Photography Life

PL provides various digital photography news, reviews, articles, tips, tutorials and guides to photographers of all levels

  • Lens Reviews
  • Camera Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • Compare Cameras
  • Forum
    • Sign Up
    • Login
  • About
  • Search
Home โ†’ Reviews โ†’ Cameras and Lenses โ†’ Nikon D3500 Review

Nikon D3500 Review

By Spencer Cox 33 Comments
Last Updated On February 11, 2020

«»

Image Quality

The photos out of the D3500 are very high in quality. Nikon’s 24 megapixel DX sensor is one of the best aps-c sensors in the world, with impressive detail and very good high ISO performance.

Compared to the $1900 Nikon D500, the D3500 is actually ahead slightly in image quality at low ISOs, while behind slightly at higher ISOs. That fact – along with the camera’s light weight – is why the Nikon D3500 is such a good choice for a lot of photographers. I mainly photograph landscapes and travel scenes, where I need top quality images from a package that doesn’t weigh me down. The D3500 is pretty well optimized for that type of photography, even aside from its excellent price.

So, how does it look at each ISO? Here are sample photos from the Nikon D3400 (exact same camera sensor as the D3500) at its entire range of ISO values, from ISO 100 to ISO 25,600. These are all 100% crops of RAW photos, taken from a very small area of the sensor. Click to see the specific ISO value of each photo:

Nikon-D3500-ISO-100Nikon-D3500-ISO-200

Nikon-D3500-ISO-400Nikon-D3500-ISO-800

Nikon-D3500-ISO-1600Nikon-D3500-ISO-3200

Nikon-D3500-ISO-6400Nikon-D3500-ISO-12800

Nikon-D3500-ISO-25600

This is a very good result. I would be comfortable using the D3500 up to ISO 1600, and even ISO 3200 or 6400 if necessary. ISO 12,800 and 25,600 are just there for the sake of better specifications. They aren’t useful except in the most drastic of cases.

Of course, to get the most image quality and sharpness out of the D3500, you need to know how to use it. Our photography basics articles are a good place to start.

Up next is the comparisons section of this review, where the D3500 faces off against a number of DSLR and mirrorless cameras targeted at the same audience. Although it fares pretty well, there’s a lot of competition at this price point:

Table of Contents

  • Overview & Specifications
  • Build Quality and Handling
  • Autofocus
  • Image Quality
  • Comparisons
  • Summary
  • User Comments
«»
Looking for even more exclusive content?

On Photography Life, you already get world-class articles with no advertising every day for free. As a Member, you'll get even more:

Silver ($5/mo)
  • Exclusive articles
  • Monthly Q&A chat
  • Early lens test results
  • "Creative Landscape Photography" eBook
Gold ($12/mo)
  • All that, PLUS:
  • Online workshops
  • Monthly photo critiques
  • Vote on our next lens reviews
 
Click Here to Join Today
 
Disclosures, Terms and Conditions and Support Options

Learn

  • Beginner Photography
  • Landscape Photography
  • Wildlife Photography
  • Portraiture
  • Post-Processing
  • Advanced Tutorials
Photography Life on Patreon

Reviews

  • Camera Reviews
  • Lens Reviews
  • Other Gear Reviews
  • Best Cameras and Lenses

Photography Tutorials

Photography Basics
Landscape Photography
Wildlife Photography
Macro Photography
Composition & Creativity
Black & White Photography
Night Sky Photography
Portrait Photography
Street Photography
Photography Videos

Unique Gift Ideas

Best Gifts for Photographers

Subscribe via Email

If you like our content, you can subscribe to our newsletter to receive weekly email updates using the link below:

Subscribe to our newsletter

Site Menu

  • About Us
  • Beginner Photography
  • Lens Database
  • Lens Index
  • Photo Spots
  • Search
  • Forum

Reviews

  • Reviews Archive
  • Camera Reviews
  • Lens Reviews
  • Other Gear Reviews

More

  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Workshops
  • Support Us
  • Submit Content

Copyright © 2025 ยท Photography Life

You are going to send email to

Move Comment