Buy D850 or wait for its replacement

donaldejose

Really amazing. Check out the dogwood example.

https://www.friedmanphoto.com/p615126035

I can see why you are impressed WEF. Full Frame will never be able to do this. Digital Medium Format looks fabulous; but I do not see its utility for "normal" photography. There is just no need for that much detail, even in once in a lifetime wedding photos. Subjects which will be printed huge are needed and how many subjects will be printed that huge?

WestEndFoto

donaldejose said:

Really amazing. Check out the dogwood example.

https://www.friedmanphoto.com/p615126035

I can see why you are impressed WEF. Full Frame will never be able to do this. Digital Medium Format looks fabulous; but I do not see its utility for "normal" photography. There is just no need for that much detail, even in once in a lifetime wedding photos. Subjects which will be printed huge are needed and how many subjects will be printed that huge?

Oh, I missed that section. Spraynpray can have a look.

Pistnbroke

Well I bought the D850 rather than the Z7.. I wanted something to use for bird photography when I reduce kit after my last wedding ( April) . The focus on the Z7 was not up to it .I do find the focus on the D850 to be fantastic. I don't think you realize how accurate repeatable focus improves sharpness . ie A 200-500 on a D7200 v D850 is a different animal even though the 7200 poi is greater.
Paid £2000 (RRP in UK £3400) and about £100 to get it to 9FPS. There is enough latitude in that price to re sell it at a later date for a Z9 or whatever. I also wanted to use my Samyang 14mm which wont work on the Z7 and have the option to use the Tam 100-400 which again wont work ( Wifes bird lens on her D7200)

retread

With the announcement of the Sony 60mp camera what are the chances the D850 replacement will be 60mp? I have not made the jump from DX to FX yet but put two CFexpress cards in it and I will start saving my $$$. The files will be big enough that high frame rates will take fast cards to stay ahead of the buffer.

Capt_Spaulding

I wonder, is there a point of diminishing returns wrt resolution? I suspect we may have passed it.

mhedges

retread said:

With the announcement of the Sony 60mp camera what are the chances the D850 replacement will be 60mp? I have not made the jump from DX to FX yet but put two CFexpress cards in it and I will start saving my $$$. The files will be big enough that high frame rates will take fast cards to stay ahead of the buffer.

I think there will be a 60 mp mirrorless. I'm not so sure there will be a 60 mp D850 replacement DSLR.

donaldejose

My bet is 99% odds the D860 will use the new Sony 61mp sensor unless for some reason it is a mirrorless sensor design which cannot be used in a DSLR. However, I think all mirrorless features in the sensor will simply be adopted to Live View use in a DSLR. In a way this gives you a hybrid camera with a traditional OVF and also an EVF when using the rear LCD in live view with a hoodman loupe type product which attaches with magnets like magmod products. Also, a Z8 will use that sensor. If Nikon produces a Z body equivalent to the D5, as they have said they would do, I would expect that to have a 24 mp sensor, like using the Sony A9 sensor, because such a camera would need a fast read out. I would also support Nikon returning to the D3, D3s and D3x scheme by putting that 61 mp sensor into a Nikon D6x body or a Nikon Z9x body. We will just have to wait to see. The D3x was not a sales success for Nikon so perhaps they won't do it again but I don't see why giving pro body users a choice of sensor would not boost sales which would offset the additional costs involved. Nikon should think about closing the gap with the Fuji GFX100 and undercutting the price by many thousands of dollars. A D6x or Z9x could do that.

PB_PM

The latest info on this site is that a D850 replacement is supposedly still a long way off, as in a year or more. Nikon is focused in the Z series now, as they should be, because they are way behind on mirrorless.

tc88

D850 is already category leading. If there is an update to D850, it will be like an update from D800 to D810. Nikon is moving to Z-mount and mirrorless. It's a pain to implement a hybrid AF where the AF points don't line up and the additional usefulness is doubtful. The goal for Nikon is to have mirrorless AF as good as standalone DSLR AF module asap, not wasting time on some other dead end solutions.

