![If These Specs Are Real, the Nikon D850 Will Be the Last Camera You'll Ever Need [Rumor]](https://cdn.fstoppers.com/styles/large-16-9/s3/lead/2017/07/nikon-d850-announcement-d810_0_jpg.webp)
Nikon let us down softly with a barely a glimmer of information Tuesday as it announced development of the D850, but gave little additional information. Between yesterday and today, NikonRumors received leaked photos of the D850 and shared some specifications the camera should feature. Many of these are in line with what we expected from previous rumors, but there are some additional surprises that are sure to impress even the most cynical-minded.
We already knew the Nikon D850 was rumored to have a higher-resolution 45-46-megapixel sensor, improved low-ISO and high-ISO performance, a new version of SnapBridge, tiltable LCD screen, dual memory card slots (one SD, one XQD), and the autofocus system from the D5. But now, according to NikonRumors, we learn that the D850 will shoot faster than 8 fps. What this means exactly is still unclear.
The D850 could feature a DX sports mode that shoots 9-10 fps, but slows down to a more reasonable 3-5 fps at full resolution. Or it could shoot full-frame, full-resolution shots at this rate. With the additional information that this body will also handle 4K using the entire area of the sensor, the D850 is quickly becoming the camera fanboys have dreamed of. No longer would photographers need to sacrifice high-speed shooting for high-megapixel output. It simply wouldn't matter anymore. With the added improvements to the low- and high-end ISO performance, the D850 would handle literally everything.
One of the best parts of these updates is also the clearly visible upgrade to the body style itself. Indeed, it seems the D850 will feature the same style body as the recently released D5 and D500 cameras, complete with improved button layouts, back-lit buttons, and top-end weather sealing. This will be a camera built into a truly professional body (and one without a first-generation, potentially finicky hybrid viewfinder either, if the rumors are to be believed).
Of course, price is something we're hearing very little about. All of these fancy features will certainly come at a cost. Surely, this is quickly becoming a camera that could easily be sold for north of $4,000.
Head over to NikonRumors for the pictures, where you can see the articulating LCD and the light-up buttons, or for the latest details on the D850 features.
[via NikonRumors]
If I was with Nikon. I would run with the D500/D850 with out question.
This would be SUPER for architectural.
How so?
I own the D810, got it 3 months after it was out. My main go to camera till this day. The D850 does sound like an improvement in many aspects as technology continues to improve all camera from every maker. One thing I'd like to point out is that I noticed after about 8 months of it's release, the D810 dropped almost $1000 and that kinda pissed me off. So, if that's what gonna happen again, and, I kinda believe it will, I'll wait to next fall before I decide to purchase it and, I'll probably get a bundled deal along with it. Again, I love my D810 and i do look forward to seeing what the D850 will turn out to be.
I think with that kind of resolution, having SOME sort of 8k spec would be more future proof, even if it's ONLY a photographers tool. What I mean by that is 8k at 12-16 fps and it's only for a maximum of 3 second bursts. Then, much like the 4k in the 1DX Mark II was promoted, you could pull a still image (or more) from it. This could be useful for action and composites as well.
I'll be buying that
Important to know.
Pros can buy as many cameras as they need for different situations. This could be the one camera that a hobbyist could have do it all.
I have had my D810 since launch. It is amazing to be able to shoot wider to make sure you have everything you want and crop down later. I often end up with two or three photos out of one shot.
I have shot a lot of sports professionally with the D810 but have to go DX to get 7 frames per second. Even a couple frames faster would be a big deal. Even when you shoot a a bride throwing the bouquet, 7 frames is not fast enough.
But the rumors for the past year are far beyond faster frame rate, with 45MP, better ISO, articulated touch screen, etc.
These are the fantasy specs that would let one body go from landscape to sports.
Sony a99II does all that.... and you can buy that now, for probably cheaper. I sure hope for Nikon that there is more to the D850 then stated above, we need the competition in this industry.
But the Sony doesn't has half the resolution of these rumors are true.
Not sure what you mean, that Sony has 42mp and image stabilization.
But I'll still be getting the Nikon since I have a dozen lenses and EVF isn't ready for prime time.
He said the a99II not the A9. Different camera.
I think I may keep my Nikon gear if this is a real thing
I'm all in
I shoot a D810 and love it BUT it has its issues with focusing that seems to be the back or front etc.. my mirrorless I feel are better at focus SO what will happen? hard to say the idea of tilt screen live view on DSLR is useless for anything moving so it's nice to have but is not mirrorless tilt view
I really do think we are back at the time when I bought my first canon 1D series and film had its solid pros but I jumped into digital
I have been half way into mirrorless and do think it's the future but can't quite let go of my DSLR
two systems is what is working best now and I want to get to one system so chances are will wait to see if Sony releases a 19 focus with 50 MP or so sensor and then think Fuji med format or the Sony
bottom line we live in a time that has fantastic options that are all so good its really tough to decide :)
You may want to look into calibrating your D810 body for your lenses. I mean, that AF system isn't what's in the D5 by any means, but it shouldn't be "off" when it does hit. When I used the D810, it was pretty spot-on for me all-around. I'd look into it...
The biggest issue Nikon has with video and why we recently left Nikon for Panasonic is their horrible video codec. The video off the Nikon cameras was never very sharp and they are so incredibly slow to implement video features we all want/need.
Outside of video, I think most DSLRs have hit the wall in terms of image quality. The D810, 5Dsr and the A7rII provide everything any professional photographer could ask for in terms of image quality. Besides some specialty fields like high speed sports and Astro photography, there really isn't any reason those 3 cameras could not perform 99% of the jobs real working professionals take on week after week.
