If you are one of those photographers that are chasing the latest and greatest, Nikon’s latest, the D850, may make your eyes water. Simply put, it is the first to score a 100 on DxOMark’s scale, surpassing Sony’s A7R II (with its score of 98). Having seen many Nikon users switching to Sony lately, will this be enough to bring them back?
The Nikon D850 sports the first backside-illuminated sensor (BSI) for Nikon, which “breaks new ground for image quality” according to DxOMark. “The D850’s color is on par with the best results we’ve seen on medium-format sensors, such as the Phaso One IQI80 digital back, and fractionally ahead of the Phase One P65.” That says a lot, especially considering the cost of high end medium format cameras like Phase One.
When it comes to image quality, Nikon’s D850 excels in its outstanding color (Portrait score) and dynamic range (Landscape score) at base ISO. It lacks somewhat is its low-light ISO (Sports score) of ISO 2660, but its performance is acceptable, especially with low noise up to ISO 3200, and beyond using effective noise reduction in post-production.
The end result for Nikon’s D850 is a solid prospect for landscape, studio, portrait, even high-end editorial or advertising photographers seeking the best image quality for high end reproduction and display with its dynamic range of 14.8 EV, color depth of 26.4 bit at base ISO, and its 45.7Mp resolution.
Visit Dxomark.com for the full details.