WestEndFoto

Nikon will upgrade the D750 and D5 in the next six months in my opinion.

spraynpray

Capt_Spaulding said:

I wonder, is there a point of diminishing returns wrt resolution? I suspect we may have passed it.

I think so too.

donaldejose

WEF: "Nikon will upgrade the D750 and D5 in the next six months in my opinion." Agreed. And neither will use the Sony 60mp sensor. Nikon will use it in a Z8 and in a D860 and likely out next year.

Diminishing returns? Depends upon two things: 1. Your end use and 2. your priorities. 1. If your end use is the internet all you need is a 12 mp sensor or if your end use is prints no larger than poster size all you need is a 36mp sensor. 2. If your priority is dynamic range at base ISO, low noise at base ISO and as much detail as possible you will be willing to trade off the downsides of slower fps, bigger file sizes and high ISO which likely are the diminishing returns of high megapixel full frame sensors. I have read many places that full frame sensors will "top out" at about 100mp. Up to that point the gain will be greater than the loss in some features.

Once the new Sony is tested by reviewers each of us will better be able to determine whether or not the additional gain over whatever we are using now is worth having. I suspect it will be unless we are realistic about our practical end use. "24 mp is enough for anything" is likely true 90% of the time.

WestEndFoto

donaldejose said:

WEF: "Nikon will upgrade the D750 and D5 in the next six months in my opinion." Agreed. And neither will use the Sony 60mp sensor. Nikon will use it in a Z8 and in a D860 and likely out next year.

Diminishing returns? Depends upon two things: 1. Your end use and 2. your priorities. 1. If your end use is the internet all you need is a 12 mp sensor or if your end use is prints no larger than poster size all you need is a 36mp sensor. 2. If your priority is dynamic range at base ISO, low noise at base ISO and as much detail as possible you will be willing to trade off the downsides of slower fps, bigger file sizes and high ISO which likely are the diminishing returns of high megapixel full frame sensors. I have read many places that full frame sensors will "top out" at about 100mp. Up to that point the gain will be greater than the loss in some features.

Once the new Sony is tested by reviewers each of us will better be able to determine whether or not the additional gain over whatever we are using now is worth having. I suspect it will be unless we are realistic about our practical end use. "24 mp is enough for anything" is likely true 90% of the time.

Well said. I think that the ultimate resolution is going to be constrained by lens design, not sensor design. To benefit from a larger sensor, a lens has to get sharper and sharper at wide apertures, since diffraction becomes noticeable as the lower apertures.

FreezeAction

spraynpray said:

Capt_Spaulding said:

I wonder, is there a point of diminishing returns wrt resolution? I suspect we may have passed it.

I think so too.

I think so too for most everyone who shoots for anything other than larger mural jobs. Then all bets are off. Daylight images captured for panoramas will benefit. It may just put and end to the need to stitch. For 99% of what I do 24MP is more than sufficient but for boardroom murals I'd welcome 200MP. Even if only .1 frames a second.

aclearspot

missed the last $500 off, now its back. The dilemma is how far away is the replacement and how much the msrp is. If the replacement is the same price, I'd wait a few months.

Pistnbroke

Non of the current mirrorless Nikons can match the D850 so go buy one .I always buy grey so do that to save the $$$ look at www.e-infinity .com

mhedges

I would expect the D850 successor to cost at least what the D850 launched at, so $3300. Possibly a bit more.

To be honest at this point I'm not convinced we will get a D850 replacement, given the state of the market. I'd say if you have a need for a D850 like camera now then I'd just get one. (Actually I'd get a Z7II but that's a different story)

bcmmike

mhedges said:

I would expect the D850 successor to cost at least what the D850 launched at, so $3300. Possibly a bit more.

To be honest at this point I'm not convinced we will get a D850 replacement, given the state of the market. I'd say if you have a need for a D850 like camera now then I'd just get one. (Actually I'd get a Z7II but that's a different story)

Agreed, I would love a D850 replacement but who knows when/if it will ever come. The 850 is an amazing camera, buy one if you can. I've actually pondered picking up a second one just in case this is the swan song unit.