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Nikon D500 vs Sony a99 II

5.79 in
4.53 in
Nikon D500 Digital Camera
Nikon D500
5.61 in
4.1 in
Sony a99 II Digital Camera
Sony a99 II
Available colors
Editiorial reviews
79
4.3 out of 5
35 user ratings
5 stars
65 %
4 stars
28 %
3 stars
0 %
2 stars
5 %
1 stars
0 %
Read editorial reviews
28
4.5 out of 5
12 user ratings
5 stars
66 %
4 stars
33 %
3 stars
0 %
2 stars
0 %
1 stars
0 %
Read editorial reviews
User rating
57
3.9 out of 5
57 user ratings
5 stars
22 %
4 stars
49 %
3 stars
21 %
2 stars
5 %
1 stars
1 %
38
4.1 out of 5
38 user ratings
5 stars
42 %
4 stars
26 %
3 stars
31 %
2 stars
0 %
1 stars
0 %

Full Comparison

Sensor

Nikon D500Nikon D500
Sony a99 IISony a99 II
Sensor typeCMOSCMOS
Image sensor formatDXFull-frame
Sensor size0.93 in1.41 in
Sensor photo detectors22.0 Mpx44.0 Mpx
Effective pixels21.0 Mpx42.0 Mpx
Image ratio w:h3:2
  • 3:2
  • 16:9
Max resolution5568 x 3712 px7952 x 5304 px
ProcessorExpeed 5BIONZ X

Image

Nikon D500Nikon D500
Sony a99 IISony a99 II
ISO
  • 100
  • 51200
  • 50
  • 100
  • 6400
  • 25600
  • 102400
ISO minimum10050
ISO maximum51200102400
Boosted ISO minimum5050
Boosted ISO maximum1640000102400
Maximum image resolution5568 x 3712 px7952 x 5304 px
White balance presets1210
White balance modes
  • Auto
  • Manual
  • Auto
  • Cloudy
  • Custom modes
  • Daylight
  • Flash
  • Fluorescent
  • Incandescent
  • Shade
  • Underwater
Custom white balanceyesyes
Supported image file formats
  • JPG
  • NEF
  • RAW
  • TIF
  • ARW
  • JPG
  • RAW
Photo effects
  • Black&White
  • Neutral
  • Vivid
  • Black&White
  • Neutral
  • Sepia
  • Vivid
Image stabilizeryesyes
Image stabilization typeNoSensor-shift
Supported aspect ratios4:3
  • 3:2
  • 16:9
Uncompressed formatRAW + TIFFRAW
AEB/HDR supportyesno

Optics and focus

Nikon D500Nikon D500
Sony a99 IISony a99 II
Lens mountNikon FSony A
Optical zoom5.0 x4.0 x
Digital zoom1.0 x8.0 x
Magnification (Crop factor)1.5 x1.0 x
AF assist (auto-focus assist light)LampFlash
Focus adjustmentAuto/ManualAuto/Manual
Contrast autofocusyesyes
Focal length multiplier1.5x1x
AutofocusCenter
  • Centre weighted Auto Focus
  • Continuous Auto Focus
  • Flexible Spot Auto Focus
  • One Shot Focus
Auto Focus (AF) lockyesyes
Manual focusyesyes
Auto Focus (AF) points selectionManual
  • Auto
  • Manual
Number of focus points153399
Image stabiliserLens based onlyBuilt-in
Phase detection autofocusyesyes
Number of AF points (contrast)15379

Screen and viewfinder

Nikon D500Nikon D500
Sony a99 IISony a99 II
Screen size3.2 in2.95 in
Articulated LCDyesyes
Screen technologyLCDLCD TFT
Screen dots23590001228800
Touch screenyesno
Live viewyesyes
ViewfinderOpticalElectronic
Viewfinder coverage100.0 %100.0 %
Viewfinder magnification1.0 x0.78 x
Diopter adjustment (D-D)-2 - 1-4 - 3
Separate info displayyesyes
Flip-out screennoyes

