24 Hours With a Nikon D850
I received my Nikon D850 24 hours ago and can comfortably state that this is the best all-around camera Nikon has ever produced. It excelled at every single situation I threw at it. Nikon makes other cameras that specialize at specific aspects like frame rate (D5/D500), high ISO performance (D5). But nothing combines all the features (resolution, dynamic range, high ISO performance, frame rate, autofocus, buffer depth, ergonomics, image quality) like the D850.
Macro photo using the Nikon D850 focus stacking utility. 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 560, 24-70mm f/2.8
During the last 24 hours, I’ve put it through a pretty good representative sample of outdoor photography situations including:
– Birds
– Macro (focus stacking)
– High dynamic range panoramas
– Black and white conversions
– Architecture at sunset
– Night football at ISO 25,600
– Cross country meet
Here are photos with captions to show some background information and exposure details.
Panorama of Gig Harbor with high dynamic range. Nikon D850, ISO 100, 1/200 sec, f/11, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8.
One of the original RAW files for the above panorama. Panorama of Gig Harbor with high dynamic range. Nikon D850, ISO 100, 1/200 sec, f/11, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8.
Night football game. Nikon D850, 1/1250 sec, f/4, ISO 25600, 300mm, Nikon 200-400mm f/4.
100% crop from above photograph. Night football game. Nikon D850, 1/1250 sec, f/4, ISO 25600, 300mm, Nikon 200-400mm f/4.
Great blue heron. Nikon D850, Nikon 200-500mm, 1/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 500, 460mm.
100% crop from above photo. Great blue heron. Nikon D850, Nikon 200-500mm, 1/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 500, 460mm.
The D850 shoots at 7 FPS out of the box enabling you to get shots like this. Great blue heron. Nikon D850, Nikon 200-500mm, 1/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 500, 460mm.
Black and white conversions are beautiful from the D850. 1/200 sec, f/9, ISO 125, 200mm, Nikon 200-500mm
Cross country athlete. Nikon D850, 70-200mm f/2.8, 1/1000 sec, ISO 125, f/2.8.
This is one of the state’s best runners. The D850 handled the high contrast scene just fine. 1/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 120mm, 70-200mm f/2.8
1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 200mm, 70-200mm f/2.8
Autofocus performance was stellar, even in this dark high school football stadium. 1/1000 sec, f/4, ISO 25600, 300mm, Nikon 200-400mm f/4.
The Nikon D850 makes an excellent architectural photography camera. 1/125 sec, f/11, ISO 100, 14mm, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8.
This is a very tight crop of a sparrow from a long ways away. The amount of detail in the 46 MP file is stunning. 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1000, 500mm, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6
There’s lots of detail in those feathers with the Nikon D850. See below for 100% crop. 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400, 500mm, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6.
Here’s the 100% crop of the above crow photograph. 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400, 500mm, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6.
Nikon D300s Initial Impressions
Nikon D300s. Photo courtesy Nikon, Inc.
I picked up a new Nikon D300s yesterday from my favorite local camera store Kenmore Camera. I wasn’t expecting too much from the new camera since it is “just an upgrade” to the existing Nikon D300. However, I am very impressed. The camera has two memory card slots, one of them a CF slot and the other an SD slot. You can program the camera to use one card for RAW photos and the other card for JPEGs. Or, you can tell the camera to record video to one while you record images to the other.
The ergonomics of the camera have been improved over the D300 as well. Nikon has taken the best of the D300, D90 and D700 cameras and combined it all into this great D300s layout. I like having the Live View activate with a button rather than rotating the shooting mode dial on the D300. Also, the multi-selector has been upgraded to be the same type as the Nikon D3 and D700. Awesome.
The maximum frame rate has also increased to 7 frames per second, which is a great feature for sports and wildlife photography. The only downside regarding frame rate is that the system still shoots at a “slow” frame rate of 3fps when you are using 14-bit RAW. It will shoot 7fps with 12-bit RAW as well as JPEG images.
The video capabilities have been improved over the Nikon D90 in that it now allows you to autofocus while recording video. Also, the D300s has a new stereo input jack so that you can use an external microphone for recording audio. This is a nice touch. The frame rate for video is still 24fps and I wish Nikon allowed the option of 30fps as well. Sometimes having the faster frame rate helps for filming sports and action.
Image quality so far is fantastic, just as you would expect. I’m taking it to Denali National Park tomorrow to put it through its paces next to my Nikon D700. It’ll be fun to mate the D300s to my 200-400mm f4 to try to get some grizzly bear photos. I’ll post some photos from Denali after my return.
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