Nikon D850 Review

The 3-Minute Nikon D850 Review

A Great Camera With Plenty of Features

By Graeme Messina | March 26, 2018

The Specifics:

Features & Design: 4.5/5 ● Performance: 4.5/5 ● Value: 4.5/5 ● Battery: 4.5/5 

The Best:

The D850 is the long awaited follow up to Nikon’s highly popular D810, which was a hi-res full-frame digital camera that offered great features and a high quality, 45.7-megapixel backlit CMOS image sensor. This means that it can shoot ISO 64-25,600 standard and ISO 32-102,400 extended with no problems.

The Bugs:

While the camera itself follows up where the Nikon D810 left off, there are a few small issues to consider when purchasing this unit. The touchscreen lacks functionality in some areas, especially where exposure settings are concerned, and the SnapBridge interface needs work.

Is it for you?

If you’re after a high-speed, hi-res DSLR, then this is a fantastic option. You can think of this as an in between model that possesses excellent capture times without sacrificing resolution to achieve this feat.

Meet the Nikon D850

The Nikon D850 is more than just a digital camera, it is a fully fledged DSLR with professional capabilities. This is not a camera for happy snapping holiday photos (although the pictures that it would take of said holiday would be amazing), but rather as a fast shooting hi-res camera for photographers that need an all-rounder when out in the field, or doing a photo-shoot. And although the pricing seems high to non-photographers, professionals in the field will tell you that there are much, much more expensive cameras on the market that offer less in terms of features and quality.

What we like

There is excellent picture quality thanks to the aforementioned backlit CMOS sensor, and the gapless, on chip micro lenses add to the overall image creation and quality. The image processor is the Expeed 5, the same that is found in Nikon’s flagship D5, giving the D850 a 7fps shoot speed.

The controls are good and are in line with what you have come to expect from a Nikon product, the overall construction is also solid, with a quality feel all around. Battery life is good, and as a semi-professional to professional camera it will not disappoint.

What we don’t like

The touch-screen presented one or two minor annoyances, especially when trying to changing the exposure settings of the device. The lack of flexibility here is a shame as it would have been much easier to access these features here.

The SnapBridge interface is also slightly rough, and needs a bit of refinement as it did not seem to work as flawlessly as it should have. Sending images to a smartphone tend to be somewhat unreliable at the moment, which isn’t catastrophic, but is slightly disappointing.

Should you buy it?

Any professional photographer that is looking to unify two separate cameras (one for speed shooting, and one for high detail) will be very pleased with this particular model. Nikon has set out to make a camera that performs well as a speed shooter, and as a high detail camera. Semi-professionals and enthusiast will also find that this camera is user friendly and simple to experiment with, and that the familiar Nikon interface is sure to win over consumers that go with this option. This is an excellent choice for mid to high level photographers, and is certain to be a welcome addition to your existing photography gear.