Although I’m sure there are some niggles yet to be uncovered, the D7500 seems to pair really well with the 500mm PF. The jury’s still out on whether it’s a walkaround or a “go somewhere and sit” lens, but for the moment it’s carryable for five miles without much grumbling.
What made it seem a little heavy today was probably the fact that in recent days I’ve been moving about very comfortably with both the Canon and the CL/Sigma setups, both of which are well under 2kg. Fact is, even though the D7500 is a good bit heavier than the Z fc, the Smallrig grip and FTZ adapter bring the weight of the latter setup to within three ounces of the D7500/500mm PF, both in the neighborhood of 2.2kg.
The very positive takeaway? Several very good options for chasing critters, mostly dependent on whether it’s dedicated bird-chasing or general critter-stalking.
No complaints here . . .