Not Quite News: The Nikon D850

We're well into the "update era" in camera manufacturing and marketing. Mark IIs, IIIs and IVs (are there any Vs yet? I might be negligent in keeping up with the Roman numeral news) are common appendages to camera names, 1s are turning to 2s, and so forth, and incremental improvements are often the not-quite-news when "new" cameras are introduced.

In principle, I applaud this. Refinement is an important aspect of industrial design. Most of the very best designed objects—from the claw hammer to the sailing sloop to the Porsche 911 to the Leica film rangefinder—blend purposeful objectives, innovation, and iteration. Iteration, or serial refinement, is, you might say, innovation in slow motion. The three aspects were unbalanced a bit during the digital transition because innovation was happening so insistently that iteration got slighted. I'm glad to see the balance beginning to return. (The paradigm was Fuji's recent overhauls of its two top-end cameras, which were exhaustive, transformative, and yet didn't change anything that didn't need to be changed.)

The Nikon D850 is the third refinement of the original D800. It's a classic update, adding more of the good things the camera already had, trickle-down from the higher-end models, and refinements based on user feedback.

Of course, not everyone is happy. One reviewer criticized the lack of a feature I don't even understand much less remember; some of those people who felt 36 MP was not enough also feel that ten MP more is not enough more; there are a few features missing, which someone, somewhere, will always lament, even if it's the "Nearest McDonald's" locator tab in the third GPS sub-screen. But for most people the D850 amounts to Nikon's best camera (or at least one of its three or four best) refined and made better.

That still doesn't quite amount to news. Thom Hogan, who is both Nikon's biggest critic and biggest fan, was able to say of it, "Revolutionary or a big wow? No. Nikon has done the kind of quiet-but-solid iteration here that we want them and expect them to. Very careful, very considered, all a step forward from where we've been."

So it's the classic update: not enough to get you to upgrade if you already have a D810, but now the obvious new one to buy if you want or need a new D8xx and don't have one yet. The D800 lineage, keeping up to date, in keeping with the current era.

Mike

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Dave Wilson: "I have a Sony RX100 Mark V—and very refined it is, too."

Robert Harshman: "I have a D810, and the D850 is enough to get me to upgrade. Have my D810 on Craigslist and have ordered a D850. The silent shooting mode is a major new feature. Great for macro work, sport shooting like golf, wildlife, and fast gigapans from a automated pano head like the Seitz VR2. Add in autofocus stacking bracketing, auto in-camera 4K time lapse and many more refinements and I'm sold. Looking forward to it!"

kirk tuck: "I have my shipping box set aside for the nearly inevitable recall, in the event that I ever buy another Nikon. I was a three time victim of the D750 and also the (not) proud owner of a D600 (the 'oil slick and garbage' model). That's enough free (non) beta testing for one busy photographer. They want us to de-bug another camera model then they need to pay us...."

Garry Stasiuk: "Musta missed the D850's new Sony backlit sensor...."

Mike replies: Well, kinda, but kinda not. You're talking trees, I was talking forest. Just a little shift of perspective.

Frank Petronio: "With Nikon you never want to be the early adopter. However once the firmware is updated I will wind up with one or two since I do value auto-focusing performance over buzzwords."

Comments

[Kerry]

The Nikon D850 seems to be a fabulous DSLR for autofocus lenses - the best yet. But, with no focus screen optimized for manual focus with fast lenses and no electronic viewfinder, I don't understand why anyone who prefers handheld photography with manual focus lenses would ever purchase a current Nikon DSLR body. Have been using Nikon camera bodies for 50 years, and wish I could justify giving my cash to Nikon for the latest toy, but what good is a wonderful new camera body if you can't see the image clearly enough in the viewfinder to achieve critical focus? Why with more than 100 million Nikon F mount lenses sold is Nikon in this way failing to support their F mount for manual focus?

[tex andrews]

I am going to respectfully disagree on this one. This is a "refinement" of the first order, if(IF!) when it hits the streets we find that the improvements have indeed been implemented properly and there are no bugs. Its quantitative changes add up to qualitative change.

