Thanks, Joe. I hadn't thought about using my extension tubes with the 300pf. I'll have to try that out. And I did decide to keep the 70-200mm f2.8 for now. I just absolutely love it and get great results on the Z8.
Need Helping Deciding if I Should Sell Some Beloved Gear
- Thread starter Crr008
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Wrong, carnivore diet!the quickest way to loose weight is to get a divorce
David Berry
🇦🇺 Australia 🦘
Crr…
I think you have answered your own question: don't sell your D850!
The D850 is widely regarded, quite rightly I think, as the best advanced prosumer DSLR ever made… and you love it!
Definitely move on to Z-paradise, but treat your retired D850 as the jewel (that it remains) and not as the tool (that it was)… keep it discreetly on display with the other memorabilia of a life well lived.
… David
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fulltimewanderer
Active member
I’ll probably be the odd one out here. First it was painful the purchase the Z9. Still have and plan is to keep my D850 and D4 along with all my F mount glass, did trade in my D500. Definitely need to keep at least one back up body with lens attached preferably two. Lenses 14-24, 24-70(2), 70-200(2), 80-400(latest) (2), 105, 500pf(2), 600G between myself and my wife. So it all comes down to your wants and needs. We all have different wants and needs, chose want works for you and have fun and enjoy.
I can understand the attachment to old gear. I went through the same dilemna until I final sold some stuff (years ago). It was a release. Not having to keep items I loved but never used. Best to sell sooner than later. I finally parted with my 180-400 TC and found I only got about half what i had expected - argh!!
I would sell the F mount lens you list, and a few Z mounts to fill in the gaps.
Z 70-200 F/2.8
Z 105 macro
another Z8 or if don't need the high MP and FPS, consider a Z 6 ii (or Z 6iii when introduced).
Remember the expression, JUST DO IT. Well JUST DO IT
with F mount lenses, the D850 is paper weight, albeit an expense paper weight
mdingel
New member
I am in the same position. At this point in my life, unless I could make enough money using the gear (and I’m too pessimistic of the market to see that happening), I Do not plan on upgrading. I have a D850 and D500 and I think they will serve me well. I find myself enjoying getting out, getting the shot, then not doing much with them! My second thought is that as mirrorless advances there will be used equipment at a price I can afford.
Dmacfarl
Active member
Tough decisions for sure. I sold ALL of my F mount lenses plus my D500 and have no regrets. Including the 500PF and the 70-200. I was pretty anxious for awhile but , like you , I found that I was ONLY using the Z8. I’m an avid amateur. Birds, wildlife, landscape and astrophotography. The value of the F mount lenses is going to decrease. It already has. The Z lenses are outstanding. And selling your F mount lenses could fund your Z system.
Sanjay Gupta
New member
Would sell it all except the 14-24/2.8. Have not found anything that does not produce coma in astro in the Z line. Did a series some time back at 24mm/3.2 where the coma was acceptable to me. If you don't do wide asto, eg. milky way shots, let it go also. My F mount gear is almost all gone save for a D750 and a Zeiss 21/2.8. Loved the rendering of the Zeiss. No point keeping any of it. Probably will hang onto the FTZ since am eyeing a Sigma 14-24 (other option is a Tamron 15-30) since it produces no coma at 24mm at f/2.8 and gives me a astro/WA lens. Did not pick up the Nikon Z 14-24/2.8. Picky about that coma .... chuckle.
HRB
Well-known member
Couldn’t help but to chime in about being on the fence. I have the D850, the D500, a Z6ii and now a Z8. I bought the Z8 as a kit with the 24-120 lens. My f-mount lenses include the 300pf, the 500pf, 200-400 f4, 70-200 f2.8. I’m mainly a wildlife/ BIF shooter. What keeps me hanging on to the DSLRs is the plethora of inexpensive used outstanding f-mount glass. My favorite system is the D500 with the 300pf and a 1.4 teleconverter. It’s lightweight, small and reaches out to 630mm at f5.6. If I throw on the 500pf, the D500 reaches to 750mm. The thought of finding a used 300mm f2.8G or a 600mm f4E lens for the DSLRs keeps me in th DSLR world. I do enjoy the advantages of the mirrorless Z8 and Z6ii (not so much) but for now, while I get used to shooting the Z8, I reach for what I’m most comfortable with and that’s usually one of the DSLRs. However, when Nikon releases the next generation of the Z6 system, I’ll have to rethink my position again. It’s a quandary!
Cameron T
Well-known member
I feel with you, as I was in a similar situation, but in the end we are talking about technical equipment that @Steve officially classifies as "tools, not jewels" .
