What I cannot understand is that an important product like the D850 plus accessoires is not available for nearly 4 months now. Any insight into what might be the problem?
Commenting on NR to the post 'Hercules Rising', Thom Hogan suggested the lower yield with the D850 sensor is to blame'
to Quote: "Thom Hogan • 5 days ago
Look, on a camera like the D8xx, the development is somewhat predictive. Since it would use the D5/D500 stuff, the basic body/controls would have had a full year to be realized by Jan 2017. That part's easy. Thus, mules of the new body would have been ready in late 2016, early 2017.
The sensor is the tougher part. You really need to lock that down at least six months prior to launch, as you need to verify it is what you think it is, and you need a three-month window to get production grade samples out and understand your yield.
Nikon appears to have wanted to launch the D850 in July 2017 with the 100th anniversary. Launch, as in announce in July, ship in August. That would have required the new sensor to be locked back around the start of the year. Which brings all these mentioned dates into play for prototypes.
It's clear that the D850 didn't launch as expected. I suspect that sensor yield has played a part in that delay and the lowish volume of units that have hit the stores. At least that's what I hear from my sources."
"Again, to my knowledge the D850 sensor is done on the old Toshiba fab now owned by Sony. Also, there are rumors that Sony warned Nikon about possible yield issues, though I've not gotten any details about why."