Darrellhar
Well-known member
Yes that was my miss. I was viewing from my phone and missed that part. Thanks for pointing that out.
Considering Upgrade - D500 to D850 - DX to FX
- Thread starter mtboze
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Yeah, phones are a pain for reading anything longer than a text or short email. It's so easy to miss stuff.
Replytoken
Well-known member
I was in the same boat as the OP and decided to pass on the D850 despite all of the great features and performance it offers. I use it a lot for BIF and am always having trouble filling the frame, so a D850 is not going to solve that problem. And, I am eventually looking to get a mirrorless body, perhaps when Nikon announces it newest later this year, and a mirrorless body will have advantages when I shoot macro. My budget does not allow for two new bodies, so I decided to wait and take a pass on the D850, despite it being a classic.
--Ken
--Ken
Roy
Well-known member
I love my Z9 but still cant part with my last D850 body.
The D500 is a really good camera but the D850 is arguably the best DSLR ever made.
Very wise avoiding DX lenses only 3-4 were ever worth using...
Full disclosure I have gone all mirrorless Z9 and Z6II.
I had two D500's and a D850 with the battery grip and EN EL 18C battery so 9fps. I do not know what the cost for the grip and those batteries are now but they were pretty spendy when I first got them.
When I started the transition to mirrorless I sold the D500's and kept the D850 until the Z9 arrived since it essentially had a D500 built in. It worked great in DX mode when I knew I wanted to crop later and great in FX mode when I wanted more room.
I only had one DX lens left at that time a Tamron 18-400 and it worked great on the D850 set to auto crop when a DX lens was attached. My wife still loves her Tamron 18-400 adapted to her Z50.
I had two D500's and a D850 with the battery grip and EN EL 18C battery so 9fps. I do not know what the cost for the grip and those batteries are now but they were pretty spendy when I first got them.
When I started the transition to mirrorless I sold the D500's and kept the D850 until the Z9 arrived since it essentially had a D500 built in. It worked great in DX mode when I knew I wanted to crop later and great in FX mode when I wanted more room.
I only had one DX lens left at that time a Tamron 18-400 and it worked great on the D850 set to auto crop when a DX lens was attached. My wife still loves her Tamron 18-400 adapted to her Z50.
McGene
New member
I bit late to this discussion but wanted to share an idea and one I have tried a number of times. When I’m considering a new camera or lens I always rent it for a few weeks. It helps me make a more informed decision.
why do you want to switch? There is always a number of advantages to FX but if you need reach, can live with the S/N (i.e., low high ISO), smaller file sizes, harder to get wide angles, .. then stick to the DX mode. Lot to recommend it, I am a bit surprised that Nikon has not done more to support/push it in the MILC world
PLEASE respond -- shat types of subjects are you shooting ? (several members have asked).
DX -- smaller lighter relatively lower resolution bodies -- but with the "benefit" of the 1.5 crop factor -- all have basic video capabilities -- the Z30 is a winner in its market.
FX -- lots of choices - 20, 24, 45mp sensors and a range of body sizes. All shot portrait, landscape and video. All also can shoot a DX crop by using only part of the sensor.
Roy
Well-known member
I shoot mostly FF with about 15% Hasselblad H but still have a coupe of DX Nikons...
Calson
Well-known member
The D850 is as good as the Z9 in 90% of the wildlife photography situations I have encountered. Where the Z9 is better is with smallish subjects in brush where it can maintain autofocus on an eye. I tended to use manual focus with the Nikon f-mount cameras as the autofocus fine tuning was a very imperfect solution.
The S lenses are newer forumulations and so considerably better than the old f-mount lenses as with the 14-24mm, 100-400mm, and 24-120mm lenses. With moving to a Z camera I lost the use of my favorite macro lens, the Nikon 200mm f/4, and need to use the FTZ adapter with my PC-E tilt shift lenses. No autofocus assist from a speedlight with the Z cameras which is another factor.
Nikon has killed new lenses for the f-mount so if the "legacy" lenses do the trick then they are selling for less than half the price of their S counterparts.
If one is selling off their Nikon f-mount cameras and lenses then they should give serious consideration to the mirrorless cameras and lenses available from Sony and Canon.
