Nikon D850, Worth It?
- Gareth Squance
- Nov 3, 2017
- 6 min read
I have used Nikon Imaging since 2006. I have been through more Nikon bodies than I care to admit. There were to significant turning points in my mind, regarding Nikon Imaging. The D3 and the D700. These two cameras changed how I worked. They changed how taking photos under difficult lighting situations, under pressure, became not just a little bit easier, but a lot easier.
I have had each body since the D3 except the D5. My D4s and D810 were the perfect partners in crime. October 2017, I decided I was down sizing. I sold my beloved D4s and bought the much smaller D850. I have had just over three weeks with it and guess what? Its a game changer.
Aside from a few niggles, this is without a doubt the best camera I have ever used. For the record, I have used numerous Canon bodies and their glorious L lenses.
The Nikon D850 has made me want to photography things that I don't normally photograph! In other words, its inspired me to get out and try different things.
If you are researching the D850 and come across my blog post, you will no doubt be familiar with the spec.
If not, here is the link https://www.europe-nikon.com/en_GB/product/digital-cameras/slr/professional/d850/camera-overview
I like to photograph people. I love to capture who they are and project that in my images.
Nikon D850 105mm F/1.4 ISO 640
This image was taken at a book signing. Its of a good friend of mine. The light was particularly tricky. Sure, you have the little reading lamp. The D850 with the 105mm made easy work of this. Recovering highlights was a piece of cake using LR Classic. There is a ton of shadow detail which I didn't need.
Nikon D850 105mm F/1.4 ISO 64
Shooting at ISO 64 is simply glorious. This is of my little girl in an expression of Autumn. The shutter speed was at 1/1250. Everything that needs to be pin sharp is. The AF when taking this was set to single spot continuous, which is my default for moving people and portraits. I try and get right on the eye ball just beneath the lashes. The D850 didn't slip at all. Shooting at 7fps got the the shot I was after without leaves covering any important features.
Nikon D850 24-70mm @70mm F/2.8 ISO 320
In preparation for a wedding last week. This little room is tricky to photograph in. I have done it a few times. The sun was beaming in through a top light window. There are no other natural light sources in this room. I tend not to use flash until later on a wedding day such as first dance etc. Just a heads up, using flash is where I encountered some issues. Ill expand in a bit.
What amazed me was the detail in this image. If you zoom in you can see a full portrait of the make-up artist in the bridesmaids eye. I'm not kidding. I seriously shouted something out loud when editing. At 45.4MP, the detail is astounding. don't get me wrong, the D810 is amazing but this, its next level stuff.
Nikon D850 24-70mm @45mm F/2.8 ISO 64
I am declaring now I am not a landscape photographer! I was travelling to an event with my son and saw the sun setting over Great Gransden in Cambridgeshire. I saw the sun going down. We parked up and jumped across a few fields until I found some trees that fitted a scene I had in mind. I wanted to test ISO 64 with some strong light. After a few hours at the event I finally rushed home and ran this photo and the next through LR. Man, my passion of photography has been reignited. This is a greatly reduced image. The sky and clouds are so creamy. I know that sounds odd, but that's the first thing I noticed. It just looked glorious. The image detail is eye popping. There are two birds flying across the middle of the image. You can zoom in on them and tell what kind of birds they are. Yeah, those two little specs to the right of the sun, they are birds. The light was so easy to tweak.
Nikon D850 24-70mm F/2.8 @24mm ISO 64
Another image from the same sunset just slightly later. Processing and viewing these images made me glow inside. I haven't had a camera that made me feel like that ever.
Nikon D850 24-70mm F/2.8 @70mm ISO 2200
This image is from the same room that had the tricky lighting. The detail retention at ISO 2200 is amazing. The noise is noticeable but applying the same processing as the D810, it vanishes. Light was relatively poor as the sun had gone behind some clouds so it was a diffused dull light pouring in through the little box window.
The next to images are off my little girl again. I am putting these up as one is at ISO 110 and the other at ISO 1400. They have had very little in the way of post to control notice. Granted, 1400 isn't high at all, but it gives you an idea of what to expect.
Nikon D850 24-70mm F/2.8 @70mm ISO 1400
Nikon D850 105mm F/1.4 ISO 110
To summaries on imaging, this is the best camera I have ever used. Its a lot lighter than my D4s (obvious) and using it, doesn't make me feel hindered in any way. In fact, I feel empowered and enthused by it.
the image quality has got me very excited and I am taking my camera every where with me right now.
So, earlier in the post I mentioned some niggles. well, here they are.
Photographing a first dance at a wedding is very specific for me. I tend to have one flash of camera to the side of the dance area. This helps me get a nice romantic side light with a lens flare. My default for this type of photo was my D4s. Moving to the D850, I have to be honest, I was a little worried. Why? you are probably asking. the D850 has the same AF system as the D5 and in theory should do a lot better than the D4s.
Well, honestly it didn't. I found that under the same lighting conditions as my D4s, my 24-70 on the D850 was doing a lot more hunting than it was on my D4s. Also, this is by no means a criticism of the D850, but my Pocket Wizards TT1 and TT5 for Nikon didn't work great with the D850. I had them set in basic trigger mode and my flash in fully manual. It should trigger normally as there was no ask for metering. Pocket Wizard have not issued support for the D850, I get that, but basic trigger mode is also hindered. My flash fired on the odd occasion, but it didn't fire at a few critical moments.
The sooner Pocket Wizard support the D850, the better.
I have also had a couple of freeze moments when reviewing images on my D850. I will be looking at images and checking focus, then boom, screen freeze. The little green light stays on to say the memory card is working but nothing happens. This has happened on both XQD and SD card set ups. The only way to get things back to normal, is to switch the camera off then on again. I am guessing this is a firmware bug.
My SB900 speed light on the D850 worked fine. I really like spontaneous photos and this was one of them.
Nikon D850 24-70mm F/2.8 @40mm ISO 9000
This was taken with TTL-BL enabled. Focus was quick and smooth, and the image quality at ISO9000 was nice.
Things you should consider also are memory cards! I had a few XQDs from my previous body and they are in my opinion, the best memory format to use. A 128gb XQD will hold about 1.2K full size compressed 14bit raw images. I do not shoot JPEG at all. Also, consider you computer. I edit on a 27" iMac 2013, 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7, 32 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 and its struggles a little when processing the Raw files.
The bottom line is this. The Nikon D850 is a game changer. I haven't even touched on the features such as snap bridge, wireless, focus staking, 4k video, time-lapse in camera, or the new touch screen. What I Have touched on are the areas that primarily matter to me. I am diving into the exciting new features.
I do have a question though, where does it really go from here? What comes next? The leap forward in image quality that Nikon have nailed, is astounding. Dynamic range is so good right now particularly at base ISO. I just wonder what has to happen in order to make the next jump forward as exciting. I feel like Nikon have caught up on the medium format at base ISO. I do wonder where we will go next.
Anyway, today is iPhone X release day. I am going to pick mine up shortly and cant wait to test the camera on it.
If you are pondering the purchase of the D850, don't. Just do it. :o)
I bought mine from https://www.cameracentreuk.com/ they had stock of the D850 last week. Their customer service was also great. Best of luck!
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