The D780 has arrived

I pulled the early trigger on the D780.  It's what I do best.  I did take advantage of the Nikon trade in program, so we say goodbye to the D7200.  The D7200 was a great learning camera.  Had all the bells and whistles to introduce Nikon's menus and options.  And took great photos.  But time to move forward.
The D780 is a jump to full frame.  (Fortunately I saw the move coming some time ago and have a number of full frame lenses to help the transition.)  It is not in the professional class.  Nikon lists it as Advanced Entry.  It will do, easily.  
Why did I get it?  The full frame sensor is one reason.  The other reason is the advancement in the 'Live View'.  Essentially Nikon made the LV a mirrorless option.  Without getting too deep into the types of auto-focus in play here, Nikon took the Z6 auto-focus and put it in a DSLR body.  I get that the Z6 is first generation and has a long way to go to get to Sony-land but you have to start somewhere.  And I believe as the Z6 is advanced, the updates will flow to the D780.
The D780 will give me better low light performance, remember the arena horse events and the challenges.  I can only reference the D500 specs, but the D500 pixel size is 4.22 microns and the D780 size is 5.94 microns.  The larger the pixel, the less light required to generate light information.
In practical terms, the first field trip for the D780 was last night's OHL hockey game.
For practical purposes, the aperture (f/5.6) and speed (1/800, 1/1000) were used int he outings.  In outings with the D500, I had the ISO limit set to 6500.  With the D780 last night, the ISO limit was set to 16000.  With the D500, there were a number of images at 6500, which tells me the limit was reached.  (Still great photos.)  Last night, with the D780 only one image hit ISO 5000.  Same arena, same lighting, same camera set up.  All things as equal as I can get.
The D500 is still considered the flagship of Nikon's DX line.  There are a number of specs that are heard to beat, and the D780 falls a bit behind.  Difference between a Flagship and an Advanced Entry.  For example, the D500 is 10 frames per second.  The D780 is listed at 7 FPS.  But.....  kick the D780 into 'mirrorless' mode and it will go 12 FPS.  Battery life goes to the D780, by almost double.  Which is good, because there is no battery grip/pack available at this time.  Not a fan of this development, as I liked the feel of the D7200 and D500 with the option.  On a positive note, it takes the same battery as the D7200 so I can use the one that was in the grip as a spare.  The D780 also boasts of an internal focus stacking operation.  Need to read up on that.
The only major down side I had last night was the placement of the AF On button.  On the D90, D7200 and D500 progression, I used the option to set up back button focus with this button.  On the D780, the button was moved slightly.  In its place was the 'Live View' button.  When I had to move fast, I would put myself in LV.  Then I'd to look for the AF On.  I'll get over it, but I wonder who made that decision.  Maybe I'll grow into it.
The D780 will help me move into a mirrorless environment.  It is not totally mirrorless, but does have some of the benefits.  I does have a true silent mode.  No mirror actuation.  Focus off of the sensor, not of disassociated optics.  Looking forward to learning this.  
Thankfully there is YouTube to help me along.  I'm sure my favorite camera author will have a book out soon, but for today I will be involved in videos.