The S lenses are newer forumulations and so considerably better than the old f-mount lenses as with the 14-24mm, 100-400mm, and 24-120mm lenses. With moving to a Z camera I lost the use of my favorite macro lens, the Nikon 200mm f/4, and need to use the FTZ adapter with my PC-E tilt shift lenses. No autofocus assist from a speedlight with the Z cameras which is another factor.
Nikon has killed new lenses for the f-mount so if the "legacy" lenses do the trick then they are selling for less than half the price of their S counterparts.
If one is selling off their Nikon f-mount cameras and lenses then they should give serious consideration to the mirrorless cameras and lenses available from Sony and Canon.
Roy
Well-known member
I'd say the D850 is 95% of my Z9.
The Z glass is sharper than the old F lenses but sometimes lack some character (although I only have 10 Z lenses so far)
In some cases the D850 AF even outperforms the Z9 AF.
Most AFS F mount lenses are now fantastic value.
As I also use some old manual lenses focus peeking on both cameras is a real blessing...
tigger4t
Member
Having recently bought a D850 (which has a lot of great features) I am left wondering whether going back to my 'backup' body which is a 24MP DX Nikon D7200 might give me better image quality for BIF photography where I generally need to crop quite heavily. The simple rationale, perhaps overly simple (i.e. ignoring sensor, AF, frame-rate, etc. improvements of the D850) being that there will be 20% more pixels under my subject given the higher pixel density of the D7200's DX sensor.
I generally use a Sigma 500mm f/4 Sport sometimes with a TC-1401 so I guess the question is, do I use the better pixel density and improve my technique or do I use the D850's better technology?
I have yet to put it to any sort of practical test but was wondering whether anyone else has made a similar comparison?
I generally use a Sigma 500mm f/4 Sport sometimes with a TC-1401 so I guess the question is, do I use the better pixel density and improve my technique or do I use the D850's better technology?
I have yet to put it to any sort of practical test but was wondering whether anyone else has made a similar comparison?
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Wait till the next Nikon announcement and get even more confused. See what the next mirrorless FX body is. Can alway flip those into DX mode. Yes, more money but that is more future proofing as you mentioned. Likely even more 850's go up for sale as well. While the Z lens are generally lighter and better many of your lens may work great.
Strodav
Well-known member
I started birding with a D7200, which I still have and use, and a Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 G2. I got some very good results with this combination. IQ of the D7200 is excellent. The issue is the AF system. My keeper rate went up significantly when I picked up a D500, which has a much better AF system than the D7200. I now have a D850, which has the same D5 AF system as the D500 and used the D850 / D500 combination with very good results until I got a Z9. The AF system of the Z9 is so much improved, I don't use the D500 anymore. When I have to heavily crop, which I try and avoid, I use Topaz Gigapixel AI to increase the cropped image size then apply AI Sharpen. I am surprised at how good the results are. FWIW, use your D850 with the better AF system, buy a longer lens, and look into Gigapixel AI.
tigger4t
Member
Thanks - I already have a Sigma 150-600 but the 500mm F4 with a TC gives me 700mm f5.6 and about the same, if not better, IQ. The AF on both lenses is fine tuned with FoCal. and my post-processing is generally with Affinity Photo, Topaz Sharpen AI and Gigapixel AI. Interestingly I haven't found much improvement in keeper rates between the D7200 and D850 so I guess my technique may need some work. I'll try my D7200 next time out and see if the IQ is any better with 20% more pixels under the subject.
coachjohn57
Well-known member
If you can…I would suggest keeping both. Even though I have now invested in a Z9, I haven’t yet parted with either the D850 or the D500. I love them both for different reasons. Faster burst rates, faster AF on the D500 (in my experience), love the high resolution and all-around usability of the D850. I’m hoping for a mirrorless version of the D500 next year, hopefully with slightly higher resolution…until then I’ll keep my D500.
Strodav
Well-known member
If you don't have it already, look into Steve's "Secrets to the Nikon AF system for DSLR". It significantly increased my keeper rate with the D500.
Roy
Well-known member
Even though I have a Z9 - I'm not parting with my D500/D850/D5.
Such functional durable cameras that i cant part with them...
Such functional durable cameras that i cant part with them...