While many readers here would/might disagree, the 4K video is in itself a major upgrade---Nikon has lagged in this area. At work I have to use Canon 5DmkIV's, and the best thing about them is the video implementation (not w/o a couple of dumb flaws, though) and its touch screen. We wind up having to go back and forth from stills to video---I did just that this last week on a tight deadline--and I know other pro shooters who are now having to do the same thing, and they are not even wedding or events people.

[The Terrified Dad]

One day I will own a camera like this, but for the foreseeable future my Canon Rebel will have to do.

[Stephen Scharf]

The current era is mirrorless; there's no need for mirror boxes anymore.

Nikon still has not figured this out. One wonders if they ever will.

[John Camp]

When I started shooting, we (everybody) desperately needed improvements in photography just to keep our heads above water. We REALLY needed faster film, and those of us who were primarily media shooters REALLY needed better zooms. I used to struggle back and forth between Plus-X and Tri-X because Tri-X usually looked like gravel to me, while Plus-X was so slow I felt like I was pushing that boulder up the hill. We made do, of course, and a lot of good photos were taken, but there was some stuff you just couldn't do.

Now, though, I can't think of anything I really need. I have a D800. It's fast enough for everything I do, the resolution is more than I need, the form factor and ergonomics are just fine. In fact, I think it's as much as anybody needs. I'd like the 850 because...I'd like the 850. Pure GAS. I don't need it. When I went from a Spotmatic to an F3, I felt like there'd been revolution; when I went to an F4, another revolution; and the automation of the F5 was a revelation and just great...until I got my hands on a D3.

Now? Meh. I may some day get a more advanced Nikon, but I don't *need* it.

[Geoff Wittig]

Sounds like a fabulous camera, merging high speed with high resolution. The crop-free 4K video is very nice; Canon continues to cynically hobble their D-SLRs' video capabilities to avoid cannibalizing their profitable high end video camera business. This would drive me crazy if I had the faintest interest in video.

[Matt]

I say booorrring. There's nothing new that really matters.

Iterations are justified as long as the price remains the same. But every iteration has been more expensive than the previous model.

The few novelties do not justify the added cost, imo. It would be wiser to buy the second best d810 or d800 now that the d850 appears.

[Benjamin Marks]

I think we should all be happy that today's camera makers are actively seeking refinement. I am in awe of the specs of the market's most recent models, even as I realize that for a guy with a seven year old computer, Windows 7, and an actual licensed copy of Photoshop 5 I face a bigger hurdle than most to get "modern." New file types require the latest software, new file sizes require the latest hardware -- all of it acts as a multiplier in my current technological cul-de-sac.

So two weeks ago, I went in a different direction. I bought a used Pentax K-5 for $250 off of e-bay, and 28-35-50-100-135 Pentax M primes for a pittance, also off e-bay. The camera actually runs off AA's with its optional battery pack, the lenses are superb, and the dang thing makes RAW files in Adobe's DNG format. And it has IBIS -- the thing is a practically future-proof picture taking machine.

I am try to ride the "trailing edge" of technological innovation.

So: I want you all to go out and buy this amazing new camera -- then sell your nasty old used up equipment on e-bay to me. And if you are interested in superbly engineered (to last a lifetime) manual focus multicoated prime lenses? . . .I'm telling you there has never been a better time to buy.

@ Mike: you need to figure out some revenue sharing with eBay . . . that's where I seem to be spending all my money these days. And on lenses from Japan too. Man, do they arrive well taken care of.

[IMG]https://photos.smugmug.com/Portraits/Portraits/i-qXNKwkr/0/b1f99705/L/IMGP6588-E%20working-L.jpg [/IMG]

[mani]

The only interesting thing about this camera, is that it shoots film.

[Gert-Jan]

Hmmm, it may be a nice camera but it will retail for 3799,99 euro ($4500) here in Europe according to today's Nikon ad. And for that price it does not even come with the computer upgrade needed to deal with those 46MP images....