Nikon D850 reviewed: Made for all professionals

Introduction

It’s been a good three and a half months since Nikon first teased us with the possibility of the D850 full-frame camera, and we’ve since followed up on that report with a leak of the specs and features of the camera, as well as a hands-on feature at an event held by Nikon Singapore. We’ve recently had a chance to spend an extended period of time with the camera, so here’s a more detailed performance review.

In terms of positioning, you could say the D850 takes over from the D810 as the “extreme high resolution” camera of the Nikon family. Call it the medium format challenger if you will, but this category of cameras basically offers high resolving power in a 35mm format body – 45.7MP worth in fact. That’s quite a bit more than the 36.3MP of the D810, and overtakes the Sony A7R II (and the new A7R III). However, as far as megapixel count goes for a 35mm format camera, it's placed a little behind the 50.6MP of Canon EOS 5DS R from 2015.

The D850 is also the first Nikon DSLR to use a backside illumination sensor. If you’ll recall, that’s what Sony first introduced with their A7R II, and this design allows light to reach the photodiodes on the sensor more efficiently, which means better low light performance as each photodiode is able to capture more light. Thus, the D850 has a native ISO range of 64-25,600; expandable to 32-102400 equivalent.

Like the Nikon D5, it also uses the EXPEED 5 image-processing engine, which offers both superior noise reduction and the ability to shoot high-speed continuously at 9 fps with the optional MB-D18 Multi-Power Battery Pack or 7 fps with the regular EN-EL15a battery. 7fps may not seem like much compared to the Sony A9’s incredible 20fps, but given the camera is essentially moving about 46MB of data with every shot, it is impressive indeed.

It also gets the autofocusing system from the D5 camera, giving it a total of 153 focus points, with 99 cross-type sensors. That’s a massive upgrade over the D810, which only had a total of 51 points (15 of which were the cross-type variety). When using Live View mode, the D850 also offers a smaller focus point for more precise selection.

On the video front, the D850 vastly improves from the D810 as it now offers 4K UHD with the option to use ISO sensitivities up to ISO 102,400 in video mode. Add to that the ability to do x4 and x5 slow-motion video in-camera with the added ease of Auto ISO, and you have a much improved video making tool.

Design and Handling 

As mentioned in our earlier coverage, the Nikon D850 keeps to the tested DSLR form of previous cameras, but gets the latest handling upgrades too. The focus selector joystick from the recent D5 and D500 cameras has been carried over to this camera, making for easier focus point selection. And the rear LCD finally allows touch based inputs for the menu system, making the navigation faster and more direct!

That’s something we’ve been asking ever since mirrorless cameras first adopted this type of menu navigation, so it’s good to see that the traditional DSLR makers are finally coming round to the idea. After all, no sense consolidating everything on a nice grid-based menu (the “i” menu) in this case, when you can’t jump directly to one of the options and have to rely on single direction moves via four-way navigation selector.

We were hoping the use of a monocoque body in the earlier D750 meant that we would see the same carried over to the D850, but that hasn’t been the case, as the D850 sticks to the usual magnesium alloy build that’s dust and weather resistant. In fact, the D850 weighs 30g more than the D810 at 915g. Thankfully, it maintains a deep enough front grip for easy handling despite the body being 3mm less deep than the D810 overall.

One thing that is significantly different though, is the fact that the D850 no longer has a pop-up flash. Nikon says this gives it better weather resistance, but we personally would have preferred to see it kept, as the extra light source can be handy as a fill flash, or more importantly, to allow for wireless control of off-camera flash units via Nikon’s Creative Lighting System (CLS).

Additionally, the shift of buttons layout up top does allow for slightly better handling though. The new collection of buttons follows what we saw on the D500 and we personally found it easier to reach for the movie recording button without having to remove our eye from the viewfinder.

Speaking of the viewfinder, the D850 comes with a new optical viewfinder that offers 0.75 times magnification – the highest ever offered by a Nikon FX-format DSLR. It contains an aspherical lens and a new condenser lens with organic EL display elements, so the entire scene should be easily visible even if you wear spectacles.

Imaging Performance

Handling and resolution improvements aside, we’d say the biggest improvement you’ll see moving from the D810 to the D850 is the overall responsiveness of the camera. Whether it’s taking photos, going through the menus, or even reviewing images, the camera is just that much snappier to react. That’s a big testament to strength of the new EXPEED 5 imaging processor, and opens options in terms of the subjects that can be captured.

For example, we tried taking images of racers in the Singapore MX Beach Race 2017 at Sentosa, and were pleased to see that the camera could quite handily keep up. Autofocus seemed to be tracking the riders fairly well as they went past, so the main concern was choosing a fast enough shutter speed to prevent motion blur and of course, our own reaction speeds. Overall, we’d say we got a hit rate of about 70%, which is certainly an acceptable figure for what is meant to be more of a studio camera.

What we will say is that the AF point can be hard to make out in low light situations. The AF point only flashes red the first time your finger goes down on the shutter, making it hard to tell if the camera is tracking properly as the AF points stay black the rest of the time. Still, when it’s locked on, the results are pretty impressive. With this shot, there’s sand flying all over the place but still the camera stays focused on the rider.

Of course, as with all high resolution cameras (36MP and up) the effect of depth of field is much more pronounced, so the AF selector joystick becomes all the more important for accurate selection. For example, in this shot of the Chocolate Pansy Butterfly, the depth of field just barely covers the butterfly and the leaf below it, so you’ll probably be leveraging on higher shutter speeds to get both the depth of field you need and the shutter speed necessary.

We have to note that D850’s implementation of Silent Shutter mode only works during Live View mode, so if you’re looking to use that to capture dance performances (or to sensitive wildlife that scare easily) you’ll be limited to 6fps during the burst. That’s not that bad a trade-off, but not being able to keep the viewfinder to your eye will certainly affect stability some, so we’d recommend mounting the camera on a monopod if the venue allows you to do so. Autofocus can only happen before each burst, so you’ll have to take that into account too.

In terms of low light performance, we thought the D850 performed better than the D810, while understandably lagging behind the D5. Noise is very well controlled at ISO 6400, and even at ISO 12,800 a good amount of detail can be made out, so that’s the max we’d go to with this camera. Go above it (as with this shot of The Fullerton Hotel) and most detail is lost to noise reduction.

Sample Images

Conclusion

The D850 is certainly a big upgrade over the D810, and we’re not just talking about megapixel numbers.

The autofocus is much improved, with almost triple the number of focus points and a more usable spread across the frame. The addition of the focus lever makes it easier to select your focus point too, while the implementation of touch with the rear LCD means it’s easier to go through the menus when you do need to change something that’s not already accessible via the physical buttons. Add to that the fact that you get a much bigger buffer and faster continuous capture, and it’s easy to see how this is a much better camera.

To get the best out of the sensor, you’ll want to use the camera in good light, but the improved responsiveness of the camera makes it that much more versatile, so we can see more photographers taking this on as a camera for most (if not all) occasions. While it does cost a bit more at launch than the D810 it replaces (S$4,999 vs. S$4,888 - body only prices), the improved performance and significant handling upgrades should make this an easy upgrade to justify for photographers on the Nikon system.

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