D500, 200-500mm lens and more: Nikon targets sports and wildlife photographers with their new D500 kit

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posted Tuesday, November 1, 2016 at 11:53 AM EST

 
 

As you can read all about in our Nikon D500 Field Test and D500 review, the D500 is particularly well-suited for sports and wildlife photography. In fact, as the person who field tested it, I consider it the best overall wildlife photography camera I've used due to its excellent autofocus system, high-speed performance, high ISO performance, rugged camera body and APS-C sensor (the 1.5x crop is very useful for wildlife work). With sports and wildlife photographers in mind, certainly a large chunk of the D500's target audience, Nikon has released a new Nikon D500 Sports and Wildlife Kit.

This kit, available for preorder now, includes the Nikon D500 body, an AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens, MD-D17 Battery Grip, 2 Sony 32GB G Series XQD memory cards and a 2-year extended service coverage warranty plan on the D500 body. All of this can be yours for just under US$3,600. This price includes a $200 instant savings on the D500 camera body which is available for a limited time. In case you're curious, this represents a roughly $100 savings when compared to buying all of the components separately plus you get the 2-year extended service coverage on the camera. If you're looking to a Nikon D500 and Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E lens, you might as well get them together.

 
 

As you can see in my Nikon D500 field test, I regularly used the D500 body with my Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E lens. I loved the combination because it provided very good image quality and excellent versatility for wildlife photography in a relatively affordable and lightweight package. To read more about the D500, see here. I've included some shots taken with the Nikon D500 and 200-500mm lens below. If you'd like to help support our site and preorder this new kit, please do so through the affiliate link below.

• Nikon D500 Sports and Wildlife Kit •

 
900mm eq. (Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR AF-S lens with Nikon TC-14E III), f/8.0, 1/800s, ISO 560. This image has been cropped.
 
 
390mm eq. (Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR AF-S lens), f/5.6, 1/400s, ISO 800, +0.67 EV.
 
 
750mm eq. (Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR AF-S lens), f/5.6, 1/1000s, ISO 250. This image has been modified.