Nikon D 850 is very good

[stngoldberg]

While I don’t consider myself any kind of technical expert evaluator of photography hardware and software (although I have been a serious and passionate amateur photographer for over 40 years), I have owned the Nikon D500, D800 and D810; and I notice a very sizable improvement in the ability to recover shadow and highlight detail when using my new Nikon D 850.
I also own the Phase One 100mpx back and IMHO, the Nikon D 850 comes very close in comparison regarding resolution and/or overall image quality.
I must admit my experience is limited to Nikon’s excellent 500mm f4 lens at this point and I must also admit that I use Hasselblad lenses on my P1 back; however I am reporting that this D 850 sensor is really good and a significant improvement over the D 810.
Stanley

 

[Paul2660]

While I don’t consider myself any kind of technical expert evaluator of photography hardware and software (although I have been a serious and passionate amateur photographer for over 40 years), I have owned the Nikon D500, D800 and D810; and I notice a very sizable improvement in the ability to recover shadow and highlight detail when using my new Nikon D 850.
I also own the Phase One 100mpx back and IMHO, the Nikon D 850 comes very close in comparison regarding resolution and/or overall image quality.
I must admit my experience is limited to Nikon’s excellent 500mm f4 lens at this point and I must also admit that I use Hasselblad lenses on my P1 back; however I am reporting that this D 850 sensor is really good and a significant improvement over the D 810.
Stanley

Hi Stanley.

I was myself a bit disappointed, coming from the Sony chipped D800 and D810. I don't see the same push I had seen in both of these cameras even at base ISO. The higher ISO ranges are still a toss up, but the D850 for me is still an improvement due to the Full ES and fact you can fire the shutter from the LCD, via touch like on a P1 back. Love this and use it a lot. Focus peaking is excellent also. The default sharpening on the LCD can fool me at times, leaving me with images that are not quite tack sharp, but again I am getting used to this issue and double checking focus. The tilting LCD also is a huge improvement for my work, as I now can get low and still see what I am doing without having to cram into the optical or try and see the LCD (non tilting).

I did have worked with the D850 only once at night, and it seemed to possibly have the old white dot issue of the D810, but I need to test that again.

It's been confirmed that this chip is not a Sony, not sure who did fab it however.

Colors are nice, and seem very true, C1's default profile is very good also. C1 lacks the pano tools that I love in LR, or CC so depending on the image I go either way.

LR seems to my eyes to get just a bit more detail at the expense of noise, where as C1 produces a very clean file, albeit, slightly softer in the finer detail, most of which are recoverable with sharpening.

Amazing that the camera is still not in stock at B&H or Adorama, almost 6 months after launch, Nikon has done well with it. Not to mention their latest lenses.

Paul Caldwell

 

[jagsiva]

Been a D800 and D800E user for a while and recently went to the D850, and could not agree more on it being a worthwhile upgrade. I also use an IQ3100, RM3Di, and XF, as sometimes it is a toss-up to take the more "portable" kit

 

[DougDolde]

I love my new D850, it's better in every respect except resolution than the Phase One IQ180 I sold. Not to mention lighter and more field friendly.