Nikon D850 previews, commentary - first reviews

[Akira]

The metal construction may contribute to the better heat dissipation.

[longzoom]

Not much, in this case, Akira. It is ease technologically, but more sensible  to shake and knock from the side, less so from the front. But what is really nice, the new shutter unit. Very smart shocks absorptions finally included, so, the biggest Nikon's problem with stable shutter inconsistency of 1/90 - 1/180 is , finally, addressed. At least I believe it now, so painful was it for half of the century.  Yeah, very smart shutter, almost equal to the one of D5.  Let me be sure its DR is, at least, equal to the D810 one, and I will take a very close look at it.  LZ   

[Eddie Draaisma]

I got approximately 2 / 2.5 mm shift on a ruler at 45 degrees between first and last shot in a 10 shot sequence with minimum step size, with the 105VR Micro at close range. Per step indeed much closer than 3.3mm.

The first and the tenth shot in the ten-shot stacking sequence with smallest step size; the difference thus covers 9 steps. The (metric!) ruler is approx. 45 degrees to the lens axis.

[Frank Fremerey]

I will open a new thread and post RAWs for your examination. I took shots of a running horse in full steam to show impressive AF performance even at f/1.4. pity I have so much work waiting to be done that I cannot give you more. So bare with me. The most important stuff I already wrote in #124: the Color rendition an differentiation of tones. Unbelievable. Now I can add that the AF is even better than the AF of the D500 and that silent shooting is useful only on more or less static subjects, because it cannot even follow the slowest movement of a horse. Children's movement? Unthinkable. In a wedding ceremony with f/4 or f/5.6 and sitting or standing or kneeling people. F/1.4  with a blade of 2mm sharpness? No way.

[Michael Erlewine]

Nikon Rumors as a VERY instructive and totally illustrated teardown and look inside the D850. Toshiba manufactured the sensor, for example.

https://nikonrumors.com/2017/09/08/nikon-d850-dslr-camera-teardown-more-durable-design-significant-improvements-in-many-areas.aspx/#more-115955

[Eddie Draaisma]

Toshiba manufactured the sensor, for example.

With Toshiba's sensor business bought by Sony, Sony can claim there is a Sony sensor inside... 

A quick scan with up to now 9 of my AF-S Nikkors, I haven't found one yet with which AF calibration is needed. Good, I hate to do AF calibration 

[Ilkka Nissilä]

They say the CPUs are made by Toshiba but I can't find anything about the sensor. Not that it matters.

[chambeshi]

All the more reassuring to read this dissection of a D850. One minor factor is "magnesium is not always perfect, it is more prone to salt water and shock." Besides the slow performance of the AF in Silent-Mode, there seems little to find fault in this new Nikon!

Nikon Rumors as a VERY instructive and totally illustrated teardown and look inside the D850. Toshiba manufactured the sensor, for example.

https://nikonrumors.com/2017/09/08/nikon-d850-dslr-camera-teardown-more-durable-design-significant-improvements-in-many-areas.aspx/#more-115955

[Ilkka Nissilä]

Well, there is the matter of wifi being locked down under Snapbridge still. I would like to have proper size jpgs automatically transferred to my iPad for display during studio shoots so that I can show the subjects where we are going and we can better interact. The small camera display can give a misleading idea.

I don't want a large 1000€ WT-7 with usb cable to be able to do that nor any cables dangling from the camera. Where there is a cable, someone someday will pull from it, causing potentially expensive damage. The tiny WT-6 for the D5 has the right idea - so why can one not plug that into the D850? Yes, I understand that the D5 has the communication electronics to support the WT-6 inside whereas the D850 does not but why not? This should work the same way in every camera. And not the Snapbridge way. Full control, fast transfer, no glitches.

I am happy to hear that people are finding the D850 AF to work well. My experience with the D5 AF is that it's fantastic but I did have to use fine tuning (a comparatively painless process on that camera).

[Eddie Draaisma]

New camera, new l-plate; the one-piece RRS design that I have for the D700 and the D800E is replaced by a two-piece design, not my piece of cake. Bummer.

[Akira]

For the wifi connection, Toshiba's new FlashAir SD card could be a better option.

[David H. Hartman]

An SD WiFi card in the camera can transmit to a device in the pocket for much greater range. I can't think of the name of the earlier WiFi card or the repeater thing. I'm going to eat my chips and queso blanco and be off to bed.

Dave

[MFloyd]

All the more reassuring to read this dissection of a D850. One minor factor is "magnesium is not always perfect, it is more prone to salt water and shock." ...

We should more talk about "magnesium alloy".  The oxydation characteristics of magnesium (alloy) are very well known.  Magnesium parts on my bikes / cars are covered with a thick layer of paint, and are due for frequent inspection; chipped paint, exposing bare magnesium, makes that the magnesium turns into white powder; so, one could imagine, what this could do to the structural integrity of a wheel, or frame ....

[chambeshi]

We should more talk about "magnesium alloy".  The oxydation characteristics of magnesium (alloy) are very well know.  Magnesium parts on my bikes / cars are covered with a thick layer of paint, and are due for frequent inspection; chipped paint, exposing bare magnesium, makes that the magnesium turns into white powder; so, one could imagine, what this could do to the structural integrity of a wheel, or frame ....

It would be unlikely for the interior of a D850 to experience corrosion unless it got wet - really very wet. This would be a disaster for any DSLR. There has been NG discussion beginning of this year about how metal vs polycarbonate lenses survive impacts and other abuse:
http://nikongear.net/revival/index.php/topic,5262.0.html

this article was cited wrt plastic lenses : https://wordpress.lensrentals.com/blog/2013/12/assumptions-expectations-and-plastic-mounts/

[Akira]

An SD WiFi card in the camera can transmit to a device in the pocket for much greater range. I can't think of the name of the earlier WiFi card or the repeater thing. I'm going to eat my chips and queso blanco and be off to bed.

Dave

Eye-Fi is now defunct, but the new FlashAir is compatible with Eye-Fi.