Nikon D500 vs Fujifilm X-H2

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Nikon D500 and the Fujifilm X-H2, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Nikon D500 was introduced in January 2016 and Fujifilm X-H2 was introduced in September 2022. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Nikon D500 over Fujifilm X-H2.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Fujifilm X-H2 over Nikon D500.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Nikon D500 has a 3.2" Tilting screen with 2,359k dot resolution and Fujifilm X-H2 has a 3.0" Fully Articulated screen with 1,620k dot resolution. Tilting screen makes Nikon D500 very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Fully articulated screen makes Fujifilm X-H2 selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Both models feature touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Viewfinder

Nikon D500 has a built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinderFujifilm X-H2 has a built-in 0.5" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 5,760k dot resolution. They both have 100% coverage.

Nikon D500 features a 20.9 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.7 mm and a total area of 369 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 51,200 and expands to 50 - 1,640,000 in boosted mode. Fujifilm X-H2 features a 40.2 megapixel APS-C BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.6 mm and a total area of 243.4 mm². Its native ISO range is 125 - 12,800 and expands to 64 - 51,200 in boosted mode.

Fujifilm X-H2 has BSI-CMOS sensor, short for Backside Illuminated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor sensor. In traditional CMOS sensors, the wiring and circuitry are located on the front side of the sensor, which can block some of the incoming light. BSI technology flips this design by placing the photosensitive elements (pixels) on the backside of the sensor, allowing more light to reach the pixels. This significantly enhances light sensitivity and improves low-light performance. BSI-CMOS sensors are particularly effective in low-light conditions, as they can capture more light, resulting in brighter and less noisy images. This makes them well-suited for indoor and night photography. BSI-CMOS sensors deliver a higher SNR and reduced cross-talk.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Nikon D500 is equipped with EXPEED 5 processor and can take pictures up to 5568 x 3712 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4176 x 2784, 2784 x 1856 with 3:2 aspect ratios. Fujifilm X-H2 is equipped with X-Processor 5 processor and can take pictures up to 7728 x 5152 resolution.

Lens Mount

Nikon D500 has Nikon F lens mount and Fujifilm X-H2 has Fujifilm X lens mount. Due to their APS-C sensor their crop factor (also called lens multiplier) is equal to 1.5x. This means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 1.5.

No Low-Pass Filter

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on either of the cameras. This results in a slightly sharper image but may also introduce moiré patterns and aliasing artifacts when photographing subjects with fine, repetitive patterns or details.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Fujifilm X-H2

Fujifilm X-H2 has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) with 7 stops of compensation. This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi

Cameras have built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5 802.11ac/b/g/n 2.4/5 GHz on Fujifilm X-H2) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

Bluetooth

Nikon D500 and Fujifilm X-H2 have built-in Bluetooth (version 4.1 LE on Nikon D500, version 4.2 LE on Fujifilm X-H2) which lets you to connect the camera to a smartphone or a dedicated remote control device. This allows you to remotely trigger the camera, adjust settings and controls remotely through a paired mobile app. While Wi-Fi is generally faster for transferring larger files, Bluetooth can be used for small, selective transfers, it can provide real-time information about your camera's battery status, memory card capacity, and other key settings directly on your paired smartphone or smartwatch.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in Bluetooth.

NFC on Nikon D500

Nikon D500 has Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which simplifies the process of pairing it with other NFC-enabled devices like smartphones or tablets. It allows to quickly transfer photos and videos or remotely control the camera from compatible device. NFC can also be used for authentication and security purposes. It can verify your identity before accessing certain features or transferring sensitive data. It can be used with NFC-enabled accessories as well, such as lenses, flashes and GPS devices.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB inputs for data transfer. Nikon D500 has a Mini HDMI and Fujifilm X-H2 has a Full Size HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Nikon D500 comes with EN-EL15 battery pack with battery life of 1240 shots and Fujifilm X-H2 comes with NP-W235 battery pack with battery life of 680 shots.

External Storage Slots

Nikon D500 has two card slots - one for SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) and one for CFexpress Type B / XQD. Fujifilm X-H2 has two card slots - one for CFexpress Type B and one for SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) [1 TB Maximum].

Shutter

Nikon D500 has Mechanical Focal Plane shutter and Electronic shutter. Fujifilm X-H2 has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Nikon D500, and up to 1/180000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/8000 sec with mechanical shutter on Fujifilm X-H2. Nikon D500 can shoot continuously up to 10.0 fps. Fujifilm X-H2 can shoot continuously up to 15.0 fps with mechanical shutter and up to 13.0 fps with electronic shutter.

Focusing

Nikon D500 has 153 (99 cross-type) focusing points and Fujifilm X-H2 has Intelligent Hybrid AF (TTL contrast AF / TTL phase detection AF) system with 425 focusing points. Nikon D500 has detection range from -4 to +20 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Nikon D500 and Fujifilm X-H2 range from -4 to +20 EV and -7 to +7 EV respectively and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Nikon D500 and ±5 EV range on Fujifilm X-H2. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Nikon D500 and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Fujifilm X-H2.

Flash

Cameras have no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected to both of them via Hot Shoe or PC Terminal. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on both cameras.

Nikon D500 body has dimensions of 147 x 115 x 81 mm (5.79 x 4.53 x 3.19") and Fujifilm X-H2 body has dimensions of 136 x 93 x 95 mm (5.35 x 3.66 x 3.74"). Nikon D500 weighs 860 g (1.90 lb / 30.34 oz) and Fujifilm X-H2 weighs 660 g (1.46 lb / 23.28 oz).

Nikon D500

Fujifilm X-H2

147 mm

115 mm

136 mm

93 mm

115 mm

93 mm

81 mm

95 mm