Nikon D850 previews, commentary - first reviews

[Ethan]

It’s been since about June of 2016 when I ordered the new Hasselblad X1D and waited. Then I ordered the Fuji GFX... and waited. I sent both of those back for various reasons along with a lot of lenses, etc.

Then I ordered the Nikon D850 and waited just a little.

I received my copy today and have only had a couple of hours of time in on it. There may be some deep-dark flaw, but I have not seen it yet. Some of our techsperts will have to check that out. My initial impressions, so far, are:

(1) The ISO 64 seems to be there.

(2) The extra Mpx are definitely worth it. Very much a difference that counts.

(3) The new LiveView screen is better than the D810 by a lot, but also perhaps a little more difficult to focus, not to see, but to adjust focus.

(4) The sharpness of older lenses like the photo here taken with the Voigtlander 125mm APO-Lanthar push this lens to a higher state of us. The camera makes sharpness... sharper, IMO.

(5) The color on the LiveView screen looks different than the D810, but the end result (color-wise) is excellent. No complaints.

I don’t use auto-focus and I still have not got the camera set up properly, but I’m working on it. So my initial impression is that this camera is as good or even better than I had hoped and at a HUGE savings in cost, not to mention that I have so many great lenses in the Nikon F-mount. If I have a single doubt, and I am not done checking this out, the highlights may clip... slightly more easily than the D810, but I will wait for gear guys to test this.

So far, so good.

Photo by the D850 and Voigtlander 125mm APO-Lanthar lens.

It is pleasantly surprising that the vintage Voigt 125/2.5 is still strong as ever when used on a high megapixel camera. Unbelievable!

Is the pic from a Jpeg or RAW?

Which software are you using for the D850 NEF processing?

[Bill Mellen]

It’s been since about June of 2016 when I ordered the new Hasselblad X1D and waited. Then I ordered the Fuji GFX... and waited. I sent both of those back for various reasons along with a lot of lenses, etc.

Then I ordered the Nikon D850 and waited just a little.

I received my copy today and have only had a couple of hours of time in on it. There may be some deep-dark flaw, but I have not seen it yet. Some of our techsperts will have to check that out. My initial impressions, so far, are:

(1) The ISO 64 seems to be there.

(2) The extra Mpx are definitely worth it. Very much a difference that counts.

(3) The new LiveView screen is better than the D810 by a lot, but also perhaps a little more difficult to focus, not to see, but to adjust focus.

(4) The sharpness of older lenses like the photo here taken with the Voigtlander 125mm APO-Lanthar push this lens to a higher state of us. The camera makes sharpness... sharper, IMO.

(5) The color on the LiveView screen looks different than the D810, but the end result (color-wise) is excellent. No complaints.

I don’t use auto-focus and I still have not got the camera set up properly, but I’m working on it. So my initial impression is that this camera is as good or even better than I had hoped and at a HUGE savings in cost, not to mention that I have so many great lenses in the Nikon F-mount. If I have a single doubt, and I am not done checking this out, the highlights may clip... slightly more easily than the D810, but I will wait for gear guys to test this.

So far, so good.

Photo by the D850 and Voigtlander 125mm APO-Lanthar lens.

Fantastic!  I am looking forward to seeing more.

[Michael Erlewine]

May not interest many. Two shots, one with the D810 and the other with the D850, both photos labelled, with the D850 first.

Each photo is a short stack, 3 shots, each focused on the flower centers.

Shot on the Cambo Actus with the APO El Nikkor 105mm lens

Not much post, aside from making them look OK. Nothing in the color changed.

To me, shows the value of the larger sensor in resolution.

Your thoughts?

[Eddie Draaisma]

You had to wait a little longer, but apparently it was worthwhile.

The D850 picture is sharper, especially the left flower, the D810 picture is in some (green) areas visibly more yellow.

[Frank Fremerey]

The Color differentiation is much better than everything I have seen before. Great example. Even the small difference between 810 and 850 clearly shows!

