jlevin

I use an L-bracket with my D300 to facilitate work on a tripod. I have no reason to ever remove the L-bracket, but in addition I have never had reason to use a battery pack. It occurred to me that trying to use both a battery pack and an L-bracket with a D7200 might not work because the two parts might be incompatible with each other. However, I have read that L-brackets can be made to accommodate battery packs. So I assume no one has found a problem with the D7200 with respect to this matter?

Charles, thanks for that unequivocal response. Just out of curiosity, would you have replaced the D300 with a D500 instead if you could have? Are you primarily a landscape shooter, a wildlife shooter, or both? Thanks.

Thanks very much for everyone's input. There seems to be agreement that the D7200's advantages over the D300 include a better dynamic range and much improved low light performance. While the build quality is fine, the small size of the D7200 is may be an issue for some people. Also, Shun pointed out that the D300 does not have a backup memory card slot. He also said out that if one doesn't like the handling (e.g. smaller size) of the D7200, the D500 is an alternative. I would just like to mention that as someone with back issues, lugging around heavy FX equipment would put me in permanent physical therapy. Hence, my need for DX equipment. Also, as far as wide angle landscape photography is concerned, Nikon makes a 10-24mm lens, which is equivalent to 15mm on the wide side. (I personally still use the 12- 24mm). There is also the Tokina 11-20mm that Dieter Schaefer mentioned. Thanks for this extremely valuable information.

I have been shooting with my Nikon D300 ever since it first appeared. I have no interest in shooting with anything but DX. Now that the D500 has been out and widely reviewed, I have decided that it is probably not for me. My primary interests are landscapes and occasional macro. The D500 appears to have been developed to appeal to wildlife and sports enthusiasts. It would be like buying a mansion and only occupying two of the rooms. I have now looked somewhat more carefully at the D7200, but I'm not convinced it has great advantages over my D300 other than producing much larger prints and better ability to crop. I have never complained about image quality from my D300, and I have always felt that it had excellent build.. So "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", or is there a reason I should consider the D7200 more carefully? I saw it at a local Costco, and it seemed a bit small and has been described by most reviewers as a consumer camera. Thanks for any input.

According to Thom Hogan, the Nikon SB-500 speedlight can be used in commander mode with the Nikon D500. It costs $246.95 at B&H. I have also now read in several places that the Nikon SU-800 mentioned by Shun also works with the Nikon D500. It sells for $249.00 at B&H. These strike me as being the safest (not using cheap clones) and least expensive ways for accomplishing standard off-camera wireless flash. I still would prefer the convenience of a pop-up flash as the commander, as my D300 has, to avoid laying out around $250, adding to the effective price of the D500, but I guess this is the price of making the D500 a better built camera.

For anyone interested, I just came across another solution to the no pop-up flash problem of the Nikon D500. http://www.ishootshows.com/2016/01/05/shooting-impressions-on-assignment-with-the-nikon-d500-and-sb-5000/ The new SB-5000 ($596.95) can be used wirelessly and controlled through a flash options menu on the D500 and a function button. The Nikon SU-800 recommended by Shun is still a cheaper option for me ($249), especially given my somewhat limited uses for flash anyway. As for RF triggers, I am totally ignorant and reluctant to start up a new learning curve!

Shun, thanks for the information. I would probably be interested in the SU-800 controller as a substitute for the non- existent built-in flash if reasonably priced. I only want to use wireless flash occasionally for landscapes (perhaps main flash and balanced flash too). It definitely sounds like the WR-10 set is not what I want. Thanks for this information. The information that I read concerning the D500's lack of a built-in flash is from Thom Hogan on January 14: http://www.dslrbodies.com/newsviews/the-missing-flash-on-the.html

I have been a long time user of a Nikon D300, which has a built-in flash that I use as a commander with an SB-600 speedlight primarily for fill flash. I am considering upgrading to a Nikon D500, which I understand does not have a built-in flash. Instead, Nikon sells a WR-10 wireless remote controller set ($219.95 at Amazon). Do I also have to purchase Nikon's new SB-5000 speedlight for this to work, or can I still use my SB-600, which I would prefer to retain? Thank you very much. Jay Levin

The Shaw books are outdated (although still highly useful in many respects) since they were written during the film era. Easily the best book today is John and Barbara Gerlach's Digital Landscape Photography. It is crammed with information on how to shoot landscapes with a DSLR. The book is extremely well written.