Nikon D500 Is First Camera With SnapBridge

Nikon has announced the D500 DSLR, a hotly anticipated camera sporting a 20.9MP sensor and the same 153 auto focus points as the D5. As well, the D500 features Nikon's new Expeed 5 image processing engine (likewise found in the D5) and Ultra HD video recording. The Nikon D500 is particularly notable, however, for being the first among Nikon's products to offer SnapBridge, a constant connection to mobile devices over Bluetooth.

"The camera today is not just another device for taking photos," says Nikon. This camera has the "latest innovation in connectivity" — says Nikon, the D500 is the first of its' cameras to have Nikon's newly unveiled SnapBridge technology. With SnapBridge, the camera is always connected to the photographer's smartphone over Bluetooth, greatly speeding up the amount of time it takes to swap images from camera to phone (or back again).

The D500 is a DX-format camera with a Multi-CAM 20K auto focus sensor and an ISO range from 100 to 51,200. Content is stored to media cards, of which both an SD and XQD can be used simultaneously. The camera features 4K UHD video recording, as does the D5, and WiFi for sharing images (in addition to the aforementioned Bluetooth).

Nikon says the D500 is light, relatively speaking, and teased one of the possible benefits of that lightweight in the form of a drone picture — more specifically, a picture of the camera strapped to a drone, hinting at possible aerial photography capabilities. The camera is priced at $1,999.95 USD.