Apart from the 70-200 I owned all items in your list and sold them all - well, the 500PF is due for auction end in about 1 1/2 weeks.
If I change the platform (F --> Z) I try to do it as consequently as possible and this especially applies to the bodies.
Just these days I spend some time with a good friend who is a pro photographer. At home I started off with bringing my settings of the D850 in my Z8, treating it like a D850 without mirror, but now I know that this assumption was wrong. After spending half a day with discussing the settings and playing with it under guidance of an experienced high end user, my Z8 became a different body to me. To be honest, the only thing I miss from my D850 is the battery life, as it was equipped with a battery grip and I only used EN-EL18's in it. But that's the price I have to pay, if I want to go Mirrorless, more compact and lighter.
IMHO I would sell it all, as long as the market for you is there and enough people stay with DSLR / F-Mount and beginners or upgraders from compact cameras go for F-Mount for price/value reasons.
I have made only one compromise in that respect, and this is my old AF-S 500 f/4G VR with its TC-14E II, both of which had a couple of days in the hands of a capable Nikon lady, now fit perfectly together and perform beatifully on the Z8 with FTZ. To get this kind of lens for Z mount would cost me a fortune and on the other hand I wouldn't get enough for my old one it today that would allow me to get one of the Z-Mount super primes with a reasonable surplus payment. Unless I am able to pay for Z 400 f/2.8 TC plus additional TC one day, the "good old" 500 f4 will be my super prime giving me 500mm f/4 or 700mm f/5.6 with a superb image quality and AF performance.
Apart from this exception F-Mount is history for me - but admittedly I took me years to take this step ....
.Apart from the 70-200 I owned all items in your list and sold them all - well, the 500PF is due for auction end in about 1 1/2 weeks.
If I change the platform (F --> Z) I try to do it as consequently as possible and this especially applies to the bodies.
Just these days I spend some time with a good friend who is a pro photographer. At home I started off with bringing my settings of the D850 in my Z8, treating it like a D850 without mirror, but now I know that this assumption was wrong. After spending half a day with discussing the settings and playing with it under guidance of an experienced high end user, my Z8 became a different body to me. To be honest, the only thing I miss from my D850 is the battery life, as it was equipped with a battery grip and I only used EN-EL18's in it. But that's the price I have to pay, if I want to go Mirrorless, more compact and lighter.
IMHO I would sell it all, as long as the market for you is there and enough people stay with DSLR / F-Mount and beginners or upgraders from compact cameras go for F-Mount for price/value reasons.
I have made only one compromise in that respect, and this is my old AF-S 500 f/4G VR with its TC-14E II, both of which had a couple of days in the hands of a capable Nikon lady, now fit perfectly together and perform beatifully on the Z8 with FTZ. To get this kind of lens for Z mount would cost me a fortune and on the other hand I wouldn't get enough for my old one it today that would allow me to get one of the Z-Mount super primes with a reasonable surplus payment. Unless I am able to pay for Z 400 f/2.8 TC plus additional TC one day, the "good old" 500 f4 will be my super prime giving me 500mm f/4 or 700mm f/5.6 with a superb image quality and AF performance.
Apart from this exception F-Mount is history for me - but admittedly I took me years to take this step ...
.
I totally understand the emotional part of your decision. I started out with D5600 and D500....and as I learned more and traveled more, I wanted to be able to get the best pictures I could. I moved to mirrorless a year ago, and those cameras never came out of the closet. Yet, I knew they were there and they were part of my personal history/journey. It was an interesting process when I decided to sell them, which I did, and I was able to put the funds towards a 600 PF, and I haven't looked back. I had to just think of them as tools, as Steve referred to above. And the joy I'm experiencing with the 600 can't compare with the emotional "loss" I felt when I shipped them off to a new user! Good luck with your decisions! Lots of great feedback here!
Ph1tom
New member
I find myself in a similar situation. I have a Z6II and a Z50 with some Z lenses and third party Z mounts. I also have a D3 and D750 and a good number of F mount glass. I’m on the fence selling all the F mount gear, except a few lenses, including a 70-200 fl and a dx 17-55 I occasionally use on the Z50. Prices on Dslrs are coming down, so I need to decide sooner rather than later. My sister is also facing this question. She has a D850 she loves, but seems to be more inclined to using the Z8.
fulltimewanderer
Active member
Guess I’m really confused, other than F mount lenses what wou you use on a D850.
agreed. If Crr008 sells the F mount lens, the D850 would be useless to him (her?) and become a paper weight.
David Berry
🇦🇺 Australia 🦘
Oh, how I wish I had my final Nikon SLR sitting as a ‘useless’ paperweight in my home office!
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