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The Nikon D850 Unboxing and Review

The Nikon D850 camera has been a long time in the making since the Nikon D810 was first released over 4 years ago. Why has the Nikon D850 received so much attention in the since it was announced? Nikon have been trying to steel back their customers. Nikon have now responded with a strong camera which can now eat away at Canon’s dominance. The high 45.7 Megapixel image sensor could also part of the appeal of the Nikon D850. A Higher Dynamic range and crystal clear images have made the Nikon D850 a camera to be reckoned with for years to come.

We had been discussing whether there was a need for a new camera, secondly; which camera would we get, which camera would surpass its expectations as well as having multiple lens options for our blogging needs/requirements. With all of the above criteria, there was only one option, the newly released Nikon D850. So this is the Nikon D850 Unboxing and Review, and I will go over some of the major benefits of this new flagship camera.

Why The Nikon D850?

Why did I go for the Nikon D850? Well there are a few reasons and it is mostly to do with the fact that Nikon have always produced high end quality camera’s. With some the parts being sourced outside of Japan, some of questioned Nikon’s reliability and build quality. The 45.7MP (MegaPixels) image sensor had to be sourced elsewhere outside of Japan. Mainly because Nikon’s factories are only just recovering and returning to full production, this is from the earthquake they had just over 2 years go.

The Nikon D850 Unboxing and Review - Unboxed
The Nikon D850 Unboxing and Review – Unboxed

Since the media announcement back in August 2017, the Nikon D850 has been hotly anticipated to succeed its older brother, the Nikon D810. There some similar features which have been carried over from the D810, however, this big boy has some major advancements. It has a bigger image since and pixel ratio. 45.7mp to be exact. It can also record in 4k and take 8k time lapse footage. If you are looking for some slow motion movie recording, it can record movie footage in 120FPS (frames Per Second).

If you are wish to use this type of camera for Vlogging, it does have facial tracking and auto focusing. I have not tested the internal microphone, but it would good idea to get an external microphone. Røde have some of the best external microphones and have an outstanding record when it comes to DSLR mounted microphones

The Nikon D850 Unboxing and Review - Rear LCD Screen
The Nikon D850 Unboxing and Review – Rear LCD Screen

D850 Technical Stuff

Some technical data for all those tech savvy people out there.

  • Image sensor size: FX (full Frame 35mm negative size, CMOS, 35.9 mm x 23.9 mm
  • Effective Pixel: 45.7million
  • Storage Media: XQD and SD, SDHC (UHS-II compliant), SDXC (UHS-II compliant)
  • WIFI and Bluetooth: Snap bridge app for both iOS and Android.
  • No Flash: With most Nikons there is a flash which can pop up at the push of a button. Just like the Nikon D5, the D850 does not have a flash. This allows for a bigger viewing crystal where the flash would be.
  • Frame Advance Rate: 7FPS without a battery grip. Up to 9FPS with the MD-D18 Battery grip and EN-EL18b battery
  • ISO Sensitivity: between ISO 64 to 25600
  • Movie Frame rates: 3840 x 2160 (4K UHD); 30p | 1920 x 1080: 60p, 50p, 30p, 25p, 24p | 1920 x 1080 (slow-mo): 30p x4, 25p x4, 24p x5
  • Touch Screen Monitor: 8-cm (3.2–in.) diagonal tilting TFT touch-sensitive LCD with 170° viewing angle, approximately 100% frame coverage
  • Battery: EN-EL15a rechargeable Li-ion battery (Up to 1840 still images, however, this has not yet been reached as my batteries have been depleted at after almost 500 images)
  • Optional – Attachable Negative Digitiser: Which makes it easy to convert colour or black-and-white film negatives to digital data (JPEG)

For further technical data, please go to the Nikon EU website.

The Nikon D850 Unboxing and Review - With Lens attached
The Nikon D850 Unboxing and Review – With Lens attached

 The 24-70MM ƒ/2.8G AF-S ED lens

There are quite a few package options and I decided to go for the 24-70mm ƒ/2.8G ED AF-S lens with an extra battery. This D850 package was still on the expensive side, however, given these lenses will cost over £1500+, this was a bargain.

The Nikon D850 Unboxing and Review - The Lens
The Nikon D850 Unboxing and Review – The Lens

With the the ƒ/2.8 large aperture, it make this lens very fast; giving me a narrow depth of field for open air shots. 24-70mm also makes for a all round duel purpose lens for landscapes and portraiture. For continual shoot and pressing and holding down the shutter button, the camera will buffer up to 20 photographs and one continuous burst.

When the light is very bright and I really need to control the light coming in to the camera, I can set the camera’s mode to Aperture priority and the camera will raise the shutter speed to 1/8000’s of a second if I really need it to.

The Nikon D850 Unboxing and Review - Side View
The Nikon D850 Unboxing and Review – Side View

The Nikon D850 Camera Field Test

As part of a field test for the camera, I went out to Manchester City Centre. I wanted to see how well the camera performed and these are the examples from just two days ago.

Because there was a lot of cloud cover, I had to raise my ISO (light sensitivity) up to 6400. Any more than 6400 and the digital noise would really spoil my photographs.

A Small Gallery of Photographs at Salford Quays. (Due to the way WordPress uploads images. These images have been compressed and somewhat compromising quality.)

Panoramic also taken at Salford Quays

850_0927-Pano-1mb | The Nikon D850 Unboxing and Review

My Thoughts on the Nikon D850

The Nikon D850 is a very remarkable camera. Very versatile and colours and dynamic range of this camera is above any other in its DSLR category. The only really let down at the moment, is the battery, I hope that Nikon do firmware upgrade to sort out the power management on this camera.

There are some features which for now I will be saving for another blog post, but needless to say, I am blown away by what this camera can do. If you are professional and have looking for a new camera, then please do take a look at the Nikon D850.

Don’t Under Estimate the Nikon D850

The other down side to this camera. Nikon are only releasing so many at a time, which means Nikon have severely under estimated how popular the Nikon D850 camera has become, and how many units they needed to produce. They will need to build more to meet demand. Some people in the USA placed a back order back in August and are only just getting their hands on the camera now.

It does depend on who and where you place your preorder with. I was very lucky, I placed my pre-order in the middle of November and received the camera on the 2nd of December. How’s that for timing? I would say this is one camera which has already surpassed my expectations and I will do for years to come.

Please Like and Comment below.

John M

*I am not being paid for this review, and all the words and photographs are my own.

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