Photography features

Nikon D500Nikon D500
Sony a99 IISony a99 II
Shooting modes
  • Manual
  • Program
  • Shutter priority
  • Auto
  • Manual
  • Movie
Camera shutter typeElectronicElectronic
Minimum shutter speed30.0 s30.0 s
Maximum shutter speed1.0 s1.0 s
Shutter priorityyesyes
Aperture priorityyesyes
Manual exposure modeyesyes
Exposure compensation plus55
Exposure compensation minus-5-5
Expousure compensation steps
  • 1/3
  • 1/2
  • 1/3
  • 1/2
Auto exposure lockyesyes
AE EV steps
  • 1/3
  • 1/2
  • 2/3
  • 1
  • 2
  • 1/3
  • 1/2
  • 2/3
  • 1
  • 2
Continuous shootingyesyes
Self-timer delay
  • 2
  • 5
  • 10
  • 20
  • 2
  • 5
  • 10
AE frames
  • 2
  • 3
  • 5
  • 7
  • 3
  • 5
WB Bracketing
Yes
Yes
Subject / scene modesnono
Flash sync speed1/250s1/250s
Built-in flashyesno
Flash modes
  • Auto
  • Flash OFF
  • Redeye Reduction
  • Auto
  • Fill-in
  • Flash OFF
  • High-speed Sync
  • Redeye Reduction
  • Slow Sync
External flash connectionHot shoePC terminal
Flash metering systemi-TTLTTL
External flashyesyes
Continuous drive10.0 fps12.0 fps
Scene modes
  • Beach
  • Candlelight
  • Close-up
  • Night landscape
  • Night portrait
  • party
  • Portrait
  • Sunset
  • Landscape
  • Night
  • Panorama
  • Portrait
  • Sunset
  • Landscape
Self-timeryesyes
Metering modes
  • Multi
  • Center-weighted
  • Highlight-weighted
  • Spot
  • Multi
  • Center-weighted
  • Highlight-weighted
  • Spot
Manual settingsyesyes
Self-timer options
  • 2
  • 5
  • 10
  • 20
  • 2
  • 5
  • 10
Speed (JPEG)10.0 fps12.0 fps

Videography features

Nikon D500Nikon D500
Sony a99 IISony a99 II
Maximum resolution3840 x 2160 px3840 x 2160 px
Video recordingyesyes
Recording resolutions
  • 1280 x 720
  • 1920 x 1080
  • 3840 x 2160
  • 1280 x 720
  • 1920 x 1080
  • 3840 x 2160
HD type4K Ultra HD4K Ultra HD
Supported video file formatsMOV
  • AVC
  • AVCHD
  • H.264
  • MP4
  • MPEG-4
Analog signal format systemNTSC
  • NTSC
  • PAL
Camera playback
  • Highlights
  • Movie
  • Single image
  • Slide show
  • Single image
  • Slide show
Max resolution (highest frame rate)1920 x 10801920 x 1080
Max frame rate (highest resolution)30.0 fps30.0 fps
Max frame rate (regardless of res.)60.0 fps120.0 fps

Audio features

Nikon D500Nikon D500
Sony a99 IISony a99 II
Built-in microphoneyesyes
Microphone typeStereoStereo
Speaker typeMonoMono
Audio systemStereoMono
Supported audio file formatsPCM
  • AAC
  • AC3
  • LPCM
  • MP4

Design

Nikon D500Nikon D500
Sony a99 IISony a99 II
Body typeSLRSLR
Colour of productBlackBlack
Anti-dust systemyesyes
Environmentally sealedyesyes

Dimensions

Nikon D500Nikon D500
Sony a99 IISony a99 II
Weight26.81 oz27.16 oz
Width5.79 in5.61 in
Height4.53 in4.1 in
Depth3.19 in3.0 in

Storage

Nikon D500Nikon D500
Sony a99 IISony a99 II
Compatible memory cards
  • MMC
  • SD
  • MS Micro
  • MS Pro Duo
  • MS Pro-HG Duo
  • MicroSD
  • MicroSDHC
  • MicroSDXC
  • SD
  • SDHC
  • SDXC
Memory slots22
Storage types
  • SD
  • SDHC
  • SDXC
  • XQD
Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC[UHS I]/MS Duo slots
Camera file system
  • DCF 2.0
  • Exif 2.3
  • RAW
  • DCF 2.0
  • Exif 2.3
  • MPF

Power

Nikon D500Nikon D500
Sony a99 IISony a99 II
Power source typeBatteryBattery
Battery life (CIPA)1240490
Battery technology
Lithium-Ion
Lithium-Ion

Connectivity

Nikon D500Nikon D500
Sony a99 IISony a99 II
HDMIyesyes
HDMI connector typeMiniMicro
USB connector typeMicro-USB BMicro-USB
USB version3.12.0
Headphone portyesyes
Microphone portyesyes
WirelessBuilt-InBuilt-In
Supported WiFi types
  • IEEE 802.11b
  • IEEE 802.11g
  • IEEE 802.11b
  • IEEE 802.11g
  • IEEE 802.11n
DC-in jackyesyes
Remote controlyesyes
NFCyesyes
Wireless network (Wi-Fi)yesyes
Bluetoothyesyes
Bluetooth version4.14.1
Firewirenono

Other features

Nikon D500Nikon D500
Sony a99 IISony a99 II
GPSnono
Orientation sensornoyes
Tripod mounting supportedyesyes

Pros & Cons

Pros
      Cons

          Often compared with Nikon D500