Besides video, the last frontier for the DSLr and even the mirrorless camera is to lose the shutter altogether and solve the problem of max sync speeds. Using flash at fast shutter speeds is the only thing I can think of that professional photographers desire in their camera. Let's be real here; ISO, megapixels, and dynamic range are exactly where they need to be ALREADY!
But we need more!!!! ;-)
Seriously, though, I think this ~50MP area is the sweet spot that allows for more-than-adequate cropping room to pull multiple shots out, etc. Canon is really there with the 5DS R -- you're right. But Nikon has a LITTLE bit of work to do. Hopefully they'll reach it with this D850. As far as I'm concerned, THEN we can say we're done.
Leaf shutter?
Are you asking for Nikon to start making leaf shutter lenses? I highly doubt that will happen...and if it could, it would take a LONG time to get a decent collection of lenses there. For adequate, high-speed flash sync, Nikon is better off developing a good electronic shutter solution.
I can ask :-). True they will need to create a whole new line of lenses. Or, make a mount for a brand that makes them. But that will never happen.
an adapter that would use other leaf shutter lenses would be amazing!
Leaf shutter would work but that requires everything to change for the dslr.
And here I am still working with my D3 and loving it. I prefer it on the D750. One great feature of the D850 will be lower prices for the D810.
5Dsr raw dynamic range cant compare to sony/nikon
I don't believe that at all. We did a bunch of tests with all three cameras and then released 3 files from each and had readers rate them. The D810 camera easily won in terms of what people thought was the cleaner file. Honestly, all 3 cameras were pretty freaking amazing and no photographer or art buyer would ever really have an issue with the files off either camera.
Maybe +5 ev in post is not something you need everyday, but this comparison clearly shows the canon disavantage, and that it's far from the image quality wall (source: dpreview Raw DR Exposure Latitude Image comparison tool)
Oh I see what you are saying now, the Canon ISN'T AS GOOD AS THE NIKON OR SONY (I read "can't compare" as a good thing). Yes, to my eyes the Nikon D810 blows all of them away. 5+ EV shift is a crazy shift IMO and I don't recall ever doing that to one of my images unless I literally shot through the camera without looking and wanted to salvage that shot (maybe did that 3 times in my entire wedding career). I understand the reasoning behind this recovery exercise but it doesn't seem that important to me.
At this point, making the D850 a little faster, or adding a little more resolution is not innovating. To gain advantage, Nikon has to understand A LOT of media professionals are using mirrorless or DSLR cameras for both stills and video. If this is a professional camera and they are serious about competing with Sony and Canon, they'll release it with high bit rate video or RAW video recording/out, IBIS, focus tracking, and other features that would make these multimedia powerhouses. Resolution is implicit. 8K video? Big deal. Advance the color and dynamic range of the video... or Nikon is toast.
Very well put. It's such a waste to me to put these amazing sensors in the body and then to handicap them when it comes to video codecs, bit rates, etc. What a waste. Hopefully Nikon will make use of everything the sensor can do for video and not just for stills.
It's not the end of the world because you can feed video out the HDMI port, typically in very high quality. Yes I know saving right to the camera in a quality format is ideal, but if enough additional production capability is added then it may become a viable video production body regardless.
Y wait? The Sony A99 II exists! lol
Means I no longer have a need to carry a 24 MP Nikon DX for wildlife because I can crop comfortably in the D850 without losing detail ?
nikonrumors already denied hybrid viewfinder.
To date, no camera maker has figured out how to achieve both a high-quality full raw output, AND an "mRAW" or "sRAW" that is worth a damn, let alone one that could allow a dramatically higher frame rate.
Canon's mRAW is pretty decent--only a little bit of image quality is sacrificed, but then again it also doesn't really save that much file space, either, considering how many megapixels you're throwing away. (You'd think that if you throw away 50% of your megapixels you could come up with a file that is 50% smaller, but not even close with Canon mRAW!) Also, obviously Canon has been completely unsuccessful at figuring out how to crank up the frame rate when shooting in mRAW or sRAW, either.
Nikon's attempt at mRAW, first available in the D810 actually, was an utter failure. It demonstrates a noticeable drop in image quality, (when processed in Adobe software, at least) ...and yet doesn't even save ANY file space compared to if you'd just shot full-resolution images at 12-bits and lossy compression, a file savings mechanism which is actually WAY better than mRAW's image quality. D'oh!
I'm betting that the biggest hurdle here is the simple fact that you cannot make a decent low-res raw image from a high-res one without reading the full sensor first. This is what stops you from magically getting 10+ FPS when shooting sRAW.
Nikon *does* have a history of offering a higher frame rate when shooting in 12-bit instead of 14-bit, though, and of course shooting 12-bit lossy compressed raw files gives you a much deeper buffer too.
So, maybe Nikon is thinking they can achieve a high frame rate by just using a massive buffer to briefly store all the information, lookscale it down to low-res, write it to the card and throw away the extra data.
This reminds me it would be nice to move up from 12-bit, too, with this camera... Hmm.
You mean, up from 14-bit? Nikons currently offer both 12-bit and 14-bit. IMO if they want to offer blazing fast FPS and the best overall image quality, their best bet is to double-down and do something like 8-bit and 16-bit options. THAT would be a truly dual-capability camera!!!
Yes. Good point. To 16-bit is what I was getting at. Would be nice...
Really nice feautures , but I'm sticking with my D810 and see if Nikon goes mirrorless . Otherwise I'll consider going Sony .