Nikon announces the D500, its new DSLR for the smartphone age

The Nikon DX series' new top-of-the-line model

By Nick Statt@nickstatt Jan 5, 2016, 2:48pm EST

Nikon just unveiled the new D500, part of its Nikon DX series of APS-C digital cameras, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today. The camera blends some of the power of the newly announced pro-grade flagship D5 — the D500 has the same auto-focus system and Expeed 5 processor — with the ease-of-use and accessibility of the more entry-level Nikon D5500.

With a 20.9MP sensor and 4K video recording at up to 30fps, the D500 is higher-end than Nikon's D7000 and more equipped as a replacement to the D300S. Just the body will put you back $1,999.95 when it's released in March, but a kit configuration containing a AF-S DX Nikkor 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR kens brings the price up to $3,069.65.

The D500 is also the first Nikon camera to feature the company's new SnapBridge image sharing technology. So the camera utilizes an efficient, always-on Bluetooth Low Energy connection to communicate with other devices, and SnapBridge will let you push photos to your smartphone wirelessly.