Professional Imaging Tool
It’s been a long journey to get here, but I’m pleased to introduce you all to my new camera. The Nikon D850 has the highest resolution and, reportedly, the best image quality of any Nikon camera produced so far.
When all cameras used film, all the camera body really did was control how much light hit the film you had loaded. Digital, however, is a whole different game. Technology has come a long way since digital cameras were introduced. Not only is the resolution a factor, but pixel sensitivity, and how the camera’s onboard computer deals with the information it’s given. More often than not these days it’s not pixels you notice first when looking closely at digital images, but processing defects and other sensor limitations like image noise and clipped highlight and shadow detail.
Another big factor is the physical size of the image sensor. The 36x24mm sensor on the Nikon D850 has a much larger surface area than my old D7000 (24x16mm). A point of contrast on that larger sensor has a noticeably higher apparent sharpness, once you then blow the image up to a usable size.
Old D7000 vs New D850
10 years more technological advancement and 30 more megapixels separate this camera and my old one so, clearly, the new camera will be better, but just how much better?
I set up the tripod in my front yard, deliberately targeting an area of high contrast. I wanted to test not just sharpness, but also tonal range and image processing. The D7000 was equipped with a 35mm lens, while the D850 had a 50mm lens. This gave a similar field of view for each camera. I then manually focused on the same point on the tree using live-view, and manually set the exposure to the same values. The files were processed using Nikon Capture NX-D, again using the same settings.
Here is the full image from each camera, with the D7000 on the left. At first glance, there’s not really a big difference.
ISO 100. Cropped to the same area. D7000 on the left.
It’s clear to see that not only does the D850 offer a huge increase in image sharpness, but also seems to process detail in a more natural way. The depth of field is more shallow on a larger image sensor, so you would expect the background area to be more out of focus. The D850, though, seems to make that area look smoother and less ‘digital’. This, along with that additional sharpness, makes for a considerable improvement in potential image quality.
Any Downsides?
Well, quality doesn’t come cheap. This camera retails at over $3000… *cough*. Unless you’re making at least something back from your photography, this would be a waste of money. Nikon has a wide range of excellent cameras that don’t cost this much. I had some inheritance money set aside to eventually put towards a new kitchen island which, after some lengthy discussion with Jamie, got repurposed. Now that I have this amazing camera though, there’s a certain impetus to make something from the investment.
File sizes have gone up from around 20mb to 90mb. More information in the files is great, but I’m going to need more storage space in no time, and my poor computer doesn’t know what hit it. Time to start saving for a computer upgrade…
Not all of my lenses are designed for an image sensor of this size. More saving to do…
New memory card format. The D850 will take my old SD cards but is designed to work at it’s best with the fancy new XQD format. What was that about saving up?
Any Regrets?
Aside from not getting a new kitchen island any time soon, most definitely not! My cooking may be good, but I can’t sell it…
How Did I Get to This Point?
If you’re not bored to tears yet and want to know more about my camera journey, I wrote a blog post about that.