September 2017
Nikon have now launched their replacement offering for the D810 in the form of the 45.7 megapixel beast that is the Nikon D850. I will spare everybody the full specs as they are plentiful everywhere you choose to search, in fact they have been there for quite a while if you know where to look (thank you Peter @ NR). So for me its really all about that Sensor and what it will produce, The D800 has been my workhorse for some time and I believe the D810 will still continue to be very popular Camera reinforcing Nikon's reputation for high resolution with good Dynamic Range.
My D800 has seen me through Weddings, Portraits, Landscapes and much Astro work both mounted at prime focus of a 12 inch F5 Telescope and also stand-alone on a tripod with his best friend the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 AF-S NIKKOR G ED N Lens. On the D850 Nikon have taken the step of designing their own chip instead of using a Sony manufactured one as previously. Has this paid off ? Well, when I saw the increase in Megapixel and reports of at least equivalent Dynamic Range and better ISO performance (yet to be crunched fully by our friends at DXO Mark) my initial findings certainly don't disappoint ! All credit to Nikon....just when they needed it too.
So here's the crunch for me, is it ISO Invariant ??, and why is that important to me !
I spend many hours out shooting during the cold, dark and hopefully clear nights capturing lowlight in the form of anything from the Aurora Borealis to the Milky Way. Using an ISO invariant sensor or the ISO-less technique allows you to capture near objects at good Dynamic Ranges and hence minimum noise whilst still bringing out the low-light elements. You can do this by shooting at low ISO's using the same exposure (A and S) settings we would normally use at a given higher ISO sensitivity,. we then selectively push process the RAW by as much as +5 stops to bring out the low-light elements, whilst the near buildings for example you can throw light onto and preserve at base ISO and hence clean and relatively noise free.
Its not for everybody, but it's good for me. You can produce some beatifully clean Images of buildings/Trees etc with Milky way backdrops and in high resolution too.
So how does the D850 perform ?
Here is a very quick Invariance test. Same Aperture and Shutter settings (same amount of light photons captured by photosites on sensor) just different ISO settings and then subsequent adjustment in RAW to compensate.
Nikon D850 - ISO 2000
Nikon D850 - Same Aperture and Shutter but with ISO at ISO64
Nikon D850 - The above ISO64 exposure adjusted + 5 EV in RAW.
I'm looking forword to putting the D850 through its paces with initial shots showing its gonna be good clean fun !
Just a quick test for those ISO-less snappers who like me have been wondering ! Thank you Nikon, a job well done !
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Ian Collins September 2017
Ian Collins. September 2017.
info@icpic.co.uk
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