D7200. To be honest, the only reason I am considering the D500 now, is that my D7200 has developed a problem and it just passed its two year warranty period. With Nikon Canada being a nightmare to deal with, I am reluctant to send it to them.

Here's another D500 question I have after researching this body. What's the deal with the batteries? I see it mentioned that it uses the same EN-EL15 battery that my D7200 uses, but I also see mention of the EN-EL18 and EN-EL18a batteries. Are those two only for use with the battery grip?

Tim Zurowski wrote:Wouldn't it have been nice though if they offered the camera with the option of two SD card slots (i.e. like the D7200) or one XQD and one SD slot. I know, I'm a dreamer .  I guess this is another reason why I really love my D7200. To be honest, the only reason I am considering the D500 now, is that my D7200 has developed a problem and it just passed its two year warranty period. With Nikon Canada being a nightmare to deal with, I am reluctant to send it to them.

Here's another D500 question I have after researching this body. What's the deal with the batteries? I see it mentioned that it uses the same EN-EL15 battery that my D7200 uses, but I also see mention of the EN-EL18 and EN-EL18a batteries. Are those two only for use with the battery grip?

The D5 can be bought with two XQD or two CF slots but not one of each and no SD.

The EN-EL18 battery is the bigger D4 batter that can be used in the grip with an insert - it significantly increases battery capacity.  This has always been the case for Nikon bodies with grips - there was always a way to use the big brother batteries but it is an optional seperate battery holder that inserts into the grip.  In the past this was a big advantage as it gave you higher frame rate (on the D300 and D700) than you could get with just two of the small batteries.  But this is no longer the case so the only advantage is much longer battery life.

But with two of the smaller batteries, you still get more shots than I have ever taken in a single day.

Understood . . . . . so the EN-EL18 thing is the same as it has always been. So I am a little confused then about the EN-EL15 with the D500. I thought there was originally a problem with the batteries when the D500 first came out (i.e. dying out too quickly) and that they had corrected that problem with a new and improved battery version. How can this then still be the same EN-EL15? Will my current EN-EL15 batteries work fine in a D500, or is there a newer version that I would need to get?

Look on your batteries, it will either say LiIon 1 or LiIon20 - only the 20's should be used with a D500 and Nikon will replace any non 20's that you have even if they are old.

They all say Li-ion01. Does Nikon requires them all to be shipped to them before they will replace them. I have four 01 versions. I assume the 20 versions will work in the D7200 and D600?

You will have to check with Nikon Canada - it may not be the same as Nikon USA.  The 20's work with any camera that can use a 1

https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/ni/NI_a ... lang=en_US

If you buy a new D500 now, I'm quite sure that it comes with the 20 version. It's been like that since some time in 2016. And there was also a HUGE discount on D500 before Christmas last year.