I'm returning to photography after a few years away. I worked my way through college as a newspaper photographer in the early 1980s, and had a part-time studio in the 80s~early 2000s. In that time I've gone from Nikon F2AS to FM2s, to D90 digital and finally I'm parked at a D7100 body (feel weird having only 1 camera body.) I still have 4 Nikkor AF lenses: 35mm and 18-200 DX, plus 50mm and 85mm FX.
I'm considering buying a new body to become my primary body, and I'm trying to decide between the D810 and the D850. The D810 would be used of course, but would be better budget-wise. The D850 would be new, under warranty, and would have some new bells and whistles. I'll admit I'm interested in the D850's special mode for scanning slides and negatives (I have tens of thousands filed away) but is it worth the $2k or so extra? (Would a dedicated neg/slide scanner be better?)
And hanging over this decision is the industry move to mirrorless. The closest camera shop to me only has mirrorless bodies in stock and they shamelessly push the DSLR buyers towards mirrorless.
As far as what I shoot? In the college days it was everything from news to high school sports to pet of the week. In the studio, it was mostly boudoir. These days I suspect it will be mostly grandchildren (ages 9, 5 and 2.) We're not talking high volume of shots either, maybe 1500-2000 a year.
I'm looking for advice, and I appreciate any thoughts you might have. Thank you!
Regarding scanning, I value my time far more than I value my money when it comes to projects like that...I'd pay to have them digitized in a heartbeat, and spend that time with your grandkids instead =)
The D850 seems like extreme overkill for pics of the grandkids, but if I were buying a DSLR in 2022 that's what I'd get. Have you looked at the Z6ii and using the FTZ adapter for your glass?
I‘d go for the D850 due to the better AF, auto AF fine-tune, better LCD, improved grip etc.
Over the years the increased cost now will be relatively less important than the improvements. Wouldn’t worry too much about mirrorless - I still use a D700 and a Hasselblad from 2007 and they work perfectly fine
Just don’t expect to see new F mount lenses being released. What exists is what you’ll get.
I‘d also keep the D7100 or maybe flip it for a D7200 as a lighter, more compact alternative for some situations (or add something like a Z50 / Z fc at some point if you want to try mirrorless).
I looked at a used D850 yesterday with @ 2K clicks on the body; almost went for it, but I already have a nice D810 which had 1.4K clicks on it when I bought it. Aside from newer bells and whistles, I couldn't find a good reason to let go the D810. The dealer also had a used D5 with @125K clicks, that was really nice. Decisions, decisions!!
That stated I would go with a used D850 for making images only. Several years back, I also had 15K+ negatives and transparencies to scan. I opted to get an Epson V850 so I could dedicate my scanning, and not worry about using a DSLR for the purpose. My scanner is connected to a desktop which works great for my workflow process.
I've just recently added a Z5 and a Z7 to start mirrorless; I have one Z lens (24-50), but I have two FTZ adapters, and a number of usable A-F lenses.
i had a 810 for a short time. the 850 is a definite step up which i also had. it to has been replaced
the question is do you need the high resolution which carries with it the desire/need for a higher level post and storage? i know it is a numbers game for many people. i do have a high resolution too. the thing is a do a lot of medium res shooting that more than suffices at 24MP.
if one is not wanting or needing to, the D780 is more than what many need in both quality and price in the DSLR range.
i have 3 DX bodies in the DSLR range. a D7000 and D500 (my daughter has my D7200) w/matching optics to cover. on the mirrorless side i have 2 FX bodies, a Z6 and a Z9 with both matching and adapted optics
i have gone through more than enough gear since the dawn of the digital revolution. it seems for my needs/wants i am more than covered. and yes i do shoot with the D7000 still.
for scanning you can do flatbed or dedicated. dedicated is if you are really serious about it and looking for maximized quality. that's a big investment. doing it in camara doesn't take that long and you are not doing it in bulk.
Thank you everybody, the advise is fantastic! Some more thoughts:
I thought about the D780, but the lack of a battery grip DQ'd if for me. I'm left-eyed with glasses, so my vertical holding position is with my left hand out, my right hand under the body. The extra depth of a battery grip is good for me, especially as I'm pushing 60 years old with some signs of arthritis.
I'm thinking of this next body as a "last camera" for me. I've always bought the best tool that I could afford (for example, F2AS instead of FM) but the price difference between the D810 and the D850 is significant. In some ways I miss the old film cameras, because there was no rush to upgrade every few years.
As far as file storage and post, my degrees are in computer science so I have a significant computer rig at home. And yes, I back up (monthly) and store the backup in my bank box.
I don't know if you shoot any "action" kinds of things, but with the battery grip added, the D850 will go to 10 fps. That makes it a very versatile camera.
I would highly recommend the D810 in your situation. While D850 is a better camera in terms of resolution, AF speed and accuracy, and other general areas, D810 is still an extremely capable DSLR for what you plan to use. The D810 has a quieter shutter and IQ at lower ISO can challenge even the D850. I have used both side-by-side and I have not encountered many situations that D810 was under performing relative to D850. The price of D810 in secondary market will made it an even more attractive choice. Select some good lenses with D810 and you are good to go.
