Nikon D850 previews, commentary - first reviews

[Frank Fremerey]

Schwett. Great to see your SF pictures. I always loved your work. Hope to see you next time around. My brother will have moved into their house in Fremont by then, so easy pleasy

[Frank Fremerey]

One downside. She is a reliable workhorse so I get many more keepers although I also get more picky. First event with D850/500 combo. I took the 1.8/85 plus 1.8/20 and interchanged lenses on the fly, so I had 20, 30, 85 and 127mm FOV wise. Great set. Great results

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Despite the obvious enlargement and clarity of the D850 view finder, I could not reliably focus a Noct-Nikkor with it under realistic indoors conditions. That was a let-down from my point of view. The Df still is much better with the Noct. Perhaps a split-image screen would do better with the D850?

[Eddie Draaisma]

As it turns out, even with a reliable connection between D850 and iPhone, Snapbridge is useless for GPS data. At least if one does not want to have the same location recorded for two hours 

From the D850 Menu Guide, page 179:
"Select Yes to download location data from the smart device and embed them in pictures taken over the next two hours ...". Another proof that wonders never cease to exist 

I wonder how much collective effort would be needed to convince Nikon to make the built-in BT connection to work with BT GPS mice (aka GPS trackers). Pending that, question is if a Foolography Unleashed '09 dongle (with the D800 modification) will fit.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

" Pending that, question is if a Foolography Unleashed '09 dongle (with the D800 modification) will fit."

It will.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Nikon assigned the task of acquiring the required material for D850 presentation videos and campaign posters to 4 photographers, one of whom is David Yarrow (from Scotland). I was invited to a preview of the upcoming presentation of the very large prints Nikon intend to use for their advertising of the D850. Here is the massive print of a South African lion (taken with the AFS 200/2 David informed me) about to be added to the exhibition.

I have to admit the quality of these photos, technically and otherwise,  were excellent. Apparently the D850 is a camera model to be reckoned with.

[Frank Fremerey]

Despite the obvious enlargement and clarity of the D850 view finder, I could not reliably focus a Noct-Nikkor with it under realistic indoors conditions. That was a let-down from my point of view. The Df still is much better with the Noct. Perhaps a split-image screen would do better with the D850?

Comparably unhappy with the MF Quality as mentioned before I'd like Nikon to offer a replacement for the focussing screen, be it as a paid for service or better as an act of generosity.

The D500 is much better in the MF department!!

[Ilkka Nissilä]

I wonder if it a question of the focusing screen used, or the optical design of the viewfinder itself that causes this difference?

One possibility which I've been thinking about is that the Df mirror could be designed to reflect more of the light to the viewfinder and less to the AF module whereas to get top AF performance the D850 may divert more of the light hitting the mirror to the AF module instead of the viewfinder. It would be interesting to measure the transmission/reflection coefficients for the main mirrors of the different cameras. Certainly the Multi-CAM 20k AF module covers a larger area of the image so the semitransparent section of the mirror could be larger than with cameras using Multi-CAM 4800.

[Frank Fremerey]

The same 20k AF module sits in the D500 and she has a smaller mirror. But both cameras have roughly the same VF brightness. Only difference I see is that the ground glass in the D500 is coarser and thus MF has much more "snap". No wonder it is the focussing screen of the F6

[Ilkka Nissilä]

Can the F6 screen be fit into the D850?

[Frank Fremerey]

I hope so. The question is: will you get the right shim or how long will you need for calibration? Is it better to wait for third party offers?

[Ilkka Nissilä]

I hope so. The question is: will you get the right shim or how long will you need for calibration? Is it better to wait for third party offers?

I believe focusingscreen.com have offered F6 screens modified to fit newer cameras and I would think they'd offer it for the D850 as well. I have not used their products. I'm wondering which company Tetsuro Goto was referring to when they mentioned that a Taiwanese company makes them.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Focusingscreen.com is based in Taiwan.

[Frank Fremerey]

I believe focusingscreen.com have offered F6 screens modified to fit newer cameras and I would think they'd offer it for the D850 as well. I have not used their products. I'm wondering which company Tetsuro Goto was referring to when they mentioned that a Taiwanese company makes them.

I like a coarse full matte to help focussing my AF-S lenses if the AF does not what I want it to do. The 1.4/105 has 2mm of DOF at portrait distance and I cannot focus and reframe

[chambeshi]

Recent Test... video

https://youtu.be/A_OMIRHXynQ