edu LIBRARY

After teasing us a few weeks back, Nikon has finally pulled the lid off the D850, unveiling a series of product images and a full list of features and specifications. In what Nikon calls “the new benchmark in DSLR image quality”, the Nikon D850 is, in many ways, a more compact, more affordable version of the company’s D5 flagship DSLR. We’ll get into the specifics in just a moment, but this modern, rugged DSLR hangs with the D5 in all but a few key areas… while costing $3,000 less, which makes this camera a bargain for pros and advanced enthusiasts. Even crazier, Nikon seems to be chasing Medium Format users by stuffing a 45.7-megapixels onto this Full-Frame sensor (although I’m sure my Medium Format friends will call shenanigans, still, these files and images are going to be massive).

If you shoot portraits, landscapes, wildlife, or weddings and other events, you’re gonna want to check this out.

Let’s dig in, shall we?

Image Sensor & Processor

The Nikon D850 boasts an all new 45.7MP FX Format BSI CMOS image sensor (a first for Nikon) without an optical low pass filter (OLPF). Nikon says the BSI image sensor is more efficient, offering more dynamic range and less noise; ditching the filter improves overall sharpness. The EXPEED 5 image processor, from the D5 and D500, is here too, offering speed and excellent ISO performance with a native ISO 64 – 25,600 range that expands to 32 – 102,400. Users can opt to shoot in three different RAW files sizes — Large (45.7-MP), Medium (25.6-MP) and Small (11.4-MP) — and in five formats — FX, 1.2x, DX, 5:4, or 1:1 square — with viewfinder shading to help frame your shots.

 

Auto Focus, Speed, & Metering

The new Nikon D850 also boasts Nikon’s flagship AF system, utilizing the D5’s 153-point, Multi-Cam 20K AF system, which features 99 cross type sensors, 15 of which are sensitive to F8. The center point is actually capable of focusing down to -4EV, which is one stop beyond what the what the 180K pixels RGB metering system is capable of handling.

In addition to blazing AF capabilities, the D850 can shoot up to 7fps in full res lossless RAW with the standard battery OR up to 9fps with the optional MB-D18 battery grip and the EN-EL18a/b batteries (from the D5). The buffer for continuous shooting is 51 frames of 14-bit lossless RAW capture, 170 frames of 12-bit lossless, and only limited by your memory card when shooting in .jpeg.

There’s also an AutoPicture Control mode, for those who want the camera to fine-tune tone curves and colors, and Silent Shooter Mode, for wedding and wildlife photographers, which engages the e-shutter, allowing for up to 6fps at full resolution OR up to 30fps in 8.6MP DX image area mode. Nikon has also included a Focus Stacking feature, which allows you to take up to 300 still images in 0-30-second intervals, in total silence, at adjustable focus step intervals to help you capture stunning macro and landscape images (but you need to process these in third party software).

Build & Ergonomics

The Nikon D850 may look like any standard DSLR, but there are a number of subtle improvements over the D810. The magnesium alloy body is more rugged than ever before and features more O-ring weather sealing. To help with low-light shooting, you can opt to have the camera’s buttons light up. There are dual memory card slots — one UHS II capable SD slot, and one XQD slot. And, the grip has been revised to add depth and length, making the camera easier to hold.

Displays

In addition to Nikon’s “widest & brightest” 0.75x optical viewfinder ever, the D850 also features a 3.2″ tilting touchscreen rear LCD display (2.3M dots) with a lot of new touch-functionality that allows you to not only do things like activate the shutter and adjust focus, but also scrub videos during playback. You can also use Focus Peaking in either Live View (for stills) or Full HD video recording to help to achieve sharpness exactly where you need and want.

Flash

Unlike the D810, the D850 forgoes a built-in flash (this was done to help with the improved weather sealing), but you do get support for Radio Flash Control (like the D5 and D500 DSLRs) when using the optional SB-5000 Speedlight and WR-A10 or WR-R10 accessories.

 

Video & Time-Lapse

Not just aimed at still photographers, the D850 wants to be a multi-media production tool for videographers and filmmakers. It can shoot up to 4K UHD @ 30p or 24p and uses the full sensor width (there’s no crop factor to consider with your lenses). If you use the HDMI output rather than internal memory cards for recording, you can capture uncompressed 4:2:2 8-bit 4K UHD footage, which is both great to have, but it would have been better to hit 10-bit to match the HDR capabilities of modern 4K displays.

In Full HD 1080p, the D850 can record up to 60p for native files as well as 120fps for creating in-camera slow motion (the 120fps shots are saved as 24p files for playback). There’s also a built-in stereo microphone, inputs for headphones and an external mic, as well as a new audio attenuator to regulate sound levels.

In addition to video capabilites, you can set the D850 to record 8K time-lapses (requires assembling in third-party software) OR 4K time-lapses (in-camera). In fact, there’s a new interval timer menu option that will drop all your still image files into a separate folder and file numbering system so you can manage your sequences easier. And there’s even a SILENT time-lapse mode that only actuates the shutter for the first frame, then uses the E-shutter for the remainder of your time-lapse. This is great not only for wildlife scenarios, but will also save wear and tear on the shutter itself (time-lapses can be up to 9,999 frames) and battery life.

 

Battery Life

Speaking of which, the standard D850 battery will be capable of shooting up to 1,840 full resolution still images or approximately 70 minutes of 4K video in a single charge. If you add in that extra battery grip that also improves continuous shooting capabilities, you’re looking at 5,140 shots per charge. (Wow!)

Negative Digitizer Option

This feature requires a $150 (ES-2) Film Digitizing Adapter and a compatible Micro-NIKKOR Lens, but if you have old 35mm film negatives and positives (in color or black & white), you can use the D850 as a high-resolution scanner.

Wireless

The D850 includes built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth as well as Nikon Snapbridge connectivity, which will send a 2MP version of those massive 45MP files to your phone for instant social sharing and/or allow you to control the D850 remotely from any iOS or Android device. You can also opt to add the Nikon WT-7A Wireless Transmitter, which connects to the D850 via USB and enables deeper security while allowing you to upload files to an FTP site and/or control the camera via any web browser in the world.

D850_BF1B_front.jpg

Pricing & Availability

The Nikon D850 will be available in September (2017) with a $3,299.95 MSRP (the same original price of the D810).

Exclusive Livestream Event

If you’d like to learn more about the D850 from the folks at Nikon, please visit nikonusa.com/live on August 29 @ 6:00PM EDT.