D850 Questions

[knumbnutz]

Hi Everyone,
a question or two for those with the D850...

I don't have a lot of lenses these days, 14-24, 24-70, 70-200vr2, 105 and sigma 120-300 and a D800.
If you have any of these, how do they perform on the D850 ?

Is the upgrade worth it or more importantly, what did you find were the big pluses when you did upgrade to the D850 (apart from the obvious pixel gain) ?

Thanks

[swifty]

I don’t actually own a D850 but looked at it pretty closely as I had contemplated buying one.
From my research, the most noteworthy improvements to me included:
- AF module and dedicated joystick AF selector
- iso 64
- viewfinder

[arthurking83]

I'm still considering it.
Of course the Z7 and Z6 have changed the possible update path, but subject the mirrorless's body ergonomics, I still have the D850 as an upgrade option.

For me probably the most useful upgrade reasons for the D850(from D800E) is going to be the electronic shutter option.
You can work around mirror slap IQ degradation, but on 10x macro in some instances you can't avoid shutter slap. So for me EFC is a major consideration for the update and whatever else comes with it with a new body.

Pixels will be nice to have.

I read comments from experts that more pixels isn't what people want, or need, but with every camera purchase I've made, basically doubling or tripling the camera pixel count, I've found those additional pixels useful!

Like Swifty said: many reviews say that AF is a major update, and I don't doubt that ISO64 would be a handy feature to have access too.
Same with the AF point joystick selector, I dare say would be extremely useful in some situations.

Sorry can't help with actual feedback, but I doubt you'd see any issues with the lenses you noted.
And in all seriousness, that was the one aspect of the additional pixel density I never felt that any of my original lenses felt they were underperforming on 'my next camera' and I have no reason to expect they will on any future camera.

eg. Nikon 500/8 mirror lens is not reknown for it's razor sharpness, yet I never found that it was less sharp on the D800E than it ever was on the D300, compared to how it was on the D70s!

The point here is that I'm not a pixel peeper. While I will peek at individual pixels at 100%, it's not usually for that nth percent of sharpness, it's more like CA and other aberrations.
So I'm not expecting the update from 36Mp to 45Mp to be any different for me than it was from 6Mp to 12Mp to then 36Mp! ;)

[Bear Dale]

I'm loving the IQ and the cropping ability of the D850.

These are the current lenses I have -

Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4G
Nikkor AF-S Micro 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR
Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED IF
Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f2.8E ED VR
Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR
Nikkor AF-S 200-500mm f5.6E ED VR

[Lance B]

What camera are you using now? Where are you coming from?

There is no doubt that the cropping ability is amazing. However, if you do not need to crop, or you only crop a little, or you do not print huge prints then the extra res is possibly an overkill or unwarranted. I came from the D810 and there is not a big difference in the actual sharpness of the images at normal viewing sizes, especially if you're looking at your images on less than a 4k screen and even with a 4k screen you need to pixel peep. Hell, even a full size D700 image is 4256 x 2832 and a 4k screen is "only" 3840 x 2160 and thus the D700 full image more than covers the screen. It's amazing how good even a D700 image looks at full res on a 4k screen with a good lens. So, the extra res of the D850 will not be immediately evident by looking at it on a 4k screen. The overall IQ is better on the D850, but this is more due to the fact that it is a later iteration of the sensor technology and EXPEED processor etc. There is a slight benefit of the IQ over the D810 but it is minor. Also, to get the best from the D850 there are times when you need the best technique. No, it probably won't look worse than a lower res body viewed at the same size, but if you do crop or print huge then you will need the best technique to stop any camera shake from taking the edge of the image. Again, I stress, it is only when you view large or crop that this may be evident, it probably won't look worse than a lower res body viewed at the same size and distance.

If you need to crop, like if you shoot birds, then there are advantages to the extra res. but the real big advantage for us birders is the AF speed and accuracy which is quite a jump over previous Nikon cameras in this range - D700/D800/D800E/D810. You can also get high fps with the grip and EN-EL18b battery up to 9 fps and 7 fps with standard battery. The OVF is larger and clearer also.

So, to sum up. The D850 is great for us birders/wildlife shooters due to the extra res for cropping and for the super fast and accurate AF, 7-9fps and better VF. My thoughts are, it's better to have the extra res and rarely need it than to not have it and need it.

I have the following lenses:

Tamron 15-30 f2.8 VC
Nikon 16-35 f4 VR
Nikon 20 f1.8G
Nikon 24 f1.4G
Nikon 24-70 f2.8E VR
Sigma 35 f1.4 Art
Nikon 105 f1.4E
Nikon 105 f2.8 Micro
Nikon 70-200 f2.8E FL VR
200-500 f5.6E VR
400 f2.8E FL VR

Now, some of these lenses are simply stupid sharp and they do benefit at a pixel level with the D850. Lenses like the 105 f1.4E, the 70-200 f2.8E VR and 400 f2.8E (possibly the sharpest Nikon lens ever) show ridiculous levels of resolving power. If that's what you want to see, then the D850 is what you need.

[Neil Robert]

What do you think of the Tamron 15-30?

[Lance B]

What do you think of the Tamron 15-30?

I think it is a superb lens. I sold my 14-24 when I got the Tamron 15-30.