Now I really must take my Sinar out to the Botanical Gardens and see what the Autumnal Light will help me show.Thank you for your motivation.

[Akira]

Yes, the purple color of the petals seems to be better rendered on D850, which is well discernible even on my uncalibrated monitor...

[Bill Mellen]

On my iPad the color and contrast of the second image are better looking to me.

[David H. Hartman]

One my primary Win7 computer the purples look better (more gradations, less yellow). I don't think any firm conclusions can be made on just two samples. Maybe this is just my expectations.

Dave

[charlie]

The D850 shot definitely looks better but the D810 shot appears to have either soft focus, motion blur, or stacking alignment issues. Yes no?

 

[Frank Fremerey]

One my primary Win7 computer the purples look better (more gradations, less yellow). I don't think any firm conclusions can be made on just two samples. Maybe this is just my expectations.

Dave

I can say it is my experience over a period of two weeks daily use.

[Michael Erlewine]

Starting to get more of a handle on the Nikon D850.  I like it! I can see I will learn to even love it.

Turning off all sound in the camera as part of LiveView is way more wonderful than I would have imagined. Silence. Great for stacking photos and progress is as easy as watching the Live View screen visibly changing. I will use it ALL the time.

The tilt-able screen in LiveView is helpful, but would be more helpful if it moved four ways instead of two, but not any real worry.

To me, it looks like Nikon came out of the closet and threw everything they had this baby in an attempt to reinstate themselves. IMO, it works. I have (at least for now) lost ALL interest in medium-format cameras and ALL need for the mirrorless cameras with their  EVFs. The improved LiveView of the D850 is enough EVF to allow me to do what I need to do until.... someday... something much superior comes along.

And what an incredible bargain in price! Compared to the 15-20 thousand dollars to properly tool up for Hasselblad X1D or the Fuji GFX, spending about $3400 for the D850 (with a couple of extra batteries) is a steal. And have not even begun to explore this camera’s use in sports or nightclubs, which I will use for music acts, since I am around them a lot.

Not owning many AF lenses, the little focus-stacking option (which I think just produces JPGs!) is a non-starter for me. I like to roll my own stacks, thank you, and use the best lenses I have, many of which are not Nikkors. And without a raw option for this, I would never use this feature. But some I imagine will.

The D850 seems a tad heavier than the D810, but not enough to consider. The new more deeply-indented grip is nice, but I am always on a tripod, so not important to me. The batteries are said to last longer than those for the D810, but even these empty too fast for my taste.

I have an L-Bracket coming soon from RRS, so until then I am using the one for the D810. Works well enough for now. I never used the on-board flash on the D810, so would much prefer to have the larger OVF viewfinder, but will never use that... Well, maybe sometimes.

There are a great many features I have yet to try out, but my bread & butter settings are all there. The additional joystick I have no use for, already using the multi-selector button to move around. And, of course, setting my multi-selector-center button to magnify is the first thing I did. Works fine.

I’m sure readers know all of this, so I’ am just confessing my Yes for this camera.

Here is a shot with the APO-El Nikkor 105mm on the Cambo Actus of some New England Asters.

[Jakov Minić]

Michael, it's good to hear that you are enjoying the camera, while I am enjoying your images.

[Frank Fremerey]

Today I had a long chat with my brick & mortar vendor. He has a long waiting list of people ready to buy but no product is showing up at his door since I left the building at 7th September with my piece of cake. He also cannot get his hands on any MB-D18 which I preordered with the camera, let alone the ES-2, which is due in October.

Any better news concerning availability from other places?

[Bjørn Rørslett]

My Nikon rep told me yesterday there are 7-8000+ units backlog in Europe for the battery grip alone. The back order list for the camera itself must be significantly longer.

[Michael Erlewine]

I am liking the new D850 the more I get used to it. For my work, it is about perfect.  Here are a few shots taken yesterday, two with the Nikkor CRT lens and one with the legendary Noct Nikkor. They are marked.