p.1 #1 · Upgrading from D750 to D850 make much of a difference for portraits?
I thought about upgrading. Then I seen a comparison on Youtube where a girl took some shots of flowers. And to be honest, I could barely see a difference in the photos. Dynamic range isn't that much different. My question though is am I missing something? or is the D750 so good that the improvements with the D850 aren't that noticeable on photos? Is it really just 95% is going to be the lighting, glass and editing and as long as the D750 has the features I want buy another one of those? because I need a 2nd camera for weddings too, was thinking D850 for that and then it would be an upgrade for my portrait sessions, but after the comparisons, i'm wondering if I shouldn't just save the money and get another D750. The D750 is $600 off right now. I'm not saying this is the best comparison, but man they look about the same.
p.1 #3 · Upgrading from D750 to D850 make much of a difference for portraits?
My opinion is from a resolution or rendering standpoint, no the D850 won't benefit you over the D750 for portraits. High resolution cameras generally make it a bit harder to retouch skin, as it shows every line and blemish (which is generally why people sometimes prefer a photo taken of them with a smartphone).
The main advantage you'd get with the D850 over the D750 would be autofocus, as the D850's AF performance is significantly better. If you're happy with the AF on the D750 though, I don't see a reason to get the D850.
Also keep in mind the upstream and downstream effects of a high resolution camera. Glass that seemed sharp enough with the D750 might all of a sudden seem sharp enough on the D850. You'll want expensive XQD cards if you want to take advantage of the faster write speed. RAWs will take more room to backup, as well as being more demanding on your computer for post-processing.
p.1 #5 · Upgrading from D750 to D850 make much of a difference for portraits?
TMaG82 wrote:
Also hard to judge results from images off of YouTube.
I hear you but looking at those photo's I doubt there is a big difference. Seems minimal. Other than if you need to crop a lot or the better AF, I don't see much improvement.
p.1 #6 · Upgrading from D750 to D850 make much of a difference for portraits?
I have both the D850/D750 and both are excellent from my perspective. As Sung mentioned the D850 is superb if you after improved dynamic AF let alone many other improvements. That said for portraits the D750 is smaller/lighter, superb DR and still performs brilliantly. Personally I would not buy a new D750 now, but used copy which can be picked up for amazing prices.
I have always felt that there is a spectrum of looks that I seek. High MP's for the detail and lower 24MP FF for the larger sized pixels which lend to more rich feel to images. I still think the D810 with 36MP's was a great compromise for detail, rendering and practicality.
For portraits I still find the major contribution to great images is lighting. With excellent lighting the D850/D750 and D810 all perform superbly and honestly the image sensors are now so good it is hard to pick the difference. The improved D850 dynamic AF is really worthwhile for my style of portraits as I like to capture dynamic expressions and moods and this is where I prefer to use the D850 for these shoots.
p.1 #7 · Upgrading from D750 to D850 make much of a difference for portraits?
I think it's also important to keep the size of the respective cameras in mind. The D850 felt so large in comparison to the 5D4 I was shooting before it that I was a little put off. I've since gotten used to the camera's size and weight, but honestly if Nikon came out with an update to the D750 and put the D850 AF system and Z6 live view in it, I would probably replace at least one of my D850s with one.
On that note - OP perhaps a Z6 might be up your alley?
And I agree with Charles that a used body would be a better "investment", if you chose to go with another D750. I really enjoyed shooting mine - used it for everything from headshots to personal photos of fam and friends:
p.1 #10 · Upgrading from D750 to D850 make much of a difference for portraits?
I found a comparison Neil Van Neikerk did. I actually prefer the D750 photos more, even after downloading the raw 45 mp D850's to compare. To me the D850 looks softer. Maybe because of the smaller pixels, it's just harder to get the shots perfect. I'm sure on a tripod the D850 shots are sharper and more detailed, but hand held maybe it's harder to get the really sharp shots on the D850. Think i'll stick with the D750...
p.1 #11 · Upgrading from D750 to D850 make much of a difference for portraits?
It depends what you are looking for, both are modern cameras and so will do a good job recording images - there is no 'magic'.
Portraits (in contrast to say landscapes) generally do not need much resolution to print large so I don't think you'll see a huge difference. They don't get printed big anyway, a life size portrait is rather creepy.
agelessphotog wrote:
I found a comparison Neil Van Neikerk did. I actually prefer the D750 photos more, even after downloading the raw 45 mp D850's to compare. To me the D850 looks softer. Maybe because of the smaller pixels, it's just harder to get the shots perfect. I'm sure on a tripod the D850 shots are sharper and more detailed, but hand held maybe it's harder to get the really sharp shots on the D850. Think i'll stick with the D750...
p.1 #12 · Upgrading from D750 to D850 make much of a difference for portraits?
At normal viewing distances few people can tell the difference between a 20x30 print produced of a person using the D3 over one using the D850. After all, who stands two feet from a picture? Better to put your money into glass and lighting equipment.
