Nikon D850 4K no crop factor

[salim]

Nikon D850 press release is leaked: https://nikonrumors.com/2017/08/22/nikon-d850-press-release-leaked.aspx/

looks like 4K (only UHD) but with no crop factor. Official press release is in 30 hours and we can learn more about its video capabilities. 

[HockeyFan12]

Nikon needs to address ergonomics, ecosystem, and UI, or their market share will continue to decline. Canon does, too, but less pressingly. Mirrorless cameras need to reach iPhone-level convenience before the iPhone reaches A7R-level image quality if the prosumer market is to survive.

This focus on specs will only get Nikon so far. 

Which is sort of a shame because those specs are monstrous and the Nikon ecosystem is great. I'd love this camera for stills and video, assuming the video is decent in practice.

(The D5 and 1DXII are fine for what they are, but; they're pro tools specifically for sports. That's not going away, but it's a tiny market. The prosumer market is in danger of going the way of point and shoots though.)

Anyhow, awesome specs. Likely an awesome camera. Hoping it keeps Nikon in the game a while longer (and that the tech trickles down to Canon's ecosystem five years later lol).

[salim]

32 minutes ago, HockeyFan12 said:

Nikon needs to address ergonomics, ecosystem, and UI, or their market share will continue to decline. Canon does, too, but less pressingly. Mirrorless cameras need to reach iPhone-level convenience before

I think Nikon has already hinted at a mirrorless camera and promising it will be a category killer.  But the current UI of D810 is very good (far better than my Sony a6000). With the consumer market, the mobile phones are just destroying it. I think for that reason Nikon and others have to go after prosumers and pros. Probably why Fuji had to expand into MF line. The other thing I wish nikon will focus on, while doing their mirrorless is to provide IBIS. The stuff I'm hearing people are doing with the 5-axis stabilization out of Olympus is crazy and make the ergonomics of not having to think about a tripod more enticing. 

[HockeyFan12]

1 hour ago, salim said:

I think Nikon has already hinted at a mirrorless camera and promising it will be a category killer.  But the current UI of D810 is very good (far better than my Sony a6000). With the consumer market, the mobile phones are just destroying it. I think for that reason Nikon and others have to go after prosumers and pros. Probably why Fuji had to expand into MF line. The other thing I wish nikon will focus on, while doing their mirrorless is to provide IBIS. The stuff I'm hearing people are doing with the 5-axis stabilization out of Olympus is crazy and make the ergonomics of not having to think about a tripod more enticing. 

Those are really good points. I do think that pretty soon a "prosumer" camera will more closely resemble an iPhone, but the higher end pro lines (the D850 seems to be going in that direction) look like a healthy market, too. MF is exciting for sure, I wish there were a true view camera replacement under $10k, and maybe that's a possibility soon.

[jhnkng]

2 hours ago, HockeyFan12 said:

Those are really good points. I do think that pretty soon a "prosumer" camera will more closely resemble an iPhone, but the higher end pro lines (the D850 seems to be going in that direction) look like a healthy market, too. MF is exciting for sure, I wish there were a true view camera replacement under $10k, and maybe that's a possibility soon.

The D850, like the D8xx line have always been high end professional cameras. Nikon already has excellent ergonomics (I like it better than mirrorless, which I find too small to use comfortably over a day) and camera UI (their wireless, software, and services UI on the other hand are utter garbage) as well as some of the best lenses around -- and even if you don't like Nikkor lenses you have access to Sigma Arts or Zeiss or any number of other manufacturers. So I think their ecosystem is pretty strong as well. 

What they do need is a clear road into the future. It's clear that the future is mirrorless, and online services and connectivity are going to be incredibly important as well. We don't know what their mirrorless camera will look like, and so far Nikon services are terrible, I've never managed to get Snapbridge to work at all on my D500. So they have neither the hardware or software for the future. The D850 looks great, I'm probably going to buy one to replace a couple of ageing Nikon bodies that I shoot with. But that's only because I've invested pretty deeply with Nikon, and the cameras they make now are pretty darn good. Good enough for the next 3 years? Or 6? I'm not so sure about that. And even if they keep me as a customer for the next 20 years of my professional life, what incentive will the next generations have to choose Nikon over any number of very capable cameras?

[HockeyFan12]

That's a good point. For some reason I always considered the 1 series and D series professional and the 5D and D800 prosumer, but maybe because I replaced my 5D III with an iPhone... and I'm a consumer.

To that extent, the D850's awesome specs are encouraging. In fact the D850 plus a host of tilt/shift lenses might be the sub-$10k view camera replacement I've been looking for.... I agree that the high end will be the most resilient to change. 

[Eric Calabros]

Stupidly full HD 120fps is not selectable.. you just activate the slow motion mode. So expect it to be short, and badly implemented. The only good news is extended 4k recording time with external grip. 

[Arikhan]

The D5 focuses very well even in the dark (photography) and has great high ISO skills in low light and Nikon will implement D5 focus and low light skills in the D850. It will be very interesting to see how the new D850 - because full frame 4K - will perform for video in high ISO and critical low light scenarios. It could be expected to perform (nearly) as well as the A7S m2...

[Cinegain]

Get this, with the amazing 17-35, 28-70 & 80-200mm f/2.8 ED and you're pretty much set! Maybe the 28mm f/2.8 and 2 or so more sensitive primes for good measurement.

It's just... no way to keep a set-up like that nice 'n compact. That's one side to DSLRs and fullframe that really blows. Also don't really like the liveview experiences on those (atleast the pro bodies feature a tripod mode where you can enable contrast based AF only, this stops the mirror from flipping around crazily like on the D5300 when used in liveview) and OVF means you need to use the LCD with a loupe rather than the VF it's equipped with. No sensor stabilization... Nikon is the least flexible mount... but! That sensor performance and the whole beefy ergonomics and sturdy build! It does kick ass and Nikon always pulls such organic looking stuff from the sensors, I really like the look. Just sorta wished they were into FF/APS-C mirrorless already (for me preferably APS-C actually, you could have a line of more compact lenses and you can still speedboost APS-C towards FF with 35mm lenses, should you feel like it sometimea), I'd really appreciate the bells 'n whistles that come with that approach (Panasonic, Olympus, Fujifilm and Sony have come quite a way in these last few years). But, should I take on some more pro studio gigs in the future, I'll definitely consider one.

[gethin]

The d800 was a huge stepup from d700 in image quality. Dynamic range, resolution, noise.  Are we going to see that leap here? (I dont think so).  I suspect I'll be waiting to see what sony do next. (Edit: I'm prepared to be wrong mind - as I was about the d800 when I first heard it was 36MP)