Nikon D850 in late 2020

[Swaroopsankar Sivadasan]

Hi all,
I currently have D500 + 200-500 and mainly shoot only birds, but mammals occasionally as well. Since last year after I moved from India to the UK, I have been shooting mostly in typical low light overcast cast mornings of the UK. This always force me to shoot at higher ISOs. I am not saying D500 can’t handle high iso like ISO 4000 but still it’s a heavy work in post to handle noise (unless you use the AI S/Ws for this). Other than that I am really happy with my D500 and may never replace that with any other. Because of this I am just thinking to have D850 or (the new mirrorless) to go along with D500(or should I upgrade from 200-500 to say 500 or 600 f4?). Expecting valueable suggestions from the forum gurus.
Thanks in advance
Swaroop

 

[JANuser]

Put your money into faster aperture glass, that will net you better auto focus and low light performance, just as much or more so than a different camera body.

 

[DRwyoming]

I currently have D500 + 200-500 and mainly shoot only birds, but mammals occasionally as well. Since last year after I moved from India to the UK, I have been shooting mostly in typical low light overcast cast mornings of the UK. This always force me to shoot at higher ISOs. I am not saying D500 can’t handle high iso like ISO 4000 but still it’s a heavy work in post to handle noise (unless you use the AI S/Ws for this). Other than that I am really happy with my D500 and may never replace that with any other. Because of this I am just thinking to have D850 or (the new mirrorless) to go along with D500(or should I upgrade from 200-500 to say 500 or 600 f4?).

To gain the most low light/noise advantage from a full frame camera like the D850 you'll need to adequately fill the frame which means either longer glass or getting closer to your subjects compared to shooting with your D500. If you'll end up cropping back to D500 sensor size or further then the full frame sensor noise advantages disappear. From that standpoint I'd suggest starting by reviewing your image files, are you currently filling your D500 frame and/or do you think you'll be able to fill the larger D850 frame with your existing lenses or by getting closer to your subjects. If you can or if you intend to add other subjects that are easier to frame fill like landscapes or astro-landscape work then yeah the D850 or other modern full frame body could really help from a noise standpoint.

If you don't think you'll be able to adequately fill the larger full frame sensor with your preferred subjects then I'd second the advice above and invest in longer glass. Something like a 500mm f/4G lens that takes teleconverters really well or a 600mm f/4G lens could be a good investment both for the added stop of light gathering and potentially for the ability to better fill the frame if that's currently an issue. But a move to super telephotos typically impacts how you'll work in the field as lenses like this generally need solid support and aren't as hand hold friendly as your 200-500mm f/5.6 so it's a good idea to consider the overall impact, both positive and negative, of moving into bigger glass. Renting a long lens is a good idea if you haven't had a lot of field time with these monsters as that extra size and weight does typically impact how you'll work in the field.