I recently decided to purchase the D850 (my first full frame camera). Why not the Z 7ii? because I dislike the use of the FTZ and I am heavily invested in F glass (not to mention the price difference).
I read (reviews) and heard (on Youtube videos) that one must improve his technique to get sharp photos with the D850 (drawback of a 45 MP sensor -> flaws magnified). Other than higher speeds (due to smaller pixel size) and the use of a tripod (whenever possible) what technique improvements do I have to consider?
I assume using the D850 Hand-held is still possible, right? If not, then it defeats the purpose of me buying it.
Thanks in advance and happy shooting.
Hi Ado,
Sorry mate being honest is the best way to help to you.
The D850 is easier to use than a D7200 D7500. My friends are using Sony 60mp and smoking it hand held, the world has changed.
Entry levels are now 24 mp, mid level is 50 to 60 mp and around the corner is 80 to 100mp. As cameras go up in MP so dose the sensor sensitivity level, my D3X is level 2 sensitivity, my D5 was 4 the D850 i recall was 4.............i need to check, the D7200 D7500 I think was 2 or 3?
NOW What your reading or being told is theoretically partly right but a bit old school, about 20 years old. This very same information was spread around on the 25 mp D3X (which I still have and love) in 2008 when the D3x was the highest resolution camera in 35mm slrs and everyone was on 6, 8 or 12 mp cameras, they said you need to use a tripod always, you cant hand hold it, its an indoor camera for controlled lighting situations, and you cant shoot it over 400 iso, its a studio camera and not for low light, outdoors, or sports action, well 150,000 plus actuations and a pedigree of journeys with end results that tell the story, I can use the D3x to 6400 iso I can shoot sports action and every other subject.....period, yes I used the appropriate skill set that always applies to every camera. To harness the image amazing quality of The D3x it was best used on good glass, VR lenses worked very well for hand holding. It would show flaws in bad glass as you would expect.
Technology is such now that I can on the D850 hand hold at 200mm at 1/10th of a second F2.8 and F8 using my 70-200 FL and the images are tack sharp.
Why did I buy a D850, simple,............ its 4th generation development and refinement, YEEEE, it has a BIS sensor so tolerant and able to gather light so much better than any predecessor, its colour accuracy on good glass is just amazing, and the accurate dynamic range simply made everything else seem a little obsolete, with a power pack I do 9 FPS, mind you 7 is still very good, it can do 6400 iso plus .............but the real reason for me buying a D850 was I simply wanted a tilt screen, y
es just a tilt screen, you see I was on rocks in a rapid and shooting at water level at some falls with my D3X, I said this is nuts, I cant see the screen without laying dead flat on these slippery rocks. Ok keep my D3X I love, get a D850 as it has proven its self in the field.
When I did with the D850 sports action and everything else I did on my D4s D5, and then saw the crop ability and image quality at speed an high iso etc, man the D4s was dead period and I mean fast, the D5 like the D4s both stunning to die for cameras for the right purpose, DING the lights went on and well pull the money out while the equity was still there and buy another D850, pluss a 70-200 FL, wholly heck, for a little compromise on frame rates and D5 high iso that I hardly used, it was a no brainer.
For a special sports event in super low light to 12800 plus I now hire a D5 D6 for a day or week.
The D850 Its simply the best all-round do everything camera. I have a friend she is 81 and she wins a lot on her D850.
The benefit of the Z7II (don't touch the Z7), is sensor image stabilization this is
number one, it also takes all your FX lenses up into VR level. with the D850 you need to keep shutter speeds up hand holding on non VR lenses. Yes it will show up a crap lens as being crap as a rule but in many situations it can make an average lens look awesome.
Number two is the Z glass has about 5 to 10% better optics, which is not a deal maker for me just now, other than that there is really nothing the Z7 II can do that the D850 cant do, ok if you want movie capability's then the Z7II is the better choice. If your not doing hard core sports action and are new to the game buying lenses and all then the Z series makes perfect sense but not just now, in a year or two maybe.
The Z Adaptor is on many accounts not an issue for many people.
Personally the Z7II is excellent but like fruit on a tree it needs just a little more time to ripen.
Until something really massively better comes along the D850 is it and very easy to use, if you have issues with a D7200 D7500 then you will have issues with any camera, if not then the D850 is a walk in the park it will out perform your D7200 D7500 in many ways, the D850 for landscape has incredible in camera stacking features and the best macro lens for stacking is the 105 2.8, Not the 60mm or the 200mm.
Hand holding using VR glass on the D850 is fantastic, non vr glass just keep the shutter speed up, its a far less challenging camera to use hand held than a D7200 D7500.
Light Time and Speed is all a camera tool uses to make a exposure on a sensor, 20% is the gear 80% is you.
only and opinion.
OZ down under.
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