Nikon D500 review – Viewfinder and screen

Without doubt, the D500’s optical viewfinder is one of the best we’ve seen on an APS-C DSLR. With a magnification of 1.0x and 100% coverage of the image area, it’s certainly the largest, and not far off full-frame DSLRs or the electronic viewfinders on high-end CSCs in terms of size. It doesn’t have all the clever viewfinder information overlays that Canon has included on its EOS 7D Mark II, but you do get to see all the core exposure data along with gridlines and a twin-axis electronic level. Unfortunately, this is usually displayed in black, so it can be difficult to discern while shooting.

The 2.36-million-dot rear screen is superb – it’s impressively detailed, while giving accurate colour rendition. Its ability to tilt 90° upwards or downwards can be handy in some situations for shooting from odd angles, although it’s difficult to get away from the fact that the D500 is vastly more competent when you’re using the viewfinder, compared to shooting in live view.

Nikon has made the screen touch-sensitive, but kept the touch functionality to a minimum. You can select the focus point by touch in live view and movie modes, release the shutter and browse images in playback. But you can’t use the screen to browse menus or change any settings. This isn’t a deal-breaker, but would certainly count as nice to have, especially for video use.