Nikon D850 Review (Part One)

As most of you know, a professional photographer can become very gear happy and get into this phase where they feel the need to have the newest and “greatest” gear on the market. With that in mind, I have decided to start reviewing my own personal gear over the coming months. The Nikon D850 is what I am going to lead off with.

Now, before I start going into a review of this camera I am going to lay the expectations upfront about my reviews. These aren’t going to be technical garble filled crap that no one understands and really doesn’t give a shit about. These reviews are going to be real-world reviews about the products and gear that I use in the field.

If you don’t know, I am a full-time motorsports photographer that spends the better part of my time on the road and at the racetrack in sometimes grueling conditions. My gear gets exposed to heat, cold, rain, sun, glue, dust, and just about everything in between. Gear that I use has to be able to take a beating and keep working. I always want to emphasize at this point there are no companies that I work with when it comes to my gear. I purchase gear from different places, and I do have companies that I am fond of because of their products, but no one is giving me anything at this point.

I am sure you are asking why it is that this is labeled part one of my review on the Nikon D850. The reason for that is that this purchase was made just a little over two months ago. In fact, the order was placed on 5/10/20, and the fact is that I don’t care who you are, you can’t give a full real-world review of something that you have only had a month or two. Hence why this is part one of multiple reviews regarding this camera body.

Starting off, I will tell you that this camera lives up to the hype that has surrounded it since it was first announced by Nikon in July of 2017 and first started shipping in September of 2017. Yes, the D850 has been on the market for almost three years now. The current price point is about $3000 USD, which is a chunk of change if you are not a working professional, but is it even worth it?

For the past ten years, I have shot with a variety of Nikon DSLR bodies. They have included the D80, D90, D300, D3, and D3S, before purchasing the D850. All of those bodies hold a special place in for heart for one reason or another. The D850 though might be the most well-rounded camera body that I have used over the last ten years, with some exceptions.

My very first suggestion to anyone that is contemplating a purchase of this camera and is used to shooting with a D3, D4, or D5 series body, is to immediately purchase a grip for the D850. I have in fact not purchased one yet because Nikon is out of their damn mind with the pricing on it. With that said, I have found that the ergonomics of the camera for someone with larger hands like me, is not comfortable. It feels as though your fingers wrap deeper into the grip on the front side, and that I find myself gripping the camera so tight that after a while my hands are actually in pain.

Buying a grip for this camera body is an absolute must for numerous reasons. Yes, you can get a higher frame rate with the grip and a D5 battery, but more importantly to me are other reasons. The most important reason is balance. What I mean by that, is when you mount a Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 on the front of a D3S it feels very balanced in your hand. It doesn’t feel like the size of the lens is overwhelming on the front. When that same lens is mounted to the D850 with no grip on it, everything felt to be completely out of balance and cumbersome to work with. So much so that I rarely use my 200-500 lens on the D850 at this point. Another reason for the grip on the D850 is the vertical shutter button. I forget over the years how much of a pain in the ass it is to take vertical shots without an added or built-in grip. So now I am barely taking those shots right now either.

While you are at it, spend the money on those memory cards. Currently, I used some older Sandisk cards that we had for my business partners D7200, but the fact is that if you are going to shoot this body too is capacity, you need high-quality XQD and SD cards. I did not purchase an XQD card yet as I was hoping that Nikon was going to come out with a firmware update allowing for CFexpress cards to be used. Well, that certainly hasn’t happened yet, so I will be picking up some XQD cards in the near future. Also, look at companies like ProGrade and their super-fast SD cards for this camera.

Staying on the card discussion for now, might I also suggest that you get big cards. If you are like me, which you should be if you are using this camera, you want to get the absolute most out of it. That means 14-bit uncompressed RAW images. On a 32gb card, I get approximately 312 shots to a card. So, if you are a wedding photographer, nature photographer, or someone that takes a ton of photos throughout the day or event and doesn’t want to change cards all the time, buy big cards and shoot redundantly.

Speaking of files, WOW would be a great word to use when describing these files. The RAW images are about 91 MB each and take up a lot of space. What I will say though is being able to shoot at a native 64iso is incredible. The clarity and beauty of those files is something that I truly love. Pair that with the Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 and the bokeh is so so smooth. I will actually be posting some images next week from a photoshoot I do with an actual person. Yes, the files are incredible at the native 64 though.

Now the downside to high megapixel high ISO. I work in a field where high ISO capabilities are necessary most of the time due to piss poor lighting. What I have discovered is the one thing that we all seem to hate, and that is digital noise, or as some call it, grain. While the noise is much different from that of a D3S, as in the fact that it is a much tighter noise, I find it more annoying than I do with the D3S. Given the fact that I have not used the D850 enough to give final judgment on the noise, I will say that I am not overly impressed with the noise and how it “smooths out” in post versus other cameras that are much older technology.

Panning is something that I have always struggled with as a motorsports photographer. It was an extremely hit or miss scenario for me in the past. I am not sure whether it is the camera size, the sensor, the focusing ability, or what on the D850, but I will say that my panning shots are exponentially better now than they were a year ago. The best part of this is that since I am typically panning from a distance with the 70-200, the file size allows me to crop into the subject without losing the detail I would with previous camera bodies.

The articulating screen is another option that I have not had in the past. While I have only used it about a dozen times, and I had to read the directions on getting the settings on it correctly, it’s a back saver. The ability to set the camera on the ground and not have to lay down while attempting to look through the viewfinder is a huge bonus. Now I will warn you, I have found that this isn’t going to work as well for moving objects or situations where you want to rattle off a bunch of shots in a row, but works fabulously for single-shot stills. Another warning is that when I use the live view on the screen, the finished shot is not as bright as the screen is while taking the shot, so just be aware of that.

My initial thoughts on this camera is that it is amazing. It serves purposes and accomplishes things that I never know I wanted to even do. While I haven’t tried video on it yet, that is coming, along with more night shooting, and some long exposure work. I will also be running it through its time-lapse features over the next few months to see what did of work we can get out of it. This is the perfect camera for wedding photographers, commercial photographers, and so many more. Once I pick up a grip and new cards, I think it will take it to an even higher level for me. It doesn’t mean that I am giving up on my big body Dslr’s though. I have two D3S, one of which needs repair, and I want to get a couple of D5’s as well. The D850 has certainly opened my eyes to all new possibilities though.

Later this fall I will do a part two of my review with this camera, and over the winter I will head back home to Wisconsin and do some photography in the snowy winter wonderland that is the upper midwest, to see what kind of content we can create. Please keep checking back and following us for more product reviews and articles regarding content creation.