Canon 7D Mk II Nikon D500
For absolutely ages, Canon was the only company to offer a really high-end APS-C format SLR that was designed to appeal to dedicated enthusiast photographers, or to pros who wanted a lighter body with a smaller sensor to give their lenses extra reach. That’s changed recently, however, with the introduction of the Nikon D500, which means that the Canon 7D Mark II now has a direct competitor. Our mission here is to see how they compare…
Features
Although the 7D Mark II dates from September 2014, it has a very similar pixel count to the recently launched D500; we’re talking 20.2 million versus 20.9 million respectively. The D500 doesn’t have an optical low-pass filter, which could give it a slight edge for detail resolution, albeit at enhanced risk of moire patterning.
Sports and action photography is important to the 7D Mark II and D500’s target market. Accordingly, both cameras have high-spec autofocus systems with lots of AF points. Nikon has been especially generous in giving the D500 a 153-point system, although only 55 of them are individually selectable: the other 98 are support points. Of the 153 points, 99 are the more sensitive crosstype, and 15 of them function with lens and teleconverter combinations with maximum apertures as small as f/8. Of the 55 selectable points, 35 are cross-type, with nine sensitive