RobMoser wrote:
I don't know if you shoot any "action" kinds of things, but with the battery grip added, the D850 will go to 10 fps. That makes it a very versatile camera.
WarrenWood wrote:
Thank you everybody, the advise is fantastic! Some more thoughts:
I thought about the D780, but the lack of a battery grip DQ'd if for me. I'm left-eyed with glasses, so my vertical holding position is with my left hand out, my right hand under the body. The extra depth of a battery grip is good for me, especially as I'm pushing 60 years old with some signs of arthritis.
I'm thinking of this next body as a "last camera" for me. I've always bought the best tool that I could afford (for example, F2AS instead of FM) but the price difference between the D810 and the D850 is significant. In some ways I miss the old film cameras, because there was no rush to upgrade every few years.
As far as file storage and post, my degrees are in computer science so I have a significant computer rig at home. And yes, I back up (monthly) and store the backup in my bank box....Show more →
i just did the RT66 age mark yesterday i do have some minor pain here and there. my work is/was pretty involved both physically and mentally. it takes a little bit of time to start moving every now and then.
i only have 1 body with a grip and its integrated.
if its the last one you think you'll get do the D850 it does well and is worth the price of admission.
I moved mostly to the Z system a couple of years ago but still shoot some film and have some AF-D lenses. I recently purchased a used D810 then sent it to Nikon for a check up and replacement of grips, it came back in fantastic shape, tons of life left in it and total cost was about half of a used D850. For the record I had a D810 & D850 previously, the latter is obviously an improvement but if you're set on a DSLR the D810 is still a great camera.
With regard to scanning, I never used the D850 scanning mode so I can't comment on that. I believe you can only save the scan as a Jpeg and there is no scratch/dust removal but I could be wrong?
IMO if you plan on scanning a lot of color and time isn't an issue get a dedicated scanner and software, the results are usually better, color management/correction is easier and the software usually has scratch/dust removal ability which can save a lot of time in post. I have a Coolscan V for color and use Nikon Scan software on a Windows laptop, running the program under Windows XP, it works great. You can save as NEF or TIFF and process in your preferred editing program.
There's also the Nikon ES-2 adapter which you can use to digitize negatives and slides. I use this adapter for B&W negatives with my Z7. Shot at the medium RAW setting I get pretty much identical results to the Coolscan, the difference being I shoot tethered in Lightroom and the scan takes a couple of seconds. Apply a simple reversal of curves preset and you're pretty much done. You can do color with the ES-2 but you'd need some third party software, Lightroom can do it but it's a pain IMHO.
You could get a D810, scanner and/or ES-2 plus software for less than a D850. Alternatively you could get into the Z system and just use the ES-2 with third party software. Choices.
If you've already narrowed it down to those 2 cameras, I think the D850 is the obvious choice given both your intended usage and your desire to keep it a very long time. The higher frame rates and dramatically improved AF over the D810 will come in handy for pictures of kids.
If you have tens of thousands of images to scan, you will definitely want to either buy a scanner with some kind of auto-loading feature, or just pay someone else to do it. Either way it's probably a one-time thing, so if it were me I would want to limit my investment as much as possible (renting, buying used, or paying someone else to do it).
D850 lacks a popup flash. That means an added speedlight. Yes, the speedlight is better but with kids you just never know. Popup flash saved me a few times with grandkids, their friends and unexpected situations.
I had a thrills and spills warranty on my Galaxy tablet. It went down the stairs without me. The problem was going through the railing and landing about 10 feet down. Mack fixed it, cracked screen and all. Including the popped sd card slot. The card survived the fall.
WarrenWood wrote:
Good points on the ES-2, I'll just plan on a dedicated scanner. I live in the Ouachita Mountains, and there is nobody nearby who can scan for me.
In looking at the D810, has anybody bought a 3rd party warranty, like the kind KEH or Adorama sells?
runamuck wrote:
D850 lacks a popup flash. That means an added speedlight. Yes, the speedlight is better but with kids you just never know. Popup flash saved me a few times with grandkids, their friends and unexpected situations.
That's a good point and it made me smile a bit. I never had a camera with a built-in flash until my D90, so I'm used to separate flashes. But still, I plan to keep the D7100 with the 18-200 DX lens mounted on it. it's a good camera, especially for grabshot events.
Shure the D850 is better than the D810 in several ways. For the use you describe, the D810 is more than capable and can be purchased for between 6-8 hundred bucks. You will be happy with the camera and put the money that you save into some good glass.
For less than $2k you can get a used model in really good condition off the B&S here.
Far superior in several characteristics (autofocus, sensor, fps boost with grip, video) that make it superior over the D810 for your purposes and many others.
I had both. I used both for purposes similar to some of yours and many other purposes and the D850 is the far superior overall camera.
I still have and use my D850 for most everything other than using the Z9 for super-telephoto bird photography or situations where I only want to bring one camera (eg hiking).
One thing I liked about the D850 over the Z9 is that for hiking I could leave the grip in the car and still have the same camera in a more compact package while just giving up a couple fps.
i do have some minor pain here and there. my work is/was pretty involved both physically and mentally. it takes a little bit of time to start moving every now and then.